Earthly marriages are at times filled with strife, numerous hurts, and disappointments, and they may even fail. Yet, Christ the Bridegroom will never disappoint his bride, the church. Jesus is always faithful, always loving, always wanting the best for us, and always sure to keep his promise to bring his people into glory (Rev. 21:1-2). The believer’s union with Jesus is eternal, unbreakable, and the best dream come true ever.

When we are blessed to see God join a man and woman together in matrimony, it is good to take some time to reflect upon how the relationship between a husband and wife is an earthly, temporal representation of the surpassing intimacy and love all believers have in their eternal union with Christ.

The Mystical Union Between Christ and the Church Transcends All Earthly Relationships

As theologian J. V. Fesko notes, the one-flesh union of marriage is not ultimate but points beyond itself to a far greater mystery—the believer’s union with Christ.

Marriage is the union between a man and a woman where the two individuals become one flesh as the apostle Paul tells us in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. The marital union, however, is a relationship that points to the greater relationship between Christ and the church… Union with Christ is also called mystical because as A. A. Hodge explains, “It so far transcends all the analogies of earthly relationships, in the intimacy of its communion, in the transforming power of its influence, and in the excellence of its consequences.” (J. V. Fesko, “A More Perfect Union?” Modern Reformation, May 2, 2007)

Theologian Louis Berkhof defines this mystical union between Christ and his church as

that intimate, vital, and spiritual union between Christ and His people, in virtue of which He is the source of their life and strength, of their blessedness and salvation. That it is a very intimate union appears abundantly from the figures that are used in Scripture to describe it. It is a union as of the vine and the branches, John 15:5, as of a foundation and the building that is reared on it, I Pet. 2:4,5, as of husband and wife, Eph. 5:23-32, and as of the head and the members of the body, Eph. 4:15,16. And even these figures fail to give full expression to the reality. It is a union that passes understanding.[1]

Berkhof goes on to list the main characteristics of this mystical union between Christ and the church. This union is transformative, organic, vital, personal, and mediated by the Holy Spirit, and it is also reciprocal (Christ produces faith in the believer, and the believer exercises faith in Christ).[2] Let’s look a bit closer at three of these characteristics:

The Mystical Union Between Christ and the Church Is Transformative

Christ will make his bride completely clean and holy. All traces of sin will be gone forever.

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