What is God's purpose of redemption for Israel and for the Church? This is an interesting question. God Himself gave us the answer in the Old Testament and the apostle Peter explained it in the New Testament.
Old Testament redemption
Exodus 19 contains a message God gave to Moses for the children of Israel after He had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt, brought them out by tremendous miracles and brought them to the foot of Mount Sinai and from there He proposed to enter into a Covenant with them.
Let us look at some verses of Scripture:
"You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and holy nation" (Exodus 19:4 - 6, NKJV, emphasis added).
Notice what God said to the children of Israel - "I brought you to Myself". This I believe is the primary purpose of Israel's redemption - To bring His chosen people to Himself! God first revealed His primary objective before He went on to outline the rest of His purpose. You can read the rest of Exodus which contains the details of His Covenant and the conditions attached to His Covenant with Israel.
New Testament redemption
Notice also that the words spoken by God are not merely relevant to Israel after their redemption out of Egypt, but they are not less relevant to Christians today. I believe most of the Jews have never discovered the purpose of their redemption, not even today. The Scripture says because of their unbelief and their rejection of God, salvation has come to the Gentiles (Romans 11).
Since Israel failed to understand the purpose of their redemption God simply restated the same purpose for the Church of Jesus Christ consisting of both the Jewish and Gentile believers.
Peter wrote to believers in Christ:
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9, 10, emphasis added).
Notice the similarity of both passages of Scripture (OT and NT). Both the children of Israel and the Church are special people of God and both are kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
God's primary purpose in redemption
God's primary purpose in redemption is always this - To bring His people (Israel and the Church) to Himself. Anything else is secondary.
How does God bring His people to Himself? He does that by preparing His Church as a bride for His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, in Ephesians 5, gives a picture of Christ's love for the Church:
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25 - 27, emphasis added).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The two processes of cleansing and sanctifying are closely related but they are not identical. It is possible to have purity or cleanness, without sanctification, but it is not possible to have sanctification without purity or cleanness. Thus cleansing is a essential part of sanctification. Sanctification is directly connected with the word "saint". The word "saint" means "holy". Therefore the literal meaning of sanctification is "making saintly" or "making holy".
2. The one main definite purpose for which Christ redeemed the Church is that "He might sanctify and cleanse her".
3. The means which Christ uses to cleanse and sanctify the Church is "washing of water by the word". The operation of God's Word is compared to the washing of pure water. Even before Christ's atoning death upon the cross had actually been confummated, He had already assured His disciples of the cleansing power of His Word which He had spoken to them:
Jesus said, "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you" (John 15:3, NKJV).
4. Only God's Word (written or spoken) has the cleansing power. The Church cannot be cleansed by any other means - like observing Church doctrine, Church custom, Church tradition and the doctrine of men. The Church that is not clensed by the Word will not be holy. She is full of spots or wrinkles and full of blemishes and therefore fails to be the bride of Christ. This is an extremely serious matter and that is the reason why James said, "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment" (James 3:1).
Jesus' ultimate purpose for the Church
After the preparation of the bride (the glorious Church), Jesus' ultimate purpose for His Church is to bring her to the Father's hous for the marriage of the Lamb.
Jesus said, "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 for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2, 3, emphasis added).
1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 give a picture of what will happen. A day will come when all true Christians will be caught up bodily and alive to meet the Lord in the air. The souls and spirits of those who had previously died believing in Christ, having been consciously with Him in the interim, will come with their Lord from heaven to rejoin their glorious resurrected bodies. Those (true believers or true Christian) alive at the time of His return, their bodies instantly transformed as well, will be caught up together with the saints of all ages to meet Christ somewhere above the earth and He will bring them to the Father's house of many mansions. This is what most Bible teachers called the "Rapture". This is what John 14:3 means, "I will come again and receive you to Myself".
The "Rapture" is a word to which some critics object because they say it isn't in the Bible. In fact, it is in the Latin translation of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The Latin word "rapturos" means, in English, an "ecstatic catching away".
I believe the first event in heaven after our Lord has taken us up there, will be the judgment of true believer at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:12 - 15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). This will not be a judgment for condemnation but a judgment for reward. We must all give an account to our Lord for every action (good or evil) or failure to act; for every idle word and secret thought.
Solomon said, "For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Eccle. 12:14, NKJV).
In Christ's days the Jewish bride was taken to the house of the groom's father where the two were in seclusion for seven days (one week). Christ must have had that custom in mind when He promised to take His bride to His Father's house. During these seven years (the 70th week of years in Daniel's prophecy - (Daniel 9:24 - 27), the earth is going through the Great Tribulation period under the reign of the Antichrist! But, at precisely the same time in heaven, the marriage supper of the Lamb is being prepared (Rev. 19:7, 8)!
He brings His Church to Himself
The Bride of Christ escapes the wrath of the Antichrist. That is the way God protects His true Church, fulfilling what Jesus said to Peter:
"The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
Jesus said this because He will bring His Church to Himself to be His bride!
On the other hand, the gates of Hades shall prevail against the "church" that is left behind under the reign of the Antichrist. I believe the Antichrist together with his false prophet and his "elder" and "pastors" will be sitting at the gates of Hades!
The "church" that fails to be the bride
In both of his epistles, Paul warned Timothy that a time will come, in the lsat days, that believers will depart from the faith:
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1, NKJV).
"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away" (2 Tim. 3:1 - 5, NKJV).
Here are some statements of truth:
1. The Last days are "perilous times" - Time of persecution, stress, danger and trial. I believe we are in the last of the last days now.
2. Paul listed 18 moral blemishes. Notice that the bride of Christ (the glorious Church) is to be without blemish (Eph. 5:27).
3. The key to all forms of moral blemishes is - Men become "lovers of themselves". Because of this they become lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and so on.
4. Paul considered "having a form of gidliness but denying its power" as one of the moral blemishes. These "believers" are churchgoers, maintaining only a form of religion (being religious in the sight of men), but they are not true Christians. They may not be apostates, but they lack the real power of Christianity - power of the Holy Spirit which leads to a changed life and to holy living.
5. True Christians should turn away from such people.
Prophecy concerning end-time God's people
An angel of the Lord said to John who was banished to the isle of Patmos converning the Church of Jesus Christ toward the end of this age:
"Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be more filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still" (Rev. 22:10, 11).
Notice that the Book of Revelation is written for God's people, the Church. John was commanded not to seal the prophecy given to him because it will soon be fulfilled. On the other hand, Daniel was commanded to seal up his prophecy because the prophecy relates to a far-distance time (Daniel 12:9).
The angel told John, a time will come when there will be a line of separation and a departure of ways, attitudes and characters among God's people. Those who are wicked will be become more wicked; those who are righteous will become more righteous. The difference between those who are in darkness and those who are in the light will become more distinct as a testimony for all to see before the Second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is never the intention of God to confuse His people. He wants to make it clear to us that the righteous will receive His reward but the wicked will miss it all!
I believe at the close of this age there will be just two groups of God's people in the Church. One group will be the bride and the other willl be the harlot! Every person has to make a personal decision which group he or she will be found in. The decision is now! If you are not the bride then you are the harlot. The line of separation is clear and there is no grey area! If you are sitting on the fence, you are also a harlot.
The bride has the bridal attire. She has the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). She has the garments of praise and the crown of life and she receives many beautiful gifts from God. She loves her Lord and yields herself Him. She loves the truth of God's Word and obeys His commandments. She overcomes persecution and remains faithful to her Lord until death.
The harlot has many things that man in his wisdom can produce. She has the knowledge and wisdom of the world and she loves the things of the world. His church is a "prosperous" and worldly mega-church. There is no true shepherd to lead her. The pastors in her church are highly qualified eloquent professional preachers, the product of a "reputable" Seminary. They have a proven track record of building "successful" mega-churches. The harlot is under the deception that whatever her pastors do is of God. To her all church work is God's work; all church programs are God's programs. She loves the church of Christ instead of the Christ of the church. She serves the pastors instead of serving the Lord!
The ways of the bride and the ways of the harlot are contrary one to the other. Every one of us has to make the choice. As for "me and my house" we will serve the Lord. We want to be the bride. We want all that God has to offer us; we take hold of His promises and live by His Word!
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