Revelation 18:16 And saying, Alas,
alas, that great city, that was clothed
in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked
with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
With the new Jerusalem, called the
Lamb’s wife, which has foundations of precious stones,
each gate is a pearl, streets of pure gold, and whose
residents wear pure white linen:
Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and
rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made
herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
white: for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints.
Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me
one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full
of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying,
Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s
wife.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit
to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God,
19 And the foundations of the wall of the city
were garnished with all manner of precious stones.
The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire;
the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls;
every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold,
as it were transparent glass.
The bride of Christ is the church.
Yet, it looks like the city is also
called that.
I think this is where people got the
idea of calling the church building the church.
The building, itself, is not the
redeemed.
However, it is where the redeemed
assemble to worship the LORD and fellowship.
So the building, especially when the
saints are in it, became synonymous with the church,
when it was referred to.