The Bride of Christ

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Lesson 1:   Introduction

 

I am very exited about January Sunday school. I have been working on these lessons for several months and have preached the series at the Heaton Christian Church this year. I know that I am wordy, but I do believe the words are good for thought.  I encourage you to take the time to read some of what I have written, ask questions, write them down and bring them to class, or email them directly to me.  In January, we will look at these thoughts regarding the Church, which we are.  Here are some of what we will study.

 

Who is the church?

What is her purpose on Earth?

Would you like to see the knowable future of the Church?

 

1.  The Church must make sure of her identity.

The church’s identity is pictured as a bride. This picture is displayed in both testaments for us as a reminder of what was promised and a continued hope of what is to come.

 

2. The bride must make sure of her love of her Groom.

The Church’s love for Jesus is expressed in her emotion and acts that prove her commitment. This love must be cultivated and held to the highest place of honor.

 

3.  The bride must be sure of her destiny.

The Church’s destiny is otherworldly. Her vision must always regard the passing away of the old order of things. The shepherds of the Church must keep her mind focused on the work of the groom. We are going to "the prepared place". (John 14:3) Our "Vision" must be "Heavenward" and not "Earthward". This sure understanding is to be cultivated by those placed by God to assist the Church. His is accomplished in a variety of ways.

 

4. The Church must make sure her wedding gown is proper.

The Church’s wedding gown is her righteous acts, which is her faith in Christ.

 

May the Lord bless and keep you,

 

Bill Dinwiddie - Instructor

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Lesson 2:   Learning To Think Like A Bride

 

If we use the picture of a bride as a tool to assist us to understand our relationship with Jesus Christ, then we have to compare the bride of the here and now to the bride of the there and the then. If here and now is the United States and there and then is Israel of millennia past, then we must have an understanding of both cultures.

 

This is not an exercise of judgment on either society. But, if we wish to know the thinking of the person of Jesus time on earth when He spoke of the marriage as being like His coming in Matthew 25, we must have a decent understanding to make a fair comparison.

In our society, many brides-to-be spend a large amount of time thinking about the wedding plans, the honeymoon and many other things that may or may not be important from one bride to another. In ancient Hebrew times, things were simpler and more day-to-day. The bride would occupy her time being a daughter and keeping her mind filled with the promises of her groom.

 

That bride of ancient times had somewhat different duties in life than most women today. While it was a different culture, some things are the same. There were ideas the groom painted in the mind of his betrothed. There were promises made that warmed her heart and made her look forward to the future. In that sense, nothing has changed. Brides of all times are still wooed in much the same way.

 

There are things the groom must promise his bride. The greatest of these is love. After that a life-long commitment is offered along with protection and constant care. In our culture, it has been a promise to love and to cherish in sickness and in health, in poverty and wealth keeping yourself into each other until death do you part.

 

This is precisely what Jesus did in calling you by His Gospel and filling you with His Spirit. Your response to Him was according to His own desire. You believed Him and responded by putting on His likeness in baptism. In this response, you began to be clothed in Christ. At this point you accepted His proposal of marriage. From that point, you live in a state of preparedness for the wedding. But the real question is…what do you think about between the time of the betrothal to the wedding?

 

Come join us this Sunday and let’s explore these things.

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Lesson 3:  Learning to love like a bride.

  

The bride does not initiate the love but responds to the love of the groom

Ephesians 6:23-24 May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give our brothers and sisters peace and love along with faith. His favor is with everyone who has an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What a great promise! In Noah’s time, he alone found this favor or grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is not so in our time. Jesus has made the difference so that many people may be in good standing with His Father. Everyone who has an UNDYING love for the Lord Jesus Christ has been accepted into that elite relationship. Undying love is the key. Sunday, we will consider this love.

 

John tells us that this love does not originate with us. God first loved us. 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. One might say, God loved us and Jesus proved His love to us.

 

From these two texts, we learn most of what we need to know. God loved us first with a quality of love that we need to respond to Him. Consider a typical courtship. The Suitor woos the woman with offers of life-long love. The woman then has the opportunity of returning the sentiment. If a same love is not returned, the relationship will not last. To my knowledge, no wedding service has had vows where the groom offered his love and the bride responded, “lets just be friends”.

 

Anna and I sometimes have little love arguments. “I love you more than you love me”. “The, the other will respond Oh no you don’t.” “I know I love you more than you love me.” But then, when induring a difficult moment in life, we minister to the other’s hurts and the response is quite the opposite. “How come you love me so much?”  Couples do this in this life as loving gestures.

 

In our marriage vows, we repeated as Kent said last Sunday, “til death do us part”, we reflect the greatest love possible in the flesh. But, we are not of this Earth and neither is our Groom Jesus. The love that He has initiated to us and with which we respond is an UNDYING love. The Holy Spirit tells us “Love never fails” 1 Cor 13:8.

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Lesson 4: Learning to long to be with the Groom

 

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

 

We should consider the intense nature of the love between our Lord and His beloved. Gracious and compassion are the two words describing the desire of our Lord for us. It is hard to comprehend that anyone could be focused on us in this manner. We are so unworthy. This is why the text says those who long for Him are blessed.

 

Our first consideration is that the Lord “LONGS” to display His grace toward us. Sometimes we do not consider that our Lord has emotion unless it is an instantaneous display of wrath toward an oppressor or life sparing mercy toward the helpless downtrodden. Here we see that He is patiently but eagerly waiting to reveal His grace to you.

 

Our second consideration is that His position is “ON HIGH”. His purpose toward you is to minister compassion toward you. He knows you will be in need. He knows that you will cry out for relief. Compassion is a merciful gift and is usually hard to find. But our Lord WAITS from His lofty perch viewing all of mankind. There is another Passage that speaks in detail of His intention.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him 2 Chronicles 16:9

 

How blessed are those who long for Him!

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Lesson 5: Learning to look like a bride.

 

What does a bride look like?  Before you start describing her in your mind, consider this. Am I looking at the bride or the bride’s dress?

 

Revelation 19:7-8 "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready."

It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

 

Revelation 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.

 

Next, we are going to consider appearances. There is the outward appearance consisting of one’s visible works and there is the inner appearance.  Peter records that godly women have an inner beauty. 1 Peter 3:1-…Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

 

God’s perspective is seen even in the life of David. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel… for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.

 

It is my hope that in this last lesson we will see and learn to project that which our Lord Jesus sees as true beauty in his bride.

 

Grace and peace, Bill Dinwiddie

 

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