The Marriage feast of the lamb.
A sweet smelling savour.
We have looked at hearing the Lord.
We have looked at seeing the Lord.
We have looked at touching the Lord.
We have looked at the invitation; “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Last time we looked at; “A sweet smelling savour to God.”
A sweet smelling savour.
We saw that in our relationships as humans our five senses are involved in a progressive way.
Hearing and seeing can be done from a distance. We hear of someone that sounds interesting, but we first must see them to see if we find them attractive. Once we like what we hear and see, a successful relationship will progress to touch (holding hands, hugs) then to kissing and ultimately in marriage.
Today I want to look at “The Marriage feast of the Lamb”.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Weddings can be a spectacular affair. Thousands of dollars are spent trying to produce a perfect moment in time that will join a couple together in marital bliss.
The bride is dressed in her pure white wedding dress, the groom stands nervously at the front of the church. It is a special moment in the lives of those two individuals and for the people who know and love them.
Weddings, here on earth, are a special thing! It is sad that a spectacular wedding does not assure a successful marriage. Some really nice weddings within a few years end in divorce.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Most couples are looking for a marriage that will last and bring happiness! It is referred to as a "marriage or match made in heaven.” However while some marriages may have been made in heaven, they still have to be lived out here on earth. That, in itself, makes them all less than perfect.
There is a marriage that will be successful. It is the eternal marriage, made not between a man and a woman, but between believers who receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Jesus Christ himself.
Matthew 22:29.
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
But there will be a bride in heaven and that will be, “Believers who by faith were saved by the grace of God”.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
To understand this we must understand the marriage customs of the Jews in Jesus' day.
I. The Four Stages of a Jewish Wedding.
A. The Betrothal.
The betrothal was binding and could only be undone by a divorce with proper grounds, such as the bride being found not to be pure, (see Joseph and Mary - Matt 1 v18-19 )
The young man prepared a Ketubah, (Kit to bah) or marriage contract (or covenant) which he presented to the intended bride and her father. Included in this was the " Bride Price ", which was appropriate in that society to compensate the young woman's parents for the cost of raising her, as well as being an expression of his love for her.
B. Acceptance.
To see if the proposal was accepted, the young man would pour a cup of wine for his beloved and wait to see if she drank it. This cup represents a blood covenant. If she drank the cup she would have accepted the proposal and they would be betrothed. The young man would then give gifts to his beloved, and then take his leave. The young woman would have to wait for him to return and collect her.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
C. The wedding chamber and the Chuppah (Chup-pa).
Before leaving the young man would announce, "I am going to prepare a place for you, I will return for you when it is ready".
The usual practice was for the young man to return to his father's house and build a honeymoon room there. This is what is symbolized by the chuppah or canopy which is characteristic of Jewish weddings. He was not allowed to skimp on the work and had to get his father's approval before he could consider it ready for his bride. If asked the date of his wedding he would have to reply, "Only my father knows."
Typically it would be a year before he came for his bride. Meanwhile the bride would be making herself ready so that she would be pure and beautiful for her bridegroom. During this time she would wear a veil when she went out, to show she was spoken for (she has been bought with a price)
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
D. The Wedding.
When the wedding chamber was ready the bridegroom could collect his bride.
He could do this at any time so the bride would make special arrangements. It was the custom for a bride to keep a lamp, her veil and her other things beside her bed. Her bridesmaids were also waiting and had to have oil ready for their lamps.
When the groom and his friends got close to the bride's house they would give a shout and blow a shofar to let her know to be ready.
When the wedding party arrived at father's house the newly weds went into the wedding chamber for a seven day honeymoon and the groom's best friend stood outside waiting for the groom to tell him that the marriage had been consummated.
Then all the friends really started celebrating for the seven days that the couple were honeymooning. When the couple emerged there would be much congratulation and the Marriage Supper could begin.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
II. The Jewish Wedding Paralleled in Salvation.
A. Betrothal pictures salvation. Like the Jewish marriage custom the betrothal begins with a contract presented by the Bridegroom.
1. Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom and He presents to all men His contract of salvation and He pays the price. The price for the redemption of His bride was His suffering and sacrifice on the Cross.
1 John 2:2. "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.“ Propitiation means full payment.
Matt. 26:28. "For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." This covenant was not the one He made with Israel, but a new covenant made with those who would believe in Him in this age.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
A. Betrothal pictures salvation.
Hebrews 8:6.
explains this covenant. “But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises."
Jesus gave us a better covenant with better promises.
To Israel God promised the coming of the Messiah and the Messiah's kingdom where Israel would be at peace and prosper. He promised them they would finally have the land that he gave to Abraham that extends from the Nile river in the south to the Euphrates in the north.
To believers Jesus has promised something much better.
The Gospel is God's proclamation of the this new covenant. Jesus further revealed this New Testament or covenant when He gave us the Lord's Supper:
1 Corinthians 11:25. "After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The word "testament" means a contract or covenant.
B. Jesus offers people in this present age, a new testament.
1. We are saved just like people in the Old Testament which was by faith in God's revealed promises. They looked in faith to the coming of the Messiah Jesus Christ and we look back on the finished work of Christ and the cross where Jesus paid the sins of the world....past, present and future.
2. The New Testament is not a new way to be saved, but a new promise in what our salvation would bring. We become the body and Bride of Christ. We have a special close relationship with Him now and in eternity. There is no relationship closer than that of a husband and wife.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
C. Jesus' promise to His Bride.
Galatians 3:22. tells us: "But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe."
Writing to the Ephesians Paul tells them and us of this promise. Here he says we are sealed...with the holy Spirit of promise.
Ephesians 1:13-14. "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
D. Therefore Jesus Christ the Bridegroom has offered to us a covenant, a proposal of salvation.
But we will see that the proposal is conditional.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
III. The acceptance of the proposal.
A. There would be no wedding if the bride did not respond to the offer of marriage. The bride would be offered a cup of red wine.
The young man would pour a cup of wine for his perspective bride. This clearly symbolizes Jesus' blood that He poured out for our sins. Once again we go to the Lord's Supper to see this truth.
Matthew 26:28.
Jesus said "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
Luke 22:20.
" Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
III. The acceptance of the proposal.
Titus 3:5-7.
Paul writes "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.“
In other words all the bride has to do is accept the proposal of marriage.
John 1:12.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
When a person by faith receives Jesus Christ as their Saviour it is a picture of the bride accepting the proposal of the Bridegroom.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Bridegroom's promise.
These words were spoken by Jesus, (the bridegroom) to His bride.
John 14:1-3.
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
The Bridegroom goes prepares the wedding chamber and the Chuppah. . As in the Jewish wedding the Bridegroom leaves to prepare the new home for His Bride. Notice that He promises to come again and receive her unto Himself, that where the Bridegroom is so will be the bride.
The proposal of marriage is made to the Father, the bride accepts the proposal and officially the couple is betrothed. The bride is now "sanctified" or set apart to her husband, the only way to break the covenant was divorce and the only grounds for divorce was that the bride, had deceived the bridegroom and was not pure.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
We see the example of this when Joseph found out that Mary was with child.
Matthew 1:19.
" Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily." To "put her away" meant to divorce here.
Yet, in the marriage of a believer to Jesus Christ there can be no divorce, because the only grounds of divorce, which is impurity....is completely removed by Jesus Christ. The believer is forgiven of all their sins and given eternal life.
Eye has not seen, ear has not heard the things that God has prepared for those that love him.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Bridegroom must also have the approval of his father, which he received prior to making the marriage proposal.
The wedding chamber and the Chuppah (huppa) was built on the bridegroom's father's house. It would be where he would live with his new bride. This being his Father's home...the Father was the one who would say when the wedding chamber was ready and when the marriage might take place.
Today the Chuppah is a canopy placed at the Father's house under which the couple stand and the marriage vows are stated. In Bible times it was the home that the bridegroom prepared for his bride in his father's home. If someone would ask the Bridegroom when was the day of the wedding he would reply "Only Father knows."
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Bridegroom comes for His bride.
A. At the proper time appointed by the bridegroom's father a messenger would be sent to announce the bridegroom's coming and the bridegroom taking his wife.
B. The bride not knowing when the bridegroom would come was to keep herself ready at all times.
1. In Matthew 25 Jesus gave the parable of the ten virgins who were called to a marriage supper. These virgins when they heard the Bridegroom was coming would go to meet him and light the way with their lamps.
The groom, best man and other male escorts would leave the groom's father's house and conduct a torch light procession to the home of the bride. The groom's arrival would be preceded by a shout. This shout would forewarn the bride to be prepared for the coming of the groom. The guests would be invited to the wedding. In the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, Israel is the invited guest to the ceremony and feast.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Bridegroom comes for His bride.
2. Once the Bridegroom arrived the wedding ceremony would take place and the bridegroom would spend their honeymoon night together in the home provided by the bridegroom. The bride would be adorned in her "wedding garments."
3. Shortly after arrival the bride and groom would be escorted by the other members of the wedding party to the bridal chamber (chuppah). Prior to entering the chamber the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. While the grooms men and bridesmaids would wait outside, the bride and groom would enter the bridal chamber alone.
C. Following the marriage there would be a seven day honey moon in which the bride groom would be together. At the end of the seven days the couple would emerge and the invited guests would have a "marriage supper."
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Conclusion:
The marriage supper takes place after the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus and it will be a glorious time for those who have believed and accepted the Bridegroom the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a wonderful thing it will be to have this special relationship and place of service to the Lord throughout eternity.
Like the biblical marriage the wife is to be the help meet of her husband. In her special relationship she has the privilege to serve Him. The bride is a joy to the bridegroom and she is an honour to him.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
What will the bride wear?
Revelation 19:5-9.
Then a voice came from the throne, saying, "Praise our God all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!" And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the MARRIAGE of the LAMB has come, and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!' "
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The cleansing spoken of in this passage is not just the blood but the Word (sanctification ie: separation) Ephesians 5: 25-27.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Satan is not going to just stand back and do nothing he will try ruin God’s plan for us to be part of “The Bride of Christ”
2 Corinthians 11.
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough….
And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Lamb of God.
John 1:29.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
When sheep are slaughtered for mutton, the shepherd make the sheep lie down on its side and they cover its eyes. The sheep lies there without struggling, and the shepherd takes a sharp knife and draws a single, neat line across the sheep's throat. The sheep jerks in a sharp twist of surprise, while the shepherd holds it gently down. It smells blood and stirs more anxiously. Then the animal quiets again under the shepherd's hand. It bleeds. Before the end, the sheep might twitch and jerk another time or two, but it's silent, and it doesn't really make an effort to fight. It lies there, becoming more still, and after several minutes that stroll past in no great hurry it dies.
Isaiah 53:7.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Jesus substitutionary sacrifice was God’s plan before creation.
Revelation 13:8.
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
Ephesians 1:3.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
2 Timothy 1:9,10.
He has saved us and called us to a holy life not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Genesis 22
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love Isaac and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
1 Peter 1:18-20.
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.
The reality is this. The blood of Jesus was shed for us before the creation of the world, but was only revealed to us when Jesus was crucified on the cross, died and rose again. Not even Satan knew about the shed blood until then.
1 Corinthians 2:7-10.
No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
1. Genesis chapter three - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a person.
2. Exodus chapter twelve - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a family.
3. Exodus chapter thirty and Leviticus 16: 3-34 - An animal is sacrificed and its blood is shed for a nation.
4. John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God, is sacrificed, and His blood is shed for the world.
God has all along been revealing the "lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world".
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
A New Heaven and a New Earth
Revelation 21:1,2.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
The New Jerusalem incorporates all who have been saved, Old Testament saints, the Church and the Tribulation saints.
There is no scripture that points to an exact time when the Marriage feast takes place but this would seem to be the appropriate time, once sin is put away and eternity with Christ lies ahead.
Remember that although we as believers are referred to as the Bride of Christ this like the Body of Christ or we are the branches and He is the vine are all analogies to conveys truths. We are referred to as a building and Christ the corner stone but analogies must not be read into beyond the truth they are meant to convey.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Religion won’t get you in.
Luke 13:22-30.
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
John the Baptist refers to himself as the friend of the Bridegroom.
John 3:22-30.
An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan the one you testified about look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Disciples are referred to by Jesus as the guests of the Bridegroom , yet they were the foundation members of the Church.
Matthew 9:14,15.
Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them?
The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The Invitations to the wedding feast.
Revelations 19:9.
And he saith to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Jesus was known to speak in parables to get a point across. He would present his message in such simple, easy to understand terminology that even an arrogant Pharisee might understand Him. On one particular occasion while He was at the house of one such prominent Pharisee, He used uncomplicated words to illustrate the Kingdom of God and what was to come.
Luke 14:15-24.
He spoke of a certain man who was preparing a large banquet. The man had invited many guests. When preparations were ready, the man sent his servant to let his guests know that everything was ready. When the servant went to tell them, they all began to make excuses about why they could not attend.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Luke 14:15-24. ( continued)
The first guest said that he had just bought a field and needed to go and see it. Another said he had bought five yoke of oxen and was on his way to try them out. And a third said he could not come because he had just gotten married.
The servant returned and reported all of the excuses he had heard to his master. The owner became angry and ordered his servant to go out into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.
Immediately the servant said to his master, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.” The master then told his servant to go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in, so that his house would be filled. He then told his servant that none of those who were invited would even get a taste of his supper.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
In the writing to the Church in Rome in Paul writes,
Romans 7:4.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Here, Paul says that the Church is married to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was raised from the dead.
It is important to remember that in the context of Romans 7 it is not the Law that had to die, there was nothing wrong with the Law, the fault lay with you and me and our sinful nature.
It is us who die and in so doing are freed from the Law to be joined to Christ and the righteous requirements of the Law are met as the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the Law of sin and death.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
Ephesians 5:25-33.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body.
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery but I am talking about Christ and the church.
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The first Adam receives his wife.
Genesis 2:18-24.
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
The second Adam after paying the price for sin on the cross entered into the sleep of death and just eve was formed from Adam, the Born again believer has been formed in the likeness of Christ and one day even our earthly bodies will be transformed into His likeness.
1 John 3:2,3.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
1 Corinthians 15:44-49.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
The Marriage feast of the lamb.
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