Doctrine of the Church

Order of Service

• Sermon
• Congregational Discussion / Q&A
• Closing Prayer

---

Sermon Title: The Trinity and the Bride

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27

I. The Trinity and Adam's Bride

A. The singular/plural interchange in Genesis 1:26-27 provides the first hint of the triune God

1. God is referred to in both singular and plural: "God said… let us make man in our image"
2. Man is likewise described in both singular and plural: "he created him… male and female he created them"
3. The image of God is fully realized in distinct persons living as one, reflecting the three persons of one Godhead

B. Genesis 2:18-25 narrows the lens of chapter one to show the fulfillment of the image of God

1. Chapter one provides the broad, macro view of the sixth day of creation
2. Chapter two zooms in specifically on the creation of man and woman
3. The marriage union of Adam and Eve — two distinct persons becoming one flesh — fully realizes the reflection of the triune God's image

II. The Trinity and Christ's Bride

A. Ephesians 5:28-33 reveals the marriage union in Genesis as a mysterion — something hidden but now revealed

1. The mystery: the marriage union between Adam and Eve was always meant to reflect the union between Christ and the church
2. Just as Adam's marriage reflects the image of the triune God, so the marriage between Christ and his bride brings the full realization of that image-bearing quality

B. John 17:20-26 — Christ's High Priestly Prayer grounds the union of the church in the intra-trinitarian union of the Father and the Son

1. "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I in you" — the union within the Godhead is the source and foundation of unity among the members of the church
2. Christ brings his bride into the fellowship that has always existed within the Trinity
3. Union and fellowship among distinct persons in the church flows from sharing in Christ and thereby sharing in the trinitarian fellowship

C. The negative example: Genesis 3 illustrates what happens when unity is sought apart from the triune God

1. Adam and Eve are united together in breaking fellowship with the triune God and "breaking bread with the serpent"
2. The result is division, blame-shifting, shame, and disorder
3. Bowing the knee to a one-person master (whether Satan, Allah, or any unitarian god) cannot produce true, lasting union among distinct persons — it will always produce individualism and strife
4. Only fellowship with the three-in-one God, through Christ, produces true koinonia among distinct persons

D. Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity: "The Father's identity consists in his love for the Son, and so when we love the Son we reflect what is most characteristic about the Father… a united church, a happy church, is a church that is in fellowship with the three-in-one God"

1. Division and bickering in the church reflects fellowship with the serpent, not the triune God
2. The church manifests and reflects the triune God when distinct persons live in unity and communion

III. The Trinity and the Gift of the Bride

A. Contrast between the First Adam and the Last Adam (cf. Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15)

First Adam	Last Adam — Christ
Blames God for the bride given to him (Genesis 3)	Glorifies God for the bride given to him (John 17:6, 24)
Distances himself from his bride	Takes his bride into himself
Stands aside while his bride is tempted and joins in the sin	Stands sinless in the place of his bride and crushes the serpent's head
Speaks against his bride	Speaks for his bride (High Priestly Prayer)
Fails to love his bride as himself	Loves his bride as he loves himself

B. Christ never acts as a solitary man — he acts as a representative man, the image of God fully realized

1. "Let us make man in our image… male and female" is fulfilled in Christ and his church (Genesis 1:26-27)
2. The wedding of Christ and the church is the fulfillment and realization of the image of God — the singular and plural of God finding its counterpart in the singular and plural of man

C. The church is a supernatural entity, not a product of programs or pragmatic strategies

1. Unity flows from union with Christ, who carries the church into trinitarian fellowship
2. The proper proclamation of Christ is therefore central — it is through Christ being proclaimed that the Spirit unites believers to the Bridegroom
3. The marriage union between Christ and the church also grounds the assurance of eternal life: God hates divorce and will never divorce his bride (cf. Revelation 19)