Creation would not be complete without the woman, so while Adam slept, God took a rib out of his side and formed the woman. She became bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Her name, Eve, means the mother of all living. Christ in resurrection is the last Adam, the firstborn of the new creation, and the Church becomes His bride. We are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5). The Christ will not be complete until His bride is in her place at His side, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. She will take the place of the mother of all living, and is seen as the holy and heavenly Jerusalem, having the glory of God.
God has created man with a capacity for the highest joys that can be experienced by a creature. But, because of sin’s entering the world, man now belongs to a lost race. Through His Son, God has provided a way by which fallen man can be restored to God and his lost capacity can be regained. The basis for this restoration is the death of God’s Son, who shed His lifeblood to pay the awful debt of those who believe His Word. The gift of God is the present enjoyment of Christ in heaven. He is the living water.
To each person God now offers a full and free, eternal salvation. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)).
Having finished His work on earth, Jesus returns to the Father’s house to present Himself and His work of redemption, so preparing a place there for His bride. It is the Church of God and is composed of all believers who have believed on and confessed Jesus as Lord. It was formed on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to dwell in each believer (Acts 2:44And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)). For two thousand years, since Pentecost, God has been gathering together, in one, “the children of God that were scattered abroad” (John 11:5252And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. (John 11:52)).
Although those who compose the Church have failed completely, God’s Church remains in His eye as first seen on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in the believer and in the Church, provides the power to maintain a testimony to the work of Christ, in spite of man’s failure.
God is preparing His people for an eternity of bliss in heaven with Christ. He wants each one to feel at home when they get there. As the decorum of heaven is unlike that of earth, each must experience many trials and lessons to prepare himself. The exercise of soul through which God passes His children produces the liberty to enjoy the Father’s house.