Seeing the Church as the Bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:32

    The brother in Christ  who married my husband and me used the classic  passage in Ephesians 5 on husbands and wives for our wedding message. He took Paul’s exhortation here to share on the precious truth that the church is the bride of Christ.  

   Witness Lee’s exposition of this truth in chapter 53 of the Life-Study of Ephesians makes this crystal clear.  He opens up by saying that as the first couple in the Bible,  Adam and Eve portray a complete picture of Christ and the church. ”ll put together a lot of the key excerpts  from pages 445-446 to show you:

"After God created man, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18). The animals and the fowl were brought to Adam, and Adam named them.  But for Adam “there was not found a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:20).  Within Adam there was the desire to have a counterpart, to have someone to match him….In order to produce such a counterpart, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” (Gen.2:21). While Adam slept, the Lord took one of Adam’s ribs and used it for the building of a woman (Gen.2:22, Heb.).…In life, nature, and form the woman was the same as the man.…Adam knew that at last he had found his counterpart" (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Ephesians. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1979, Print).

   I remember in my reading of the Life-Study of Genesis that  brother Lee (as he lovingly was called by all the ones he ministered to) had stated that Adam’s need of a helpmeet actually portrayed God’s desire for a helpmeet!   But how does God accomplish that?  It’s very touching that the Lord’s death on the cross was like Adam’s sleep.  He connects this to Revelation 21:2 where you read about the New Jerusalem.  He points out here that because Revelation is a book of signs, the New Jerusalem is also a sign.  It's a composition of all of God's chosen and redeemed ones from all the centuries, and they are the bride!  What  a wonderful revelation this is for all of God's people!

Here's a great song called This Divine Romance that you can buy on a CD called Lord, Keep My Heart a beautiful collection of songs written by Howard Higashi and put out by Living Stream Ministry.

Blog Update 11-10-17:  This song is called There is a Great Mystery, and it is on the  New York City Young People's CD called Higher Ground. It's also on the divine romance.

   If you'd like to listen to the audio broadcast on this message, you can do so by clicking on this link:   Life Study of the Bible with Witness Lee - Program #48  A Mysterious Type of Christ and the Church.

Other blog posts on the Life Study of Ephesians:

What is the Subject of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians?
What is the Mystery of God's Will Revealed in Ephesians 1:9?
How Does God Head Up All Things in Christ in Ephesians 1:10?
How Does the Spirit Seal us in Ephesians 1:13-14?
What is the Surpassing Greatness of His Power in Ephesians 1:19?
From the Life Study of Ephesians: How Electricity Illustrates God's Purpose to Reach Man
What is the One New Man in Ephesians 2:15?
What is the Stewardship of the Grace of God in Ephesians 3:2?
 What is the Multifarious Wisdom of God For in Ephesians 3:10?
What's God's Calling for in Ephesians 4:1?
What Does It Mean to Learn Christ in Ephesians 4:20?
Seeing the Church as the Bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:32
Seeing the Church as the Warrior in Ephesians 6
How Do We Apply the Armor of God in Ephesians 6?
What are the Seven Aspects of the Church Seen in Ephesians?
Why Did God Abolish the Ordinances in Ephesians 2:15?
Why is the Spirit Mentioned in Every Chapter of Ephesians?