growing in life to maturity to be prepared as the Bride of Christ

The direction of the Lord’s move today is, first, to build up the Body of Christ for His corporate expression, and second, to prepare the bride of Christ as His counterpart.

Christ desires to have a wife, and He is working in His heavenly ministry today to prepare the church as His counterpart (John 3:29-30) for His eternal marriage (Rev. 19:7-8).

The redeeming God will marry His redeemed, transformed, and glorified people and will live a marriage life together for eternity (see Rev. 22:17; 21:1-2, 9b-10). Hallelujah! We are now in the process of growing in life unto maturity to be the Bride, the wife of the Lamb!

Growing in life unto maturity today

For us to be prepared to become the Bride of Christ, we need to grow in life to maturity today. Christ will not marry an immature or infant lady – He is now perfecting us, transforming us, washing and cleansing us, and working Himself into us that we may be spotless, with no wrinkles or any such things.

We need to be not only transformed and perfected but even more, we need to grow in life unto maturity.

Lord, grow in us and cause us to reach maturity in our lifetime! We mean business with You – we don’t want to waste any opportunities!

We need to be serious with the Lord in this matter. Standing on the ground of being one spirit with the Lord, we need to pray,

Lord, for the building up of the Body of Christ and for the preparation of Your Bride, cause me to grow to maturity in my lifetime! Lord, do this soon in me and in many other saints, so that You may have a way to use us for Your purpose!

Christ’s satisfaction and rest in love

The church as the bride of Christ is a matter of satisfaction and rest in love (Gen. 2:21-23; Zeph. 3:17). Christ desires to be satisfied and to be at rest in His Bride, and today He is preparing the Bride to be such a one to Him.

Christ as the Bridegroom directs the preparation of the Bride, just as Christ as the Head directs His move for the building up of the Body. The Bridegroom fully knows what kind of counterpart He needs to satisfy Him.

Christ produced the church, His Bride, at the cost of His life, and He brought her into being with His own life element.

After producing the Bride, Christ sent the apostles – especially Apostle Paul – to carry out a betrothing ministry, to help the new believers appreciate the loveliness of the bridegroom.

Through the ministry of the apostles, we are inspired and encouraged to love the Lord, treasure Him, adore Him, and have a desire for the desire of the Lord’s heart to be satisfied.

There’s something in our being now, something which we may not consciously recall, that causes us to say,

Lord Jesus, gain Your Bride! We are here on the earth to become Your Bride! We live for Your satisfaction and rest in love! You must have Your counterpart!

The wedding day is coming: are you ready?

The whole universe is moving toward the universal wedding day and then the marriage life of God and man.

There needs to be in us some reflection and response to the desire of the Lord’s heart, the longing in Him for a counterpart. We need to have such an aspiration that the Lord would produce us as His overcomers, those who are His bride!

Yes, He will gain the New Jerusalem as His wife, but before the New Jerusalem comes into being there’s the millennium, the one thousand year kingdom age, in which the overcomers will be the Bride of Christ enjoying a love feast with Him, the wedding feast. We want to be there!

If we look at our condition and at the situation today in our local church or Christianity in general, we will realize that we are not yet ready and prepared as the Bride of Christ.

We need to give ourselves to the Lord that He may grow in us to maturity, that He may mature us to be His Bride to match Him and satisfy Him. We have the divine life of God in us through regeneration, but we need to grow and mature in life that we may be prepared and made ready as the Bride of Christ!

The readiness of the corporate bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers! How much we need to grow in life unto maturity that we may be the bride of Christ!

Gain Your bride, Lord! Gain Your counterpart! Grow in us unto maturity that we may be perfected and matured to be Your Bride. Make us Your overcomers, dear Lord, who hasten Your return and enter with You at the wedding feast. We don’t want to focus only on being transformed or saved in life – Lord, grow in us to maturity for You to build up the Body and prepare Your Bride!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from, The Overcomers (ch. 6), The Conclusion of the New Testament (msgs. 226-229), and brother Ron’s msg, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Genuine Oneness of the Body, the Proper One Accord in the Church, and the Direction of the Lord’s Move Today, week 6.
• Recommending: A wonderful blog on the many aspects of the New Jerusalem;
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Yet this life though it frees, is not meant for mere victory. / God is full of intent and never could flow aimlessly.
  # The Lord is longing for His Bride, / All glorious within
  # Christians, scattered throughout all the earth / Are wand’ring—Lord, where is Your Bride of worth?
• Picture source: the bride is ready.