Referring to my Thread: Resurrections and conversation with Doug in a Forum,
let's read him main statements about the Bride of Christ and consider them:
" This is also why Paul says for us to ascend unto heaven means to call Christ down for the same reason the wife prepared for her husband is seen coming down from heaven to earth where those with the Holy Spirit who have been waiting for her will put on Christ receiving the fullness of their inheritance. Meanwhile, 99.9% in your churches teach that they are the bride of Christ that will physically ascend to heaven which is contrary to the purpose of God's plan and what is the message behind why the BRIDE FOR CHRIST for the completion of the tabernacle of God appearing on earth and SEEN WITH MEN in the book of Revelation 22 is COMING DOWN FROM HEAVEN to earth and not the other way around !!!"
My response was:
Your statement about the Bride of Christ (the Church of God) is funny.
Let me tell you what our God said:
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb (JESUS) has come, and His wife (CHURCH) has made herself ready." 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19
This is the meeting of God Jesus with the Church of God (believers).
The imagery and symbolism of marriage is applied to Christ and the body of believers known as the Church.
At the Second Coming of Christ, the Church will be united with the Bridegroom (the SON of GOD), the official "wedding ceremony" will take place and, with it, the eternal union of Christ and His bride will be actualized (Revelation 19:7-9; 21:1-2).
At that time, all believers will inhabit the heavenly CITY known as New Jerusalem, also called �the holy city� in Revelation 21:2 and 10. The New Jerusalem is NOT the Church.
Some have misinterpreted verse 9 to mean the holy city is the Bride of Christ, but that cannot be because Christ died for His people, not for a city.
But NOTE: The city is called the Bride because it encompasses all who are the Bride, just as all the students of a school are sometimes called �the school.�
As believers in Jesus Christ, we who are the Bride of Christ wait with great anticipation for the day when we will be united with our Bridegroom JESUS.
Now let's read about that in the OT:
God the Glory of His People
Isaiah 60
19 �The sun shall no longer be your light by day,
Nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you;
But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light,
And your God your glory.
20 Your sun shall no longer go down,
Nor shall your moon withdraw itself;
For the Lord will be your everlasting light,
And the days of your mourning shall be ended.
21 Also your people shall all be righteous;
They shall inherit the land forever,
The branch of My planting,
The work of My hands,
That I may be glorified.
22 A little one shall become a thousand,
And a small one a strong nation.
I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.�
Isaiah 61:
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Isaiah 62:
For Zion�s sake I will not hold My peace,
And for Jerusalem�s sake I will not rest,
Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
And her salvation as a lamp that burns.
2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name.
3 You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.
4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken,
Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate;
But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah;
For the Lord delights in you,
And your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
So shall your sons marry you;
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
So shall your God rejoice over you.
11 Indeed the Lord has proclaimed
To the end of the world:
�Say to the daughter of Zion,
�Surely your salvation is coming;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.��
12 And they shall call them The Holy People,
The Redeemed of the Lord;
And you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
Isaiah 65
17 �For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her,
22 But you have come to Mount Zion (ISRAEL) and to the CITY of the living God, the HEAVENLY Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general assembly and CHURCH of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12
One interpretation sees the Heavenly City suspended above the earth like a space platform. Others see an earthly city. Still others a city suspended in the air that later descends to earth.
But it is a literal city representing God's redeemed people experiencing their final salvation, the city is a place of fellowship with God.
