"When the Bridegroom King beholds His Bride, His heart is ravished by just one glance from her. Would you like to learn hidden truths, past present and future regarding this special relationship? Deep in scripture are secrets that have been held back from the wise and revealed to babes. Could it be that discovering her, we find ourselves? Come track with me this holy journey of the Bride and her Beloved."
Biography of the Bride
The Divine Union between Christ and His ChurchBy Ali JohnsonAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Ali Johnson
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-0706-5Contents
Introduction........................................................1Judgment............................................................4Marriage: One Man-One Woman.........................................6Marriage and the Humility of Christ.................................8A Sinless Savior....................................................11The Beauty of Humility..............................................14The Cross and the Passover Lamb.....................................17The Darkness........................................................20His Death...........................................................25The Bride was Born..................................................27His Burial..........................................................30The Bridegroom Beckons..............................................33The Water of Life...................................................39The Oil of Intimacy.................................................42Our Spiritual Journey...............................................45Our Spiritual Journey Scripture Reference...........................47The Bridal Relationship and His End Time Church.....................50The Divine Union....................................................54Recommended Reading/Study...........................................57I Give You My Heart.................................................59
Chapter One
JudgmentWhen sin found its entrance, the intimate relationship between Godand man was severed. At that moment, Adam and Eve suffered spiritualdeath and eventually physical death. Looking at the punishment fortheir disobedience, we will see that the curse of sin remains with eachsubsequent generation until it is wiped away through the Cross ofChrist. He became our curse (Galatians 3:13) so we would not have tosuffer an eternal death.
"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast donethis, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thylife, And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and betweenthy seed and her seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise hisheel" (Genesis 3:14-15). To Eve, God said, ".....I will greatly multiplythy sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thyhusband, and he shall rule over thee" (Genesis 3:16). Finally to Adam,God declared, "Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thoushalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thoueat of it all the days of thy life ..." (Genesis 3:17-19).
When examining this portion of scripture in Genesis 3:16-19,God is speaking to the now fallen man and woman. The self-life wasborn in the Garden that day because of mankind's disobedience to thecommand of God. Christ gave us power over this self-life through thecross. We are given the first prophetic promise of hope in Genesis 3:15,where it is declared, Christ would triumph over Satan. The woman'sseed was to crush the devil's head, making all things subject to theauthority of God. Scripture also reveals there will be enmity betweenthe woman and the serpent (Genesis 3:15). We see this more clearly aswe peer into the pages of history and reflect on the abuse women havetaken ever since the fall of mankind. Satan's disdain for her is obvious,as she symbolized the Church of God as a whole and became the avenuethrough which our Savior was born. Jesus brings reconciliation betweenGod and man once again. This is the place where the power strugglebetween man and woman melts into oneness, back to their originalstate, reconciling them in the presence of God. The second Adam was soin love with His Eve (the Church) that no price was too great to redeemher from the hands of the enemy.
Chapter Two
Marriage: One Man-One WomanWhat was God's design for marriage from the beginning? Did he nottake only one rib from Adam for the creation of Eve? He said in Genesis2:24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, shall cleaveunto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." God did not use the word"wives" here. So when did "wives" come into the picture? The very firstto practice this was Lamech, an ancestor of Cain. In Genesis 4:19, theBible states he took for himself two wives. This was just the beginningof a blatant violation of God's marital law of one man and one woman.In order for Lamech to keep his wives in this unheard-of relationship,he used great boasting, coupled with fear. He said (Genesis 4:23),"....Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken untomy speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young manto my hurt."
Lamech stated his name for the purpose of declaring his authority.He orchestrated a damaging use of religion to lead these women to gainultimate control and then presented God as a seal of approval for hisactions, "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech, seventy andsevenfold" (Genesis 4:24). In other words, he was telling the two womenif you leave or hurt me, not only will you face my wrath, but God willget you in the end as well. Fear was the knot that tied them together.
Jesus revealed the heart of God about marriage when He said,"Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh" (Matthew 19:6). Noother relationship on earth can be more sacred. Our whole Christianlife depends on our understanding of the marriage principle. If we fullycomprehend and accept the natural law of marriage, we will have a veryclear picture of the divine marriage. One man for one woman; no othercombination will do. It is not only the design of God, but it is His ownwork that we are in Christ (John 1:12-13). Right from the beginning oftime, before the foundation of the world, this Holy union was ordained:one bride for one husband (Genesis 1:27). The Daughter of God for theSon of God, given in marriage by the infinite Father, knitted togetherby the Holy Spirit.
The more we give ourselves to Him, our Holy Bridegroom, the moreHe gives Himself to us. We find we can have as much or as little as wedesire. He promises that if we draw near to Him, He will draw nearto us (James 4:8). As our hearts are united by the bonding of the HolySpirit, we are filled with the same love the Father has for the Son. Thisvery love is how the Son loves us (John 15:9).
Prayer
Lord, show us that it is your very own life you
impart as we become one with you. Teach us what it
means to abide. This most intimate act of obedience
would make it impossible for us to seek, even for a
minute, a life apart from you. Deepen within us the
sense of this Holy union. Reveal to us the revelation of
this mystery and all the love and power it avails to us.
Chapter Three
Marriage and the Humility of
ChristThere is a natural body and there is a spiritual body (I Corinthians15:44). "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial, but theglory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another(I Corinthians 15:40). There is a natural or fleshly marriage betweena man and a woman. The man shall leave his father and mother andcleave unto his wife; the two...
