5. Oh, Jerusalem
The Church of Jesus Christ IS the Jerusalem of God, His city and His Bride.Isaiah stated that the sons of Jerusalem would marry her as their bride. That means that you and I, living in and coming out from the Church, turn and commit our lives wholly to her as our precious beloved, laying down our lives for her sake with our every step and in all expectation of God.
"Heaven" is not our goal nor the end result of salvation. The Church is our goal; the Church is God's final and complete Salvation. The Church universal as well as each local gathering together is the dwelling place of God forever, many brethren, just like Jesus, walking together as one, living daily life together, loving one another with a pure heart fervently. This is our city; this is our Bride.
Lesson 5.1 Our Jerusalem places the Church, both the Church universal as well as our local gathering together, as the goal and set of our heart's desire. As Paul said, "My deep concern for all the churches." The lesson sets out Paul's gospel again, that the Church is the goal, not the means to the goal and that our calling is to call forth that Church into her place and into her glory.
Lesson 5.2 Firstfruits, then, describes those believers in Jesus who have committed themselves to be as Christ to His Church. This description is of the gathering together of a small group out of many of those who are just like Jesus in all ways, living as the core and heart of each local assembly.
Lesson 5.3 Marriage establishes our relationship with our brethren in each local assembly as a marriage union together, perfect liberty inside of utter commitment. Our marriage union together is like our own personal symmorphy with Jesus, in that we are each honored as individual persons with full respect, yet we walk in a relationship of love with one another. This balance between liberty and commitment is a primary foundation of thought for everything in this text.
Lesson Pages: