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Chapter 30: We Are the Bride of Christ
Let me review a little bit. Reason number 25 we are sure it is God’s will to heal was because He
is the Vine, and we are the branches. Reason number 26 was because our bodies are the members
of Christ. Reason number 27 was because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Reason
number 28 was because we are God’s priests. Reason number 29 was because our bodies are
living sacrifices; they’re to be holy and acceptable.
Now we are on reason number 30. Did you think we would get here? It’s been a good journey!
We are sure it is God’s will for all to be healed because we are the bride of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 11:7, he’s talking about men and women, or really you could say husbands and
wives in this specific application. He said, “For a man indeed ought not to cover his head,
forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.” And all
the men said… “Amen.” The woman is the glory of the man.
Are we called, in the Scriptures, the bride of Christ? We already saw that not just our spirit but
also our bodies are members and part of Christ, so our bodies would be part of the bride of Christ
as well. In fact, this body has been bought and paid for. We’re going to have it forever—thank
God, it will be in a glorified state.
But He is our Husband, and we are His bride. How many men want their wives sick? What
benefit would it be to them? Is the fellowship better? When the wife is sick, she doesn’t feel like
fellowshipping and going places or doing things with the husband. And sickness affects beauty
and radiance, too, doesn’t it?
In the Song of Solomon, the husband and wife are a type of Christ and the church, and the
husband describes the beauty of the wife. Let me remind you of it. He said in Song of Solomon
4:7, “Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”
He said, “You are the fairest among women.”
He said in Song of Solomon 6:4, “You are beautiful.”
In verse nine, “My undefiled one.”
In verse ten, and this is poetic, he says, “She that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon,
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.”
Is this the picture of a weak, broken, emaciated, bride? No. Sickness robs the bride of her looks,
of her beauty and radiance.
We are His bride. If our Husband, the Lord Jesus, wanted us sick, He would be out of harmony
with every husband on the planet, wouldn’t He? How do we understand that? I’m part of the
bride, and He tells me, “It pleases Me, Keith, for you to be sick as my bride”? I’d be there
scratching my head, because I know there is no way I want my wife Phyllis to be sick. I can’t