![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/833\/2020\/05\/men-wearing-suit-kissing-in-front-of-people-3491999.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s probably one of the most ironic things about the entire Bible: Everything is leading up to one massive global same-sex wedding where Jesus will take the Church as His Bride and everything will culminate in the world\u2019s largest same-sex [multi-sex] wedding feast of the Lamb.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s true. Just read Revelation 19:6-9:<\/p>\n
6\u00a0<\/sup>Then I heard what seemed to be\u00a0the voice of a great multitude, like\u00a0the roar of many waters and\u00a0like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHallelujah!<\/span><\/em> for the fine linen is\u00a0the righteous deeds of the saints.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n 9\u00a0<\/sup>And the angel said\u00a0to me, \u201cWrite this:\u00a0Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.\u201d<\/strong> And he said to me,\u00a0\u201cThese are the true words of God.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Yes, I know, this is all very symbolic language. But it\u2019s still the case that Jesus will \u201cmarry\u201d himself to the Bride of Christ which is at least 50% male.<\/p>\n Christian men \u2013 who incidentally run the Church almost exclusively \u2013 tend to avoid this topic.<\/p>\n Why? Because it makes them feel a bit queasy, to be honest. They don\u2019t like the fact that they are considered \u201cThe Bride of Christ\u201d and that Jesus will be their \u201cHusband\u201d in the afterlife.<\/p>\n This reference in Revelation 19 isn\u2019t the only scripture that emphasizes this arrangement either. Just look at what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:31-32<\/p>\n \u201cFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Notice how Paul uses the imagery of a husband and a wife engaged in an intimate encounter to describe how Christ and the Church are to \u201cbecome one flesh\u201d? Yeah, that\u2019s a little creepy for many Alpha Male pastors and Bible teachers who want to identify themselves as strong leaders with authority.<\/p>\n So, where do Paul and John get this intimate marriage imagery from? Jesus, of course.<\/p>\n In the Gospel of John, Jesus says this:<\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Now this is eternal life: that they know<\/strong> you,\u00a0the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.\u201d (John 17:3)<\/em><\/p>\n See that word \u201cknow\u201d that Jesus uses here? It\u2019s not the word in the Greek for \u201cknowledge\u201d or \u201cinformation.\u201d Nope. It\u2019s the word \u201cgin\u014dsk\u014d\u201d\u00a0<\/em>and it\u2019s the same word used to describe how a husband \u201cknows\u201d his wife so that she can conceive new life within herself.<\/p>\n In other words: It\u2019s the term for sexual intimacy.<\/p>\n Yep. Jesus says here that eternal life is when we have such an intimate encounter with God and with Jesus that we conceive something new within our spirit.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s be clear: The Bible is not squeamish about describing an intimate relationship between God and men [or women]. This connection isn\u2019t sexual, of course, but it does challenge some of our notions about sexuality and gender identity in ways that are quite fascinating to explore.<\/p>\n For example: Part of what makes some men uncomfortable about this sort of language \u2013 where they will \u201cmarry\u201d Jesus and become the \u201cBride of Christ\u201d \u2013 stems from the underlying assumption that God is male. But, as we\u2019ve discussed here on this blog several times, God does not have a penis.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n In fact, God has no gender at all. If anything, when the scriptures describe how God created men and women, it says He made them in His image \u2013 both of them. So, both Adam and Eve [and Steve] are made in the image of God.<\/p>\n Or, we might say that is not genderless but gender-full. God isn\u2019t male or female, but men and women both express the nature and character of God in their maleness and femaleness. Without both expressions of the image of God, the image of God is incomplete.<\/p>\n This is why Jesus was so radically feminist. He honored women, allowed women to sit at his feet and become disciples [just like the men], and commissioned the first women apostles to go and preach his resurrection to the men who didn\u2019t believe them at first [because they were women].<\/p>\n Sadly, this pro-female ethic of Jesus was very quickly squashed by later Church Fathers who allowed their patriarchal notions to override and silence everything that Jesus \u2013 and Paul \u2013 did to honor women, include women as pastors, prophets, evangelists, apostles, teachers and deacons in the early Church. [And this is proven true in early Church history as well].<\/p>\n This same patriarchal system is what\u2019s keeping women from praying or preaching in many churches today. It\u2019s also what\u2019s preventing our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters from an equal seat at the table, sadly.<\/p>\n But, like it or not, the New Testament authors affirm the notion that everyone in the Body of Christ today is also the Bride of Christ \u2013 both men and women \u2013 and one day everything in history will culminate in one very large, public and unapologetically scandalous wedding ceremony where Jesus will look into the eyes of several billion men (and women) and say \u201cI Do!\u201d as he takes them to be His Bride.<\/p>\n Deal with it.<\/p>\n **<\/p>\n Keith Giles and his wife, Wendy, work with\u00a0Peace Catalyst International<\/a>\u00a0to help build relationships between Christians and Muslims in El Paso, TX.\u00a0 Keith was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church over a decade ago to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today he is the author of several best-selling books, including\u00a0<\/em>\u201cJesus Undefeated: Condemning the False Doctrine of Eternal Torment<\/em><\/a>\u201d which is available now on Amazon.<\/p>\n\n
\nFor the Lord our God<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>the Almighty\u00a0reigns.<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>Let us rejoice and exult<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and give him the glory,<\/span><\/span><\/em>
\nfor\u00a0the marriage of the Lamb has come,<\/strong><\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0his Bride has made herself ready;<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>it was granted her to clothe herself<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>with fine linen, bright and pure\u201d\u2014<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n