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The Church As A Family And A Bride
As has been stated many times, we learn new things in terms of things already known and understood. The Bible presents the church of Christ to us in terms of other relationships that enables us to grasp the significance of the church, its relationship to Christ, and our relationship to one another. The church is as a kingdom, a building, and a body. In this lesson we shall investigate Scripture that presents the church as the family of God and the bride of Christ.
The Bride
First, consider the church as the bride of Christ. This calls upon our knowledge of the institution of marriage. In Ephesians 5 the apostle illustrated the relationship between Christ and the church as that of husband and wife. Reference to God's people in this way is not the first time the Scriptures have used this illustration. The nation of Israel, God's chosen people in the Old Testament, was also presented as a wife to God (Isaiah 54:5). Fidelity, subjection, love and obedience was expected of Israel unto the Lord. The Lord protected Israel and provided for her as a husband does a wife. Israel in her disobedience is pictured as an unfaithful wife and one who played the harlot. Especially is this the picture in Hosea.
In Matthew 25 and the parable of the ten virgins, the bridegroom that came was Christ. In Matthew 8 the disciples of Jesus were criticized for not fasting, but He pictured Himself as the bridegroom in verses 14, 15. "Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they fast."
John the Baptist, the forerunner and herald of the coming of Christ, also presented Jesus as the bridegroom and he (John) was but the friend of the bridegroom. John 3:28-30, "Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease."
As A Marriage
In the Roman letter Paul used the marriage relationship to teach that the old law has been taken away and all men are now accountable to God under the law of Christ. Romans 7:1-4, "Know ye not, brethren, [for I speak to them that know the law,] how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."
The Jews were formerly "wedded" to the Mosaic Law. But their former husband was dead, since the old law was nailed to the cross and taken out of the way (Colossians 2:14). Now, as Christians, they were "wedded" to another husband. The new husband was the One who was raised from the dead, even Christ. Whereas they were once subject to the Mosaic Law, they now, as Christians, were subject to Christ and such is true with all men. As they were as a "wife" to the Mosaic Law, as Christians they were now a "wife" to Christ.
The most extensive passage of Scripture showing the relationship of Jesus and the church as husband and wife is Ephesians 5:23-33. You are urged to lay aside the lesson for a moment and concentrate on that passage from your Bible.
While the passage teaches many of the duties of husbands to wives and wives to husbands, the primary teaching has to do with the relationship between Christ and the church. By this comparison we can see more clearly our duty to the Lord Jesus, our subjection to Him, and His love and provision for us.
A Family
The second way we can understand the nature of the church, in this lesson, is to see the church as the family of God. There is no tie on earth that binds good people together that is stronger than the tie of kinship. How often do people say, "Blood is thicker than water?" This old adage simply emphasizes the tie of kinship. All kinds of favors and considerations are extended to one another for the simple reason of being kinfolk.
There is a tie that binds that is stronger, closer, more sacred than the tie of physical kinship. This is the spiritual tie that exists among faithful brethren in the Lord. This is because Christians make up the family of God. We are brothers and sisters one to another.
In Matthew 12:46-50 we read, "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."
No Disrespect Intended
Jesus was not speaking disparagingly of His fleshly kin nor disowning His physical family. He used this opportunity to teach the stronger kinship, the spiritual kinship, that kinship that comes from doing the will of the Father.
In Ephesians 2:19 Paul speaks of the church, those to whom he had addressed that epistle, as the household of God. I Timothy 3:15 specifically identifies the "house of God, which is the church of the living God." In Galatians 6:10 Paul speaks of doing good unto all men, then adds, "especially unto them who are of the household of faith." In each of these passages the spiritual kinship is that of God's children making up His family.
Analogies
As family, God is the Father (II Thessalonians 1:1). Christ fits into the picture in a very unique fashion. When the church is presented as a body, Christ is the head. When the church is the kingdom, Christ is the King. When the church is a building, He is the builder, the cornerstone, and the foundation upon which it is built. When the church is taught to be God's family, Christ, the divine Son of God, is as our elder brother. Depending upon which scriptural illustration we are using, Christ assumes different postures and relationships to those who belong to God.
Romans 8:14-17 teaches we are the sons and daughters of God. This was addressed to members of the church. Similarly, II Corinthians 6:14-18 teaches the same thing. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
As Christ assumes varying postures, so those who are members of the church take on different postures. The church as a kingdom means we are citizens As a body, we are members of the body. As a building, we are the living stones. As a marriage, we are the bride. As a family, we are the children of God.
Let me speak freely to those of us who are brethren in the Lord. Seeing we are of the same family, children of God, then we are brethren, and that ought to make a difference in our attitudes and actions toward one another. In one sense all the human family is one family and we can rightly speak of the brotherhood of man because we all have descended from the first parents, Adam and Eve. But the brotherhood that exists because of being spiritual children of God surpasses the physical brotherhood.
"Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above." On goes the sentiments of that beautiful hymn that shows the glory of being brethren in the Lord There should be unity, love, consideration, affection and everyone seeking the other's highest good as we follow the will of the Father.
We Be Brethren
Do you recall the dispute that arose between the herdsmen of Lot and those of Abraham? That dispute potentially was a threat to the relationship of Abraham and his nephew. But Abraham was determined to prevent any severance between them. The reason he gave why there should be no such problem was, "For we be brethren." That made a great difference. It still should make a great difference among those who belong to God and consider one another as children of God.
The familyhood of the church is further borne out in the fact that we are born into God's family. By the new birth (John 3:3-5) we enter the kingdom, which is the church, which is the family of God. By that birth in water and the Spirit we become new creatures in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17), being raised from baptism to walk in a newness of life (Romans 6:3,4), this newness due to the new birth. By this birth we are added to the membership of the church (Acts 2:47), which is the family of God.
From these two illustrations we see our subjection to Deity. As a wife is subject to her husband, so the church is subject to Christ. As a child is subject to his or her parents, so we, as God's children in His family, are subject to Him.
Wedded Or Born
In view of these Biblical truths, we urge one and all to be "wedded" to the Lord by obedience to the gospel. We plead that every reader obey the commands of the gospel and be born again, born of water and the Spirit, born into God's family.
The seriousness and glory of these truths is that those who make up the bride, the church, shall be those that enter heaven. Those who are God's children shall live eternally with Him while those who continue to live as children of the devil shall exist in hell with him in eternity. By faith, repentance, confession of our faith in Christ as God's Son, and baptism into Christ for the remission of sins, we obey the gospel that brings us into this favorable and acceptable relationship. Being faithful unto death assures for us the benefits made possible by the grace, love and mercy of God as manifested through His Son, Jesus Christ.