Walk circumspectly Chapter 5v22-33
3)
A new concept of marriage elevating the Divine institution to a high level.
The prescription for a perfect marriage! No earthly plan for marriage comes close to this. Two people, wife and husband in unbreakable union because their bond is in Christ. Wives in submission, husbands demonstrating real love, the kind that God has displayed.
- Headship Wives in submission to their husbands This is in the context of the Christian way to acknowledge Divinely instituted order of things in the universe. Everything will run smoothly when that order is observed by all parties. It is not so much the idea of superiority that is in view, rather the relative roles we are to play in the good decorum of Christian society, rather like planets and stars in their orbit for the stability of the galaxy. It comes after the command to "submit one to another"; this was to be practical...... wives to husbands(chapter 5v22-33), children to parents ((chapter 6v1-4), servants to masters (chapter 6v5-9). In any society there must be, of necessity, a structure, and it requires each of us in our respective roles to play our part. God expects Christian wives to submit to their husbands as per the example of the godly women of the bible; 1 Peter 3v6 "...as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him lord; whose daughters ye are....". Note the force of the little word "own"....their own husbands. Their personal possession so far as marital faithfulness is concerned, and they are to be respected because of that. The standard is high....as unto the Lord... their husbands are to be held in high esteem as the Lord! The reason is clear, Divine order in the universal scheme of things; it may not be the way of a godless world, it is God's way. "The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church." The balance of this is stated, not only is He the head, He is the saviour of the body. The word for saviour-soter- can mean deliverer or preserver and always carries the thought of active responsibility. This underlines the caring aspect of the union. The conclusion is that "...therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so also let the wives be subject to their own husbands...." Note the scope of this...."in everything!"
- Lordship Husbands to love their wives In a day of chronic marriage breakdown, what an opportunity for Christian husbands to demonstrate God's kind of love. The word is agape God's love, love that gives all and seeks no return, love that pervades in all situations. Again the standard is the highest possible "even as Christ loved the Church...." Few of us have attained to this but this is teaching of Paul that a Christian marriage should reflect the love of Christ. He now turns to the great mystery of Christ and the Church as the pattern for marriage.
Firstly we see that Christ gave Himself; no one can give any more than themselves. If we give ourselves to another, they have everything we are and have. For Christ this involved sacrifice of a supreme nature. He gave Himself that He might sanctify and cleanse it.... the church comprising sinful beings were not fit companions for the perfect Son of God, and so He makes them fit by the cleansing power of the spoken word of God. This process of cleansing will continue until what He calls "the presentation". There are to be two presentations in the future, the presentation to Himself in Ephesians 5 v27; then the presentation to the Father in Colossians 1v22 and Jude v24. Only perfection will do for Divine beings. Thus the love of Christ extends not only to the cleansing of sinners, but to the beautification of saints. Note the language of the scriptures already mentioned....
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it may be holy and without blemish..."; "...holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight..."; "...faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." His love was expressed in His desire for their ultimate perfection and blessing. This is exactly how we husbands are to treat our wives. There are three metaphors in Ephesians to describe the relationship of Christ and the Church..... The
body of Christ the
temple of God the
bride of Christ. The emphasis in these is activity, sanctity, and love respectively and sums up privileges of believers in union with Christ. The concept that sinful people could be in such close union to the Lord of all heaven is nothing short of amazing; the fact that this is to be the pattern for the relationship of husband and wife is also amazing. This elevates marriage to unprecedented levels; human marriage is to reflect the union of Christ and the Church. This union is unbreakable, it will issue in perfection, it is based on sacrificial love, it reflects a desire for the best for the partner. There would be no marital breakdown if this standard were observed. Says Paul, " So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies..." There's an obligation about it; firstly they made a vow, then they have received love from Christ so they have an obligation to reciprocate that. He now expands it to the natural argument; they are to love their wives "
as their own bodies". This now reveals the biblical concept of marriage.....Genesis 2v24 "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh." God's estimate of the marriage bond is that husband and wife are
one flesh. Since no man ever yet hated his own flesh, it is becoming that they love their wife as their own body. The Lord nourishes and cherishes the church, that is He brings it to maturity by good spiritual feeding, and He keeps it warm by keeping them close to Himself...this is also how Christian men are to be with their wives.
Paul then refers to the metaphorical image of the church as His body, just as the man is one flesh with the woman so is the union of Christ and the church. He calls it "a great mystery", and it is the model for all marriages.
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