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Eph. 5:25-33
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. From the time of the Fall in Eden when Adam blamed Eve for making him sin, men in general have continued to oppress and suppress women. Unfortunately, the maltreatment of womankind has been practiced, and is still being practiced today, by men who claim to be men of God. It seems the universal theme song of the male side of the race is summed up in a statement from the OT and a statement from the NT. The statement from the OT comes from Gen. 3:16 when God says to Eve, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And the statement from the NT comes from Eph. 5:22, 23 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife…”Even men who don’t know where to find Genesis in the Bible will say, “It says in the Bible wives submit to your husbands.” The problem is in both cases those verses are taken out of context to make it sound like God created women to be slaves. However, you remember last month on Mother’s Day we studied the Scriptures in context to prove that God created woman to be man’s extraordinarily intelligent and imaginative equal partner. So on this Father’s Day let’s look at the role God has given to us as husbands and fathers as we consider, not just the dignity of man, as man, but also the high calling of God to the duties He has given us as His appointed head of the family. God begins with:
- LOVE YOUR WIVES. If you look up the word love in the dictionary inside a man’s head, love is defined as s-e-x! But when God defines love He spells it a-g-a-p-e. One of the simplest ways to define agape is to love as God loves. So the question is: what does agape love look like from a husband to his wife and children? God defines such love in these verses.
- A LOVE OF SIMILARITY. Men pay close attention here! God wastes no time in telling us as husbands exactly how/on what level/to what degree we are to love our wives. Do you see the parallelism here? As Christ loved – so husbands are to love! One writer says at this point, “the responsibility that is given to the man here is terrifying: to love their wives like Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for the church. ”This is not just a comparison, this statement, as one writer says – “places the husbands in emphatic parallelism with Christ.” Here the NIV makes that point very clearly by saying, “husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church…” The emphasis being on “just as. Our wives are to have the same value to us as the True, Universal Church has to Christ. The love a husband is to have for his wife and children is also:
- A LOVE OF SACRIFICE. As Christ gave Himself up for the church, so husbands are to give themselves up for their wives. If you thought that showing a love of similarity was terrifying – this love of sacrifice can be even more so! Why? Because the essence of the word sacrifice as it is used in this sentence means a willingness to die. Hey guys, if someone ask your wife – does your husband love you enough to give his lifeblood for you? What do you think the answer to that question is in the depths of her heart are only she and God go? In giving Himself up for the church, Christ became her bond servant or bond slave. That means He served/and still serves today, His bride, The Universal Church. Guys are you picking up on this? Sacrificial love means you submit to her, you become her servant. Now here is where this submission thing comes home to roost! This is where a real man of God will see and understand that God is teaching – if you want your wife to submit to you, then you teach her how to submit by submitting to Me as your Lord and Master 1st, then submitting to her by giving yourself up in ministry and service to/for her! Interesting how that works isn’t it? But wait there’s more!
- A LOVE OF SANCTIFICATION. There is an extremely important point that must be made here, and that truth is –only God can sanctify a heart. It is also true that only God can change a heart. Ladies you are not going to change our hearts, or even our minds! You might influence change – but you are not the agent that will bring about the change! Man, every word of that is true for us also. Only God can change a heart and the mind. On a much higher scale only God can sanctify, cleanse, or renew a sinful heart and make it a right heart before Him. We are given the responsibility and are accountable to God for the way we live our own personal lives in front of our wives and children. Our wives and children also need to see us studying and memorizing Scripture. Listen men, there is nothing “un-macho” about our wives and children seeing us struggle or scratch our heads or –here’s a really weird idea – seeking counsel and guidance from another man who is known to walk daily with the Lord! The result over our lifetime is that we become less stained, less wrinkled, and less blemished and more radiant. When that happens – God uses that spiritual growth to influence our wives and children to let Him sanctify them. Husbands are to love their wives with:
- A LOVE OF SERVICE! There are some important truths to notice in this comparison. 1st notice this love of service that cleanses and washes is a continual ministry that lasts an entire lifetime. Washing and cleansing are both continual processes. Turn to John 13:3-10. This love of service is how a love of sanctification happens. The more one reads and studies – and applies to their daily life what they have learned – the more separated from ungodliness they become because the living Word of God cleanses us deeper and deeper. Men, as we study and learn and grow, we are to share with our wives and children those things and encourage them to grow in their own personal walk with the Lord so they continually desire to become and remain washed and clean. A husband’s love to his wife is also:
- A LOVE OF SURRENDER. Now, guys, let me point out and explain something to you that will help you see why the love husband has for his wife must be a love of sanctification and service and what makes it so vitally important! A true man of God sees his wife (and children) as a gift from God. A true man of God also understands both his accountability and his responsibility to God for all that he has been given. Just as Christ is preparing The Church through continual sanctification and continual purification so that at His return She will be a proper bride adorned in His own righteousness and holiness for Him to present to Himself. So we as husbands are to continually nourish, teach, and lead our wives to Christ likeness, so that at our own personal judgment before Christ we can present them back to Christ as a radiant gift for Him. Read 2 Cor. 11:1, 2. You see Paul had the same idea about the Corinthians. So the question is: if you had to present your life to Christ today, would He be pleased with how you have prepared her? Another question you might consider is: how will you handle whatever time you have left to prepare her? And finally a husband’s love for his wife is to be:
- A LOVE OF SAFETY. A true man of God understands that not just his body, but his wife’s body also is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As such the husband is to care for and protect his wife in the same way he would care for and protect himself. Of course you understand this goes far deeper than just physical care and protection. It also includes mental, emotional, and especially spiritual nourishment and care. Again guys we have been given the responsibility for which we are accountable. If you were to do a study of this section looking specifically for the requirements or duties assigned to the husband and the wife, you would discover the wife is told she is to submit to her husband and that she used to respect him. You can see God begins by telling husbands number 1 love your wives, and then God goes into great detail telling us 6 details that explain how we are to love our wives. So if you’re keeping score it is 2 to 7 in favor of the husband. Does that mean we win? What it means is that we have a far greater and much more detailed responsibility and accountability to our wives and children as the spiritual heads of our homes. And when you consider that God compares our wives to the church, and our ministry to our lives with Christ ministry to The Church we begin to see the dignity God has given to the institution of marriage.
If we can help you answer your spiritual questions, call us at (574) 643-9419.
