The Bride Of Christ - The Church

Church. Growing up I always thought it to be about a building made of brick and stone, sealed with cement. It was not until the year 2000 that I found out another word for "church", that being "Ekklesia". During that year and beyond, I focused on this scripture; "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19 KJV)

Doing more in depth study into what the word temple  means in regards to this topic, I found this:

1. an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity or deities. 

2. any of the three successive houses of worship in Jerusalem in use by the Jews in Biblical times, the first built by Solomon, the second by Zerubbabel, and the third by Herod.

3. a synagogue, usually a Reform or Conservative one.

4. an edifice erected as a place of public worship; a church, especially a large or imposing one.

5. any place or object in which God dwells, as the body of a Christian. I Cor. 6:19.

However, in my studies I had to stop and think for a moment because what Paul was speaking of was us as individual temple's of the Holy Spirit which resides inside of us. Paying close attention to this definition at No. 5 it says: "any place or object in which God dwells, as the body of a Christian. I Cor. 6:19." Therefore, as individual "temple's", we are (as I believe it to be) in fact individual churches...individual ekklesia's. Now these are just my thoughts, I'm not saying that I'm correct in this, but it helps me to understand the importance of personalizing my relationship with Yeshua.

Going a bit further in this, I looked at the next scripture in 1 Corinthians 6:20 which says: "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." which lead me to Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

Holy and pleasing to God, sanctified and pure, like a Bride - The Church...The Temple Of The Holy Spirit -  prepared for her Groom. That is what Yeshua calls His Church, The Bride. When it comes to marriage, YHWH is adamant about the sanctity thereof:

"Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything."

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25 - 27 NIV)

"And I will betroth you unto me forever; yea, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness, and in justice, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD." (Hosea 2:19 - 20 KJB)

The definition of betrothed is according to the audio english website, the person to whom you are engaged or the one pledged to be married. Now I like the Douay-Rheims Bible translation of the scriptures in Hosea which uses the word espouse instead of betroth which translation says to "take in marriage", rather than being 'pledged to marriage'. To me espouse indicates something that has happened already or is happening at the moment rather than something that will occur. And so when I made the choice to accept Yeshua as my personal Lord and Savior, it was not a thing as in an engagement where I said "yes" to a marriage proposal where then He put a ring on my finger for a future engagement, I said "YES" to accept Him as my Lord, the Head of this body to love and cherish forever more at that moment, continuously.

And just as with any marriage in the natural between a man and woman as YHWH intended for it to be, there should be a renewed commitment each day to love one another as Yeshua loves the "church" and the church - the Bride - loves Him back. To have daily communication, to have that personal intimacy with each other. To not be tempted to allow your eyes to wander and seek after forbidden fruit, but remain steadfast in true daily desire to love the one within whom you have given yourself to in the eyes of the Father, both in the natural and in spirit.

 Yeshua did not call us His fiance, He has called us, both in unified assembly and individual personal worship, His Bride. Is our loyalty, commitment, love and adoration with Him? Are we faithful to wait on Him to return from preparing a place for us as we continue to serve Him? Will we be Holy as He is Holy, and not have an affair with the WORLD, being conformed to it's patterns, rather than being transformed daily by the Spirit of our Lord?

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:10 KJV)

These are just my thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. In no way am I trying to sway anyone to follow those things that I see. I ask Abba Father in the Name of Yeshua Ha'Mashiach to examine my words and correct me in anything that I may have said in error, but truth be spoken, this is from my heart and is for the glory of The Almighty.