July 29, 2025 • 32 mins
We explore the profound metaphor of the church as the bride of Christ, examining how this relationship was prophesied throughout Scripture and fulfilled through Jesus.
• Drawing parallels between recognizing "the one" in marriage and the way Christ chose the church
• Tracing the bride of Christ concept from Genesis through Isaiah to the New Testament
• Understanding John the Baptist as the "best man" who prepared the way for the bridegroom
• Examining Jesus' promise in Matthew 16 to "build my church" as a matrimonial commitment
• Addressing how men can embrace being part of the bride of Christ through understanding relationship over gender
• Looking at Ephesians 5 as both marriage guidance and church instruction simultaneously
• Considering what kind of spiritual spouse we are to Christ - faithful or inconsistent
Join us as we discover what it means to be cherished, chosen, and cleansed by Christ as His beloved bride, and explore how this relationship transforms our understanding of both human marriage and our spiritual identity.
Learn More at 109.church
We invite you to join us in this journey of faith. If you would like to learn more about a deeper relationship with God or need someone to pray with, please reach out to us at hello@109.church. We are here to support and encourage you in your spiritual growth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hello friends.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to the Rooted and.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Grounded podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
How are you guys doing?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good it's a wedding day, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Wedding day Wedding bells in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
That's always special .
So, as we get started today,and before we get into the
serious stuff, I'm curious guysstarted today and before we we
get into the serious stuff, I'mcurious guys.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Um, thinking back to your brides, when did you know,
or did you know that, uh, shewas the one well, I knew that
aaron was the one when I told ajoke and she laughed because I
knew she was saying bless hisheart, don't nobody ever laugh
at those jokes.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
He needs help, I can help him.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I knew I needed to snag that, because if I didn't,
I may not ever catch one againlike that.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Don't let this one off the hook.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Real baby.
It hasn't worked in a long time, but this one Real real Finally
worked.
I got that one on the shorequick boys Wayne.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I guess after like the third time Davey asked me to
marry her.
I hope she misses this episode,no.
You know, it happened reallyquick for us because we met and
we're engaged in a month andmarried three months later.
(01:40):
Because, listen, in allseriousness, I knew real quick,
man, I can't let this one getaway Like whenever your father
told you this was your bride Ibet you're gonna give that I
want her that is right yeah, andI would say for mine, um, just
like knowing me, there was noone else um that was willing to
(02:01):
tolerate me.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And then Andrea came along, thankfully, and you said
thank you Lord, thank you Lord.
Yeah, well, and you?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
hear people say like oh, it was the way the sunlight
hit them, or this, Like I don'tthink there was an exact moment,
but I think pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's like there's something different about this
one.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, we ask that question today because we are
going to talk about the bride ofChrist, and obviously not a
physical female bride like thethree of us have, but the bride
of the church, and last episodewe spent time looking through
the gospel of that set what thechurch is as the way, and it's
(02:42):
the way to Jesus.
And today we're going to lookat another facet of the church,
and that is the church as theway and it's the way to Jesus.
And today we're going to lookat another facet of the church,
and that is the church as thebride of Christ.
And so, matt, why don't youkick us off?
Talk some about that aspect ofthe bride and how the church
shares in similarities to thebrides that we think of today.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, I think it's no coincidence that this setup or
this mindset of the church beingsomething that the Lord, just
you know, loves and adores andcherishes.
But you know, we kind of wereall talking about this and I'm
glad we did for the setup,because this is true, that when
(03:22):
you first meet that girl, thatwhen you first meet that girl,
you don't I mean, people may say, man, it was love at first
sight, but you ain't talked tothem yet, you know, and and
basically what you're going offof, if you haven't even spoke to
him, is the looks, right, nodoubt.
But I think you start likingthat person because you can
communicate with each other.
(03:42):
You're thinking the same things.
You start, you know, you,you're able to carry on good
conversation and now, all of asudden you move from.
I remember, you know, being withAaron for a little bit and I,
you know, I'd always thought inmy mind, just thinking, and I'm
like I, she may be somebody Icould marry.
(04:03):
And as time went on, I'm justlike this is it.
And it moved from that like toI love her.
You know, and I always jokeabout that.
The first time I told her Iloved her, she didn't say
nothing back.
I'm like well, does she love me?
My?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
future bride needs hearing aids.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I mean I worked the whole deal up and said, and
she's crickets.
I'm like okay, well, I'll seeyou later.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Maybe not right, I didn't know, but it was at EYC.
I talked about this idea of thebeauty of the bride and one of
the things that I was talkingabout was this idea of you know,
the groom looks at that brideand we're going to talk about it
(04:59):
in the next episode, but butshe's beautiful to him and you
know there's a lot of thoughtsthat are going through his mind
that have led him to that point.
You know the idea of we'regoing to get to have a
relationship with each otherforever.
You know that idea of you knowshe loves me just as much as I
(05:22):
love her and the appreciationthat they have for each other.
And I just think that when youyou think about the wedding and
that ceremony and you thinkabout the things that are said
there, it's through thick andthin, it's through.
You know the good and the bad.
You know you are making apromise to the Lord and when
(05:44):
we're talking about this in aspiritual way, that you know I'm
going to hang with you.
But the beauty of what we seein scripture is oh, I'm hanging
with you because I picked you.
You know like I picked this,this, this is my bride, and the
confidence that comes with that.
I think God shows just how muchhe appreciates the bride.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah, and you know you were thinking there about
all the happenings, the events,the things you do together, the
conversations, the specialmoments that led to that love.
It just didn't, you know, likeyou said, love at first sight,
yeah, you better open your eyesRight.
Okay, you're kind of squintingright now, but the reality is it
(06:28):
takes time for that to develop.
You know, you may recognizequickly, you know that boy.
There's something special aboutthis individual.
Never felt this before, neverthought this before.
But that happens over time,over events, over just being
(06:51):
together, sharing, sharing yourheart, sharing your dreams,
sharing your hurts, times of joyand excitement.
And when I think about Christand the church, the way becoming
and being the bride of Christ,you know it's the same thing.
It didn't happen by accident,this wasn't an afterthought of
(07:13):
God, this wasn't because wellfell out of love with that one.
I'm going to go ahead and dothis.
When you go back and look inthe Old Testament and we could
look at several prophecies youknow, and find the fulfillment
of them in Acts 2.
But really, when you thinkabout the relationship of Jesus
and the church as his bride, itgoes all the way back.
(07:34):
I just want us to mention onefor time's sake.
You look at Isaiah 40.
That's just a beautiful passagewhen he says in verse 3, I'm
making a way now.
He says a voice is callingclear the way for the Lord in
the wilderness.
How are you going to do that?
He says well, you're going tohave to make smooth in the
desert a highway for our God.
Let every valley be lifted up,every mountain and hill be made
(07:57):
low.
Why Verse 5.
?
So when I read that passage and,as we said, many, many others,
what I see is this is somethingvery special.
(08:18):
It was already prophesied here.
It was talked about all the wayback in the book of Isaiah and
even earlier.
If you wanted to, you go allthe way back to the book of
Genesis.
But because of that beautifulrelationship as the bride of it
was, it was prophesied and youknow, it's one thing to prophesy
(08:39):
it or to predict it, or to tellyou it's going to happen, but
to see the fulfillment of it isthe, is the depth and the riches
of it.
And you know, and when you cometo the new testament, man, we
find that taking place you know,yeah, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I think when you said something about Genesis, when
you go all the way back and youthink about what God said, you
know it'll be the man and thewoman come away from their
parents and they become oneflesh.
Well, you think about thebeauty of the church and you
think about what we are.
We're the body, like we marryinto this relationship and now,
(09:19):
all of a sudden, we become oneflesh, like we become the body
of Jesus.
And you know, the power of thisis talked about long ago.
It was something, and this iswhy I love the Bible, because
this was not an afterthought.
But what he does is he.
It builds through time and Imean what a blessing we have the
(09:41):
2020, because we get to lookback and see the whole thing
unfold, because you know, justlike this was prophesied, now,
all of a sudden, we see Johntaking the next step, you know,
into this reality of somethingthat's coming and you know it's
something that's beautiful, it'ssomething that you know is.
(10:04):
You know I talked about itagain, I said this at EYC during
Christmas was it's breathtakingand it's about to unfold, and
it unfolds in these certain waysand then, when it's fully
revealed, it's like wow unfoldsin these certain ways and then,
when it's fully revealed, it'slike wow, yeah, we see it
prophesied in Isaiah.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
But then we see John the baptizer clearing the way
for the way.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah Well, and to that point you think about a
wedding or even a relationship,the work that other people do to
make things happen.
And so I think about my wifeand I.
We were introduced throughmutual friends, and so I think
about my wife and I, like, wewere introduced through mutual
friends, and had it not beenthrough those friends who knew,
who knows if we would have evermet Right, or you think about
every wedding.
Most every wedding has a weddingparty and it's friends and
(10:49):
family who are there to share inthe joy but also to help make
sure that the wedding goessmoothly and that everything is
how it needs to be.
And when we look at John, Ican't help but just kind of
think of him as the best man.
Yeah, and and and listen tothese words from John, chapter
three, beginning of verse 26.
And they came to John and theysaid rabbi, he who was with you
(11:12):
across the Jordan, to whom youbore witness, look, he is
baptizing and all are going tohim.
The Jordan, to whom you borewitness, look, he is baptizing
and all are going to him.
John answered a person cannotreceive even one thing unless it
is given him from heaven.
You yourselves bore me witnessthat I said I am not the Christ,
but I have been sent before him.
The one who has the bride isthe bridegroom.
(11:32):
The friend of the bridegroom,who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at thebridegroom's voice.
Therefore, this joy of mine isnow complete.
He must increase, but I mustdecrease.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Preach it boy.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yes, and so John the baptizer.
He prepares the way.
He fulfills that prophecy,Wayne, that you read from Isaiah
.
That's right, he's the voice ofone calling in the wilderness.
And now that the groom is here,john says I'm done.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yep my work is complete.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
My joy is full.
It is time for him to increaseand for me to fade away.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know, I think, the what is John.
You know he knows the Spirit is, you know, giving him some
information and you know heknows the Spirit is, you know,
giving him some information.
We know that the Spirit is uponhim and you know he's being,
you know, told these things thathe needs to proclaim and the
things that he needs to say.
But in that moment when he seesJesus and he uses think about
(12:32):
the terminology that he uses hesays it's the bridegroom, there
he is, and look at what heunderstands and what he's seeing
is these people being baptized.
He's seeing this development,real early on, of something that
is just so joyful.
Now to what understanding.
I don't know what John wasfully seeing and I'm not trying
(12:54):
to get into that, but what I amsaying is John recognized that
something special was here andhe says I got to decrease
because that guy has got toincrease, because he's got a
love for somebody that is beyondwhat I could even dream of
doing.
And I think you know it is sucha beautiful picture that we can
(13:16):
see and understand when wethink about what that bride
looks like and how beautifulthat bride is, and just the
things that are developed inorder for that relationship to
be.
You know, bride and groomtogether as one.
I think it paints such aperfect picture of what the
relationship is between Christand the church picture of what
(13:37):
the relationship is betweenChrist and the church.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, and you know you mentioned there about John
saying he must decrease, fadeaway, you know, get into the
background.
And because he understoodsomething we talked about in the
last episode, he wasn't the way, guys.
He wasn't the way.
Jesus was the way, he was notthe way.
And Jesus is the bride.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah Well, and just kind of staying at the wedding
analogy, you think about theentire bridal party and I just
imagine John, I imagine theapostles, I imagine Paul, just
kind of all these earlyindividuals who helped.
But when you are at a weddingyou don't remember the wedding
(14:16):
party, but when you are at awedding, you don't remember the
wedding party, your focus isn'ton the people that are the
support staff your focus is onthe people that are getting
married, and for us, we get tobe part of that wedding.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And we're not a groomsman, we're not a
bridesmaid.
We are part of the relationshipand I think that's a beautiful
thing, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Wayne why don't you talk to us more about this
promise that Jesus makes andgives for us to be part of that
wedding?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yeah, because that's exactly what Jesus pictured it
to be.
You know, if Jesus was going topaint a picture of the church
of the being the way it's foundin Matthew 16.
And you know, jesus comes intothis district or this area
called Caesarea Philippi and hewas asking hey, what's people
saying around here?
You know what's people thinking.
(15:06):
I mean, what are you guyshearing?
You know what's the word on thestreet.
We might say you know who dopeople say that I the Son of man
am.
And they started giving avariety of answers.
You know, well, you know it's alittle bit of confusion,
because some say well, you know,is he Elijah or is he, you know
, jeremiah?
I mean, he's got to be one ofthese famous prophets.
But then he gets down, he kindof hones down then and he
(15:29):
focuses in and he says, okay,that's what all they say.
But how about you guys?
You've been my followers, whatdo you got to say?
And Simon Peter answered up andsaid oh, hey, there's no doubt,
we don't have to guess aboutthis.
I know that you are the Christ,that you're the promised one,
(15:50):
that you're the Messiah, you'rethe one, the son of the living
God.
And Jesus, you know, in ourterminology today, we might say
good answer, good answer,correct answer, peter.
And he even said blessed, areyou First time?
Good job buddy First time.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
That's right, you've been messing up like a goofball
all these times but now you gotit.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Okay, you got it, man .
Hey, he's arrived, Okay.
And he says you're exactlyright.
And you know, because of that,there's this beautiful promise.
He says and you know what I'mgoing to do, I will build my
church.
Talking about relationship.
You know, when you talk aboutmy wife, my husband, there's a
relationship the bride and thebridegroom.
(16:32):
And so when Jesus is talkingabout I will build my church,
he's talking about arelationship.
He's talking about arelationship.
He's picturing something thatis so wonderful and so beautiful
and exciting that you're partof that family.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Again to go back and look at what we just started
with today about.
We're part of something that isso unique and something so
special that we've kind of seenthe development of it going all
the way to that point of lovethat he was willing to die for
her.
You think about the vows thatthey make and they say you know,
repeat after me, I love you,blah, blah, blah.
People make them up, but all ofthose things are vows to the
spouse.
We make a vow that we believethat Jesus Christ is the son of
the living God, and thatconfession for these people in
(17:26):
this time was a big deal.
I mean, you know, like, howmany sermons have you heard?
And the illustrations on?
You know Caesar wants you toclaim him as Lord.
But here these people were, youknow, confessing that they
believe that Jesus was thatChrist, the son of the living
God.
And they're making adeclaration, they're linking
their self up to say, no, that'smy man, that's my guy, that's
(17:49):
the one you know, just like thebride.
You know, a lot of times when Iperform weddings, one of the
things that I'll say at the endof those vows is you know,
spouse say to you know, or groomsay to the bride I choose you
to be my husband and I chooseyou to be my wife.
(18:10):
That's very powerful becausenow, all of a sudden, I could
pick anybody.
But who did I pick?
And I think you're on one whenyou're talking about the
groomsmen and all the ones thatare part of it.
We, as God's people, are inthat wedding.
That is an incredible.
We are the spotlight, you knowand we're going to talk about it
a little bit later, but youguys, it just spurred in my mind
(18:33):
what Paul said in Philippiansfour, verse one.
Therefore, my beloved and longfor brethren, my joy and crown.
So stand fast in the Lord.
His joy and his crown was toelevate the people, to
understand how important theyare.
They're the bride of JesusChrist man that just is
incredible.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And when he made the promise in Matthew 16, I mean,
that was a commitment that he'sgoing to carry, Just like in the
vows.
You know, I promise to do this.
I promise to do that sickness.
I'm building my church.
I'm building my church.
You're talking about acommitment that you're going to
care for it.
You're going to.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
That's.
I mean you just saying thathe's saying his vows and we say
our vows.
I mean it truly is likemarriage.
Who could?
Yeah, I mean it truly is like.
Who could draw that up better?
And it's all in the Bible.
This just connection to thismarriage between God and man,
and this picture is beingpainted right here in the middle
(19:36):
, really, of the gospel accountin Matthew.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
No, very, very true.
And guys, I want to ask thisquestion and if this takes is
completely off the rails, I'msorry.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Just say you're not going to answer.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But a lot of the language that is used is that we
, as part of the church, are thebride of Christ, and I think
for men specifically, that'skind of problematic, Like.
I don't want to be a bride, I'vebeen a groom, I'm the man, I'm
the protector.
But it kind of flips and Christsays, no, you're going to be
(20:13):
part of the bride, I'm going tobe the groom.
How do you reconcile that?
Or what advice would you giveespecially to a man who may be
reading that for the first timeor newer, to thinking of the
church as the bride of saying,okay, I can be part of the bride
of Christ and everything's okay, I can still be the husband to
(20:34):
my spouse, I can still serve inthe body and all of this.
What advice would you give forsomeone like that?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, I think I mean if you read Ephesians, chapter
five, and you read that thoughtwhere he says in verse 23, for
the husband is head of the wife,as also Christ is head of the
church and he's the savior ofthe body.
Therefore, just as the churchis subject to Christ, so let
wives be to their own husbandsand everything it's painting
(21:04):
this picture, and reallyEphesians five is that
relationship between the churchand Christ.
Like when I'm looking at theillustration.
I have to separate those two inunderstanding I'm not becoming
a bride and putting a dress on.
That's not what I'm doing.
But what I am doing is I haveto realize that somebody loves
(21:28):
me so much and I think that youcan connect to that the men can
when you realize what you lookedat when your bride walked down
the aisle, or when, when a, whena male watches a wedding and
sees that it doesn't matter inin the world's view of whether
that that girl is a one or a tenon the beauty scale.
(21:50):
It does not matter if you're ata wedding and you're not
married, but you're watchingthis and you see that bride,
when everybody stands up and yousee her, they're like there's
something different about that.
That's what I believe, thatthat that we're trying to draw
people to, and that's what thebible's drawing them to, and
that's what john was drawingthem to.
(22:10):
The bridegroom's here, butyou're the bride it's a
relationship it's therelationship that men get by.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
In my mind, that's how men get by, that, yeah, it's
not male or female, bride orgroom, right, it's relationship,
that's right, just like youhave in a marriage.
And so what we have is amarriage to Christ, because
we've both seen in all theweddings we've been blessed to
do, right.
I've been standing there andyou see this big, robust mustard
(22:39):
guy and she pops through thatback door and maybe he's seen
her in that dress for the firsttime.
I mean tears, just startflowing.
He's up there wiping snot andwiping his eyes and everything.
Why?
Because of relationship, andwhen we see what the church is
as a relationship with theSavior of the world, it brings
(22:59):
us to our knees in appreciation.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I think that it does press on the humility of the
manly man.
It presses on your humility tosay there is somebody that loves
you this much.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Well, and I think a good kind of counterpoint to
that is if Christ loves thechurch as his bride, how do you
love your bride?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And is it that same affectionate love?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
And if it is, great, then you know and understand the
longing that Christ has for you.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
If not, there's things to consider.
Yes, sir, relationship.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
No, so thanks for letting me derail us there for a
second.
I love it I think this isepisode 25 and I try to keep us
on track as much as I can, butmaybe, like every 25th episode,
I can have a pass derailed thatwas a good day right, it was I
mean well, while we're derailedjust 30 seconds.
It was my first wedding toperform I was 21, 22 it was a a
(24:02):
middle-aged couple rough aroundthe edges, I think would be the
polite way to do it, and like I,I've been going for like four
or five minutes and he justbecomes hysterical, like not
tears flowing, like is he goingto pass out, like oh like he was
bawling and I'm lost.
I don't have a clue what to do.
(24:23):
I'm 20 years old, um, and thenthe wife.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
She's like keep going , keep going great.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
So, um, I was scarred to perform weddings.
After that I've done a few morethat have been a little better,
but nonetheless, just always.
I haven't thought about that ina while.
This episode is taking me.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Let's say she knew him.
Yeah, she knew he was going tobe okay.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Y'all go ahead and kiss and let's go home.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Look, before we slide on past this, I do think that
it is a good point that youbrought up about men kind of on
the surface, struggle with thisidea of being considered the
bride on the surface, strugglewith this idea of being
considered the bride.
But I do think that you know,just like Wayne said, the
(25:09):
relationship that they canconnect with real quick is how
much they love their bride.
And you, you hit it Like when Iunderstand how much I love my
bride, then now all of a suddenI'm like, oh, it's a light bulb
moment.
You're like, oh, he's trying tosay you know that feeling of
how much you care for yourspouse, Think about how much
Jesus cares about you and howimportant you are to him.
(25:31):
That's the game changer.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
And that's far deeper than caring for your bride.
Yes, because Jesus demonstratedthat he showed it.
Yes, because Jesus demonstratedthat he showed it?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah Well, and I think, while we've been at the
wedding for so much of theepisode, do you love your wife
more today?
No or did you love her more onthe wedding day?
More now?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, by far.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
No comparison.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And I think with us and the church and with us in
Christ.
That's got to be the example ofhe loves us unconditionally,
but just as our love for ourwives has grown throughout our
marriages.
It's got to be the same withthe church.
And we have to commit andinvest and do all those
relational things to make surethat we present a healthy bride
(26:16):
for the groom.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Absolutely Okay, this is good, good boys.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, so, um, thinking about kind of this idea
of protection.
And, matt, you touched on thesebriefly, but let's look at
Ephesians five and I'm going toread verse 23 and verse 27 for
us.
And it says for the husband isthe head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its
savior, so that he might presentthe church to himself in
(26:42):
splendor, without spot orwrinkle or any such thing, that
she might be holy and withoutblemish.
And so guys talk a little bitabout the protection that the
bride has from the groom.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
You just touched on this.
What this does for the man isit presents us with a hard task,
because what we say is we loveour wives, but then it's like,
how much do you?
Because what he did was henourishes and cherishes his wife
.
He actually did something thatwas very different in the fact
(27:23):
that he, without spot or wrinkle, made us become perfect in his
eyes.
So I think there is a littlebit of a separation in the fact
that we're learning to love ourwife more and more.
He's always loved us.
He's loved us before we wereeven created, and so now, all of
a sudden, this elevates thisidea of how much do I love my
(27:47):
wife If I'm going to be, youknow and we're talking about
this marriage now, but you knowbecause we're in Ephesians 5,
but this idea of how much do Ilove my wife Well, how much I
love my wife is showing thisidea of how much I should love
the church, and while people whoaren't married can say, well, I
(28:09):
don't know how it feels to lovea wife because I'm not married.
You understand the principle,though.
You do understand the principlebecause you've seen it in
grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and you've seen it in.
You know, you see it in these,these pictures of boyfriend and
girlfriend and how you like, youknow people and so there is
that feeling that you have inthat understanding.
(28:31):
But I think what elevates thisidea is and just for me, and it
does make me a little bitemotional this idea that we
should be holy and withoutblemish.
This idea that we should beholy and without blemish, he
gave everything to create dirty,nasty people, perfect, holy,
(28:53):
set apart.
And you know that we alwaysyou've heard lessons on I'll
build my church, the ecclesia,the set out people, the set
apart, the ones who are separate, and that's an incredible thing
.
How am I elevating, you know,my love for the Lord?
Is it that way or is it justsuperficial?
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I think it creates another layer of depth of love
for the Lord.
Well, and I think, as you readEphesians five, like, is it a
passage about the husband andwife or is it a passage about
Christ in the church?
Because I think the language isso strong for either one that
it's impossible to separate.
But they don't need to beseparated Right, because if you
have a spouse and you're readingEphesians, then chances are
(29:43):
you're in the church and viceversa.
If you are reading about howthe church loves the bride or
how Christ loves the church ashis bride, then you have to have
the same mind, you have to bethe servant, you have to be
willing to die for the spouseand for what that creates.
And I love that passage inEphesians 5 because there's not
a better analogy for the churchand I don't think there's a
(30:05):
better analogy for marriage thanthose two.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Right, I don't think we need to be trying to separate
them.
No, because there is noseparation really.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
No, and kind of along those lines.
2 Corinthians 11 too, paul saysFor I feel a divine jealousy
for you, since I betrothed youto one husband to present you as
a pure virgin to Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
So there's more of that language that we've talked
about the whole episode.
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So, guys, obviously another really intriguing
discussion as we think aboutwhat the church is and what the
church should be, and our rolewithin that.
But what's our takeaway, wayne?
Make it real for us.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Oh, just what a blessing it is to be able to
think about being a part of thebride, being the bride of Christ
, the church a part of it, andto be able to be presented to
God whole and blameless Guys.
What a blessing that is for usto be able to be cleansed
because we're married to Christ.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah, I would say physically speaking, if you're
married or if you're not married, you're married to Jesus Christ
.
You are I mean, you are thebride of Jesus Christ.
That's something that'sunbelievable.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
He picked you so yeah , well, and for me is what kind
of spouse are you?
You think about all the phasesand things that a human marriage
goes through, the ebbs andflows, the good and the bad, but
both parties have to make thatdecision that they are going to
commit, that they're going tostay faithful.
And we ask that same questionwith the church what kind of
(31:47):
spouse are you?
Are you committing to Christ?
Are you committing to thechurch, no matter what happens?
Are you going to be there inthe good times, in the bad times
?
And just as Christ is alwaysgoing to be faithful to us, we
have to ask that question of howfaithful are we going to be to
him.
So, guys, great discussion andwe'll carry it on you.
Hello friends.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Welcome to the Rooted and.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Grounded podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
How are you guys doing?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good it's a wedding day, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Wedding day Wedding bells in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
That's always special .
So, as we get started today,and before we get into the
serious stuff, I'm curious guysstarted today and before we we
get into the serious stuff, I'mcurious guys.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Um, thinking back to your brides, when did you know,
or did you know that, uh, shewas the one well, I knew that
aaron was the one when I told ajoke and she laughed because I
knew she was saying bless hisheart, don't nobody ever laugh
at those jokes.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
He needs help, I can help him.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I knew I needed to snag that, because if I didn't,
I may not ever catch one againlike that.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Don't let this one off the hook.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Real baby.
It hasn't worked in a long time, but this one Real real Finally
worked.
I got that one on the shorequick boys Wayne.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
I guess after like the third time Davey asked me to
marry her.
I hope she misses this episode,no.
You know, it happened reallyquick for us because we met and
we're engaged in a month andmarried three months later.
(01:40):
Because, listen, in allseriousness, I knew real quick,
man, I can't let this one getaway Like whenever your father
told you this was your bride Ibet you're gonna give that I
want her that is right yeah, andI would say for mine, um, just
like knowing me, there was noone else um that was willing to
(02:01):
tolerate me.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
And then Andrea came along, thankfully, and you said
thank you Lord, thank you Lord.
Yeah, well, and you?
Speaker 1 (02:09):
hear people say like oh, it was the way the sunlight
hit them, or this, Like I don'tthink there was an exact moment,
but I think pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's like there's something different about this
one.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, we ask that question today because we are
going to talk about the bride ofChrist, and obviously not a
physical female bride like thethree of us have, but the bride
of the church, and last episodewe spent time looking through
the gospel of that set what thechurch is as the way, and it's
(02:42):
the way to Jesus.
And today we're going to lookat another facet of the church,
and that is the church as theway and it's the way to Jesus.
And today we're going to lookat another facet of the church,
and that is the church as thebride of Christ.
And so, matt, why don't youkick us off?
Talk some about that aspect ofthe bride and how the church
shares in similarities to thebrides that we think of today.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah, I think it's no coincidence that this setup or
this mindset of the church beingsomething that the Lord, just
you know, loves and adores andcherishes.
But you know, we kind of wereall talking about this and I'm
glad we did for the setup,because this is true, that when
(03:22):
you first meet that girl, thatwhen you first meet that girl,
you don't I mean, people may say, man, it was love at first
sight, but you ain't talked tothem yet, you know, and and
basically what you're going offof, if you haven't even spoke to
him, is the looks, right, nodoubt.
But I think you start likingthat person because you can
communicate with each other.
(03:42):
You're thinking the same things.
You start, you know, you,you're able to carry on good
conversation and now, all of asudden you move from.
I remember, you know, being withAaron for a little bit and I,
you know, I'd always thought inmy mind, just thinking, and I'm
like I, she may be somebody Icould marry.
(04:03):
And as time went on, I'm justlike this is it.
And it moved from that like toI love her.
You know, and I always jokeabout that.
The first time I told her Iloved her, she didn't say
nothing back.
I'm like well, does she love me?
My?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
future bride needs hearing aids.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I mean I worked the whole deal up and said, and
she's crickets.
I'm like okay, well, I'll seeyou later.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I don't know what to do.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Maybe not right, I didn't know, but it was at EYC.
I talked about this idea of thebeauty of the bride and one of
the things that I was talkingabout was this idea of you know,
the groom looks at that brideand we're going to talk about it
(04:59):
in the next episode, but butshe's beautiful to him and you
know there's a lot of thoughtsthat are going through his mind
that have led him to that point.
You know the idea of we'regoing to get to have a
relationship with each otherforever.
You know that idea of you knowshe loves me just as much as I
(05:22):
love her and the appreciationthat they have for each other.
And I just think that when youyou think about the wedding and
that ceremony and you thinkabout the things that are said
there, it's through thick andthin, it's through.
You know the good and the bad.
You know you are making apromise to the Lord and when
(05:44):
we're talking about this in aspiritual way, that you know I'm
going to hang with you.
But the beauty of what we seein scripture is oh, I'm hanging
with you because I picked you.
You know like I picked this,this, this is my bride, and the
confidence that comes with that.
I think God shows just how muchhe appreciates the bride.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Yeah, and you know you were thinking there about
all the happenings, the events,the things you do together, the
conversations, the specialmoments that led to that love.
It just didn't, you know, likeyou said, love at first sight,
yeah, you better open your eyesRight.
Okay, you're kind of squintingright now, but the reality is it
(06:28):
takes time for that to develop.
You know, you may recognizequickly, you know that boy.
There's something special aboutthis individual.
Never felt this before, neverthought this before.
But that happens over time,over events, over just being
(06:51):
together, sharing, sharing yourheart, sharing your dreams,
sharing your hurts, times of joyand excitement.
And when I think about Christand the church, the way becoming
and being the bride of Christ,you know it's the same thing.
It didn't happen by accident,this wasn't an afterthought of
(07:13):
God, this wasn't because wellfell out of love with that one.
I'm going to go ahead and dothis.
When you go back and look inthe Old Testament and we could
look at several prophecies youknow, and find the fulfillment
of them in Acts 2.
But really, when you thinkabout the relationship of Jesus
and the church as his bride, itgoes all the way back.
(07:34):
I just want us to mention onefor time's sake.
You look at Isaiah 40.
That's just a beautiful passagewhen he says in verse 3, I'm
making a way now.
He says a voice is callingclear the way for the Lord in
the wilderness.
How are you going to do that?
He says well, you're going tohave to make smooth in the
desert a highway for our God.
Let every valley be lifted up,every mountain and hill be made
(07:57):
low.
Why Verse 5.
?
So when I read that passage and,as we said, many, many others,
what I see is this is somethingvery special.
(08:18):
It was already prophesied here.
It was talked about all the wayback in the book of Isaiah and
even earlier.
If you wanted to, you go allthe way back to the book of
Genesis.
But because of that beautifulrelationship as the bride of it
was, it was prophesied and youknow, it's one thing to prophesy
(08:39):
it or to predict it, or to tellyou it's going to happen, but
to see the fulfillment of it isthe, is the depth and the riches
of it.
And you know, and when you cometo the new testament, man, we
find that taking place you know,yeah, yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
I think when you said something about Genesis, when
you go all the way back and youthink about what God said, you
know it'll be the man and thewoman come away from their
parents and they become oneflesh.
Well, you think about thebeauty of the church and you
think about what we are.
We're the body, like we marryinto this relationship and now,
(09:19):
all of a sudden, we become oneflesh, like we become the body
of Jesus.
And you know, the power of thisis talked about long ago.
It was something, and this iswhy I love the Bible, because
this was not an afterthought.
But what he does is he.
It builds through time and Imean what a blessing we have the
(09:41):
2020, because we get to lookback and see the whole thing
unfold, because you know, justlike this was prophesied, now,
all of a sudden, we see Johntaking the next step, you know,
into this reality of somethingthat's coming and you know it's
something that's beautiful, it'ssomething that you know is.
(10:04):
You know I talked about itagain, I said this at EYC during
Christmas was it's breathtakingand it's about to unfold, and
it unfolds in these certain waysand then, when it's fully
revealed, it's like wow unfoldsin these certain ways and then,
when it's fully revealed, it'slike wow, yeah, we see it
prophesied in Isaiah.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
But then we see John the baptizer clearing the way
for the way.
That's right.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Yeah Well, and to that point you think about a
wedding or even a relationship,the work that other people do to
make things happen.
And so I think about my wifeand I.
We were introduced throughmutual friends, and so I think
about my wife and I, like, wewere introduced through mutual
friends, and had it not beenthrough those friends who knew,
who knows if we would have evermet Right, or you think about
every wedding.
Most every wedding has a weddingparty and it's friends and
(10:49):
family who are there to share inthe joy but also to help make
sure that the wedding goessmoothly and that everything is
how it needs to be.
And when we look at John, Ican't help but just kind of
think of him as the best man.
Yeah, and and and listen tothese words from John, chapter
three, beginning of verse 26.
And they came to John and theysaid rabbi, he who was with you
(11:12):
across the Jordan, to whom youbore witness, look, he is
baptizing and all are going tohim.
The Jordan, to whom you borewitness, look, he is baptizing
and all are going to him.
John answered a person cannotreceive even one thing unless it
is given him from heaven.
You yourselves bore me witnessthat I said I am not the Christ,
but I have been sent before him.
The one who has the bride isthe bridegroom.
(11:32):
The friend of the bridegroom,who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at thebridegroom's voice.
Therefore, this joy of mine isnow complete.
He must increase, but I mustdecrease.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Preach it boy.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yes, and so John the baptizer.
He prepares the way.
He fulfills that prophecy,Wayne, that you read from Isaiah
.
That's right, he's the voice ofone calling in the wilderness.
And now that the groom is here,john says I'm done.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Yep my work is complete.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
My joy is full.
It is time for him to increaseand for me to fade away.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
You know, I think, the what is John.
You know he knows the Spirit is, you know, giving him some
information and you know heknows the Spirit is, you know,
giving him some information.
We know that the Spirit is uponhim and you know he's being,
you know, told these things thathe needs to proclaim and the
things that he needs to say.
But in that moment when he seesJesus and he uses think about
(12:32):
the terminology that he uses hesays it's the bridegroom, there
he is, and look at what heunderstands and what he's seeing
is these people being baptized.
He's seeing this development,real early on, of something that
is just so joyful.
Now to what understanding.
I don't know what John wasfully seeing and I'm not trying
(12:54):
to get into that, but what I amsaying is John recognized that
something special was here andhe says I got to decrease
because that guy has got toincrease, because he's got a
love for somebody that is beyondwhat I could even dream of
doing.
And I think you know it is sucha beautiful picture that we can
(13:16):
see and understand when wethink about what that bride
looks like and how beautifulthat bride is, and just the
things that are developed inorder for that relationship to
be.
You know, bride and groomtogether as one.
I think it paints such aperfect picture of what the
relationship is between Christand the church picture of what
(13:37):
the relationship is betweenChrist and the church.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Yeah, and you know you mentioned there about John
saying he must decrease, fadeaway, you know, get into the
background.
And because he understoodsomething we talked about in the
last episode, he wasn't the way, guys.
He wasn't the way.
Jesus was the way, he was notthe way.
And Jesus is the bride.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah Well, and just kind of staying at the wedding
analogy, you think about theentire bridal party and I just
imagine John, I imagine theapostles, I imagine Paul, just
kind of all these earlyindividuals who helped.
But when you are at a weddingyou don't remember the wedding
(14:16):
party, but when you are at awedding, you don't remember the
wedding party, your focus isn'ton the people that are the
support staff your focus is onthe people that are getting
married, and for us, we get tobe part of that wedding.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
And we're not a groomsman, we're not a
bridesmaid.
We are part of the relationshipand I think that's a beautiful
thing, and so.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Wayne why don't you talk to us more about this
promise that Jesus makes andgives for us to be part of that
wedding?
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Yeah, because that's exactly what Jesus pictured it
to be.
You know, if Jesus was going topaint a picture of the church
of the being the way it's foundin Matthew 16.
And you know, jesus comes intothis district or this area
called Caesarea Philippi and hewas asking hey, what's people
saying around here?
You know what's people thinking.
(15:06):
I mean, what are you guyshearing?
You know what's the word on thestreet.
We might say you know who dopeople say that I the Son of man
am.
And they started giving avariety of answers.
You know, well, you know it's alittle bit of confusion,
because some say well, you know,is he Elijah or is he, you know
, jeremiah?
I mean, he's got to be one ofthese famous prophets.
But then he gets down, he kindof hones down then and he
(15:29):
focuses in and he says, okay,that's what all they say.
But how about you guys?
You've been my followers, whatdo you got to say?
And Simon Peter answered up andsaid oh, hey, there's no doubt,
we don't have to guess aboutthis.
I know that you are the Christ,that you're the promised one,
(15:50):
that you're the Messiah, you'rethe one, the son of the living
God.
And Jesus, you know, in ourterminology today, we might say
good answer, good answer,correct answer, peter.
And he even said blessed, areyou First time?
Good job buddy First time.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
That's right, you've been messing up like a goofball
all these times but now you gotit.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Okay, you got it, man .
Hey, he's arrived, Okay.
And he says you're exactlyright.
And you know, because of that,there's this beautiful promise.
He says and you know what I'mgoing to do, I will build my
church.
Talking about relationship.
You know, when you talk aboutmy wife, my husband, there's a
relationship the bride and thebridegroom.
(16:32):
And so when Jesus is talkingabout I will build my church,
he's talking about arelationship.
He's talking about arelationship.
He's picturing something thatis so wonderful and so beautiful
and exciting that you're partof that family.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Again to go back and look at what we just started
with today about.
We're part of something that isso unique and something so
special that we've kind of seenthe development of it going all
the way to that point of lovethat he was willing to die for
her.
You think about the vows thatthey make and they say you know,
repeat after me, I love you,blah, blah, blah.
People make them up, but all ofthose things are vows to the
spouse.
We make a vow that we believethat Jesus Christ is the son of
the living God, and thatconfession for these people in
(17:26):
this time was a big deal.
I mean, you know, like, howmany sermons have you heard?
And the illustrations on?
You know Caesar wants you toclaim him as Lord.
But here these people were, youknow, confessing that they
believe that Jesus was thatChrist, the son of the living
God.
And they're making adeclaration, they're linking
their self up to say, no, that'smy man, that's my guy, that's
(17:49):
the one you know, just like thebride.
You know, a lot of times when Iperform weddings, one of the
things that I'll say at the endof those vows is you know,
spouse say to you know, or groomsay to the bride I choose you
to be my husband and I chooseyou to be my wife.
(18:10):
That's very powerful becausenow, all of a sudden, I could
pick anybody.
But who did I pick?
And I think you're on one whenyou're talking about the
groomsmen and all the ones thatare part of it.
We, as God's people, are inthat wedding.
That is an incredible.
We are the spotlight, you knowand we're going to talk about it
a little bit later, but youguys, it just spurred in my mind
(18:33):
what Paul said in Philippiansfour, verse one.
Therefore, my beloved and longfor brethren, my joy and crown.
So stand fast in the Lord.
His joy and his crown was toelevate the people, to
understand how important theyare.
They're the bride of JesusChrist man that just is
incredible.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
And when he made the promise in Matthew 16, I mean,
that was a commitment that he'sgoing to carry, Just like in the
vows.
You know, I promise to do this.
I promise to do that sickness.
I'm building my church.
I'm building my church.
You're talking about acommitment that you're going to
care for it.
You're going to.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
That's.
I mean you just saying thathe's saying his vows and we say
our vows.
I mean it truly is likemarriage.
Who could?
Yeah, I mean it truly is like.
Who could draw that up better?
And it's all in the Bible.
This just connection to thismarriage between God and man,
and this picture is beingpainted right here in the middle
(19:36):
, really, of the gospel accountin Matthew.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
No, very, very true.
And guys, I want to ask thisquestion and if this takes is
completely off the rails, I'msorry.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
Just say you're not going to answer.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
But a lot of the language that is used is that we
, as part of the church, are thebride of Christ, and I think
for men specifically, that'skind of problematic, Like.
I don't want to be a bride, I'vebeen a groom, I'm the man, I'm
the protector.
But it kind of flips and Christsays, no, you're going to be
(20:13):
part of the bride, I'm going tobe the groom.
How do you reconcile that?
Or what advice would you giveespecially to a man who may be
reading that for the first timeor newer, to thinking of the
church as the bride of saying,okay, I can be part of the bride
of Christ and everything's okay, I can still be the husband to
(20:34):
my spouse, I can still serve inthe body and all of this.
What advice would you give forsomeone like that?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Well, I think I mean if you read Ephesians, chapter
five, and you read that thoughtwhere he says in verse 23, for
the husband is head of the wife,as also Christ is head of the
church and he's the savior ofthe body.
Therefore, just as the churchis subject to Christ, so let
wives be to their own husbandsand everything it's painting
(21:04):
this picture, and reallyEphesians five is that
relationship between the churchand Christ.
Like when I'm looking at theillustration.
I have to separate those two inunderstanding I'm not becoming
a bride and putting a dress on.
That's not what I'm doing.
But what I am doing is I haveto realize that somebody loves
(21:28):
me so much and I think that youcan connect to that the men can
when you realize what you lookedat when your bride walked down
the aisle, or when, when a, whena male watches a wedding and
sees that it doesn't matter inin the world's view of whether
that that girl is a one or a tenon the beauty scale.
(21:50):
It does not matter if you're ata wedding and you're not
married, but you're watchingthis and you see that bride,
when everybody stands up and yousee her, they're like there's
something different about that.
That's what I believe, thatthat that we're trying to draw
people to, and that's what thebible's drawing them to, and
that's what john was drawingthem to.
(22:10):
The bridegroom's here, butyou're the bride it's a
relationship it's therelationship that men get by.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
In my mind, that's how men get by, that, yeah, it's
not male or female, bride orgroom, right, it's relationship,
that's right, just like youhave in a marriage.
And so what we have is amarriage to Christ, because
we've both seen in all theweddings we've been blessed to
do, right.
I've been standing there andyou see this big, robust mustard
(22:39):
guy and she pops through thatback door and maybe he's seen
her in that dress for the firsttime.
I mean tears, just startflowing.
He's up there wiping snot andwiping his eyes and everything.
Why?
Because of relationship, andwhen we see what the church is
as a relationship with theSavior of the world, it brings
(22:59):
us to our knees in appreciation.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
I think that it does press on the humility of the
manly man.
It presses on your humility tosay there is somebody that loves
you this much.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Well, and I think a good kind of counterpoint to
that is if Christ loves thechurch as his bride, how do you
love your bride?
Speaker 2 (23:23):
And is it that same affectionate love?
Speaker 1 (23:25):
And if it is, great, then you know and understand the
longing that Christ has for you.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
If not, there's things to consider.
Yes, sir, relationship.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
No, so thanks for letting me derail us there for a
second.
I love it I think this isepisode 25 and I try to keep us
on track as much as I can, butmaybe, like every 25th episode,
I can have a pass derailed thatwas a good day right, it was I
mean well, while we're derailedjust 30 seconds.
It was my first wedding toperform I was 21, 22 it was a a
(24:02):
middle-aged couple rough aroundthe edges, I think would be the
polite way to do it, and like I,I've been going for like four
or five minutes and he justbecomes hysterical, like not
tears flowing, like is he goingto pass out, like oh like he was
bawling and I'm lost.
I don't have a clue what to do.
(24:23):
I'm 20 years old, um, and thenthe wife.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
She's like keep going , keep going great.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
So, um, I was scarred to perform weddings.
After that I've done a few morethat have been a little better,
but nonetheless, just always.
I haven't thought about that ina while.
This episode is taking me.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Let's say she knew him.
Yeah, she knew he was going tobe okay.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Y'all go ahead and kiss and let's go home.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
Look, before we slide on past this, I do think that
it is a good point that youbrought up about men kind of on
the surface, struggle with thisidea of being considered the
bride on the surface, strugglewith this idea of being
considered the bride.
But I do think that you know,just like Wayne said, the
(25:09):
relationship that they canconnect with real quick is how
much they love their bride.
And you, you hit it Like when Iunderstand how much I love my
bride, then now all of a suddenI'm like, oh, it's a light bulb
moment.
You're like, oh, he's trying tosay you know that feeling of
how much you care for yourspouse, Think about how much
Jesus cares about you and howimportant you are to him.
(25:31):
That's the game changer.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
And that's far deeper than caring for your bride.
Yes, because Jesus demonstratedthat he showed it.
Yes, because Jesus demonstratedthat he showed it?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Yeah Well, and I think, while we've been at the
wedding for so much of theepisode, do you love your wife
more today?
No or did you love her more onthe wedding day?
More now?
Speaker 2 (25:52):
Yeah, by far.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
No comparison.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
And I think with us and the church and with us in
Christ.
That's got to be the example ofhe loves us unconditionally,
but just as our love for ourwives has grown throughout our
marriages.
It's got to be the same withthe church.
And we have to commit andinvest and do all those
relational things to make surethat we present a healthy bride
(26:16):
for the groom.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Absolutely Okay, this is good, good boys.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Yeah, so, um, thinking about kind of this idea
of protection.
And, matt, you touched on thesebriefly, but let's look at
Ephesians five and I'm going toread verse 23 and verse 27 for
us.
And it says for the husband isthe head of the wife, even as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its
savior, so that he might presentthe church to himself in
(26:42):
splendor, without spot orwrinkle or any such thing, that
she might be holy and withoutblemish.
And so guys talk a little bitabout the protection that the
bride has from the groom.
Speaker 2 (26:57):
You just touched on this.
What this does for the man isit presents us with a hard task,
because what we say is we loveour wives, but then it's like,
how much do you?
Because what he did was henourishes and cherishes his wife
.
He actually did something thatwas very different in the fact
(27:23):
that he, without spot or wrinkle, made us become perfect in his
eyes.
So I think there is a littlebit of a separation in the fact
that we're learning to love ourwife more and more.
He's always loved us.
He's loved us before we wereeven created, and so now, all of
a sudden, this elevates thisidea of how much do I love my
(27:47):
wife If I'm going to be, youknow and we're talking about
this marriage now, but you knowbecause we're in Ephesians 5,
but this idea of how much do Ilove my wife Well, how much I
love my wife is showing thisidea of how much I should love
the church, and while people whoaren't married can say, well, I
(28:09):
don't know how it feels to lovea wife because I'm not married.
You understand the principle,though.
You do understand the principlebecause you've seen it in
grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, and you've seen it in.
You know, you see it in these,these pictures of boyfriend and
girlfriend and how you like, youknow people and so there is
that feeling that you have inthat understanding.
(28:31):
But I think what elevates thisidea is and just for me, and it
does make me a little bitemotional this idea that we
should be holy and withoutblemish.
This idea that we should beholy and without blemish, he
gave everything to create dirty,nasty people, perfect, holy,
(28:53):
set apart.
And you know that we alwaysyou've heard lessons on I'll
build my church, the ecclesia,the set out people, the set
apart, the ones who are separate, and that's an incredible thing
.
How am I elevating, you know,my love for the Lord?
Is it that way or is it justsuperficial?
Speaker 1 (29:21):
I think it creates another layer of depth of love
for the Lord.
Well, and I think, as you readEphesians five, like, is it a
passage about the husband andwife or is it a passage about
Christ in the church?
Because I think the language isso strong for either one that
it's impossible to separate.
But they don't need to beseparated Right, because if you
have a spouse and you're readingEphesians, then chances are
(29:43):
you're in the church and viceversa.
If you are reading about howthe church loves the bride or
how Christ loves the church ashis bride, then you have to have
the same mind, you have to bethe servant, you have to be
willing to die for the spouseand for what that creates.
And I love that passage inEphesians 5 because there's not
a better analogy for the churchand I don't think there's a
(30:05):
better analogy for marriage thanthose two.
Speaker 3 (30:09):
Right, I don't think we need to be trying to separate
them.
No, because there is noseparation really.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
No, and kind of along those lines.
2 Corinthians 11 too, paul saysFor I feel a divine jealousy
for you, since I betrothed youto one husband to present you as
a pure virgin to Christ.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
So there's more of that language that we've talked
about the whole episode.
Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
So, guys, obviously another really intriguing
discussion as we think aboutwhat the church is and what the
church should be, and our rolewithin that.
But what's our takeaway, wayne?
Make it real for us.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Oh, just what a blessing it is to be able to
think about being a part of thebride, being the bride of Christ
, the church a part of it, andto be able to be presented to
God whole and blameless Guys.
What a blessing that is for usto be able to be cleansed
because we're married to Christ.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah, I would say physically speaking, if you're
married or if you're not married, you're married to Jesus Christ
.
You are I mean, you are thebride of Jesus Christ.
That's something that'sunbelievable.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
He picked you so yeah , well, and for me is what kind
of spouse are you?
You think about all the phasesand things that a human marriage
goes through, the ebbs andflows, the good and the bad, but
both parties have to make thatdecision that they are going to
commit, that they're going tostay faithful.
And we ask that same questionwith the church what kind of
(31:47):
spouse are you?
Are you committing to Christ?
Are you committing to thechurch, no matter what happens?
Are you going to be there inthe good times, in the bad times
?
And just as Christ is alwaysgoing to be faithful to us, we
have to ask that question of howfaithful are we going to be to
him.
So, guys, great discussion andwe'll carry it on you.
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