The Church Bride

“Husbands, love your wives, 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.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

Today, we talk about the third of the three analogies that are used to describe the church, and that is the bride. Over the last two days we have already discussed the body of the church, and how you have a key role to play in God’s Kingdom and plan. We then talked about the branch of the church, and how God is the vine. We are dependent upon Him and cannot achieve anything worth meaning apart from Him. But today, I want you to understand the analogy of the bride.
In Western tradition, the bride plans the wedding, based on the date most likely the couple agrees on, but she handles all of the details. In the Eastern tradition, there would have been a couple elements that would have led to a wedding day. Two families would come together and arrange a marriage. It was a contract or an agreement. There was a bride price.

Why is there a bride price? In a time of poverty, a daughter brings resources to the family and knows she will be leaving a family in poverty. So the groom’s father and groom make a contribution or gift to make up for that financial loss. This was known as the bride price.
This is a picture Jesus painted to describe His relationship with the church. The marriage does form a relationship, but it was bought at a price. The bride was bought at a price. And the same goes for the church and Jesus. We can be the body and play a role in His plan. We are dependent upon Him, and He will give us the power we need, but it is because He bought us at a price. And that price was the cross.

There are so many verses that can get you pumped up and motivated to live the will of God for your life. There are verses that can make you feel empowered to do great things, and you should feel this way! When God is for you no one can be against you. But never forget the price you were bought at. And continue to thank God that you can have this relationship, because Jesus paid the ultimate price.