November 20

For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. — Isa 54:5 BSB

Just as a husband and wife become one flesh in marriage, and no one can separate them once God has joined them together, so too, when the Lord Jesus Christ, in the “everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure,” betrothed the Church to himself, they became one in unbreakable bonds before heaven. As he committed to being “made of a woman” in the fullness of time, she became one with him in body through their shared human nature. And as each individual member comes to life in this world, the Holy Spirit unites them with him through the grace of regeneration. This is the testimony of Scripture: “We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,” and “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” The Church’s union with Christ in his flesh ensures that her body will be like his glorified body in the resurrection. Her union with his spirit guarantees eternal bliss in perfect knowledge, holiness, and love. This union, initiated in the eternal counsel of wisdom and love, is made manifest on earth through regenerating grace and will be fully realized in heaven’s glory.

It is true that the Church fell from her original state of innocence and purity in Adam. But instead of breaking the bond and voiding the everlasting covenant, the fall served to reveal even more fully the depth and breadth of Christ’s love for his bride. Though she fell into the depths of sin, guilt, and misery, she never fell from his heart or out of his embrace.

Without the fall, we would not have known the power of Christ’s dying love or the mystery of the cross. There would be no song of the redeemed singing, “To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” There would be no triumph over death and hell or the victory of grace over sin, guilt, and despair. Nor would we know God’s mercy, patience, or compassion for lost humanity.

As the head and husband of the Church, Jesus could not and would not break the union or alter the covenant. Yet he could not take her to himself while she was stained by sin and shame. So he redeemed her with his own blood, suffering agonies that earth and heaven had never seen before, enduring the Father’s abandonment as he cried out in sorrow. His love was as strong as death, and he bore the shame of the cross, carrying her sins in his body, paying the penalty for her crimes, and reconciling her to God through his death. He presents her now as holy, blameless, and beyond reproach in God’s sight.

As each member of his mystical body is born, Jesus visits them with his regenerating grace, cleansing them with the washing of water by the Word. Ultimately, he will present them to himself as a glorious Church, without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.