ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

THE BRIDE OF CHRIST

Revelation speaks of the Church under a trilogy of connected symbols: ‘the holy city’ (‘city of God’, ‘the city’), ‘the new Jerusalem’ and ‘the bride of the Lamb’ (‘the bride’).

Each of these terms, ‘the Holy City’ and ‘the new Jerusalem’ and ‘the bride’, are symbolic references to all the redeemed – all genuine believers from both the Old and New Testaments.

The 'city', 'Jerusalem'
Paul uses this imagery of the church as a ‘city’ – ‘Jerusalem’, in Galatians 4:21-31, where he teaches that believers are ‘children of promise’, symbolised by Sarah and her son, and corresponding to ‘the Jerusalem that is above’, in distinction from the physical city of Jerusalem. The ‘Jerusalem that is from above’ is described as ‘free’ and ‘the mother of us all’. Those in this ‘Jerusalem’ are ‘children of promise’, that is, they exist because of God’s will and God’s purpose.

Hebrews 12:22, addressing believers, states ‘You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.’ In Hebrews 11:10 we read that Abraham ‘was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God’, and in 11:16 we read of the faithful that ‘God … has prepared a city for them’. In this context reference is made to the ‘heavenly country’ for which all the Old Testament faithful were longing. Note the security and permanence of this ‘city’ – it has ‘foundations’, it is designed by God and built by God.

Jesus, in Revelation 3:12 promised those who overcome that he would write on them ‘the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God’.

In Revelation 11:2 the ‘holy city’ is a symbol for the Church during the age of witness. This ‘holy city’ stands in contrast to the ‘city’ or ‘great city’ otherwise symbolised by ‘Babylon’ and ‘the great prostitute’, and mentioned numerous times from Revelation 14 to 19. As the ‘holy city’, the Church both witnesses to and attracts the hatred of the unbelieving world.

The 'city' is described in great symbolic detail in Revelation 21:10-22:5. It is clear from 21:2,9 and 10 that the 'city' is 'the bride'. Under this symbol of 'the Holy City, Jerusalem' the final beauty, perfection and eternal security of the Church is revealed. The permanent presence of God is emphasised [21:3,22-25; 22:1-5], giving light, life and sustenance.

'the bride'
Jesus in his parables used the imagery of a wedding feast, complete with the bridegroom, to teach about his kingdom.

In Revelation 19:7 we read that ‘the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his ‘bride’ has made herself ready’.

In Revelation 21:2,9 and 10 the 'bride' of the Lamb comes down from heaven in the symbolic form of 'the Holy City, the new Jerusalem'.

This imagery of the ‘bride’ and the ‘wedding of the Lamb’ gives us great assurance. In speaking of a future covenant, God revealed through the prophet Hosea:

‘I will betroth you to me forever’ I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD’ – Hosea 2:19, 20.

By this symbolic trilogy – the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the bride:

The Church is portrayed as the object of God’s extreme love.
The preciousness of the Church to God [and to the Lamb] is made clear.
The utter security of the redeemed, the Church, is emphasized.

Also, as long as ‘the holy city’ is in the world, the light-bearing, truth-communicating mission of the Church is taught by this symbol. The ‘city on a hill cannot be hidden’ [Matthew 5:14]; the mere fact that it exists in the midst of, and despite of, the surrounding unbelief and anti-belief is testimony to the light and the truth, evidence of ‘the word of God’ and ‘the testimony of Jesus’.