The Body Of The Bride

For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or ant such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.  So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.  For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.  "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."
Ephesians 5: 23 - 31 NKJV

I would pose one question to those who are married out there.  How is it that you view your mate?  Whether you've been married for years or for a short time, how is it that you see that person whom you promised till death do you part?  As of yet, I have not had that experience of taking a wife, but I hold out hope in Gods timing.  I have, however, been very blessed to have a few christian brothers in my life who have managed to defy the odds with many years of marital relationship.  My friend Dennis, for example, recently celebrated fifty years with his lovely wife Shirley.  From this man I have received one of the most important peice of advice every single person should hear.  For when I asked Dennis just what the secret to a long marriage was his answer was short and to the point.  He simply told me, "In our day, divorce was not an option."  Brilliant!  Definately words of wisdom.  However, I digress.  The very reason I posed the question of how one views their mate was to illustrate one of the important truths of Christ Jesus.  In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul tells us that husbands "Ought to love their won wives as their own bodies."  How deep of affection is that?  I can only imagine the quality of marriages in our country if only more people clung to this belief.  However sound advice Pauls advice was, I believe there was a reason for this teaching.  For it is also in Ephesians that Paul lays out the case for the followers of Christ Jesus being "Members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones."

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Isreal and with the house of Judah - "Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.  "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Isreal after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Jeremiah 31: 31 - 33 NKJV

So, what is with these references in scripture of our Heavenly Father being a "Husband" to the Isrealites and we being as the body of Christ Jesus?  Well, most of this may be discussed in another page after a few conversations with a dear pastor friend of mine.  However, it is my opinion that it is these references which represent the close relationship we are to have with our heavenly Father and with Christ.  For it is also in Ephesians where Jesus is told as the head of the church and the savior of the body.  We should also be aware that the church is known in scripture as the body of Christ Jesus, and He ultimately gave Himself for her.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free - and all have been made to drink into one Spirit.  For in fact the body is not one member but many.
1 Corinthians 12: 12 - 14 NKJV

So, if we are to hold fast to our belief in Gods word, we who have accepted Christ Jesus are all one member of His body.  For as Paul tells us, we are all members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.  For it is Jesus who nourishes and cherishes His body.  And it is Jesus who is the savior of that body.

~Scott~