The Bride in Fullness - Part 1

Recently, I was looking at the full moon shining brightly over the bay where we live, when the Lord began speaking to me about His bride.

He said simply, “I want My church to shine in her fullness. It comes through a revelation of her beauty to me.”

The Lord showed me that a strategic key for the church to enter the fullness of His glory is to understand how He perceives us. The moon has no light of its own, but it reflects the sun. In the same way, we reflect the Lord’s beauty, and it is breathtaking for Him to look at us. Without knowing God’s perfect love for us, we can never enter love’s maturity. As the apostle states, “to know this love that surpasses knowledge” leads to being “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). What would that look like? The measure of all the fullness of God? And yet, we read in Colossians 2:9-10:

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Already, the inheritance of Heaven is in hand, and the Holy Spirit is our down payment on more to come. In the proper season, we will enter a realization of this fullness. To the degree that we demonstrate and reflect a full and complete expression of the Lord, so shall be the level of own spiritual maturity. Unfortunately, so many of us are content with the level of revelation or experience we have already received in the Lord. We set up camp, and never move on to take hold of this anointing called fullness.

In Song of Solomon chapter four, the Lord begins to express the beauty and the splendor of the bride. He does this not in vain flattery or to fill us with pride, but so that we begin to value ourselves based on His own estimation of us and by the grace we have been given. No longer do we esteem ourselves based on our circumstances, trials or the enemy’s accusations. No longer do we compare ourselves with the beauty and favor of others. But we stand on the firm truth that God is passionately drawn toward us no matter what. It is His unmerited, undeserved favor that has spilled over onto the bride, bringing beauty and life from ashes and hopelessness. The beauty, hence, is not her own, but comes “because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect” (Eze. 16:14).

In verses one through five, the Lord begins to specify seven features of the bride – her eyes, her hair, her teeth, her lips, her neck, her temples and her breasts. Each verse is full of symbology and identity for the believer, so we will take this passage slowly over the next few weeks, in order to allow time for the Lord to saturate us with revelation. On the surface, these verses seem merely to be of a shallow, poetic nature. But in reality, the seven features here represent the number of perfection and fullness. God’s sevenfold Spirit – the seven candlesticks among which Jesus Christ Himself walks – is the fullness of His glorious presence, which we seek to reflect in our lives. We should not be content with just a trickle, just a corner of all that God has for us. We must press in for God in His entirety, moving on from a hope of things unseen to a faith that realizes and takes hold of the substance of the unseen realm. And beyond that faith is the greatest key of all: the love of God that unlocks every door.

:: Achieving single vision ::

How beautiful your eyes are my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves (Song 4:1a).

Here, we see that the Lord is captivated by our beauty, even from behind our own self-imposed and religious veils. He draws us out by calling forth a beauty in us that has not yet been realized. Despite the shrouds and blocks that seemingly stand between us and the Lord, He has positionally removed every one, and he sees our future state of perfection even now in the present. As our eyes are filled with Him – the doves of His presence – we are overcome and begin to radiate His own brilliance. Our eyes become full of light, as do our bodies.

A dove’s eyes have very singular vision. They do not see the peripheral distractions around them, but only focus on one thing at a time. In the same way, the Lord sees His bride as being pure and spotless with the purity He has given her. He sees that she looks neither to the left nor to the right, but that her eyes are fixed on Him and Him alone.

Understand that Jesus is prophetically wooing His bride into her destiny here. At this point in the bride’s immaturity, her eyes still dart to and fro, still flirting with the spirit of the world. And yet, He calls to her not as a harlot, but as the spotless, chosen one, whose eyes are firm, steady and fixed. Although I may feel hypocritical and double-minded, Jesus does not see me that way. When the Father looks at me, He sees one whose heart is sincere in its seeking. His perception of me is “Oh, how beautiful!” not because of any merit of my own, but because of the shed blood of Christ.

As for the practical realization of this positional, spiritual principle, it is good to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

I believe that as we delve further into our study of Christ’s holy infatuation with the bride, we will begin to notice many of our insecurities fall away over the next few weeks. As odd, and perhaps paradoxical as it may seem, understanding and identifying myself with the God-given beauty of the bride will turn me into a bold an vicious warrior for the Kingdom. In my meetings, I often encourage the men of the church to learn to identify themselves as Christ’s bride. I do not mean that one should become effeminate by any means. But understanding how passionately obsessed the Lord is with our beauty causes us to step out of our caves and stop hiding in fear and shame from the fullness that awaits us in the light.