The New Covenant our Marriage with our Lord Jesus.

It is time for all of us to cast off the traditions of men and erroneous views that was passed on to us. The worst of this is creating a misconception about the very basis of our faith and relationship with God.

The aim is to gain a full and permanent understanding of the highest level of our relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord and the paradigm that enables us maximum intimacy with the One who died for us. Paying a dowry that only God could afford.

The most important reasons for the avoidance of the truth are primarily two-fold. Firstly, bad eschatology - distancing the kingdom and intimacy to “one day in the future”. The greatest culprit here classical dispensationalism. 

Secondly, for years pastors have asked of women to understand that they are “sons of God” and that women are included in most exhortations directed at men. But now, the insight will require of men to also adapt to the truth, and for most of them in my environment, they find it difficult to do so. 

So, what are we talking about? We are talking about Genesis 1: 21, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” It is the union and composite relationship between a man and a woman that fully reflects the glory of God’s image.

The first prophecy identified in Scripture is quoted in Ephesians 5:30-32, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Literally, Paul took this very first prophecy and promise in the Scriptures and applied it to the church – not as a future event, but as already active. The union and its process still remains a mystery (and therefore intimate). Now this is crucial to understand, especially so in the light of 2 Peter 1:3-4, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 

Notice the word for ‘partaker’ in Greek is “koinonos”, i.e., “partner, associate, comrade, companion, sharer in everything.” Very much a covenantal relationship. So, we must ask ourselves, “What is the most intimate relationship that can fulfil this quality, this partaking of God’s nature? The one we can have with Our Lord Jesus, while we are seated in Him at the right hand of the Father?”  This divine marriage union must important as the Scriptures also end with the marriage in Revelation 21.

Let us now consider Jeremiah 31:31-34, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.” 

Clearly, here we see God’s perspective, template and paradigm use of the Old Covenant and equates to marriage in the natural. This “unfaithfulness” with the promise of another “marriage” is then prophesied by Hosea, who wrote in chapter 2, (Hosea 2:16-17, 19-20) “And it shall be, in that day,” Says the Lord, “That you will call Me ‘My Husband,’ And no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ For I will take from her mouth the names of the Baals, And they shall be remembered by their name no more… “I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me In righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord.” 

Two things to take note of here. She will call Him Husband, once this betrothal is formalized, and the end of this covenant will be that “she” will know the Lord intimately. And this is borne out by the same “knowing the Lord” as with Jeremiah 31.

“In ancient Hebrew culture, knowledge was not merely intellectual but was deeply relational and experiential. The concept of "knowing" someone or something involved a holistic understanding that included emotional and spiritual dimensions. This is evident in the use of "yada" to describe the intimate relationship between a husband and wife, as well as the covenant relationship between God and Israel.” (//sermons.logos.com/sermons/1427963-the-hidden-things)

So perhaps now we are ready to look at the better covenant a “marriage” covenant between Our Lord Jesus Christ and the church! But if Israel was married to God, how could they “re-marry” into a new covenant with Him? 

Paul explains this beautifully in Romans 7:1-4, “Now, dear brothers and sisters - you who are familiar with the law - don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living? For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. o while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead.” 

Please note that the symbol of death for us in baptism is crucial to understand here - we die to self and are raised by Holy Spirit to live in union with Christ. Baptism is the declaration before heaven and earth that no other God and Husband will do, we belong to Him alone. 

Likewise, when we take communion, when we eat His flesh and drink His blood, do we not at that moment celebrate the intimate union as being one with Christ? Is that not how the two become one, as originally prophesied in Genesis? 

Paul also wrote to the Corinthians, (2 Corinthians 11:12) “I have betrothed(*) you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” *“the verb ‘harmozó’ primarily means to join or fit together, often used in the context of arranging or preparing something to be in harmony or unity. In the New Testament, it is used metaphorically to describe the act of betrothing or engaging in marriage, indicating a union or covenant relationship.” (https://biblehub.com/greek/718.htm)

All of this affirms this relationship, especially Ephesians 5:30-32 “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

Isaiah 54 in totality refers to the new covenant of eternal peace with God, but our attention is drawn to verses 1-5, “Sing, O barren, You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud, You who have not laboured with child! For more are the children of the desolate Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord… For you will forget the shame of your youth, And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your Husband, The Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”   Paul identifies the new Jerusalem as this covenant of marriage in Galatians 4:26-27 – and quotes this portion of Isaiah to substantiate that. Interesting that he also used a mixed metaphor, for being part of this covenant and being a citizen of the new Jerusalem, which makes a believer and “Isaac”, a child of promise.

More importantly, it is necessary to understand that we are already citizens of the new Jerusalem as the writer of Hebrews explains, (Hebrews 12:22-24) “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” 

Please note that this is past tense, as with Ephesians - this is not hoping for fulfilment, it is already our inheritance. When we then read in Revelation 21, we find the fulfilment of the promise of the new covenant already fulfilled, and the Angel did not show John what is to come, but what already was a reality! Because “it is stepping down” out of heaven! The Bride and Wife is already being populated by believers, those who are united with the Lamb. “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming (stepping) down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” We already have God indwelling us and we are already a habitation for Him. And then, [the Angel] “came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”   The high mountain is figurative for seeing the covenant from a high or spiritual kingdom perspective.

So what does this mean for you and me? 

When we understand the true meaning of baptism and communion, being one with Christ and so one with each other, we would manage our lives accordingly. We can then understand why Paul exhorts, (Ephesians 5:24) “Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ [as His Wife], so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” 

Our faith is demonstrated by our loving, devoted obedience to our Husband [Jesus], and we can only reflect His Person and perfection as believers when we fully yield ourselves as His Wife, both corporately and individually. 

The paradigm is extremely important. As the Wife of Christ, I already have full authority in Him, as His Wife I have access to the Father through Jesus Christ His Son. 

“I am seated in Christ!” What does that mean, what paradigm best describes that union? Marriage! Complete authority in a totally submitted relationship, where all heavenly blessings are ours. We are one spirit with Jesus, “But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” 

One in Christ - when you now approach the Lord, He is your Husband, who laid down His life for you, you are His now! The promise of Hosea is now true, you can call your Maker your Husband. And when you approach the Father, you have access! (Ephesians 2:18) “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” 

All the paradigms that describe our spiritual relationship with God are important, being His body, a son, or child of God, being a brother to Christ, being His bond-slave, ambassador, priest and king – but the one that outshines and empowers one more than any of these is “the marriage”, being the Wife of God already. 

It best describes the promises God made in terms of covenants, it even explains the demise of the old and the establishing of the new covenant! 

It removes the “what must still come”, and it focusses us on “what already is”. Especially in terms of our intimacy with Jesus.

It will also align one’s understanding of the book of Revelation, as in 19:7-8, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His Wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” We know that we have already been made righteous by faith through grace in our Lord Jesus Christ! 

So go ahead and call your Maker your Husband!

Blessings

Ben

Our thanks to Ben for this month’s Blog contribution

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