Marriage as Christ and his Bride? (Potentially steamy content)

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If you grew up in a conservative or evangelical church you have probably heard about this idea from the pulpit. You might even have come across the not so many verses in the Bible where this analogy is drawn. But you may have been puzzled by the idea that this isn’t just an analogy; at some level, this is real. The body of Christ is also the bride of Christ. The church is Christ’s bride, waiting for him to return, and longing for the eternal bridegroom to come and get her. And when he does, they will dwell together eternally in such joy and intimacy that–well, we just cannot imagine.

That’s pretty heady stuff.

But it’s difficult to feel that it is true or to even begin to grasp what this really means. An earthly relationship between two people no matter how much they love each other is filled with failures and imperfections and losses and even betrayals.

And it is so human, so earthy, so physical and so broken.

How can this practical day-to-day “please take out the trash honey” possibly represent the infinitely powerful love of Christ for his people? much less fully embody that love?

I have listened to the rare references to all believers as Christ’s bride and his beloved since I was a part of a conservative denomination where the sermons worked through different books of the Bible over time, explaining what it all meant. Maybe there was that sense of something deeply personal when we sang this song when I was a child, “He calls me to his banqueting table, his banner over me is love.” That’s from the Song of Solomon 2:4. Again, this is spoken by the bride of Solomon, but, if the full meaning of the book holds true, this love poem reveals just how Jesus is crazy about us and how passionately he longs to be united with us.

So it’s not that I was unaware of this motif in the Bible. But if you’re like me, it generally made you somewhat confused, and if discussed at church, possibly uncomfortable. Or at the best, you were fine with it, but just didn’t get it. This idea just wasn’t real to me, despite living in a good marriage characterized by respect, care and mutuality.

No marriage can fully embody that eternal truth because it is by definition mortal and flawed and because by definition, spiritually speaking, we haven’t had the immortal wedding yet and we don’t yet know what it is to be truly eternally married to the Prince of Peace.

But one thing I do know. I’ve been married for almost 34 years now. For most of that time, the idea that Christ is pursuing his bride just didn’t speak to me. Yet recently, over the past several years, as my marriage has continued to season, and my husband and I continue to practice really loving each other, our companionship has strengthened and deepened in ways that are frankly completely impossible to fully explain. We rely on each other completely. We trust each other fully. There is no joy like the joy of the return to each other at the end of the working day. Our total emotional and physical companionship cannot be explained by mere words. But I can assure you it is more amazing than any other experience I have ever had.

We’re still here, in the not-yet, but I now believe we can trust in the truth that the union God’s people have with him is like the marriage of the most faithful, long-loving couple we know, but multiplied. Exponentially. Infinitely. Supernaturally. Gloriously. Perfectly. Eternally.

And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.