Marriage Covenant Theology

I believe in marriage covenant theology.
That is: the New Covenant purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ with His blood is a marriage covenant.

• All four Gospels identify Jesus as the Bridegroom
  
  
• Revelation explicitly identifies Jesus as the Bridegroom, and the Church as the Bride
  
  
• Paul writes to the Church in Corinth, reminding them that he had betrothed them to Christ
  (2 Corinthians 11:2)
  
  
• In the Old Testament, God refers to Himself as the husband of His people.
  
  
• In 1 Corinthian 6:15-20 Paul expressly refers to our union with Christ as a counterpart to the physical union of husband and wife. In verse 19 he says "you are not your own" and in 20 "you have been bought with a price", both explicit references to a betrothed woman.
  
  
• In Ephesians 5:23-33 Paul again parallels husband and wife with Christ and His Church, and reveals that from the beginning marriage was the hidden plan of God in Christ.
  
  
• Jesus makes the same demands of His disciples that a bridegroom makes of his bride (Luke 14:26-33)

"Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32,33) is best understood as a wedding vow, to confess as to take as husband, and to deny as in to divorce. Consider Hebrews 13: 5 as well: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

The marriage covenant makes the two into one flesh and one spirit, explains why Christ's death can cover the sin of His Bride. It explains how "we are buried with him by baptism into death," (Romans 6:4) baptism being the act of faith by which we enter into the covenant. If you take the time to study and pray about this, you will find the Scriptures coming together like a great puzzle where the eternal purpose of God is revealed. The Church is not an afterthought, not plan B. The union of God in Christ with those He made in His own image has been His plan from before the foundation of the earth. This is the great mystery. (Ephesians 5:32)

I have deliberately left this article sparse. I want you to be led by the Spirit into your own searching out of the Word, that your faith not be based on what I say but on the Word of God taught by the Spirit of truth. This subject is too sacred to write much on. "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." Only those who love the Lord Jesus with all their heart will dig deep to find the hidden treasure.

You will find a little more comment on the New Covenant as a marriage covenant in my article salvation.

endtimepilgrim.org has some interesting articles on the Bride of Christ including Blood Covenant Christianity