Ephesians 5:25-33 says...
Today's verses are Ephesians 5:25-33, which read
v.25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Paul spoke in the last study to the wives and really to the husbands also but this section zeros in on the husbands. Again, the example that we are to follow and imitate is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. The question is if a husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the church then how did Christ love the church?
First, Jesus gave Himself up for her. He became the sacrifice for her. A husband is to be sacrificial.
Second, Jesus gave sacrificially for a purpose to sanctify the church. This action had a direction to provide a way for the church to be growing in the way of holiness. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife has the tools and atmosphere to grow in her spiritual walk.
Third, Jesus gave sacrificially with a purpose of the church growing in holiness by giving of salvation and His word of instruction and love. Jesus brought the gospel to repent and be baptized and He brought His words that the church can stand upon and act upon. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife can grow in holiness and his tools are his own transformed saved life and the teaching of God's word.
Fourth, Jesus gave sacrificially with a purpose of the church growing in holiness by giving of salvation and His word so the church can be as it was meant to be, a shining beacon of light of God to the world. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife can grow in holiness and his tools are his own transformed saved life and the teaching of God's word so that his wife can shine brightly for God.
v.28-30 - So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.
So many verses for the husbands but also so needed that we fulfill this role that God has given us. Again, our example to follow as husbands is Jesus Christ and the church, His bride.
Jesus is the head of the church and therefore attached to the church as His own body. The love that He gave has a direct relationship to the rest of the body. I think one of the greatest examples of this in the Scripture is when Jesus stops Paul on the road to Damascus who was going to persecute some more Christians and says to him not "Why are you persecuting them?" but "Why are you persecuting Me?" Jesus cares so much about the church because He is attached to it and its members are attached to one another.
A husband loves his wife so much because "the two shall become one flesh." This includes but goes way beyond the physical part of the relationship. We get in trouble many times as a husband when one thinks that what is said and what is done will have no bearing on her. Jesus had a direct bearing on the church and what I do and say has a direct bearing on my wife. Will I nourish and cherish her that is connected to me or will I starve her and neglect her? If I starve her and neglect her then I am doing it also to myself.
v.31-33 - For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
It is time for Paul to bring this to a summary. Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 and also gives credibility to the book of Genesis and the creation of the world by God. A husband acts this way as following Christ's example with the church because from the beginning God created male and female to live in this type of union. A man will leave the comfort of his home with his mother and father and create a new relationship that is "joined" or glued or cemented together. This is how you are and how you respond in that type of relationship.
The mystery that is revealed is that the Christian marriage is a reflection to the world of Christ's love for the church. When you see a Christian marriage where the man and the woman are fulfilling their God given roles then you are seeing physically an living example of how Christ loves the church and its member thereof. Before Christ came and died on the cross, God gave an example through the marriage relationship to see the kind of love that Christ has for us.
As a husband loves his wife as described in the previous verses, the respect given by the wife should come very easily because she is witnessing someone following after Christ, her Savior. One thing that fuels us to continue in our walk with the Lord in holiness is the respect of those closest to us. When a wife respects her husband for living by the principles of the Word of God it does not bring less love and support but more. Let's pray.
"Lord, marriage was and is a picture of You and your church and now You are a picture to us of how we are to keep our marriages a picture pointing back to You. I do pray that our marriages will show others Your love for them. May we realize that it happens when we follow Your example instead of trying to go against Your order given to us within our homes. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
Paul spoke in the last study to the wives and really to the husbands also but this section zeros in on the husbands. Again, the example that we are to follow and imitate is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. The question is if a husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the church then how did Christ love the church?
First, Jesus gave Himself up for her. He became the sacrifice for her. A husband is to be sacrificial.
Second, Jesus gave sacrificially for a purpose to sanctify the church. This action had a direction to provide a way for the church to be growing in the way of holiness. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife has the tools and atmosphere to grow in her spiritual walk.
Third, Jesus gave sacrificially with a purpose of the church growing in holiness by giving of salvation and His word of instruction and love. Jesus brought the gospel to repent and be baptized and He brought His words that the church can stand upon and act upon. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife can grow in holiness and his tools are his own transformed saved life and the teaching of God's word.
Fourth, Jesus gave sacrificially with a purpose of the church growing in holiness by giving of salvation and His word so the church can be as it was meant to be, a shining beacon of light of God to the world. A husband is to be sacrificial so that his wife can grow in holiness and his tools are his own transformed saved life and the teaching of God's word so that his wife can shine brightly for God.
v.28-30 - So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body.
So many verses for the husbands but also so needed that we fulfill this role that God has given us. Again, our example to follow as husbands is Jesus Christ and the church, His bride.
Jesus is the head of the church and therefore attached to the church as His own body. The love that He gave has a direct relationship to the rest of the body. I think one of the greatest examples of this in the Scripture is when Jesus stops Paul on the road to Damascus who was going to persecute some more Christians and says to him not "Why are you persecuting them?" but "Why are you persecuting Me?" Jesus cares so much about the church because He is attached to it and its members are attached to one another.
A husband loves his wife so much because "the two shall become one flesh." This includes but goes way beyond the physical part of the relationship. We get in trouble many times as a husband when one thinks that what is said and what is done will have no bearing on her. Jesus had a direct bearing on the church and what I do and say has a direct bearing on my wife. Will I nourish and cherish her that is connected to me or will I starve her and neglect her? If I starve her and neglect her then I am doing it also to myself.
v.31-33 - For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
It is time for Paul to bring this to a summary. Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 and also gives credibility to the book of Genesis and the creation of the world by God. A husband acts this way as following Christ's example with the church because from the beginning God created male and female to live in this type of union. A man will leave the comfort of his home with his mother and father and create a new relationship that is "joined" or glued or cemented together. This is how you are and how you respond in that type of relationship.
The mystery that is revealed is that the Christian marriage is a reflection to the world of Christ's love for the church. When you see a Christian marriage where the man and the woman are fulfilling their God given roles then you are seeing physically an living example of how Christ loves the church and its member thereof. Before Christ came and died on the cross, God gave an example through the marriage relationship to see the kind of love that Christ has for us.
As a husband loves his wife as described in the previous verses, the respect given by the wife should come very easily because she is witnessing someone following after Christ, her Savior. One thing that fuels us to continue in our walk with the Lord in holiness is the respect of those closest to us. When a wife respects her husband for living by the principles of the Word of God it does not bring less love and support but more. Let's pray.
"Lord, marriage was and is a picture of You and your church and now You are a picture to us of how we are to keep our marriages a picture pointing back to You. I do pray that our marriages will show others Your love for them. May we realize that it happens when we follow Your example instead of trying to go against Your order given to us within our homes. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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