The Necessity of the Husband's Glory
Clay Curtis

Isaiah 4: 1: And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.

It is improper for the bride to propose to the man. Merely taking his name does not constitute a marriage. If her reproach will be taken away, Christ the GodMan must draw his bride in cords of love, unite himself to her in a holy, unbreakable union, and provide all her needs.

God created one wife for his beloved Son. She is the church made up of his elect people out of ever nation on this earth. God espoused this bride to one husband even Christ Jesus his own Son. He is her All and she is his all.

First, the full provision Christ bestows upon his bride is found in his name which he gives her. The maiden name of a sinner is that of our father Adam. Our maiden name is a name of reproach, of disobedience to God, a name which declares we are dead in trespasses and in sins. But Christ gives his bride his name and his name declares her reproach is taken away by him. Jeremiah 23:6: In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jeremiah 33:16: In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.

Secondly, the name of Righteousness given to his bride declares that Christ has fully met every requirement of a faithful husband. Concerning the responsibility of the husband the law states, If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. Christ shall never take another bride as sinful men do for he has everlastingly loved the bride betrothed to him by his Father. Christ is her Food (Life) and thus Christ's bride shall never be found begging bread. Christ is her raiment of Righteousness thus she is arrayed in the finest garment. Christ the Son of God unites himself intimately with her, which scripture terms the "the duty of marriage", by making himself one with her nature that he might make her one with his nature (Ephesians 5: 30-32; Heb 2: 11, 14-16; Eze 36: 27; 2 Peter 1: 3, 4; Rom 8: 9-12.)

The marriage is about much more than the bride's reproach being taken away, it is about Christ's glory in being a true and faithful Husband. Christ is that glorious Husband thus the reproach of his bride is forever removed.

For the sermon on this listen to One Husband, One Bride by Clay Curtis.