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In the Old Testament God desired to have a marriage with Israel and indeed declared Himself Israel's husband (Jer. 3:14) But those people were carnal. They could not receive spiritual things because they were not born again. And they were continually falling into idolatry and being unfaithful to God. The entire book of Hosea is a picture of the marriage relationship of God with backsliding Israel.
But through the new birth that is available to us in Jesus Christ, God changes the inner nature of man, puts His own nature in us so that we can have divine union and communion with Him.
We can come into covenant and fellowship with him clothed in His own righteousness through the blood of Jesus, not having to depend upon our own merits.
Paul said that if we are united or married to the Lord through the new birth, we are one spirit with Him. (1 Cor. 6:17) Paul implies that the new birth experience is a union deeper than the physical marriage relationship that makes a man and a woman one flesh.
The union between Christ and the believer is so deep that we become "members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30) We not only become one spirit with him. We become His flesh and bones on the earth, His physical body.
We read in Revelation of the marriage supper of the Lamb that theologians say is to take place following the rapture of the church. That wedding supper will be a celebration of what has already taken place between Christ and His church. We are not waiting for our wedding day. As believers we are right now married to the Lord. We have entered into a covenant marriage with Him and He has shed His own blood to seal it.
We are already members of His body, his own flesh and bone. We are a branch of His vine with His life flowing through us. (John 15:5) Ephesians 2: 6 says we who are in Christ are seated with Him in heavenly places.
What kind of husband do you think Jesus is? You can be assured that Jesus fulfills all the admonitions to husbands in the New Testament, "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it." (Eph. 5:25) Jesus sanctifies and cleanses the church, according to Ephesians 5. He washes it with water by the Word so that it will be holy and without blemish, (verse 27). He nourishes and cherishes us and cares for us because we are actually members of His body. He loves us as He loves Himself, just as Paul admonishes all husbands to do in verse 33.
He honors us as the weaker vessel. (1 Peter 3:7) He submits himself to us as we submit ourselves to Him in the spirit. (John 13:4-16) He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He hates divorce and will not divorce us. (Mal. 2:16) (I Cor. 7:11) He is faithful forever. (1 Cor. 1:9) The promises he makes, he fulfills. We can trust His word to us. He intercedes for us with the Father (Heb.7:25).
There are many in the church world who look at the parable of the virgins in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, as a picture of the church, waiting for the return of Jesus at the rapture, or catching away of the church.
But from the scriptures I have pointed out already, you see that as born again believers we are not virgins engaged to be married, nor are we wedding guests waiting to see if the bridegroom will take us in to the marriage feast or close the door and shut us out. To believe that He could do that is to question His integrity, to question His faithfulness, to question His love for us.
What kind of a bridegroom would Jesus be if he shut the bride out of the wedding festivities, His own flesh and bone body? We must assume that if this is a picture of the marriage supper of the Lamb, on the basis of what the New Testament teaches, that the bride was inside enjoying the feast with the bridegroom.
Then who are these virgins, these young unmarried women? I think Jesus was saying to the unborn again people He was speaking to, "You must be prepared and be ready if you are to enter the kingdom of heaven," perhaps looking forward to the new birth.
I don't think Jesus meant this parable to be something that frightens born again believers into doubting that they will go in the rapture when Jesus returns.
This is a real fear for some people. But the Apostle Paul said, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall ALL be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump." (1 Cor. 15:52) He didn't say, just the mature believers will be changed or just the soulwinners. He said ALL.
If you are a believer and have been frightened that the Lord will take some believers at the rapture of the church and not others, this is a good time to become assured of your salvation.
How do you do that? You go to the New Testament and study what the Apostle Paul and other New Testament writers had to say about you and your relationship to your spiritual husband.
Study and meditate on the scriptures that talk about who you are in Christ. Think about them, roll them over and over in your mind. Quote them outloud to yourself. The more you do this, the more real your spiritual marriage to Jesus will become. Establish yourself in Him, draw strength from His indwelling. Assure yourself of His faithfulness. Then act on what He tells you to do. Act on His written word and on His personal word to you.
This is the foundation of rock that cannot be shaken. To know His Word, to believe it, and to do it is the way to establish your heart, to become fixed and unshakeable. This is the "washing of water with the Word" as Paul said it in Ephesians 5:27. This is how Jesus makes us without spot or blemish, through His Word. There is no other way to become holy than through believing, receiving, and acting on the Word of God.
Is there any way that your spiritual marriage to Jesus can be broken? Yes, but that is your decision, not His. Even in your marriage to Him, Jesus will not Lord it over you. He will not impose His will on you and say, "Submit to Me. I'm the boss here." He will not force you or twist your arm. If you want to leave Him, He'll allow you to go. But that is a decision you make. As long as you want Him and are unwilling to leave Him, He'll never leave you or abandon you. (Heb. 13:5) (Matt. 28:20). He will cleave to you just as a husband cleaves to his wife and the two become one flesh. (Matt. 19:5-6)
What is the purpose of this spiritual marriage? The first purpose is that He may satisfy His great longing and love for you. Ephesians 2:4-5 (Amplified) says, "Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, even when we were dead (slain) by our own shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ."
The second purpose is that through your union with Him fruit is produced for the kingdom of God, children are brought forth into the kingdom as you and He become co-laborers together.
From Singles Scene/Spirit & Life, P.O. Box 310, Allardt, TN 38504