Being Matured in this Age to be the Lord’s Overcoming Ones as the Bride of Christ

In Revelation 19:7-9 and in John 3:29, we see a revelation of Christ as the Bridegroom and we as the bride; in this age we are being prepared to be the bride of Christ so that we may be the overcoming ones who will feast and reign with Him in the next age and reign with Him for eternity in and as the New Jerusalem. Amen!

The whole Bible is a divine romance, for it reveals to us not only what God is and what He does, but even more, how God loves man and does everything to gain man to be His bride, His wife.

The Bible starts with Adam and Eve, a couple, and ends with the Spirit and the bride, a universal couple. God is eternally complete, perfect, almighty, all-sufficient, having no need or defect.

However, He wants to obtain a counterpart, so He created man in His image and according to His likeness with the intention of obtaining a corporate man as His wife.

The Old Testament and the New Testament show us that God is the Husband and we, His people, are His wife.

In the Old Testament, God chose a particular people, the people of Israel, and He courted them, gained them, and made them His wife.

He didn’t just give them the law and commandments; the law was an engagement to God, for through the law, the people of God can see who God is and can be joined to Him.

Then, He gave them the sacrifices and the tabernacle for them to have a way to come to God and be one with Him.

It is easy, however, to simply try to follow the law and obey it, yet have no love toward God; many in God’s people in the Old Testament did this.

Then, in the New Testament, Christ came as God incarnated to be a man, and one of His statuses on the earth was the Bridegroom. He didn’t come to condemn us or expose us, even though He could have done so; He came to court us, to woo us, and to draw us to Himself.

When we see the Lord’s living and work on the earth, we are inexplicably drawn to Him, for He’s like an immense magnet drawing all His seekers to Himself.

He didn’t come to ask us to do this and that for Him; He only wants to come to us, love us, care for us, come into us, and live a romantic life with us in our Christian life.

The Lord Jesus is so wonderful, so precious, and so attractive that His believers are willing to even lay down their lives for Him, being drawn by Him and loving Him to the uttermost.

Eventually, we will become His bride, His wife, and we will share an eternal married life with Him for all eternity in and as the New Jerusalem. Hallelujah!

Christ as the Husband and the Church as the Wife, Consummate in the Spirit and the Bride, New Jerusalem

In the Gospels, we see everything we need to know about the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnated to be a man. He came to be our Saviour, and at the same time, He came to be the Bridegroom (Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19; Luke 5:34; John 3:29).

On one hand, He came to redeem us; on the other hand, He came to court us, woo us, and gain us as His bride.

When John the Baptist realised that the Lord Jesus had more followers than him, for many went to see the Lord instead of coming to John, he said that Christ is the Bridegroom, and He must increase (John 3:29-30).

The bride of Christ is the increase of Christ. Christ came as the Bridegroom, the Husband, to gain a people to be His bride, His wife. He laid down His life for the church; He died for the church, to obtain the church, for He loves the church (Eph. 5:25-32; 2 Cor. 11:2).

Then, in His resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit to come into His disciples to regenerate them with the life of God, and on the day of Pentecost, He poured Himself out as the Spirit of power upon them to produce the church, the bride of Christ. The church is the wife of Christ, and Christ is the Husband.

The Epistles unveil Christ as our Husband and we as the church being the wife of Christ, the increase of Christ, the counterpart of Christ.

Then, in Revelation 19:7-9, we see a revelation of Christ as the bridegroom and also we see the wife being prepared and ready for the wedding feast!

The marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy, which is to obtain for Christ a bride – the church -through His judicial redemption and by the organic salvation in His divine life (Gen. 2:22; Rom. 5:10; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9-11). Amen!

Throughout the ages, all the believers in Christ are part of the wife of Christ, the church, and they are in the process of enjoying God’s judicial redemption and His organic salvation in His divine life.

We are being transformed to be part of the bride of Christ, pure, spotless, ready to marry Christ as the Husband.

Christ and the church, the Husband and the wife, are joined as one flesh (Gen. 2:24; Eph. 5:31), even one man, one universal corporate man – Christ the Husband (the Head, Eph. 4:15) and the church as the wife (the Body of Christ, Eph. 1:22-23).

The two – Christ and the church – are becoming one, all-inclusive, corporate man! Hallelujah!

In Ephesians 5 we see how the church as the wife is presented to Christ as the Husband; in Ephesians 1 we see the church as the Body of Christ. The church is the wife of Christ and the Body of Christ.

Christ is both the Head of the church and the Husband of the church. This is what the Bible reveals in its kernel – Christ and the church, Christ as the Husband and the church as the wife.

At the end of this age, the age of the church, the Lord Jesus will return to rapture His overcomers, those who overcome and who are part of the Lord’s bride.

Then, the age of the millennium will begin, and the overcomers as part of the bride of Christ will enjoy one day wedding feast, which will last one thousand years (one day is like one thousand years in the Lord’s eyes – 2 Pet. 3:8), ruling and reigning with the Lord.

In the meantime, those who are not mature, that is, the majority of the believers in Christ who are not yet overcoming, will have to go through a time of being perfected to be matured and fully perfected to be part of the wife of Christ.

The overcomers will be the New Jerusalem in its fresh and initial stage, the bride of Christ, in the coming millennium age; they will feast with Christ and reign with Him for one thousand years.

This is the initial and fresh stage of the New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ, as a reward to the overcoming ones.

Eventually, for eternity, the New Jerusalem will be consummated and completed in full to be the consummation the wife of Christ in the new heaven and new earth for eternity (Rev. 21:1-3, 9-10). Hallelujah!

At the end of the millennium age, all of God’s people will be perfected and produced as the overcoming ones to be part of the wife of Christ, the wife of the Lamb, to join Him as the New Jerusalem for our eternal married life together! Praise the Lord!

All the immature saints will have been transformed and matured in the millennium age to be overcomers, part of the wife of the Lamb.

In eternity, the New Jerusalem will be the wife of Christ. On the wedding day, the millennium age, the overcoming ones will be the bride of Christ, but for eternity, all of God’s people are perfected and matured to be part of the wife of Christ.

Praise the Lord, the New Jerusalem in eternity future will be the wife of Christ, for all the saints will have been perfected for their maturity in the divine life through the discipline in the kingdom age (Rev. 22:2, 12, 14)!

God will gain His counterpart, the New Jerusalem, His eternal expression to the fullest extent!

The processed Triune God will be fully united, mingled, and incorporated with His redeemed, regenerated, transformed, and glorified tripartite people, where Christ is the Husband and the church is the wife! Hallelujah!

Lord Jesus, we love You! Thank You for coming to court us and woo us to make us Your bride, the church as the wife of Christ! Oh Lord, we love You as our dear Bridegroom. We love You and we take You as our Head and our life in all things. Thank You for Your judicial redemption and Your organic salvation. Continue to save us in Your life and transform us into Your image until we fully match You as Your wife! Hallelujah, Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Praise the Lord, one day Christ will present the church to Himself glorious, spotless, and beautiful as His wife! Amen, Lord, we want to cooperate with You in this age to be produced as Your overcoming ones, those who overcome day by day in all our situations. Keep us in our spirit today. Keep us turning to You, growing in You, and allowing You to perfect us and transform us and conform us to Your image. We aspire to be Your overcomers, those who will enter the wedding feast of the Lamb to rule and reign with Christ for one thousand years! Hallelujah, for eternity we will be the New Jerusalem, the wife of Christ, to match Him in every possible way and enjoy an eternal married life with the Lord!

Being Matured in this age to be the Lord’s Overcoming Ones as the Bride of Christ

The New Testament is clear in its revelation concerning Christ as the Husband and the church as the wife, showing us that there will be the age of the millennium in which Christ as the Bridegroom and the overcoming ones as the bride will enjoy the wedding feast.

Today, there are many Christians on earth, and many among those who call themselves Christians are genuine believers in Christ.

However, when the Lord Jesus returns as the Bridegroom to steal the most precious ones and rapture them to be with Him in the next age, He will NOT rapture most of the believers in Christ.

Even though most Christians hope that one day Christ will come and rapture them to be with Him forever, the Bible is clear: only the overcoming ones will be raptured.

This is why in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, at the end of the Lord’s speaking to each of the seven churches in Asia, He says, To him who overcomes.

The Lord wants to gain those who overcome. We aspire to be the overcoming ones.

We cannot call ourselves overcomers, for we are not yet overcomers; only the Lord knows who are those who overcome, but we want to give the Lord our best cooperation today to be produced as the overcomers.

Each one of us has their own particular set of situations, circumstances, and environments, and we need to cooperate with the Lord to overcome where we are.

Our aspiration is to be in the wedding feast of the Lamb in the coming age, the initial and fresh stage of the New Jerusalem as the bride of Christ.

So we give ourselves to the Lord to be in His word and to cooperate with Him in our daily life to be the overcoming ones.

In situation after situation, as those who have little power, we want to be the overcoming ones.

In Revelation 2 and 3 we see that the Lord wants to gain those who overcome; the church as a whole may have problems, but in the church there are some who overcome (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21).

On the one hand, we need to overcome by contacting the Lord in all things, eating Him as the tree of life, and learning to live by His life.

On the other hand, the Lord wants to deal with many things in our being, including our self, our flesh, our natural man, our natural constitution, and all the things in our disposition.

There is much rebellion in us. We have many problems, for so many things in our natural man hinder the life of God from having a way in our being.

Not only sinfulness and worldliness but even the things that are in our disposition, our very nature, need to be dealt with.

We need to deal with anything that hinders the Lord’s life from flowing in us and being expressed through us.

As those who aspire to be the overcoming ones who are part of the bride of Christ, we need to cooperate with Him in this age to deal with anything He shines on and exposes.

We want to be dealt with in this age, for in the next age, the dealings will be more severe; the process of being matured in the next age will be very severe. Oh Lord!

May we open to the Lord in our personal time with Him and ask Him to expose and judge in us anything that He wants to judge, for we want to be judged and dealt with in this age before the Lord, not at the judgment seat at His coming.

May we open to the Lord and make the decision that we will pay the price in this age to let Him flow in us and deal with us today, not on that day, so that we may be part of His overcoming bride who brings Him back and reigns with Him for one thousand years.

May we allow the Lord to wash us, cleanse us, and remove any spots and wrinkles from us in this age, beautifying us and perfecting us to be His loving bride who is prepared for the marriage feast of the Lamb when He returns!

Lord Jesus, we love You and we give ourselves to You today! We aspire to be Your overcoming ones in this age. Overcome in us, Lord. Make us Your reproduction as the unique Overcomer. We fully open to You from within. We allow You to deal with whatever needs to be dealt with in our being in this age. Oh Lord, shine on us today. Expose what needs to be exposed. Deal with anything in our being that hinders the flow of Your divine life. Break through in us. Cause us to grow in life unto maturity today. May You increase and may we decrease. By Your grace and mercy, make us Your overcoming ones, those who will be part of Your bride. Amen, Lord, may we pay the price today to be matured and perfected to be Your bride! May we be willing to let You grow in us and deal with anything that hinders You in our being. Amen, Lord, gain Your bride. Gain Your overcoming ones. May we have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches. May we receive mercy to be the overcoming ones today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brother Ron Kangas in this conference, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991-1992, vol. 4, “The Overcomers,” pp. 267-268, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Preparation of the Bride (2025 Memorial Day Blending Conference), week 1, The Bride—the Goal of the Lord’s Recovery – day 2.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – The church being the bride of Christ, a portion from, Five Great Mysteries in the Bible, Chapter 5, by Witness Lee.
  – New Jerusalem, a Living Composition of all God’s Redeemed & Perfected People, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – What is the New Jerusalem? — Part 1, via, The Hearing of Faith.
  – In the New Jerusalem as the consummate corporate expression in the new creation, a portion from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 13, by Witness Lee.
  – Preparing Christ’s Bride – The Living of His Overcomers, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – The matured bride who loves the Lord’s appearing, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – The Application of the Universal Oneness of the Spirit, Through the Exercise of the Mingled Spirit, to Bring in the One Accord, Issuing in a Harmonious Symphony, for the Building up of the Body of Christ, the Preparation of the Bride of Christ, and the Rich All-Excelling Mutual Enjoyment of the Father and His Many Sons in the Father’s House, the Church, via, Living to Him.
  – The readiness of the bride, a portion from, Life-Study of Revelation, Chapter 54.
  – Ephesians (Program #49) – Christ Sanctifying the Church by Cleansing Her, via, Bible study radio.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Now rejoice and be exceeding glad! What glory is displayed! / For the marriage of the Lamb, the wife all ready now is made! / In fine linen, bright and pure, ’twas granted her to be arrayed— / The victory is won! (Hymns #1101 stanza 9)
  – But there’s a Person in my spirit now, / Born as a babe so small, so weak, so low; / Who by the Word’s pure milk will grow to be / The overcoming inner man in me / To gain my heart. / Christ as my Person must possess my heart / And be preeminent in every part. / The former owner died but haunts it still. / O Lord, move in; my mind, emotion, will / Now welcome Thee. (Hymns #1179 stanzas 2-3)
  – Will you be an overcomer? / To the Lord be drawn! / Keep the “first love,” never leave it, / Till the break of dawn. / Will you be an overcomer? / On His life depend! / Dare to suffer persecution, / Faithful to the end. (Hymns #894 stanzas 2-3)