Be Married to Christ and Bear Fruit
The Bible uses many symbols to describe our relationship with God and Christ. The church is described as a body and Christ is the head (Ephesians 1:22, Colossians 1:18). Christ is King and his people are his kingdom (Revelation 1:5,9). Christ is the cornerstone and the church is the building (1 Peter 2:4-8). Christians are adopted into God’s family and are his sons and daughters (Galatians 4:5-6). The most “mysterious” symbol, however, is that of husband and wife. The apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:4). He also references this relationship in Ephesians 525-33.
Do you see yourself as married to Christ? Do you own Jesus as your husband? Years ago, evangelist Marshall Keeble encountered a woman who came to be baptized in her wedding dress. He asked her if she wanted to change before she was immersed. She answered that she wanted to marry Jesus in the same clothes that she married her husband. He baptized her, wedding dress and all because she understood what she was doing.
Christians are married to Christ and the church is the bride of Christ. This means that Jesus is our husband. What does a husband do? As Paul says in Romans 7:4, “that we should bear fruit to God.” Just as it is impossible for a woman to bear fruit without a husband, so also, it is impossible for a Christian to bear fruit without Christ! The fruit are our good works in Christ Jesus (John 15:1-8, Galatians 5:22-23). Without Christ, there are no good works.