New Jerusalem is not a physical city. It is a corporate person composed of all the children of God to be “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” Jesus Christ (Rev. 21:2, 9-11).
Regular posts on this blog will resume Wednesday, January 2, 2019.
All posts tagged Christ our Bridegroom
Christ is our Bridegroom, a most pleasant person, who is making us His bride.
New Jerusalem is the Wife of Jesus Christ
Posted by Don on December 21, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/12/21/new-jerusalem-is-the-wife-of-jesus-christ-2/
The Wife of the Lamb, New Jerusalem, Made Herself Ready (2)
New Jerusalem is “the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” “Let us rejoice and exult, 
and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7).
In Matthew 24 the Lord spoke to us about being ready. Three keys here are living contact with the Lord’s word, loving God, and watching in prayer. In Matthew 25 He continued with a parable about being ready for a wedding feast, which depicts the real wedding feast with Him, the feast tied to New Jerusalem.
Matthew 25:10: “The bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast.” The key to readiness is being filled with the Spirit. signified in this parable by oil in the vessels.
God created man with spirit, soul, and body. Due to the fall of man, man’s spirit was deadened and his soul became the self. In regeneration the Spirit enlivened our spirit. Now there is a need to deny our self by exercising our spirit to take our cross daily so that the Spirit may spread from our spirit to saturate our soul. One aspect is Ephesians 4:23, “be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” a part of our soul.
To be ready, we need to deny our self in its ambitions, pride, pleasures, complaints, and many other things, and instead seek the Lord in His word, in prayer, in rejoicing, in singing, both alone and with other believers. This is our path to readiness on our way to the wedding feast and New Jerusalem.
Posted by Don on October 3, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/the-wife-of-the-lamb-new-jerusalem-made-herself-ready-2/
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb
New Jerusalem is “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:2, 9). This marriage is foreshadowed by Christ and the church, presented in the context of human marriage in Ephesians 5. This relationship is in love. Here is a link to each post about this relationship in Ephesians plus a verse from each. The last four links are for a song about Christ’s love for the church.
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 1
“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 2–3
“God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 4
“Holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ” for “the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 5
“Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…that He might present the church to Himself glorious.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 6:23
“Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Presented in Ephesians 6:24
“Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Spoken to Ephesus in Revelation 2
“I have one thing against you, that you have left your first love”
The Love of the Marriage of the Lamb Spoken to Ephesus in 1 Timothy 1
“Remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach different things….The goal of the charge is love.”
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 2
“I was their Husband, declares Jehovah.”
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 3
“The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 4
“The bride, the wife of the Lamb….the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God”
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on September 10, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/09/10/the-love-of-the-marriage-of-the-lamb/
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 3
This is the next verse of a song about Christ’s love for the church as His wife. This love extends to New Jerusalem, His eternal wife.
It begins with mercy and love. Ephesians 2:1-3 speaks of our fallen condition but 2:4 declares the contrast, “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.” Through mercy and love, God made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together with Him.
Ephesians 2:7 tells us that God’s desire is that “He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” The ability to produce this display out of our fallen condition manifests God’s unsurpassed wisdom and is through His grace, both mentioned in the verse and the song.
Certainly we can sense the love of God and must thank Him for this love, yet we are limited. We should expect, as in the song, that the fulness of this love is only comprehended by God.
This verse of the song ends with Christ laying down His life as a fragrant offering. The Lord spoke of this in John 10:11, “the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” And Ephesians 5:25 tells us, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
The fragrance at the end is clearly typified by the fragrance of the offerings in Leviticus and implied by the Father’s word “This is My Son, the Beloved, in whom I have found My delight” (Matt. 3:17).
Posted by Don on September 5, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/christ-loves-the-church-new-jerusalem-3/
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem, 2
We look at a song about Christ’s love for the church, a love clearly stated in Ephesians 5:25-27. This statement is in the context of human marriage as a portrait of Christ and His wife, the church in Ephesians and New Jerusalem in Revelation.
The graphic begins with part of the second verse of the song. Creation is presented in Genesis, but the church and New Jerusalem are the “mystery which has been hidden from the ages” until after the resurrection of Christ. Although it was not revealed before the resurrection, as the song says, it was “hidden in God” and hinted by the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2.
The graphic continues with part of the third verse of the song. Sin entered and man was shut out of the garden of Eden, with no chance to be one with God. Man’s helpless state is shown in many ways through the Bible, for example in Romans 7.
Nevertheless, Christ’s love for the church and His longing for New Jerusalem did not end. He is not discouraged. Even during the Old Testament times, God sometimes spoke of Himself as the Husband of His people (e.g. Jer. 31:32).
God waited for the time proper in His divine view, the time to come in incarnation, the time to manifest His love for mankind. Continued in the next post.
Bible verses quoted in these posts are from The Holy Bible, Recovery Version, published and © by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim CA, 2003. The New Testament of this Bible, with its outlines, footnotes, and cross-references, is at online.recoveryversion.org; this too is © by Living Stream Ministry.
Posted by Don on September 3, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/09/03/christ-loves-the-church-new-jerusalem-2/
Christ Loves the Church & New Jerusalem
The graphic is the first verse of a song about Christ’s love for the church. His love is clearly stated in Ephesians 5:25-27, “Christ also 
loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her…that He might present the church to Himself glorious.”
This expression of love is in the context of human marriage, which is a pattern of Christ and the church. Christ and the church as Husband and wife eventually develops to Christ and New Jerusalem as Husband and wife (Rev. 21:9-10).
This song says, “Before the earth’s foundation His thoughts were filled with her.” This eternal thought is unveiled in Genesis 2. Man was created and then placed in front of the tree of life. With the tree of life is a river (of life) and out of these came Eve, the wife of Adam.
This is a picture of Christ desiring to become our life so that we match Him and can become His counterpart, His wife, first as the church, then as New Jerusalem.
In Genesis 3 man fell into sin which brought in death. But, as the song says, “His heart’s love is established, And nought can Him deter.” God cannot be defeated. We can delay Him but eventually He will win our hearts and bring forth New Jerusalem. Then we will join the multitude to declare:
“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Rev. 19:6-7)
Posted by Don on August 31, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/08/31/christ-loves-the-church-new-jerusalem/
Our Path to New Jerusalem (2)
New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb, is composed of all God’s chosen, redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified people. God’s choosing determined that we are on the path to New Jerusalem. Although we were among fallen men, Christ’s redemption brought us back to God and regeneration gives us God’s eternal life, the life of New Jerusalem.
TRANSFORMED: Regeneration is to be born of the Spirit in our spirit, as the Lord spoke in John 3. Transformation is the spreading of divine life into our soul to renew our mind. This renewing is also our transformation (Rom. 12:2).
This is based on our consecration (Rom. 12:1) and is accomplished by our cooperation with the Spirit’s work in us and is “unto glory” that is, unto New Jerusalem, the city of glory.
GLORIFIED: Transformation develops God’s glory within us. However, transformation is in our soul and the expression of glory is still constrained by the body of our humiliation (Phil. 3:21). Glorification, transfiguration, is the divine life saturating our mortal body so that it will “be conformed to the body of His glory.” This is “the redemption of our body” which is the full sonship.
This glorification will occur when the Lord returns, “When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed” (2 Thes. 1:10). This, our glorification, is “the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:8) whose glory we “behold and reflect” (2 Cor. 3:18) throughout our transformation, saturating our entire being and radiating through us that all may behold.
This glory developed in us began with regeneration, continues through transformation, and is concluded by glorification. This causes us to match New Jerusalem, the city which “has the glory of God.”
Posted by Don on April 23, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/04/23/our-path-to-new-jerusalem-2/
Jesus and New Jerusalem: “Out of Heaven”
The Lord Jesus told us multiple times that He came down out of heaven:
John 3:13, “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man…”
John 6:38, “I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”
John 6:51a, “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven.”
Revelation 21:2 says, ” I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride.” And 21:10, “He [the angel] carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,”
Both the Lord Jesus, the Bridegroom, and New Jerusalem, the bride, come down out of heaven. The two correspond to each other, as Eve corresponded to and complemented Adam in Genesis 2.
Eve is a strong contrast to the animals God created; among them “for Adam there was not found a helper as his counterpart” (Gen. 2:20). Eve was the complement to Adam because she came out of Adam. God built Eve with the rib He had taken out of Adam.
New Jerusalem comes out of heaven because it is composed of the life and nature of Christ imparted into us in His resurrection. First Corinthians 15:47-48 make a contrast, “The first man [Adam] is out of the earth, earthy; the second man [Christ] is out of heaven. As the earthy is, such are they also that are earthy; and as the heavenly is, such are they also that are heavenly.” As the heavenly new creatures, we compose the heavenly bride, New Jerusalem, which matches the heavenly Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on April 11, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/jesus-and-new-jerusalem-out-of-heaven/
Holy and Without Blemish in Love
Ephesians 5:27 tells us that Christ will “present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.” This church is His well-prepared bride, the forerunner of New Jerusalem.
Christ cares for the church, “cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word.” This corresponds with Revelation 21:2, “New Jerusalem…prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” His washing prepares the bride.
Also, we cooperate with Him. For example, holding to Him in love that His rich supply may flow out. This corresponds with Revelation 19:7, “the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” Our cooperation prepares the bride.
The result of both sides of this preparation, is the bride “holy and without blemish.” This matches Ephesians 1:4, God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love.” Three phrases stand out:
holy, without blemish, in love.
The church becoming New Jerusalem, “the holy city,” as the bride of Christ must be fully holy to match the Bridegroom. The bride must also be without blemish to match the unblemished Bridegroom. Being completely holy and without blemish fulfills Matthew 5:48, “You therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Christians are the Father’s children, having the Father’s divine life and divine nature. Hence, they can be perfect as their Father is….The kingdom of the heavens is the highest demand, and the divine life of the Father is the highest supply to meet that demand.*
Love is the key for our perfecting, as part of “things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Cor. 2:9). To love God means to set our entire being absolutely on Him, that is, to let our entire being be occupied by Him and lost in Him, so that He becomes everything to us and we are one with Him practically in our daily life.º
Lord, keep us loving You every day from now to New Jerusalem!
* Part of the footnote on. Matt. 5:48 º Part of the footnote 3 on 1 Cor. 2:9
Both are in the Recovery Version Bible, © 2017 by Living Stream Ministry.
Posted by Don on April 4, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/04/04/holy-and-without-blemish-in-love/
Out from Christ to be Presented to Christ
Genesis 2:21-22: “Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.” This first human couple is a picture of Christ and the church (Eph. 5:23-32) which consummates in Christ and New Jerusalem as the eternal marriage (Rev. 21:1–22:5).
Prior to the formation of Eve, God brought every living creature to Adam. “The man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of heaven and to every animal of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper as his counterpart” (Gen. 2:20). No other creatures was a match for Adam.
But, when Eve was brought to Adam, “The man said, This time this is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman because out of Man this one was taken. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:23-24).
The inability of the creatures to match Adam, and the wonderful correspondence of Eve to Adam shows that only what came out of Adam matches him to be his counterpart. In the same way, only what comes out of Christ can match Him to be His counterpart/ companion/suitable helper*.
New Jerusalem is the bride, the wife of Jesus Christ. According to the pattern in Genesis 2, New Jerusalem should come out of Christ to be the proper match to be presented to Him.
For more about the church, the precursor of New Jerusalem, coming out of Christ to be presented to Christ, see chapter 2 in The Glorious Church by Watchman Nee. It can be freely downloaded from Bibles for America (English) or Rhema Literature (30 languages).
* Various translations in Gen. 2:20, thanks to Bible Hub.
Photo by Mary Hollinger, courtesy of U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Posted by Don on March 23, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/03/23/out-from-christ-to-be-presented-to-christ/
The Wedding Feast and New Jerusalem
This concludes a group of posts about New Jerusalem as the eternal marriage. A link to each post is presented. The primary verses are:
“Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” (Rev. 19:7)
“Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb.” (Rev. 19:9)
“I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Rev. 21:2)
“One of the seven angels…spoke with me, saying, Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he…showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” (Rev. 21:9-10)
“At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom….The bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast.” 
(Matt. 25:1, 10)
New Jerusalem: the Unique Marriage
New Jerusalem: the Unique Marriage (2)
The Believers Together Are New Jerusalem
The Marriage Dinner of the Lamb
The Marriage Dinner of the Lamb (2)
The Marriage Dinner of the Lamb (3)
The Marriage Dinner of the Lamb (4)
Rejoice, the Marriage of the Lamb has Come
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on February 14, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/the-wedding-feast-and-new-jerusalem/
Rejoice, the Marriage of the Lamb has Come, and His Wife [New Jerusalem] is Ready
Recent posts are on the marriage and marriage dinner of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and New Jerusalem as the bride, the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7, 9; 21:2, 10). When the Lord returns, He will present the church to Himself as His glorious bride (Eph. 5:27).
A song (words + music) express the Lord’s and our longing for this wedding day. The first verse is:
__Lord, Thou wilt soon appear,
____Thy day is almost here.
__Oh, how we love Thy coming soon!
____We have no other
____Lord, life, or lover
__Than Thou, Lord Jesus, our Bridegroom!
With the eternal marriage in view, the Lord spoke of Himself as the Bridegroom in Matthew 9 and 25. To prepare us, He is our Lord to rule us, our Life to supply us, and our Lover to attract us.
Ephesians has many verses on love, and presents human marriage as a picture of the eternal marriage of New Jerusalem. Part of the second verse of the song says:
__Oh what an hour sweet
__When Bride and Bridegroom meet
__And love surpassing comprehend.
Looking forward to the day of His return, Ephesians ends, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.” Lord Jesus, we love You and are eager to see You return and to comprehend the surpassing love! This longing is expressed in the third verse of the song, “Soon we shall see Thy face! / Amen, Lord Jesus! Quickly come!”
The last verse of the song says, “Thou, our Lord Bridegroom, Thou / Soon wilt return to claim Thy Bride.” Then Revelation 19:7 will be fulfilled, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife [New Jerusalem] ]has made herself ready.”
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com.
Posted by Don on February 12, 2018
https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2018/02/12/rejoice-the-marriage-of-the-lamb-has-come-and-his-wife-new-jerusalem-is-ready/
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