Astounded by His Love a Discipleship Guide for Jesus' Bride

By Mary Somerville

You will be astounded by the love of Jesus Christ in this discipleship guide! It covers topics

from your initial marriage to your Bridegroom, to finding your identity in Him, to

worshiping Him, to living your life in the light of His grace, and to sharing the Good News

with others. All is presented against the backdrop of the author’s over 50-year marriage to

her husband, Bob. These truths are the product of their teaching ministry over a lifetime.

You will be greatly edified and find real joy as you dig deeply into the Scriptures in this

study and hopefully, your life will more and more reflect your Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798890436801

Book preview

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Astounded by His Love a Discipleship Guide for Jesusand#39; Bride

Mary Somerville

SBN 979-8-89043-679-5 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89243-463-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-89043-680-1 (digital)

Copyright © 2024 by Mary Somerville

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Unless otherwise indicated Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible.

Cover photo: Daniel & Tiffany Somerville

Cover design: Joy Olmsted

Picture design: Jana Marie Alves & Joy Olmsted

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

1

Unite with Jesus as His Bride—the Glorious Church

The Glorious Church

Astounded by His Matchless Love

What a glorious experience to be courted by an honorable man! Bob and I were both seminary students when he began courting me. As our relationship developed through spending lots of time together on campus, discussing the things we were studying, and sensing our mutual desire to serve Christ, our friendship enfolded, and we found our hearts being knit together. I sensed that Jesus Christ was preeminent in his life and that God was giving me love for this man. How could two strangers coming from opposite sides of the country come together, to love each other with a depth of passion as we had for each other, except for the providence of our God? There was a rightness of our love.

Here was a man to whom I would be willing to commit my life! The sterling character qualities that attracted me to him have been proven out over a lifetime—his love for people, sensitivity to their needs, and willingness to sacrifice to help meet those needs. I’ve loved his understanding of grace and application of it to myself and others. I was also strongly attracted by his soft blue eyes, wide smile, manly ways, and sense of humor. He knew where he was going, to proclaim the Good News that had captured his heart. It blew me away that he would choose me from all the women on earth to set his love upon! He pursued me and won all of my affections, heart, and soul.

What a thrill it was for me when Bob asked me to marry him! Will you give up your independence on Independence Day and be my wife? was his proposal. I had to make a decision. I had to act on faith as I did not know how he would love and provide for me for a lifetime. Based on his character and our love for each other, I said yes!

What about our heavenly Groom, who pursues us with His matchless love? When He came to earth, He was destitute. He was born in lowly circumstances, in fact, in a place where animals were sheltered in a borrowed stable. A price on His head forced His new parents to flee for their lives. He had a father who worked in carpentry while growing up, a very humble trade that He took up as a young man living in a backwater village. Then He became an itinerate teacher without a place to call home. After a short ministry of only three years, He was rejected, tortured, left alone, and hung on a criminal’s cross in ignominy to die an excruciating death. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. He never traveled far, wrote no books, and had no degrees or formal learning to boast about. He wasn’t noted for his personality or good looks. One would think that wasn’t much to offer a bride. However, how amazing to think it was all about making Himself nothing to inscrutable depths for your sake (Phil. 2:7–8).

He is perfectly holy, lives in unapproachable light, and is worshipped in His eternal home by myriads of angels. He is the One who, with His Father and the Spirit created the cosmos and every atom in it, including the wonder of the distant galaxies, the vast oceans, the giant redwoods as well as the tiny baby, and the delicate orchid. You are His creation! Everything was created through Him and for Him (Col. 1:16). His coming was prophesied in God’s book thousands of years before He came as the One who would make everything right and bring mankind back to God. He was gentle and lowly in heart, astoundingly loving, generous, and kind.

How amazing that He set His love on you and me! He left it all behind—all His unfathomable riches, glory, and honor to come to His creation to enter into a love relationship with us! Not because we were beautiful and desirable or worthy of winning! No, while we were anything but! We were condemned to die for our transgressions, but Jesus willingly took the death sentence for His bride, sparing her from eternal separation from God. His death is different from every other death. Others have experienced the physical aspect of His death, but not only was He to experience the agonies of torture and physical death, but He also tasted eternal death as infinite God—damnation—separation from His Father! In all this, He grappled with Satan and destroyed death itself (Gen. 3:15), thus winning a bride.

What a thrill it is when we say yes to Christ, when we come to know of His love in His Book, act on faith, and acknowledge Him as our Redeemer from sin by His finished work on the cross and resurrection. Not everyone is willing to humble themselves and confess their sin and be united with Christ by the new birth. But when we do, it is by His grace and the work of the Holy Spirit that we are wed to Him. We become His bride. We become a part of His glorious church.

The Church pictures to the world Christ’s matchless, unfailing, unfathomable, enduring love to poor, lost sinners who cannot even know what love is apart from Him. It is astounding to think that our Groom rejoices over, delights in, and provides for us His destitute, oft-erring bride! Our Groom, Jesus Christ, speaks words of love to us as Solomon did his bride, How beautiful you are, my darling, how beautiful you are (Song of Sol. 4:1). We are His darling—those He died to save. Jesus has pursued us and won our affection away from all our other loves, our own self-sufficiency, and into His loving arms and care. What grace! We say with Solomon’s bride, Draw me after you and let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice in you and be glad; we will extol your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you (Song of Sol. 1:4).

In this study, we want to explore what this Bride of Christ consists of, why it is so precious to our Bridegroom, and such a fantastic privilege for us to be a part of.

What Is the Bride of Christ?

A Group of Believers in Jesus Christ

The Bride of Christ is a term used to describe the Church, those who have put their faith in Him for salvation. There are many other metaphors to describe it—the Body of Christ, a household of God, the pillar and support of the truth, a holy temple, a dwelling of God. Peter describes it as, A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). Jesus said He would build His Church, and the Gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). It is unstoppable! More and more members are added to it until He comes to catch His bride away.

Loved and Chosen

Just how does our Bridegroom feel about us? We, the Bride of Christ, have been loved and chosen from before the foundation of the world and drawn into a personal love relationship with Christ. We are part of Him, and He nourishes and cherishes us because we are members of His Body. We are the ones for whom He went to the cross and rose again. He did it for the joy set before Him—the joy of our being cleansed from sin and eternally united with Him (Heb. 12:2). He is washing us in His Word, sanctifying us, and will present us His glorious Church to Himself without spot or wrinkle, holy and blameless to live with Him forever. What a position of honor! What a future we have awaiting us! To quote a familiar hymn, from heaven He came and sought her (the church) to be His holy bride, and with His own blood He bought her and for her life, He died.

United under One Head to Love and Serve Others

We are one body in a close fellowship designed before time began to represent what it means to be united to Christ as our loving Head (Eph. 1:21); to show His love and saving grace to the world; to be His hands and feet to a lost and dying world (Eph. 5:29). We love all the other universal Church members who have been saved by faith from all parts of the globe both now and since Pentecost. We express our love, experience life together, give to and serve one another and bring glory to our great God through a commitment to the local Church—where we live. It is not a human institution or social club but a divinely instituted community of believers set apart to serve Him. It is an eternal organism made up of believers who only want to bring glory to their Head.

When you find a church wherever you go, you find loving brothers and sisters in Christ bound together in His love! When one member suffers they all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26). This has been my lifelong experience. When I was single and caring for my mother with terminal cancer, we went to a place we had never been on the other side of the country, and I popped into a church, not knowing a soul, and found they were praying for us due to a connection with a missionary that my parents supported.

Bob and I have visited churches in twenty-two countries on four continents and found an intimate family connection in Christ everywhere we have gone. Our most outstanding testimony, however, is that of the churches we have served and are currently members of. They have ministered to us through hard times and happy ones in so many ways. They have us in their homes, send us notes to encourage us, bring meals when needed, pray fervently for us in times of crisis, help with medical expenses, and seek to be with us through counsel and encouragement when needed. They stand with us through discouragement and seeming failure, giving us a family of loving fellow believers who keep in touch years after being together with expressions of gratitude and cherished memories.

Built on the Apostles and Prophets

Paul describes the Church as the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:19–22). A foundation only needs to be laid once. Paul said he was the last of the apostles (1 Cor. 15:8). They are the ones through whom God spoke to give us His Word, revealing His plan of redemption through the Living Word, Jesus Christ. We will look at the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, which is the foundation of our faith. That is why we select a local church firmly founded on the Word of God being preached, taught, and counseled as the final authority.

Commissioned to Share the Gospel

The apostle Paul says that he was made a minister to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:7–11). The Church was hidden for ages but was not an afterthought. It was part of God’s eternal purpose.

What a privilege to be in the Church Age having those mysteries explained to us in the New Testament. We must remember whose we are and seek to proclaim His excellencies so the world will be drawn to Him through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we love Jesus, we will love His Body, the Church—the Bride of Christ in its local manifestations and scattered around the world.

How Do You Become a Part of the Bride of Christ, the Church?

You are born again by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:3–6, 14–16)

How did Jesus tell Nicodemus to enter the kingdom of God—the kingdom ruled by the Messiah King, Jesus Himself? Can you explain His illustration of the serpent in the wilderness? Since the kingdom of God and the Church are synonymous, what does that tell you?

You are baptized into the universal Church by the Holy Spirit at the New Birth and testify to saving faith when you become a local church member.

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:13)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia. (2 Cor. 1:1)

According to 1 Cor. 12:13, is it water baptism or Spirit baptism by which we are baptized into the Church or Bride of Christ? In Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians, how does he refer to the universal Church and the local Church?

You receive God’s spirit. (No second blessing.)

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. (Rom 8:9)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own. (1 Cor. 6:19)

According to these verses, who has the Holy Spirit residing in and ruling in them? As a member of Christ’s Body, His bride, what encouragement is that to you and why?

You are water baptized into a local Church.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 28:19)

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41)

After conversion, the first step to profess one’s faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior is to be baptized. In this way, you identify with God the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit and seek to follow Him with your whole heart and life. How necessary is baptism to Jesus and the apostles? What is it to disregard this command?

What Are the Main Functions of a Local Church?

Teaching/Preaching from the Word of God

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God. (Col. 1:25)

But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1:23–24)

This provides for the bride’s relationship to the scriptures or doctrine. What does it mean that they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching, which we now have in the New Testament? What would that look like in your life? Paul’s preaching was not man-centered but Christ-centered. Is your church gospel-centered? Is it expositional teaching, explaining exactly what the passage of Scripture says right out of the text? Is the teaching relevant to your life—how you can live faithfully in a secular workplace and environment?

Worshiping corporately our Living Head through song

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

Saying, I will proclaim your name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise. (Heb. 2:12)

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders. (1 Chron. 16:9)

O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. (Ps. 95:1)

This provides for the bride’s desire to give praise, glory, and honor to God, her Father, and Jesus, her King, in whom all joys are found. Every Sunday that the saints gather we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! Now that’s worth singing about! Worship is more than singing, but it is one of the best ways we can ascribe worth to our God as it incorporates our heart, mind, soul, and strength. How do we teach and admonish one another in our singing? How passionately do you show your love for your triune Redeemer through song with your church family when you gather for worship? We dare not be consumers of the music in our churches, but seek to enter in with full-throated praise!

Fellowshipping (Koinonia)—contributing, participating, and sharing with fellow believers

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:3, 7)

This provides for the bride’s relationship with other believers who are knit together as brothers and sisters in Christ. In Acts, Luke records what this fellowship was that the early Church was devoted to, consistently, as a priority. They had an affection for one another and spent time together. Living in love with the oneness of the Spirit as the bride of Christ brings great joy and blessing! They were sincere in their faith, not wishing to go back to the world or pining for what they had given up but rejoicing in all they had as Christ’s bride awaiting His return. Do you have that sincerity of faith and resulting joy? Can you give testimony to the richness of true fellowship in Christ and that church is a place where you belong? Do you converse with other believers before and after services and in your homes, breaking bread together?

Administering the ordinance of baptism

Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did can he? (Acts 10:47)

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. (Rom. 6:3–7)

This provides for the bride’s means of proclaiming her faith to the world and identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It represents being buried with Jesus, no longer a slave to sin and death, and having been raised to new life because of total trust in Jesus’ work on the cross and a commitment to live obediently to Him. It also signifies the unity of all those who are united to Christ through the new birth. It is done in obedience and love for her Bridegroom. It is not what saves but a testimony of having been redeemed by Jesus’ blood. Have you followed the Lord in baptism? If not, what is holding you back?

Administering the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42)

For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me. In the same way, He took the cup also after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the Body and the blood of