THE PRICE OF THE BRIDE (Part II)
March 20, 2009
by Melissa Kohnen – New Castle, Pa Age: 20
Continued from The Price of The Bride (Part I)
Romans 1:20 “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
-According to Romans 1:20 All the invisible things or the things that are in the realm of the Spirit are clearly seen by things that are made, things that are in the earth. This would also prove to be true when talking about gold! Just as there are 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 karats of gold in the natural, this is also true in the spiritual. These are a people who go through the fire but since it was so hot they don’t go into the next fire, they stay as 10 karat gold. The same thing with 14 karat, they made it through one more fire than the 10 karat but that was hot enough for them so they stay a 14 karat. So, that means that not everyone endures through all the fire in order to come out as pure gold. Pure gold is the most expensive gold. That is the price we have to pay, we have to be tried in the fire and have our imperfections burned out so we can become like our heavenly Father.
Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
God is Spirit and there is no sin in Him. We are to become a spiritual people who are found to be blameless before God, and to have all our imperfections burned out before we come to His throne on judgment day. In the Beginning, Adam fell away from who He was created to be. He disobeyed God, he sinned, and therefore God kicked him out of the garden. God wants us to come back to the image that He created us in. We can only do that if we submit to God’s will and allow Him to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Now in these next scriptures we are going to see why we must continue through each fire until we come out as pure gold.
Exodus 25:11 And thou salt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.”
Exodus 25:17 “And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.”
Exodus 25:24 “And thus shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.”
2Chronicles 4:22 “And the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the censers, of pure gold: and the entry of the House, the inner doors thereof for the most holy, and the doors of the house of the temple gold.”
Revelation 21:18 “And the building of the wall of it was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.”
If you would go back and read Exodus chapters 25-39 you will see that God is showing Moses the exact pattern of how He wants the Israelites to build the tabernacle. So pure gold is used to build the tabernacle of God! Then again in 2Chronicles 4:22 when Solomon is building the House of God, He is again using pure gold! In Revelation 21:18 pure gold is used again when John is sharing the vision he had of the New Jerusalem or the Holy City. So as you can see pure gold is referred to when speaking about the tabernacle of God, but if you remember, according to 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” Very plainly can we see that we are the temple of God and that we are supposed to be made of pure gold! That is why it is so important to continue the process of being refined. If you stop going through the refining process before you become pure gold, you cannot be the true dwelling place of God. The fire is the process of transformation, being transformed into His image, but it is not going to happen overnight.
Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
You see, we have to be transformed, but before you are completely transformed you have to go through the process of being purified in the fire. Once you are tested and proved to be pure before the Lord He can fully abide in you.
Revelation 21:2-3 “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.”
Revelation 21:18 “And the building of the wall of it was jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.”
Luke 5:35 “But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.”
Ephesians 5:23 “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the savior of the body.”
In the previous passage in Revelation 21:18 we see that John saw the New Jerusalem which he said was prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. In Luke 5:35 Jesus is referring to Himself as the bridegroom in this parable that He gave. Now in Ephesians 5:23 Christ and the church are being compared to a husband and a wife, so Jesus is our bridegroom and the church is His bride. According to scripture His bride is the New Jerusalem, the bride who is adorned for her Husband. The word adorned means: intended to increase its beauty or distinction. The word distinction means: a marking off or distinguishing as different. So this bride is wearing beauty and distinction, meaning there is a noticeable difference between her and the world!
John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John 15:19 “If ye are of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
Luke 11:35 “Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.”
So what is this distinction? The bride of Christ, the true church carries the light of life, but those that are of the world are darkness. There is a clear distinction between light and darkness! Also John 15:19 says that the world will hate those that are in Christ, because we are not of the world but of God. So we really need to ask ourselves if we are a friend of the world or a friend of God, if we look like the rest of the world then scripture is clear that we are in darkness. There has to be a distinction between us and the rest of the world just like there is a clear distinction between light and darkness.
Acts 26:18 “To open their eyes, to turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”
So our process is going from darkness into light, from Satan unto God, from unrighteousness to righteousness, from hate to love, from lies to truths, from sin to purity, from imperfection into perfection.
Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”
John 17:23 “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”
Colossians 1:28 “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:”
Scripture is clear that we are to be perfect as our Father is perfect. Coming into perfection is the process. The first time we come through the fire we are more perfect than we were before we went into the fire; we went in as 10 karat and came out as 14 karat. Then we go through the fire again and another area of our life is perfected, from 14 karat to 18 karat. God continues to put us in the fire until all of those imperfections become perfection unless we decide not to go through the fire. If we don’t go through the fire we can never have our darkness removed; hence, we can never come into perfection and never become the Bride of Christ or sons and daughters of God.
Act 24:22 “And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of the way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter.”
This scripture says that Felix had a more perfect knowledge of the way, so he deferred them. This would be an example of 14 karat gold being more perfect than 10 karat gold but not quite pure gold. So this just shows you that perfect doesn’t mean I do everything right all the time, it means I have a complete and perfect understanding of what God is showing me at that time and in that area of my life. Once I have perfect understanding of what He is showing me, He will reveal more; more of His word, more of His character, more of His nature, more of His love, so much more of Himself!
I pray that you will ask God to take you through the fire, to be your strength in the fire, so you can become a continual dwelling place of His presence. I pray that you will ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you in a greater way and that your passion and love for Him will increase. I pray that you will seek to experience His word and not just read it, so that His word will be written in your heart, and that you may become a living testimony of the power and love that is in Christ Jesus. I pray that you will continue in the process of being tested, tried, and proven to be pure gold. I pray that the Lord will open up new realms of intimacy to you, so that you may be joined with Christ having one heart and one mind. All of this I pray in the precious name of Yeshua (Jesus), Amen.
Bless You,
Melissa