In Ephesians the church is presented as the Body of Christ, the one new man, and the wife of Christ. At the end of the Bible New Jerusalem is declared to be “the bride, the wife of the Lamb” (21:9). Although New Jerusalem is the consummation of the Body and the new man, they are not mentioned explicitly.
This shows that at the end of the Bible the emphasis is love—Christ loves His people and all His people love Him. First John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” In 1 John 4 we love God, we love one another, and we love all people, This is possible solely because we love with Him as our love.
In Revelation 2:1-7 the Lord commended the church in Ephesus for many things but said faulted them in that “you have left your first [best] love.” We need to continually love the Lord above all, no matter how much we do for Him.
Ephesians concludes “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility” (6:24). While we await His appearing, let us love Him with His incorruptible love, and not leave this love like the Ephesian believers left. Then we will love Him as “the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”Come, Lord Jesus!
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about New Jerusalem, the Wife of the Lamb.
