The Preparation of the Bride
Message Two
The Building of the Bride
THE EXTRACT OF THE OUTLINES
Scripture Readings:
Gen. 2:22 And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.
John 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him.
I. God’s building is the central matter of the entire Bible; Christ’s bride is the building of the Triune God—”And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”—Gen. 2:22: (Monday)
A．The entire Bible can be likened to a manual for building; the divine revelation at the beginning of the Bible concerning the Garden of Eden matches the divine revelation at the end of the Bible concerning the New Jerusalem.
B．Genesis 1 and 2 are the blueprint of God’s organic architecture plan to obtain His divine building; Revelation 21 and 22 are the photograph of the finished building, which is the corporate manifestation of the Triune God; Christ will return as the Bridegroom to marry His bride, who is the totality of the overcomers—Heb. 11:10, Gen. 1:26, Rev. 21:2.
———————————————————————————————————————-
C．This corporate bride, the New Jerusalem, is to accomplish two aspects of God’s purpose; first, the New Jerusalem has God’s full image for His glory; second, this New Jerusalem subdues the enemy to exercise God’s authority with His dominion over the entire universe—Rev. 21:11, 22:5. (Tuesday)
———————————————————————————————————————-
II. In order for God and His people to be one, there must be mutual love between them; the love between God and His people revealed in the Bible is mainly the fervent love between a man and a woman—John 14:21: (Wednesday)
A．God first loved us and infused His love into us so that we could love God and love the brothers with this love; we must be those who are flooded and constrained by the love of Christ; the Body of Christ builds itself up in love to be the bride of Christ—1 John 4:19-21, 2 Cor. 5:14, Eph. 4:16.
B．For the building of the church as Christ’s organic Body, love is the most excellent way in what we are and in what we do—1 Cor. 12:31b—13:8a.
———————————————————————————————————————-
III. What God did to produce a Counterpart for Himself; Genesis 2 reveals a picture of Christ and His bride in the type of Adam and Eve: (Thursday)
A． Adam types God in Christ as the real, cosmic Husband, who is seeking a wife for Himself; and Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart—Rom. 5:14, Gen. 2:18.
———————————————————————————————————————-
B．And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and He took one of his ribs and built it into a woman and brought her to the man; this types Christ’s death on the cross to produce the church as His spouse—Gen. 2:21-22, Eph. 5:25-27. (Friday)
———————————————————————————————————————-
C．Only that which is out of Christ with His resurrection life can be His completion as His spouse; the church is a duplicate of Christ, a pure product out of Christ, heavenly—1 Cor. 12:12, Gen. 5:2. (Saturday)
OPENING WORD OF THE PROPHESYING MEETING
Reading the verses in each day.
Reading the main points in the outlines.
Pray-reading the verses:
Gen. 2:21-22 And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man.
Gen. 2:18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper as his counterpart.
Word of Appetizer
What is the central matter in the entire Bible? What God did in order to produce a counterpart for Himself?
The building of God is the central matter in the entire Bible; the bride of Christ is the building of the Triune God—“Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”.
In order to produce a complement for Himself, God first became a man, as typified by God’s creation of Adam. “Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. And Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”. Adam’s deep sleep for the producing of Eve as his wife typifies Christ’s death on the cross for the producing of the church as His counterpart.
Spiritual Burden
The building of God is the central matter in the entire Bible; the bride of Christ is the building of the Triune God—“Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”. The building of Eve with the rib taken from Adam’s side typifies the building of the church with the resurrection life released from Christ through His death on the cross and imparted into His believers in His resurrection. Only that which comes out of Christ with His resurrection life can be His complement as His bride; the church is a pure product out of Christ; the church is “Christly,” “resurrectionly,” and heavenly.
Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting
The Revelation of the Truth
The building of God is the central matter in the entire Bible; the bride of Christ is the building of the Triune God—“Jehovah God built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman and brought her to the man”.
For God and His people to be one, there must be a mutual love between them; the love between God and His people unfolded in the Bible is primarily like the affectionate love between a man and a woman.
We need to see what God did in order to produce a counterpart for Himself; Genesis 2 reveals a picture of Christ and His bride in the types of Adam and Eve.
The Experience of Life
When we as God’s people enter into a love relationship with God, we receive His life, just as Eve received the life of Adam; it is this life that enables us to become one with God and makes Him one with us.
As God’s people love God and spend time to fellowship with Him in His word, God infuses them with His divine element, making them one with Him as His spouse, the same as He is in life, nature, and expression.
Practice and Application
We must be persons who are flooded with and carried away by the love of Christ; the divine love should be like the rushing tide of great waters toward us, impelling us to live to Him beyond our own control. The Body builds itself up in love to become Christ’s bride; our God-given, regenerated spirit is a spirit of love; we need a burning spirit of love to conquer the degradation of today’s church.
Just as the Lord Jesus laid down His soul-life so that we might have the divine life, we need to lose our soul-life and deny the self to love the brothers and minister life to them in the practice of the Body life for the preparation of Christ’s bride.
PROPHESYING TOPICS—TWELVE TOPICS PER WEEK
Day 1
T1 Adam and Eve eventually became one flesh, one complete unit (Gen. 2:22; Rev. 21:2)
(Please illustrate that this was a figure of God and man being joined as one.)
T2 A bride, the tree of life, a flowing river, and three precious materials—gold, pearl, and precious stones (Gen. 2:22; Rev. 21:2)
(Please illustrate that when we are enjoying Christ as our food that we may be transformed that we may be built up with others.)
Day 2
T1 Christ and His counterpart, His bride, will be married at His coming back (Rev. 19:7-8)
(Please illustrate that the marriage of the Lamb is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy.)
T2 The readiness of the bride depends on the maturity in life of the overcomers (Rev. 19:7)
(Please illustrate that the overcomers are not separate individuals but a corporate bride.)
Day 3
T1 As His species, we should be love because He is love (1 John 4:21; 2 Cor. 5:14)
(Please illustrate that we love Him because He first loved us. He initiated this love.)
T2 We should be like God in our love for others (John 3:16; 1 John 4:21)
(Please illustrate that God’s love motivates us, His children, to love our enemies that we may be perfect as He is.)
Day 4
T1 God’s purpose is to have a victorious Christ plus a victorious church(Gen. 2:18, 20)
(Please illustrate that God not only desired that Christ would have dominion; He also wants the church to have dominion.)
T2 Adam’s need for a wife typifies and portrays God’s need to have a complement (Gen. 2:18, 20)
(Please illustrate that when God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone, it meant that God Himself was incomplete and that it was not good for Him to be alone.)
Day 5
T1 That sleep of Adam’s was a type of Christ’s death on the cross for producing the church (Gen. 2:21; John 12:24)
(Please illustrate that how God was multiplied into many believers who become the many members to compose the real Eve to match Him and to complement Him.)
T2 As Adam’s sleep typifies the death of Christ, so his waking signifies the resurrection of Christ (Gen. 2:21; John 12:24)
(Please illustrate that when Christ was resurrected from the dead, the church was brought forth with His divine life.)
Day 6
T1 God builds up the church with the resurrection life of Christ (Gen. 2:23; Eph. 5:32)
(Please illustrate that the rib taken out of Adam signifies the resurrection life, and God built a woman with the rib of Adam.)
T2 The church is nothing more than a pure product out of Christ (Gen. 2:23; Eph. 5:32)
(Please illustrate that the church is of Christ; the church is of resurrection; the church is of the heavens. )
