The Glorious Bride
Ephesians 1: 15 – 23
Sometimes I think we don’t think often enough about that first week of creation described for us in the early chapters of Genesis. We kind of breeze by it, as if we’re in a hurry to get past the wonder of the creation itself, and even the glory of the man and the woman, created to bear the image of God and to rule over the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and every creature that moves along the ground, so we can get busy focusing on the sinfulness of our fallen condition. But we need to focus more often on that creation—on paradise—on Eden—on that garden that God created so that his people could live with him in the fullness of joy and blessing, understanding who their creator was, and why he made them.
So this morning, as we begin, I want to focus especially on that sixth day, when, after he had made the “living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals each according to its kind,” God said, “Let us make humanity in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
We’re told that on that day, God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, inspired him with the breath of life, and the man he had formed became a living being. But something wasn’t quite finished in that moment, because in spite of the fact that God had stepped back at the end of each day, looked at all that he had made and pronounced it good; after causing all of the other creatures to pass before Adam so that he might name them, when he looked at Adam, standing there by himself, he said, “It is not good…” “It is not good for the man to be alone…”
So God caused Adam to sleep, and while he was asleep he took from his side a rib, and from that he formed the woman who would become Adam's wife. And we can only speculate about what it was like to awake and to be introduced to his bride—no dating rituals, no courtship here; just a match made in heaven so to speak. And whether or not they were the pinnacle and ideal of humanity as some have suggested, surely they were ideal for one another, this first man and first woman. After all, God had said, “I will make a helper suitable for [or corresponding to] him.” And let me reiterate, guys, that when God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, he did not give the man a dog, or a truck. He did not, seeing that it was not good for the man to be alone create the NHL; rather, he made a woman—a “helper” corresponding to him.
And let me also point out before we move on that she was not created to be a “helpmate” with all of the connotations of that lovely word—not a “helper” as in, “an assistant to the man”. It was not as if God saw that Adam, having so much work to do out in the garden, was gonna need someone to pick up his laundry……just think about it for a minute, you’ll get it in a while……As a matter of fact, the Hebrew word translated “helper” here is the very same word used in the Psalms where David and others make statements like, “God is my helper…” so it’s clear that the word itself is not an indication in any sense of some kind of superiority of the one helped over the one doing the helping.
So, God creates this magnificent and beautiful person to be counterpart to the man. She is all that he is not, and vice versa. She completes him and makes humanity whole and together in the fullness of their humanity they will bear and perpetuate the image of God.
Adam seems to understand this instinctively, because immediately, when he sees her he says not, “Wow!” or even, “Cool! this is now the little woman, and she shall pick up my socks and keep me warm at night.” NO. He, in that moment when he is introduced to his bride, says, “This is me.” “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.” Which is to say, “Everything else in the world is not like me. This one—this woman—she is like me. She’s made from the same stuff, the same blood and bone and breath.”
You see, we often go to Genesis 2 to highlight the differences between male and female, but the truth is, Genesis 2 exists to do exactly the opposite. Genesis 2 exists to highlight the fact that male and female alike are made from the same stuff and bear together the image of God, and it’s important that we understand all this, because Ephesians chapter 5 tells us that to some extent, all of this was done in order to give us a sense of the relationship—the correspondence—that exists between God and his people, or, more specifically, between Christ and the church.
Paul wrote: “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
See, there is a connection—a relationship if you prefer—and it is defined by covenant, but the covenant itself defines a spiritual or a mystic union that exists not only between a man and a woman, but also between Christ and his bride, the church. So we are the body of Christ, but we are also his bride, or more accurately, we are his body because we are his bride. And watch the connections that run back and forth here, because on one level Paul is talking about marriage in the human sphere, but he’s so caught up in the mystery that you’d never know it.
In verse 25, “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”
Then again in 28, “husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies…after all, no one ever hated his own body, but he fees and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body.
And then, that argument from the beginning of the world, “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.”
Which ought to simply just blow us away.
I mean, we sort of get the whole marriage covenant/one flesh relationship as it exists in time between a husband and wife, but do we even begin to grasp the enormity of what Paul is saying here. In the same way that a man and a woman become one—and what God has joined together no man may divide—in that same way—Christ is one with the church; we are bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. As with Adam and Eve, the church is—we are—the compliment; the counterpart; the very body of Jesus Christ, the son of God and God the son. Which explains that one little verse in our text this morning.
“God place all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
But do we understand that? Can we get our heads around the concept?
I think our immediate reaction is to think, “It cannot be so!” The church cannot have that kind of correspondence and relationship to Christ. He is God and we are not. He is sinless, and we, well…we are not. We’ve been told time and again that it’s not about us. The church cannot be the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
And in case you should be tempted to think that this is some kind of heretical post-modern spin that I’m bringing to this ancient text, listen to Calvin. The old master writes,
“The fullness of him that filleth all in all. This is the highest honour of the Church, that, until He is united to us, the Son of God reckons himself in some measure incomplete. what consolation is it for us to learn, that, not until we are along with him, does he possess all his parts, or wish to be regarded as complete! Hence, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, when the apostle discusses largely the metaphor of a human body, he includes under the single name of Christ the whole Church.”
So this is not new or innovative. This is reformed and biblical theology at its best and brightest. We are—the church is—his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. The very incredulity that we feel is the basis for Paul’s prayer at the end of chapter one. Having already told us that in Christ we have redemption; in Christ we were adopted as God’s children; and in Christ we were chosen and predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will; Paul goes on to pray that we would be able to understand fully what this means.
He prays, as we saw a couple weeks ago, that we might know “his incomparably great power” at work in those of us who believe. He prays that we would realize that the same power that brought Jesus alive from the tomb and raised him up to the right hand of God the Father almighty is already at work in us. We have been raised up with him—given life, eternal life—in Christ Jesus our Savior. And that’s not the promise of something to be delivered in the future, it’s a statement of the reality which is ours in Christ Jesus our Lord right here and right now. In him, you have life. In him you have the kind of life that makes physical death insignificant. That’s why Jesus said, “The one who lives and believes in me will never die.” Do you understand that? “Will never die…” You have already been raised up with Christ by the power of the one who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Do you believe this? Paul prayed that you would; that you would understand the kind of power that is at work in you through Christ Jesus.
He also prayed that we would know the hope to which we have been called—“the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” And you need to underline and highlight that word “riches” because sometimes as Christians we begin to feel as though we are making sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom; giving up all of the good things and the pleasures of this world so that someday, “in the sweet by and by” we may inherit something which is hopefully better than what we have given up—and most of us have a hard time believing it. But Paul prays that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened; that is, that we may see with something other than our physical sight, that we may perceive the riches which are ours already in the graciousness and goodness and greatness of our God.
Again, Calvin writes,
“Foolish men imagine that this language is absurdly hyperbolical; but godly persons, who are engaged in daily struggles…have no difficulty in perceiving that not a word is here used beyond what is perfectly just. As the importance of the subject cannot be too strongly expressed, so our unbelief and ingratitude led Paul to employ this glowing language. We never form adequate conceptions of the treasure revealed to us in the gospel; or, if we do, we cannot persuade ourselves that it is possible for us to do so, because we perceive nothing in us that corresponds to it, but everything the reverse. Paul’s object, therefore, was not only to impress the Ephesians with a deep sense of the value of Divine grace, but also to give them exalted views of the glory of Christ’s kingdom. That they might not be cast down by a view of their own unworthiness, he exhorts them to consider the power of God…”
And it’s all here in black and white, written down for us in the word of the gospel. This is what God is doing in this world. He is reconciling all things to himself in Christ Jesus his son. He has raised him up and seated him at his own right hand in the spiritual realm, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church…” Praise God from who all blessings flow. Our God reigns. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, but we—we are his body. We are his bride. We are the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. It is the glory of Christ is to glorify his bride that we may be one with him; seated as he is, even now, at the right hand of God.
And I don’t want to overemphasize this, but I really don’t think that I can. There is a movement afoot in our time to devalue the church; to speak of it as a mere man-made institution; to speak of it as if it’s completely disposable and we can take it or leave it at our choice. The truth is, we can take it or leave it, but at our peril. For the church is his body, the fullness of Christ. “So you don’t want to go to church anymore?” (It was the title of a best-selling book in the last year or two.) OK, but understand, just as you cannot withdraw and remove yourself from the body of a person without withdrawing from the person himself, you cannot withdraw from the body of Christ and then claim to have a “personal” relationship with him. Christ’s relationship to his people is defined by a covenant—specifically, by the covenant of marriage—the church is his body because the church is his bride and to have a relationship with Jesus requires that we be part of his church.
Our reformed forefathers understood this.
That’s why having defined the church as “a holy congregation and gather of true Christian believers, awaiting their entire salvation in Jesus Christ being washed by his blood, and sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit,” the Belgic Confession goes on in Article 28 to say, “We believe that since this holy assembly and congregation is the gathering of those who are saved and there is no salvation apart from it, no one ought to withdraw from it, content to be by himself, regardless of his status or condition. But all people are obliged to join and unite with it, keeping the unity of the church by submitting to its instruction and discipline, by bending their necks under the yoke of Jesus Christ, and by serving to build up one another according to the gifts God has given them as members of each other in the same body.”
Of course, we need to talk more about the relationship between “the church” as the body of Christ and particular, local manifestations of that body, which we will do, Lord willing, as we continue the study of this wonderful little letter. But in the mean time, if you are ever tempted to be critical and judgmental; if you are tempted to downplay the importance of the church or the honor of Christ’s glorious bride; if you are tempted to withdraw, “content to be by [yourself];” if you are tempted to not discern the body of Christ in the gathering of his people; then, please, stop and think—remember and believe that the church is, for all of its flaws and faults, sin and selfishness, the bride of Christ. And because we are his bride, we are his body—bone of his bone; flesh of his flesh—the fullness of him who fills everything in every way; the fullness of Christ…to God be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, now and forevermore.
