Ephesians 5: 22-27 (Husbands love your wives in a Holy way)

            Summary:  Paul is coming off of calling the church to submit to one another and now he is turning his attention to giving some examples how what that can look like.  He now shows a picture of both biblical womanhood and manhood and gives brief descriptions of what they look like.

Note: Paul spends three times as much time in referring to husbands as opposed to wives.

Note: Man was not created alone because nor is it good for him to be alone, in fact the first thing that was not good in the Genesis account was the fact that man was alone and so God created a helper, the wife.  We have been created for marriage not singleness therefore we must delve into a lifestyle that prepares us for the next step if single.  Though this statement is imperfect in some, but rare cases (see 1 Cor. 7).

Note: Disclaimer, I am limited in my knowledge of this subject because the ideas presented below are merely that, ideas, theological standpoints that I will not experience for some time and therefore cannot confidently make bold claims pertaining to the matter at hand.

Timeless Principle: The first calling of submission in this Christ is addressed to the wife.  Paul calls the wife to submit to her husband with a humble heart.  Paul does not dance around this matter.  In a marital relationship one party is dependent on the other.  God created men to lead and gave them attributes that help them to do this and He also created women to be helpers.  Wives, as clearly stated in this passage, are to submit in everything to their husbands as to the Lord.  This command, in our society, has lost its reality.  It is accepted rarely and when accepted it is hardly followed.  I will not continue into this matter because of my lack of knowledge and discomfort of discussing it further.

The husband’s role is one that though I cannot discuss to the fullest I will discuss more thoroughly.  Paul makes a bold claim in saying that the husband is to be the lead.  This is never something to boast in but rather tremble at the thought.  It is my fear that I will not sufficiently provide for whomever God has set forth for me and I tremble at my responsibilities as a man.  We should take them into all seriousness and fight to be triumphant in them.  Though we are victims to the endless epidemic of sin, we must fight with all our might to do the things mentioned in this passage.  Paul make a bold statement in verse 26.  A husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the church.  What does this then mean?  Christ loved the church this much, he drank a cup of fire and brimstone, he road into Jerusalem on a donkey, he was beaten, made naked in front of a multitude, mocked, ridiculed, led like a sheep to the slaughter without opposition, he pled not my will but yours as sweat drops of blood rolled down his face, and in utter torment he was massacred by the fullness of the terrifying wrath of God.  That what Christ did for His bride and that’s what a man is called to do for His bride.  This is not something to overlook but rather it is huge.  A man should be willing to endure agonizing torment and even death for his bride.  Tremble at our responsibility such that we might beg for God to build us into that kind of men.  A population who embraces biblical manhood and bears a hatred for cowardice.  No woman should have to bear with a coward.  I cannot pretend that I have reached this model, I cannot pretend that I ever fully will, but I will fight to pursue Christ and allow Him to purge me of my cowardice and instill me with courage to lead a wife.  It is also a husband’s job to cleanse his wife.  Do not be confused no man can rid a sinner of sin, that is of the work of Christ and Christ alone but rather this is an important statement because it implies that a husband must pursue Christ to the fullest so that his wife in following is being pushed towards Christ as well, thereby making her more complete in the likeness of our blessed redeemer.

My Prayer:  Father… I have been called to a higher standard.  You have called me to something that causes me to tremble.  Give me the power to embrace this calling and live to fulfill it.  God I admit that I am still a coward in many areas of my life and pretend to be something more than that… I know that you have created me relationally and someday will provide me with a helper. Though someday this helper will be placed in my life by you, God I pray that you would give me patience as I am impatient.  God remind me, that as your word says, that you knew my unformed substance and knew every one of them, the days that have been laid out for me… for as yet there were none.  You know everyday and have mapped them out along time ago when I was being formed in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the Earth.  May I find my comfort and patience in that, that you have set forth a plan for me and though I cannot see it and do not trust in it always, might I always reckon upon the existence of your perfect plan.  I do not want to tamper with it or change it for you have made it perfect so God above mine, may your will be done.  Continue to build me up into the man who is described in this text by Paul, a man that would sacrifice everything and even give his life away to pursue for his wife as Christ did for the church.  I beg you, oh Father, to give me guidance and direction, be the light of my path.  For you alone, oh my soul waits in silence for my hope is in you, may I trust in you and you alone for you are my refuge in this storm.  In Christ’s name, Amen.