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I. The church, the Body of Christ, as the bride, the wife, of Christ is the consummation of His complete salvation by His ministry in three stages with the twenty all-inclusive items of what He is, from God to the life-giving Spirit:
А. By the judicial redemption accomplished by Christ as the flesh in His incarnation.
B. By His organic salvation carried out by Him as the life-giving Spirit in His inclusion.
C. By the intensified work of His organic salvation by Him as the sevenfold intensified Spirit in His intensification.
II. The bride, the wife, of Christ will be prepared in full by Him for His wedding as His pleasure and satisfaction at the opening of the kingdom age:
А. The kingdom age will be one thousand years as one wedding day to celebrate the exultant wedding of Christ.
B. This excellent consummation, the bride, the wife, of Christ, of His complete salvation will be the New Jerusalem in its initial consummation for the celebration of Christ’s wedding for one thousand years.
C. It will be for Christ’s eternal enjoyment in its ultimate consummation in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
In this chapter I have a burden to give a concluding word to our fellowship concerning the all-inclusive Christ. In the Gospel of John the all-inclusive Christ is unveiled in twenty items, from God (1:1) to the consummated Spirit of life (20:22). In His complete salvation Christ is everything to us. This complete salvation includes His judicial redemption and His organic salvation with its intensified work. The consummation and outcome of this salvation show us where the Lord’s heart is and what the Lord desires to have.
The church, the Body of Christ, as the bride, the wife, of Christ, is the consummation of His complete salvation by His ministry in three stages with the twenty all-inclusive items of what He is, from God to the life-giving Spirit. The parable of the pearl in Matthew 13:45-46 shows us what Christ desires to have: “Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking fine pearls; and finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” The Lord surely loves sinners and He desires all men to be saved, but ultimately His desire is to have this pearl of great value spoken of in Matthew 13. This pearl is the church as the consummation of His complete salvation. Christ as the merchant seeking pearls found one pearl of great value and sold all that He had by going to the cross to purchase it. Acts 20:28 says that God purchased the church with His own blood. The desire of Christ in accomplishing redemption and carrying out His organic salvation is that He would gain not merely individuals but the church, which is the Body of Christ.
Ephesians 1 is a long chapter telling us how God operated in His Divine Trinity for His eternal purpose: The Father selected and predestinated us (vv. 4-5), the Son redeemed us (v. 7), and the Spirit seals us and becomes our pledge (vv. 13-14). Moreover, the Son, who is commissioned by the Triune God to carry out God’s complete salvation, resurrected and ascended to the heavens to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all (vv. 20-23).
The church, which is Christ’s Body, is the pearl of great value that He desires to have. This is a great and critical matter. What does our God want? What does the very God whom we are seeking desire? We have to be careful. Otherwise, we will miss Him. What He wants is this great pearl by His ministry in three stages: the stage of incarnation, the stage of inclusion, and the stage of intensification. When we experience the all-inclusive items of what Christ is, we become a part of His increase, which is His Body, the church. This is the issue, the result, as the consummation of His complete salvation by His ministry with all that He is. We are seeking God, but if we do not carefully consider what He desires, we will miss Him.
Christ works to gain His desire first by the judicial redemption accomplished by Him as the flesh in His incarnation (John 1:14).
Then Christ carries out His organic salvation by Himself as the life-giving Spirit in His stage of inclusion (1 Cor. 15:45b). He was God, and then He became the flesh. As the flesh, through His death and resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit includes all the elements of Christ’s person and work. Divinity, humanity, Christ’s death with its effectiveness, and His resurrection with its power are all included in the Spirit, the pneumatic Christ.
The intensified work of Christ’s organic salvation is carried out by Him as the sevenfold intensified Spirit in His intensification (Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6). Incarnation, inclusion, and intensification are the three stages of Christ for Him to consummate His complete salvation.
The bride, the wife, of Christ will be prepared in full by Him for His wedding as His pleasure and satisfaction at the opening of the kingdom age. The preparation of the bride is by Christ’s redemption, organic salvation, and the intensified work of His organic salvation. Revelation 19 says the bride is prepared fully by being properly adorned. Christ is now adorning us to make us His bride. Christ’s pleasure and satisfaction is His bride prepared, adorned, in full. Revelation 19:7-9 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints. And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true words of God.” This takes place at the opening of the kingdom age.
The kingdom age will be one thousand years as one wedding day to celebrate the exultant wedding of Christ.
This excellent consummation, the bride, the wife, of Christ, of His complete salvation will be the New Jerusalem in its initial consummation for the celebration of Christ’s wedding for one thousand years.
The New Jerusalem will be for Christ’s eternal enjoyment in its ultimate consummation in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.
I hope this clear word will really reach us and be received by us with full willingness. Then we will be blessed to be invited to participate in Christ’s wedding as His bride, and eventually we will all be a part of the wife of Christ.
