Expert: Dr Eddy Cheong - 6/26/2011

Question
Which is bride the of Christ, The new Testament Church or the New Jerusalem?

Answer
Revelation 21:2
New Living Translation (NLT)

2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

Revelation 21:9-11
New International Version (NIV)

The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

The New Jerusalem and its redeemed saints constitute the BRIDE OF CHRIST. The church can never be Christ's bride because it is not fully redeemed. Not all the members of the church on earth will finally make it to heaven.

Ephesians 5:23
New International Version (NIV)

23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

The church is the body of Christ, as stated in Ephesians 5:23 not HIS bride.