No it is not. Our final destination is the New Jerusalem. All the saints from the time of Abel who have passed on are there right now (Heb 12:22-24). And Christ is preparing a place there for every child of God (John 14:1-3). Our citizenship is in Heaven (Phil 3:20,21) and we look for the Savior who will come at the Resurrection/Rapture to take the children of God to their eternal home. And even Abraham looked for a city which has foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God (Heb 11:10). The New Jerusalem is a cubic city 1500 cubic miles in dimensions, with walls which have 12 foundations (Rev 21). Which means there is more than enough room there for countless mansions.
Who is the Bride of Christ.
In Revelation an angel tells John "this is the bride of Christ". Does John see a church building or group of people? No, he sees the Holy City of New Jerusalem. So on the surface the Bride of Christ is very clearly specified - as the Holy City of New Jerusalem.
But then John sees something else - that there are people who live
within New Jerusalem, while there are nations of others who live
outside the Holy City. Now remember, this is on the new earth so these are ALL saved people. Yet there is a clear distinction between those who live in the City, and those who live outside of it.
Another distinction is presented by the Tree of Life. The people who live in the City eat from the tree of life, whereas we see that the leaves of the tree are for the nations that surround it.
One thing we see about those who live in the City is that they are God’s
servants. Servants can take the form of tradesmen, who are paid a wage and work at will. Or servants can be slaves who are given neither consideration. In Old Testament times, if you had a Hebrew slave you had to offer him his freedom after a period of service. But if you were a good and loving master he might not have wanted to leave. So, you would pierce his ear as a symbol of his becoming your
bondslave. In return for his agreeing to be your slave for life, you agreed to care for him and his family for life. Now the Bible talks about both kinds of servants, workers and slaves, but when God speaks about His end-time servants He speaks of His
bondslaves, those who when offered freedom have chosen slavery.
The population of New Jerusalem also includes those who "overcome.”
Overcome is a fighting term, meaning to gain victory against an adversary in combat. In Jesus’ letters to the churches He commends their good works, rebukes their wrongs, exhorts them to seek a special understanding, and makes a specific promise to "
those who overcome.” They are promised to
eat from the tree of life; to not be hurt by the second death; and to be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name on it, unknown to any others but themselves and God. They are also
given power over the nations (keeping in mind this is the New Earth). They are also to be
given the morning star, to be clothed in white, and to never have their names blotted out from the book of life but confessed before the Father and His angels. They are to be made pillars in the temple of God and to never go out from it, and to have written on them the name of the City of God.
These promises are all identifiable to those described by John of the inhabitants of New Jerusalem. Except for one new promise, that of being given the morning star. Jesus called himself the Morning Star, and promised to give Himself as such to His Bride.
This should start to put together some kind of picture for you. Jesus’ bride is those who have sealed themselves to God as true bondslaves. They will be His Bride and live with Him in the City. Those who served Him as workers will live outside the City in the nations of the saved.
Perhaps His Bride could also be seen by looking at her prefiguration. God will physically dwell on the New Earth in New Jerusalem. On Old Earth (our Earth) God physically dwelt on earth in the Tabernacle and the Temple. The facilities both consisted of a central structure, surrounded by a walled courtyard. One tribe out of the 12 (the Levites) were called apart from the rest to serve inside the tabernacle/temple as God’s priests. The other tribes lived outside, but brought their sacrifices into the tabernacle/temple. This is what John saw with the New Earth and New Jerusalem - the only difference being nations instead of tribes, a city instead of a tent/building, and commerce instead of sacrifice.
Nowhere yet have we seen "the Church” in descriptions of His bride. This is unusual, because the Church is largely accepted as being the Bride of Christ. That connection comes from Ephesians 5:22-33, where Paul talks about husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the Church. In trying to explain what he calls a mystery, Paul quotes Genesis 2:23 where God declares that man and woman will become one flesh. In this setting God has just taken part of Adam’s body (his rib) to create his wife Eve. Paul specifically calls the church the
body of Christ; Jesus is called the second Adam. To fit the pattern of Adam would it not follow that a part, and not all, of His body will be taken to create His bride?
In another place (2 Cor. 11) Paul explains further. He says he wishes to present us to the Lord as a chaste virgin. But then he fears that we will corrupt that purity. I think what Paul meant is that the Church, the aggregate body of all who believe in Christ, have been born-again virgin for betrothal to the Lord. But this virginal quality can be corrupted on an individual basis. Those of His people who don’t fall to this corruption and remain virginal will be taken from those who do, to become His bride. The rib from the body.
The Bible also talks about people entering into a wedding feast at Jesus’ coming. But in a Biblical wedding feast, the bride was not invited and did not attend. She was sequestered away someplace being prepared for the wedding night. After the feast, the groom would go to take his bride from that place. An example of this is Jacob’s marriage to Rachel (Gen. 29). If his bride to be had been at the wedding feast, Jacob would have known he was being given Leah instead. So again, there are two groups here… the general populace who feast, and the bride who is sequestered preparing for the groom.
So if a Biblical bride is not at the feast, where does she go? We see in Revelation 12 the prophecy of a woman who flees to a place prepared for her in the wilderness where she is cared for. Hosea 2 talks about the day of the Lord, as God speaks about Israel’s harlotry and His judgment upon her, after which He allures her into the wilderness and speaks comfort to her there. She is given vineyards as in the day she was called up out of Egypt, and she now calls Him Husband, not master. Jesus said that those in Judea should flee to the mountains when they see the abomination of desolation. The Judeans were very close and loyal to Him. Again, there’s a repeating theme.
God has made it clear thru that repetition. Among mankind there are two kinds of people - those who accept salvation and those who don't. Then God further divides the saved, into those who are workers and those who are slaves. On the New Earth, those who are slaves will inhabit New Jerusalem as His Bride. Those who are workers will live in the nations of the saved around it.
God will have a pure and chaste bride - those who are committed to be His eternal bondservants. Not all of His Body will be a part of her, but each of us has a chance to be that rib. It all depends on how much we love our Creator, and whether we let our simple dependence upon Him be corrupted.
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