Copyright © 2023 Michael A Brown
The understanding of marriage as a
committed, spiritual covenant union in which two people become one is
emphasised by both the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul (Matt. 19:4-6, Eph.
5:22-32). The concept of covenant,
as the unreserved and mutual commitment of two people to one another, expressed
and affirmed through the giving of vows, is the only meaningful way of
understanding and expressing what it means for two people to become one in marriage. The man and woman are drawn together into a
bond in which they become ‘one flesh’ together, i.e. they are bonded together
in a deep and intimate, loving union in which they become one in spirit with
each other. This bond is not simply
physical; a deep, inward spiritual bond is formed between them (Gen. 2:24).
The concept of covenant was foundational
and central to the thinking of both the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul. They were both thoroughly trained in the
Jewish Scriptures, and so they were steeped in the knowledge of the covenants
of God with Israel, who was seen as the wife of Yahweh (Isa. 54:6; Jer.
3:1,14). As we shall see below, this
concept of covenant undergirds both Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching about the return
of the heavenly Bridegroom for his bride in the rapture.
Firstly, just as a prospective Jewish
bridegroom would establish a marriage covenant by paying a tribute or purchase
price for his prospective bride, so too Jesus established the new covenant with
us through his blood, redeeming us to himself (Eph. 1:7, Heb. 9:15). So we belong to him.
Secondly, the Holy Spirit, the promised
gift of the Father to Christ’s bride, is the seal of this new covenant which
God has made with us in Christ. He is
the guarantee of God’s promises to us regarding that which is to come in the kingdom
of God. One form of the Greek word arrhabon,
meaning ‘a deposit’ and used in several verses to describe the Holy Spirit,
meant an engagement ring, that which is given to a betrothed as a promise of
the marriage that will one day take place (Eph. 1:13-14; 2 Cor. 1:22, 5:5). So this new covenant in Christ reflects the
marital relationship, and therefore it is clear that, through the Holy Spirit’s
ministry, the Father’s intention is to prepare us as a bride for his Son
(cf. Eph. 5:22-33). Hence, in this
present time on earth, we live in a mutually committed covenant relationship
with Jesus which is sealed by the Holy Spirit, whose presence within us is a
guarantee of the wedding union that will one day take place between us as the
bride and Christ our heavenly Bridegroom.
To have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit is
to have been indwelt by the Spirit of love for God, and he creates within us an
intimate spiritual union with the Lord: we are one in spirit with him, united
and bound to him deep within.
‘But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.’ (1 Cor. 6:17)
So yearning, love and affection for God
are birthed within us by the Holy Spirit, causing us to want to seek God, and
to hunger and thirst for his word and presence (cf. Ps. 63:1). And it is this inward yearning, this inward
passion of love in our heart for Jesus, that determine the way in which we
should live our life. As our
spirit is increasingly woven into spiritual union with the life-giving presence
of the Holy Spirit within us, this leads into a continuing process in which our
heart’s desires and the way in which we live are transformed. Christ becomes increasingly the life of our
life, and, as his life grows and blossoms within us, it transforms our inward
character which then reflects the fruit of the Spirit.
Thirdly, within this mutual covenant
commitment, Christ our Bridegroom has given himself unreservedly to us as
his bride, the believing Church.
He has promised to protect us, to care for us, and to never leave us or
forsake us, just as any loving spouse would.
He has promised to provide for us, in terms of having a home and
sufficient food and clothing, as we walk with him in love and obedience:
‘God has
said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’ (Heb. 13:5; cf. Matt. 6:33)
Fourthly, the predominant characteristics
of a bride-to-be are purity, single-eyed devotion, and faithfulness to her
betrothed. She has made an unreserved
covenant commitment with him, so she is a ‘one-man woman,’ and she prepares
herself in joyful anticipation of her special day. So too the bride of Christ. She has given her heart to her Beloved and
she keeps her love for him warm, preparing herself for his return (cf. Rev.
2:4-5). She is known by his name, so she
makes it her aim to live in such a way that honours and pleases him, by keeping
his commands (John 14:23, 2 Cor. 5:9, 1 Thess. 4:1, 2 Tim. 2:4). She does not want to disappoint him; she
wants him to be pleased with her when he returns. She remains faithful to him, living a
self-controlled and pure life (Titus 2:11-14, 1 John 3:2-3). She washes herself daily with the word of God
and makes herself look radiant for him:
‘...just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.’ (Eph. 5:25-27)
Those who give themselves in unreserved
heart commitment to Jesus, reciprocating his own unreserved heart commitment to
them (as the concept of covenant union suggests and demands), are the ones who
enter into a fuller and deeper understanding of what it means to be his bride. They experience the free joy, deep
peace, inward security, and ongoing love of this relationship. When
he comes, our heavenly Bridegroom wants to find a bride who loves him, and who
has long been preparing herself in joyful expectation of his return. A bride who knows that her bridegroom is one
day going to come for her, does not hang around passively without preparing
herself, like the five foolish virgins did.
No, she proactively prepares herself like the five wise ones did, so
that she will be ready for when he comes:
‘For the
wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her
to wear.’ (Rev.
19:7-8, cf. Matt. 25:1-13)
Fifthly, just as a young Jewish bridegroom
would give a promise to his bride-to-be, that he would go away and prepare a
room for them in his father’s house in which they would live together after
their marriage ceremony, Jesus gave a similar promise to his disciples
that he would do the same for us as believers. He is even now preparing
a place in heaven for us, and he will soon return to take us to this new home:
‘In my
Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be with me
where I am.’ (John
14:2-3)
Jesus will fulfil this promise to gather
us to himself when he returns in the resurrection-rapture event. He will come to take us to himself
before the end-times period of tribulation and God’s wrath ensues:
‘For the
Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will
rise first. After that, we who are still
alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet
the Lord in the air. And so we will be
with the Lord forever.’
(1 Thess. 4:16-17)
‘…and to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues
us from the coming wrath.’ (1
Thess. 1:10)
In the light of the above points, this
concept of covenant therefore highlights several things in regard to the
rapture:
1. The rapture is rooted in the
concept of covenant. Christ’s return for his bride is placed
in the broader setting of a marriage covenant, and it is therefore a promise to
us within the terms of this covenant.
2. As an act of covenant promise,
the rapture will therefore be an expression of love, care and unbreakable
commitment towards us.
3. It will be impossible for Jesus not
to rapture us when the time comes,
because as our heavenly spouse, he reflects his Father’s nature as a
covenant-keeping God (cf. Ps. 105:8-11).
To do otherwise, would mean that he would be breaking his covenant
promise towards us, but that is quite simply contrary to his nature.
4. The fact that God has given himself
to us in Christ unreservedly in covenant means that he will most
certainly come to rescue us and take us away from the end-times outpouring of
his wrath. The
Greek verb rhuoamai, which is translated as ‘rescues’ in 1 Thessalonians
1:10 above, means ‘to rescue from’ or ‘to preserve from,’ and it was used of
delivering someone from people or circumstances.
5. Similarly, the fact that Christ is
our deeply loving divine spouse underlines just how impossible it is that
we will go through the outpouring of God’s end-times wrath in the tribulation. No loving husband would ever allow
that to happen to his wife; it would be unthinkable! The concepts of covenant love and the pouring
out of wrath are antithetical and mutually exclusive. The only times when God’s ancient people in
the old covenant were subjected to the wrath of God were when they were acting
in continued, wilful, intransigent rebellion and disobedience. However, this is not the picture given to us
of the bride of Christ in the new covenant, who is faithfully waiting and
longing for her Bridegroom to return. So
this is the polar opposite, in fact. As Paul said, we are not appointed to
suffer wrath, but to receive salvation (1 Thess. 5:9).
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