In the Book of Revelation the Bride is not termed the wife of the Word nor is she called the wife of the Son of God, nor even the bride of Christ. She is referred to as the "Lamb's wife" (Revelation 21:9). It is the marriage of "the Lamb" that is to come (Revelation 19:7).

The reason for the terminology is as follows: the Church is created from the Substance of Christ—that which was taken from Him. The Church eats His body and drinks His blood. His body was broken for the Church and His blood was shed for the sins of the Church. It was the Lamb of God who was slain for the Church and whose body was broken and the blood shed.

Because the Church lives by eating His flesh and drinking His blood the Church is united to Him in Substance. The Church is united, or married, to the Lamb whom God gave for her protection, for her cleansing, and for her transformation into life (John 6:54). In this manner the Church is married to the Passover Lamb.

"O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee:"

The world has sought God in many different ways, from the lustful rites of savages to the more refined but no more effective philosophies of scholars. But God cannot be found by the efforts of the flesh just as an ant cannot master algebra. It is impossible for the unregenerate human being to lay hold upon the God of Israel by his own strength.

The world does not know God and is attempting at the present time to construct a social order apart from God. God laughs in derision at the preposterous spectacle of the dust of the ground attempting to thrust aside the wisdom and power that formed it. All of the efforts of mankind to do anything at all without God end in disaster for all concerned.

God Almighty is God indeed and He chooses the time, place, and manner of imparting the knowledge of Himself to the proud flesh of the earth. In His great love He has given us His Son as an offering for our sins.

The gift of Calvary is a perfect gift, entirely worthy of God. Whoever will choose to humble himself as a child can have the gift of God. But whoever attempts to meet God on some basis other than the blood of the cross is traveling down the wrong road. The end is total destruction. We must come God's way or else perish.

"but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me."

We of the Church know beyond all doubt that Christ came from God. We put all our faith, trust, and hope in Him. We know all the Substance of God is in Christ and that He alone has the authority and power to present us to the Father. Christ is the door to God and there is no other way.

And I have declared to them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26)

To be continued.