Shincheonji (SCJ) teaches that while Jesus did initially establish the New Covenant at His first coming, its fulfillment does not take place until the time of the Second Coming, when believers are supposedly re-united with God through the “promised pastor.” According to their view, the covenant Jesus made with His disciples was only a promise awaiting completion, and it is only when Lee Man-Hee appears to deliver the “hidden manna” that believers can truly be restored to God.

However, Scripture presents a very different picture. The New Covenant was not a deferred promise awaiting a future mediator; it was inaugurated and fulfilled in Christ Himself. From the first century onward, believers were already brought into fellowship with God, spiritually married to Christ, and awaiting not another revelation, but the consummation of that covenant when Christ returns. This tension—what theologians call the “already and not yet”—reveals that salvation and union with Christ are already real, even as believers still look forward to their complete realization at the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

A Christian Response

When looking at the epistles, we can already see on many occasions that the first century Christians already believed that they were married to Christ, since Christ was married to His body the church (Ephesians 5:25–32).

Ephesians 5:25–32 –

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing^[a] her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

This passage explicitly presents Christ as the husband and the church as His bride, using marriage as the metaphor for spiritual union.

Romans 7:4 –

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

Paul explicitly uses marriage language — believers have “died” to their former covenant relationship under the law and now belong to Christ, much like a widow who is free to remarry.

1 Corinthians 6:15–17

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?… He who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

The Greek term kollaō (“joined”) means to be glued or bound together, suggesting covenantal and intimate union.

2 Corinthians 11:2
“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.”

Paul describes his ministry as having betrothed the Corinthian church to Christ.

1 John 4:13–16

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Though not Paul, John’s epistle reinforces the mutual indwelling and abiding relationship that characterizes the new covenant marriage between Christ and His people.

The “Wedding Banquet of the Lamb” represents the fulfillment of the eternal covenant between Christ and His Church. This event signifies the culmination of a relationship that began when believers were united with Christ through faith. Just as marriage joins two into one, the Church’s spiritual union with Christ is characterized by love, covenantal faithfulness, and sanctification. Throughout the New Testament, this relationship is portrayed as a sacred bond in which Christ, the Bridegroom, redeems and purifies His bride, preparing her to share in His glory.

At the return of Christ, this spiritual union reaches its consummation as the redeemed are presented as His pure and spotless bride. The wedding banquet symbolizes the complete restoration of fellowship between God and His people, the final realization of His redemptive purpose. It is not merely a future celebration but the completion of a covenantal journey that began with Christ’s sacrifice and continues through the sanctifying work of the Spirit until the Church stands perfected in His presence.

Articles in this series

1. Already and Not Yet
2. Revelation 19 – Jesus marrying Lee Manhee?
3. The First Resurrection
4. Spirit Working through Flesh

Shincheonji gets the First Resurrection and the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb wrong

SCJ often allegorizes the symbols in Revelation, claiming that “the Lamb” represents the spirit of Jesus, “the bride” represents the flesh of the “one who overcomes,” and “the marriage” represents the unity of spirit and flesh. This redefinition allows them to teach that Jesus works only through a physical vessel, specifically their leader, Lee Manhee, and that salvation is found only through hearing the “spirit’s word” delivered through this man. Such an interpretation reframes Revelation as a coded prophecy about the establishment of Shincheonji and its founder rather than about the final return of Christ.

However, this symbolic reinterpretation contradicts the consistent biblical teaching that the Church collectively is the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:31–32) and that the union between Christ and His people is spiritual and direct.

Paul explicitly calls this union a “mystery,” not because it awaits a new human mediator, but because it reflects the eternal plan of God fulfilled in Christ. Furthermore, Scripture insists that “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Jesus Himself promised in John 14:3 that He would personally return and take His people to be with Him – not send another man in His place. SCJ’s “two-body” Christology effectively diminishes the deity and sufficiency of Christ by implying that He needs a physical representative to complete salvation. This undermines both the uniqueness of Christ’s person and the finality of His redemptive work on the cross. In contrast, orthodox Christianity holds that the Lamb alone, not a human pastor,  is worthy to receive glory and honor, for He alone is the Bridegroom of the Church and the source of eternal life.