A primary characteristic of love is that it seeks nearness to its subjects. We naturally seek nearness to those whom we love. And Christ came near to the eternal church in the everlasting council of peace. He then undertook to be her Husband and Saviour.
As it is customary among men for the father “to give away” his daughter on the day of her marriage, so in the transactions of eternity, when the Son consented to redeem His people, God the Father gave them to the Son in an indissoluble covenant. “Thine they were and thou gavest them me.” “He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom.”
Nearer He could not come. This is the most solemn and the most mysterious relationship known to man.
“This,” says Paul under inspiration in Ephesians 5:32, “is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”
