“We Are The Bride Of Christ”

II Corinthians 11:2-6

2) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4) For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

5) For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

6) But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

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vidently, it is difficult for us to “understand” what is “spiritual.” This is even though all that God says is true. Therefore, we are given the chance, by the Lord, to operate by faith!

We are the new “Bride of Christ,” and we are allowed the opportunity to take on His name because we are “unified” with Him. In that we have agreed to be called by that Name, we are no longer our “own.” What we become is what we have not been—and what we never could have become with Him.

The “head” of any body is the one who makes the decision. In the case of the Body of Christ, if we would avoid “spiritual Parkinson’s,” Jesus must be allowed to do the directing. Now, in that we have known only one way of operating in life (and that is, to do our own thinking), if we want to be “saved,” we must “change.” Without a doubt, resistance to this is what “marks” the human being.

And this is the “crux” of the matter…You see, when we become one with the Lord, we cease to be a mere human being any longer. What has been missed for years, even by the redeemed, is the fact that Jesus died in order to really accomplish something! He did not die just to give us something! It is true without His death, we would have no access to the Holy Spirit. However, with the granting of the Holy Spirit, “something,”—we—were supposed to change!

What we seem not to have known is that in order for change to take place, death must occur. It never occurred to us that the way that we were was not good enough. It was almost as if though we received the Holy Ghost, He existed in us in order to make our situations better—not necessarily to make us any different.

Perhaps part of our confusion was that the concept of “death” for most, is physical, but when one deals with the Spirit, the concept is strictly spiritual. Our acceptance of the concept is complicated by the fact that our human minds are incapable of seeing things any differently than what physically presents itself.

Becoming “married” to one indicates that our allegiance “transfers” to that individual. When we become the “Bride of Christ,” it is He to whom we owe our allegiance. This means that sin is to have no dominion and we are not to feel any “obligation” to continue “seeding” our time or energy into it.

Part of accepting one’s “freedom” from sin is accepting the fact of Whom is really “in control” of our lives. That person is, of course, Jesus. Acknowledging this truth will protect us from being “beguiled” by Satan. Not only does he beguile us to sin, but he also attempts to convince us that it is “hard” to be saved.

How fascinating that the word “simplicity” is associated with the Person of Jesus Christ. Most never come to recognize this, for Jesus’ simplicity only becomes evident as we accept what He has already done. When we remain resistant to this, we continue to operate as if our lives and their success are dependent upon is. Inarguably, this serves to unduly complicate our existence.

Though Jesus has done all that He has done in order to simplify matters for us (for the sole purpose of “freeing” us to witness for Him), because of the way that we “process” His “actions,” we believe that His interest is in giving us a “hard time.” Actually, the Lord does all that He does that we might come to spiritual “completion.” To do this, we must “grow,” and in order to “grow,” we must die. “Growth in Jesus” requires trust of Him and we exhibit trust through being willing to entrust our every situation to Him. Death, then, will be a natural outgrowth as we come to realize that there is nothing for which we, personally, must “stand up” or “for.”

Traditionally, before one becomes a “bride,” she must be instructed in what brides are expected to do. Though we come to Christ essentially unprepared, because His is “prepared” (to supply all), this is not a problem. However, most often, we come to our Groom not prepared to listen—and this impedes us from accepting what is spiritual. And only if and until we acknowledge what we do not know, will be able to embrace spiritual revelation.

The job of the Bride of Christ is to live in the honor, glory and praise of God. This will be “helped” in us if we remember who we are—that we are, indeed, His Bride. Brides are excited, anticipatory, eager to please please and optimistic. How could one espoused to the King of Kings be any less so?