Who is the Bride of Christ? The Bride is the hidden treasure at the heart of God's creation. She is the precious mystery concealed in the oracles of God. The sacred writings begin with the creation of the Bride and conclude with her revelation. The ultimate destiny of every Christian is wrapped up in the mystery of the Bride. She is central and pivotal to understanding the meaning of God's plan and purpose for every individual. the Prophets sung about her, Kings loved her and the Patriarchs sought for her. Through looking at her, God's eternal plan for the relationship between Jesus Christ and his church is revealed.
Jesus promised He would come again to take us to be with Him to a place He has prepared for us, and scripture states it is an incredible place and life He has for us, beyond our comprehension. We can begin to experience this abundant life and walk in these Kingdom blessings here and now. As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, to lead, convict, teach and empower us to live for Christ we will be prepared for His coming. The real question is not when is He coming, but who is He coming for and will I be among those He receives to Himself? Concerning these end times and His coming, Jesus said though we wouldnt know the exact hour or day, but that we are to be looking for the signs of His coming to watch, pray and be ready for Him to come at any moment. As we watch, pray, and then do whatever He asks us to do, we will be ready for His coming or our going to be with Him, whichever comes first. The Bride has made herself ready! He is coming to take a prepared people to a prepared place, so what does it mean to be ready? In light of the possible imminent return of Jesus, what manner of persons ought we to be/how would we want to be found by Him? What sort of Bride does Jesus desire/deserve and will He accept? Who is He soon coming for? A Passionate Bride not cold or lukewarm but deeply in love with and devoted to Him; one looking and longing for His coming, preparing for His arrival, and desiring only to spend every minute in His presence. It is the essence and key to everything we are and do for the Lord. Everything comes down to loving God and others.
The Book of First Kings 4:32 says that Solomon wrote 1005 songs. A song is poetry like the Psalms that were sung to bring forth a message from God. God deemed this song important enough to keep it in His manual, the Bible. The Books of First and Second Samuel are the historical books of David, but His love and emotions for God were written in his Psalms. Likewise, the Book of Revelation is a historical book of the bride of Christ, but the Song of Solomon is the love and emotions of Christ and His bride. This book is being published at the same time as Revelation to be companion books with the same overview. God desired a people who would be adopted into His kingdom. Christ would redeem every person who would acknowledge the plan of God to become children of the Most High God. The Bible was inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16). The Book of Song of Solomon shows the love of the Lord Jesus to His bride, the Church, who is called Shulamite. Shulamite in Hebrew is the feminine noun for Solomon. Solomon in Hebrew is shalom meaning peace unto wholeness. This wholeness comes from a relationship with the Lord which is offered to everyone, male or female, Jewish or Gentile (non-Jewish). Do not think of Solomon in this book as the king, for he too is a believer in the Lord, so therefore He too can be the Shulamite. This is not a picture of Solomons love for a woman, but instead the story of how Solomon came to love the Lord and grow spiritually throughout His life. Both Books (Revelation and Song of Solomon) are actually a symbolic picture of the Ancient Jewish Wedding. The bride is the Church, and therefore, seen as female, yet we know that God is identified as being present in both male and female. Therefore, Solomon is writing as a believer growing in his walk with the Lord. Song of Solomon, like all books in the Old Testament, point to Jesus. It cant be about Solomon and his love for a woman; IT HAS TO BE ABOUT JESUS. Therefore, it shows how a believer grows in their relationship with Jesus. The Jewish wedding takes us from the first time we see Jesus in the spirit and are engaged (salvation) to the time we see Jesus face to face in marriage (our resurrection) to the time we return with Christ to rule and reign as His wife (Millennium) to the time we live in the new heaven and earth (eternity). The intention of this book is to experience in the spirit the life of the believer growing in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ.
In Jesus the Bridegroom, Brant Pitre once again taps into the wells of Jewish Scripture and tradition, and unlocks the secrets of what is arguably the most well-known symbol of the Christian faith: the cross of Christ. In this thrilling exploration, Pitre shows how the suffering and death of Jesus was far more than a tragic Roman execution. Instead, the Passion of Christ was the fulfillment of ancient Jewish prophecies of a wedding, when the God of the universe would wed himself to humankind in an everlasting nuptial covenant. To be sure, most Christians are familiar with the apostle Paul's teaching that Christ is the 'Bridegroom' and the Church is the 'Bride'. But what does this really mean? And what would ever possess Paul to compare the death of Christ to the love of a husband for his wife? If you would have been at the Crucifixion, with Jesus hanging there dying, is that how you would have described it? How could a first-century Jew like Paul, who knew how brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to a wedding? And why does he refer to this as the "great mystery" (Ephesians 5:32)? As Pitre shows, the key to unlocking this mystery can be found by going back to Jewish Scripture and tradition and seeing the entire history of salvation, from Mount Sinai to Mount Calvary, as a divine love story between Creator and creature, between God and Israel, between Christ and his bride--a story that comes to its climax on the wood of a Roman cross. In the pages of Jesus the Bridegroom, dozens of familiar passages in the Bible--the Exodus, the Song of Songs, the Wedding at Cana, the Woman at the Well, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and even the Second Coming at the End of Time--are suddenly transformed before our eyes. Indeed, when seen in the light of Jewish Scripture and tradition, the life of Christ is nothing less than the greatest love story ever told.
Many people are unaware of the signs of the times. Many others seem consumed by end-times hype. Kinley's innovative guide to the book of Revelation shows that our primary concern should not be the timing of Christ's return but rather the spirit and character He desires in His bride.
A man lives through death and the terror of Golgotha, hell, the devil and the lake of fire and brimstone. Read how God saves him from these things and delivers him from the judgment seat of Christ. God then shows him His vision for the church, the bride of Christ. See the first sun rise of the new earth and witness the brides¿ marriage to the Lamb. Learn all the prophetic messages that proclaim; possess the vision.
EllieSo here's the deal. I'm sixteen and I'm getting married. Super weird, I know.My dad is a cattle rancher in Montana. Or he was, until he died suddenly, leaving me an orphan (which is still a thing). I'm sixteen months away from being a legal adult, so I have two choices.Foster home, or married. To Jake Talley. The foreman of the ranch and my best friend.It's legal. It solves all my problems. Except now I'm living with Riverbend's hottest cowboy - my husband (in name only of course) - and I'm still in high school. Trust me, no one wants to date Weird Married Ellie.But it's cool. All we have to do is wait it out until I'm eighteen and we'll get a divorce. Then Jake and I will go back to being normal. We've got this. Right?JakeI'm twenty-six, and I never saw this coming. Married. To a kid I've known her whole life. But there was no way in hell I was going to let her live at a foster home, instead of at the ranch where she belongs.Sure we're married but it's not real. Just a piece of paper. My girlfriend is furious but I know I'm doing the right thing - for Ellie. For sixteen months, it's me and her against the world - until the divorce. No big deal.Or is it?This book includes the entire three book series, The Bride, The Wife and The Lover.
Right from the very beginning in eternity past, God had planned history with His Son having a bride, a companion that would co-reign with Him and enjoy Him forever. That is the eternal purpose of God in creating a bride for His Son. If you read the Scripture from cover to cover, you would discover that God teaches us in a variety of different ways. Sometimes God uses powerful word pictures, sometimes He uses symbols, sometimes He uses examples of people both good and bad. Sometimes God uses a direct word, an authoritative word, sometimes He uses examples from nature, like a tree planted by the rivers of water that will not cease to bear fruit. This book highlights how God gave us an example of an ancient Jewish wedding ceremony that correlates with Christ, the Bridegroom, and His bride the church. From the father choosing a bride for his son, paying the bridal price, the bridegroom snatching his bride and bringing her to the bridal chamber, and then finally co-reigning with him in their household with him as the head. It is absolutely amazing the correlation between the two. What was a mystery to the Jews has been revealed. The mystery was that both Jew and Gentile called the church would be the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is describing the kind of relationship we can have with Jesus. God is seeking willing lovers, who would voluntarily seek His heart, voluntarily surrender to Him, and voluntarily love Him with all their heart, soul and mind, and strength.
Shaking…Then Revival…Then Harvest! The end times are unfolding before our eyes. First, there will be unprecedented shakings. Today, the world is shaking in alarming ways. And this is just the beginning. Nations, institutions, economies, families, individuals, the earth’s environment, the cosmos, the spiritual realm—in every dimension and sphere of life, we will see powerful waves of shaking that disrupt the course of our lives and take away our false sense of security in earthly resources, compelling us to return to our Creator. The main purpose of these shakings is to judge the people of the world for their sin and rebellion against God. Yet God is using the shaking we are now experiencing to refine believers so we will be purified to become the remnant that is ready for Jesus’s imminent appearing. Second, there will be unprecedented revival. As we respond to the shaking with repentance and wholehearted devotion to God, we will be prepared to take an active role in the coming last-days revival in which God’s sovereign glory will be revealed! There will be an all-inclusive supernatural movement characterized by miracles, healings, salvations, financial provision, prophetic visions, renewed holiness, powerful worship, strong discipleship, and profound love. Finally, there will be an unprecedented harvest of souls with global impact! The Holy Spirit will empower the church to reach the lost with the demonstration of miracles, signs, and wonders. Millions of people worldwide will come to genuine repentance, surrendering their hearts to the Lord Jesus. In End-Time Shaking and Revival, best-selling author Guillermo Maldonado expands on last-days themes introduced in his previous books, revealing how to… Avoid God’s judgment Respond correctly to the divine shakings in your life and in the world Be revived and continuously filled with the Spirit Participate in the worldwide harvest Move in supernatural power We must understand God’s cycle of end-time events so we can align our lives with His momentous purposes in these last days!
