The Attributes Of Christ’s Bride - 3
Proverbs 31:10-31
To really understand a great piece of art you need to know the artist. Only the artist can give you the significance behind every brush stroke.
Take Thomas Kincaid, for example. I enjoy very much his paintings and would have liked very much to sit down with him and have him talk to me about his painting. Everything in a painting of his has significance. There was a story behind every aspect of that canvas.
I was privileged to have someone at his art museum in St. Augustine explain to me the paintings of his. No paintings are just paintings. Behind every painting is a story and sometimes one painting has a story that covers many years.
The important thing about his paintings is there is significance that he has put into every brush-stroke. If I am going to understand his paintings, I need to have him explain it to me. That is not going to happen because he is deceased.
I am sure this can be said of all of the great painters throughout history. It is interesting to get the back story to some of these great pieces of art.
When we come to the Bride of Christ, which is the Church of Christ, we come to the very same thing.
Just like somebody who knows nothing of the artist can try to explain to me what a piece of art is but they have no concept of the artist behind the painting, so, people try to explain to me what the Church is but they have no comprehension of the person behind the Church.
If I am really going to understand everything about the Church, I need to know the person who designed it and why he designed it and for whom he design it.
If I am to understand who I am as a Christian, I need to understand the person behind my Christianity. And I also need to understand his purpose in designing me.
This kicks evolution to the curb.
Too many people are very careless in their understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Some people have the idea that being a Christian means that God has forgiven me my sins and one day I’m going to go zooming off into heaven. In the meantime, I can do as I please. It is a very shallow concept of what being a Christian is all about.
Why am I a Christian?
What makes me different and stand out from the world?
Who am I finally responsible to?
To answer these questions is going to take a lot of disciplined work on my part. One of the easiest things in the world to do is to become a Christian, but one of the most difficult things in the world is to live the Christian life.
The reason most people cannot live the Christian life is because they do not know what is the back story. They do not know the whole purpose of what it means to be a Christian.
Solomon in Proverbs 31 outlines for us the attributes of the Bride of Christ. To go through that very diligently is to bring us to the point of understanding what it really means to be part of Christ. I am not just a “Lone Ranger” Christian trying to make it through another day.
Behind everything I do is significance that relates to the one who created me and redeemed me.
Also, when I really relate to that aspect, it puts me in connection with others who are part of the Bride of Christ. Fellowship is the key aspect of this relationship. My fellowship with God determines my fellowship with brothers and sisters in the Lord.
If you are having trouble fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in the Lord, something is wrong with your relationship and fellowship with God.
What can I do, as a member of the Bride of Christ, to maximize this fellowship? My love for God is reflected in my love for the brethren.
Several things are available to me with regard to maximizing this fellowship. I believe these things should be daily disciplines for us.
I. The Bride Of Christ Needs To
Understand Her Priority.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Everybody has a priority whether they acknowledge it or not. Everybody’s life is built upon that priority. For some people, they really have not discovered their priority, which explains a lot of the confusion in our world today.
As the Bride of Christ, I need to understand what my priority is. For many Christians, this is a great challenge.
Some have wrong ideas about what their priority should be.
From the religious standpoint, the priority has to do with works. If I work enough, God will be happy with me. Therefore, people commit themselves to a lifetime of works thinking they are pleasing God.
I believe the Bride of Christ does engage in works. Read through Proverbs 31 and you will find that is a well-established pattern of life.
But my work should not be my priority.
Sometimes my works are simply to make me feel good about my life. We can be caught up in a lifestyle of works.
As part of the Bride of Christ, I need to have a good understanding of my priority.
Take for example a bride planning out her wedding ceremony and her life after the wedding. She is doing everything she can to please the groom. He is always in her focus.
I know sometimes mothers can get in the mix, but for the bride, her focus is not on the ceremony and all the works leading up to the ceremony but rather the groom.
I need to understand that my priority is Jesus Christ. In order for me to keep him as my priority, I need to daily discipline myself to focus on him.
My morning devotions are a good way to keep that priority in my life.
I believe another way would be my fellowship with other brothers and sisters. This fellowship should encourage me in keeping Christ as the uncontested priority in my life. This is why church attendance is very important in my Christian walk. I need to spend as much time as possible with brothers and sisters in Christ, whose priority is the same as mine, which is Jesus Christ.
II. The Bride Of Christ Needs To
Utilize The Provisions Made Available.
This is a very essential aspect of the Christian life. I need to know what my provisions are and how they are made available to me on a daily basis. The bride assumes the assets of her husband. (Romans 8:17 - “joint-heirs”).
I did not become a Christian and then God leaves me to manage on my own. The Christian life is of such difficulty in the world in which we live that we could never in our own strength.
What are the provisions that God has made available to me to live the kind of life that he wants me to live?
The first aspect would be to understand the kind of life God is expecting me to live. When I begin to understand the dimension of this life, I begin to realize that in myself, I am not able to live this kind of life; hence I need to define the provisions.
God’s Favor and Grace.
The Gifts of the Spirit.
The Fruit of the Spirit.
Then, once I understand these provisions, I need to know how to access them and utilize them for the glory of God. I know we can have people teach us, but when it comes right down to it, it is a personal matter between the Holy Spirit and me.
The Holy Spirit has one goal in my life and that is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. No other goal, no matter what you have heard from somebody else.
How the Holy Spirit is leading you in your life determines your access to the provision necessary to live the kind of life that will glorify God.
I need to have a working relationship with the Holy Spirit, which comes from committing myself to the Word of God. Understand, the Holy Spirit works in your life through the Word of God.
It is the Holy Spirit working in my life, enabling me to understand the provisions God has for me and then utilize those provisions to live the kind of life that gives him all the glory and the honor.
III. The Bride Of Christ Needs To
Unveil Her Perception Of The Christ Life.
The true bride does not allow somebody else to define her relationship with the groom. To do so is very detrimental to the relationship.
Our perception must be based upon “illumination” and “revelation,” which, again, is the work of the Holy Spirit.
This is not learning the fundamentals of doctrine, it is not trying to understand it psychologically and it is not trying to define it through culture. Not that there is anything wrong with these things, but they cannot give us a true perception of who we really are.
One thing that hinders many Christians is not understanding who they really are. They see themselves through their past, all the failures and the mistakes that are littered in their path. For some reason, they think God looks at them with that background in mind. Your past is in the sea of his forgetfulness.
God is not interested in your past; he is interested in your relationship and fellowship with him.
When I begin to see myself in the eyes of God two things happen. (Proverbs 31:30).
First, I begin to appreciate what God loves about me.
Second, I begin to understand God from a new perspective.
If I understand God as he has revealed himself, I begin to understand how he can love me. I was created in his image, sin damaged that image, but Christ’s death, burial and resurrection redeemed me back to that image. Do I really understand what salvation is all about?
I am not thinking about a narcissistic attitude. Rather, I am thinking and understanding myself from God’s perspective. That does not come from anything secular rather it is the work of the Holy Spirit. When I begin to see in me what God loves, it develops an attitude of praise and worship.
Conclusion…
There are so many things about me that I do not understand, but behind everything in me is God, the master artist, at work. The great joy of my life is discovering what it means to be a part of the Bride of Christ. Celebrating that truth every day.
