For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Genesis 2:24
The wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7
Marriage is ‘for this reason’, which I have written out in great detail in Who Was Adam? Who are We? and The Profound Mystery. Because I believe we can learn a lot from the salvation process of the earth, it is fitting then that since the culmination and completion of salvation there is a wedding, a marriage, that this would be the same for us as individuals seeking the fullness of redemption. The marriage would imply a fullness of salvation for the spirit, mind, and body. It was for this hope we were saved (Romans 8:23-24).
The salvation of the body is the final ‘step’ as it were – back to the original form, the same Adam who was created on Day 1. A son of God, he, according to the law of offspring, would’ve become just like God in all His capabilities and endlessness. This, of course, capped by the falls (plural). Ever since Day 1, the light in Adam began to diminish slowly; the life whose foundation was the purest love. One day, it had gone too far, and something was ‘not good’ and needed to be either fixed or accommodated for. Later came the fall we've all learned about; the fall out of love as proven by disobedience.
The salvation of the body is a marriage - a joining of bodies and spirits into one. We had this need born in us after Eve was created out of Adam, so it seems to reverse that, a marriage of another kind is needed.
Christ refers to himself as ‘the bridegroom’ several times in the Gospels, and the church is often called ‘the bride of Christ’. At the last day, Christ returns to earth, and the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven ‘as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband’ (Rev. 21:2). This planet-sized city, the home of the ‘saved’, is merged with earth, and time goes on eternally, happily.
In us as individuals, there is something similar. Peter infers a climax and completion of salvation by this: until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19). Could this be the joining of bodies, the life-force of Christ in us? We need to think of the reference to the morning star (the sun) here – it’s implications of the vitality and utter necessity for life that the sun brings to every single atom and particle in creation. The morning star, some spiritual spark of life and sustenance, in us. Christ, the morning star (Rev 22:16).
Here’s a special note: Peter implies a possibility of this ‘morning star’ rising in this lifetime, as if it’s something to be sought after, as if it’s the whole point (where has this teaching gone?). I am under the strong impression that not only is the whole perfection process something that is completed in heaven, but also that there is no real goal of sorts in this whole faith thing. Just behave so He doesn’t change His mind about you.
For the dead at the last moments of the last days, there is a resurrection. For the dead in Christ, ‘those who are worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection’ (Luke 20:34-36). ‘The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed’ (1 Cor. 15:52).
For those alive now, whether we’re in the last days or not, the fullness of salvation is available and attainable. ‘The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.’ (Romans 8:18)
Consider this: of all the 12 apostles, who walked with Jesus and were intimately shown the way to the fullness of salvation (if they were selling it, they’d better be using it themselves!), 11 were confirmed killed by the hands of others (ie. martyred). None of them died by natural causes. Jesus was also killed this way. The only one who didn’t die by martyrdom (and this isn’t confirmed) was John, who had several attempts at martyrdom on his life. John frustrated his tormentors when they boiled him alive in a giant basin of oil. He couldn’t be killed by it, and was sent to exile in Patmos. It is a presumption he died as an old man, but there is no evidence he even died. This brings a raised eyebrow to Jesus’ statement about John in 21:22, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."’
My point: what the fullness of salvation is (an eternal joining of beings between us and Christ), and the perspective that it is possible before death.
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations … just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:26-29
The wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7
Marriage is ‘for this reason’, which I have written out in great detail in Who Was Adam? Who are We? and The Profound Mystery. Because I believe we can learn a lot from the salvation process of the earth, it is fitting then that since the culmination and completion of salvation there is a wedding, a marriage, that this would be the same for us as individuals seeking the fullness of redemption. The marriage would imply a fullness of salvation for the spirit, mind, and body. It was for this hope we were saved (Romans 8:23-24).
The salvation of the body is the final ‘step’ as it were – back to the original form, the same Adam who was created on Day 1. A son of God, he, according to the law of offspring, would’ve become just like God in all His capabilities and endlessness. This, of course, capped by the falls (plural). Ever since Day 1, the light in Adam began to diminish slowly; the life whose foundation was the purest love. One day, it had gone too far, and something was ‘not good’ and needed to be either fixed or accommodated for. Later came the fall we've all learned about; the fall out of love as proven by disobedience.
The salvation of the body is a marriage - a joining of bodies and spirits into one. We had this need born in us after Eve was created out of Adam, so it seems to reverse that, a marriage of another kind is needed.
Christ refers to himself as ‘the bridegroom’ several times in the Gospels, and the church is often called ‘the bride of Christ’. At the last day, Christ returns to earth, and the New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven ‘as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband’ (Rev. 21:2). This planet-sized city, the home of the ‘saved’, is merged with earth, and time goes on eternally, happily.
In us as individuals, there is something similar. Peter infers a climax and completion of salvation by this: until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19). Could this be the joining of bodies, the life-force of Christ in us? We need to think of the reference to the morning star (the sun) here – it’s implications of the vitality and utter necessity for life that the sun brings to every single atom and particle in creation. The morning star, some spiritual spark of life and sustenance, in us. Christ, the morning star (Rev 22:16).
Here’s a special note: Peter implies a possibility of this ‘morning star’ rising in this lifetime, as if it’s something to be sought after, as if it’s the whole point (where has this teaching gone?). I am under the strong impression that not only is the whole perfection process something that is completed in heaven, but also that there is no real goal of sorts in this whole faith thing. Just behave so He doesn’t change His mind about you.
For the dead at the last moments of the last days, there is a resurrection. For the dead in Christ, ‘those who are worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection’ (Luke 20:34-36). ‘The dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed’ (1 Cor. 15:52).
For those alive now, whether we’re in the last days or not, the fullness of salvation is available and attainable. ‘The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.’ (Romans 8:18)
Consider this: of all the 12 apostles, who walked with Jesus and were intimately shown the way to the fullness of salvation (if they were selling it, they’d better be using it themselves!), 11 were confirmed killed by the hands of others (ie. martyred). None of them died by natural causes. Jesus was also killed this way. The only one who didn’t die by martyrdom (and this isn’t confirmed) was John, who had several attempts at martyrdom on his life. John frustrated his tormentors when they boiled him alive in a giant basin of oil. He couldn’t be killed by it, and was sent to exile in Patmos. It is a presumption he died as an old man, but there is no evidence he even died. This brings a raised eyebrow to Jesus’ statement about John in 21:22, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."’
My point: what the fullness of salvation is (an eternal joining of beings between us and Christ), and the perspective that it is possible before death.
To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations … just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:26-29
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