The Bride of Christ

I was just thinking about The Bride of Christ being "The Church." I have listed a few indirect references to where this concept stems from below (as it is one that I have heard before considering, rather than one of my own), involving some supposition, but relatively small leaps, it seems like.

Revelation 21:2

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Ephesians 5:32

This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Matthew 25:1

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom."

Of these I feel like Revelation is the most direct: a city prepared as a bride, but one might even claim this to be metaphor (why would it be this precise of a metaphor if that were the case though?). I have felt like there is something similar potentially referenced in Genesis, with Cain building the city of Enoch (named after his son, Genesis 4:17) and then a man named Enoch being called to walk with God (Genesis 5:24). While there is no direct link stated between these events, it seems unusual that a name would be repeated so early on. Also, Zion and Israel and other entities are all personified in prophecy. Essentially what I am saying is that this idea of an entity/group being represented as a person has precedent (a city, the church, a nation). 

It makes sense to me that a group of individuals can create a kind of communal subconscious between them, and this communal entity could operate in a human way.  I wonder how this works in reference to The Church specifically, like what the stipulations are for being part of "The Church" that is ultimately the Bride of Christ. Would it be that all those claiming to be a church are included? The way that the churches in Revelation are spoken to by Jesus, it feels like Jesus has some things he likes and some requirements of each of them in order to be improved, but that these positives and negatives are not all equal, and the reader can interpret each church as being at varying levels of favor (though a specific "ranking" of the seven does not feel merited). With so many varying ideas out there, and varying levels of a heart after God, it could be that including some churches in the Bride of Christ, even in part, may be an undesirable, or even simply an incorrect, end. This concept of the restriction of what is considered "The Church" in terms of The Bride of Christ got me thinking about the narrow gate.

Matthew 7:14

"But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

I know I have said in my more hot headed times, in reference to traditional churches, "if you're walking with a crowd, chances are it's not on the way to the narrow gate." While I will admit to having failed to a degree there in terms of "do not judge," consider here that Jesus' own words indicate few will find it. From this context it would make sense that if one were in a group that would not be considered few in number, the narrow gate is not the destination. That being said, individuals vary within groups, so it could be that some in a group will make it to the narrow gate while others will not but, in the context of "The Church" that becomes The Bride of Christ, this suggests to me that it will be relatively few in number, and not a conglomeration of all church entities.

I feel this supposition is supported by the language used in Revelation to describe what "the one who is victorious" will receive.

Revelation 2:7 "...To the one who is victorious..."

Revelation 2:11 "...The one who is victorious..."

Revelation 2:17 "...To the one who is victorious..."

Revelation 2:26 "To the one who is victorious..."

Revelation 3:5 "The one who is victorious..."

Revelation 3:12 "The one who is victorious..."

Revelation 3:21 "To the one who is victorious..."

This language of "the one" is repeated every time (as well as mentioning "ears" -.-). It feels like it would have been a simple matter to have said "to those who are victorious" in order to make this statement clearly plural but, as it stands, the statement is not only singular but repeated seven times as if to drive home the point that it is intended as singular. In some ways this reminds me of conception. If we must be born again, and this life is like a template for that process then, much like a single sperm fertilizes an egg, there must be a single victor in this iteration of reality. Still, there must be a difference in some way because Jesus says few make it through the narrow gate, rather than one. Additionally Jesus says in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” and along similar lines in Matthew 18:19 "“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." So humans must gather and agree for these things to happen, but it seems like there is to be one "victor." Once more this reminds me of conception, because while one sperm fertilizes the egg, if only one arrives at the egg it does not have the strength to enter through the wall. In human conception it takes more like dozens or hundreds of sperm to weaken the wall enough for one sperm to enter, but it seems like in this context it likely takes 2 or 3 to enter the narrow gate, perhaps 2 or more.

So in context of "the victor" and "The Church" then, what if such a limited scope for the definition of "The Church" is the actual solution? What if "The Church" must end up being the manifestation of a single man's faith (a single man being the only validation I personally can see for the misogynistic stipulations in the epistles which disallow women from participating so directly in church proceedings, because The Holy Spirit is illuminating, in a veiled way, that it is specifically a man who must pull this off, for some undisclosed reason... I really hope that's why these things are included anyway.)? What if this process is somehow similar to how Eve was given consciousness, a soulmating of a kind, completed behind the scenes? In this case one man, off the beaten path but truly with a heart for God, would provide "The Church" which would become The Bride of Christ. This also feels like it connects to Luke 18:8 "However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” because if "faith" by this definition were as plentiful as "faith" seems to be today, then why ask this question in this way, which seems to indicate that finding none with faith is a possibility? If many had the faith Jesus is describing here, would not a better question be "how much faith will the Son of Man find?" While I feel, and it seems well supported biblically, that varying degrees of faith can lead to salvation, in this specific context it feels like Jesus is referencing a specific measure of faith, one that might be rare or could possibly even be unique or not found, when The Son of Man comes. This idea of a rare/unique faith threshold would further support the idea of the narrow gate being the destination of few, and the victor intentionally being singular.

I can also see a kind of balancing equation to this matching of Christ with The Church accomplished simultaneously, based on the concept that both male and female were originally created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), and the name of God includes what I have heard referenced as (but now realize that without knowing Hebrew directly I may not be able to officially confirm) both male and female components. In this balancing equation the man who is victorious is matched with the female aspect of God, or perhaps it is the female aspect of Jesus, perhaps like Jesus' sister (Wisdom seems to fit here, as I have suggested before). Regardless of the specifics though, this splitting into equivalent parts, and re-cleaving into optimal arrangements, feels important.

From an ignorant human perspective it feels like this could make for a bit of an awkward transition but, from the perspective of faith that God has this entire equation worked out and I am simply watching it unfold, I believe that this transition will not be awkward, but will rather be beautiful once the details are revealed. But, for example, if Jesus chose me for this saying "I want to marry the representation/manifestation of your faith, which is your 'The Church' which has become a woman, my soulmate." I feel like I would be deeply honored, even if the details for how that reality shaping worked were not entirely clear to me. It just feels like wedding season is rapidly approaching, and it makes sense to examine and write of such things, in preparation.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.