Verses 27, 28

Christ will present the Church to Himself in glory. The order in which these things are placed gives such assurance. Christ does not sanctify the Church before having redeemed it. No, it is when she belongs to Him that He devotes Himself to make her such as He would have her to be. We may remark here, it is not said that God loves the Church; nor is mention made of that loving kindness of God which seeks to save souls, though his goodness is acting towards all men in sending Christ to them. "He so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life." But there is another thing which is not properly the goodness of God, either in the sense of providence, nor in that of the love in his nature. God in his counsels desires to enter into a certain relationship with His own people; God desires to have children, and Christ a spouse. They are affections based upon a relationship which exists. If God has made us His children He cannot do less than love us as such; once this relationship established, He cannot fail in it. It is never said that Christ has loved the world, while we have seen that God has loved the world (John 3:16). See also the character of the providential goodness of God (Jonah 4:11). This goodness of God, which watches over all His works, is precious; we ought to act in the same way as men, we ought to love everybody (Matt. 5:44- 48).
But there is another thought besides that of this goodness of God: there is a love, the consequence of an established relationship. God having set us in this relationship, the affections of God and of Christ flow forth naturally towards us who are the objects of it. God loves His children with a love which will never deny itself. Christ has made himself responsible for all the debts of His spouse; and more, the Church being the spouse of Christ, she has lost Her earthly citizenship and acquired a heavenly one. Christ has become the one responsible for all that His Church has done and will do; the Church, as the spouse of Christ, has lost her individuality, in order that she may pertain to Christ, her heavenly bridegroom, Christ, as the anointed man, felt a distaste for the world; He would none of this world; He could not have His affections there. The Christian, in like manner, ought not to be able to bear the world as to its objects of desire and its walk. Christ has given himself in order to satisfy the justice of God and to conquer, for the Church's sake, the power of Satan; having set her free, He is occupied with her, and as she is not what He desires, He sanctifies her. The spirit of God makes allusion here to a practice among the Jews, who purified themselves by washing in pure water. It is by the word that Christ cleanses and sanctifies the Church; all the revelation of what God is, is thus applied to the heart. This is why Jesus says: "I sanctify myself for their sakes;" I set myself apart, as being the expression of all the thoughts of God, and I communicate them to mine, that they also may be sanctified through the truth. Christ is not untrue to the thoughts of God. The Word is the means of communicating them, it judges all in us and manifests what is in God. This is what Christ did here below.
The final object of the work of Christ for the Church is to present it to Himself "Glorious, having neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing."
There is reference here to the second Adam and the Church; of which Adam and Eve were the types. Whilst Adam slept, God built for him a wife (this is the literal force of the Hebrew word) and presented her to him when he awoke. It is the same here, whilst Christ is hidden, so to speak in God, God builds the Church, and when it shall be perfected, it will be presented to Christ, or rather He will present it to Himself being God and second Adam at the same time.
It is a precious thing to see that Christ so well knows how to. take His measures that there will not be the least thing in His spouse which will not satisfy His heart; she will not have a wrinkle when He presents her to Himself; and this is based upon this, that He has given Himself for her; not only he has given His body unto death, His life, but also Himself. There is nothing in Christ-not an affection, not an element of wisdom, an energy of devotedness, not a thought, a perfection-not one thing in all the self-devotedness of Christ for the Church-upon which the Christian may not count.