Read Christ, His Church, & Marriage Part 1
Sacrificial & Cleansing Love
For all of February we are focused on Christian Marriage. Our Memory and Meditation verses for this month are Ephesians 5:22-33. Valentines Day comes along and we are inundated with romance. A husband cherishing his wife is a theme especially replete in jewelry ads. What better way to demonstrate the preciousness of your spouse than with a gift of diamonds, gold, and costly gems? The cost and preciousness of the gift reflects something of the preciousness of the person. That was the original idea anyway.
Christian Marriage & Male Sacrifice
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25-27).
As we continue to consider Christ, His Church, and Marriage, one of the things to consider is the fact that Christ is rich. Always has been. Never wasn’t. At His arrest and on the Cross He was already King. “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels (Matt 26:53)?” As a King He had at His disposal an army and a treasury. He paid his and Peter’s taxes with a fishing miracle (Matthew 17:24-27). Money was at our Lord’s disposal.
However, for His Bride he pays more than money. He gives Himself up for her. He took away her sin to sanctify her. She is clean before God the Father because He took her sin to Himself. He washed Her with His blood. In so doing He provides the ultimate metaphor for Christian husbands in marriage.
Christian Marriage & Male Priesthood
All believers, male or female, are priests unto God in Christ. How the priesthood is worked out for men and women is different however. Last week we saw that female submission and its relationship to her beauty reflected the wife’s relationship to her husband. This week Paul teaches us in Ephesians 5:25-27 that sacrifice is the defining feature of a husbands love. Christ is rich but he did not use money to redeem His Bride. No, He “ransomed you from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:18-19).” Christ gave his life for His bride and He calls Christian men to live by this same code.
Confessing Our Wives Sins
The practical outworking of presenting our wives without spot and wrinkle is to confess their sins and seek forgiveness on her behalf the way Daniel did for the people of Israel in Daniel 9:3-19. As Americans who have been taught that it is our divine right to declare our opinion on everything to everyone, here is a chance to take a different approach. Rather than tell your wife directly about the character flaws you see, which we often do in flashes of anger, perhaps you should make them a long term prayer requests before the Lord. Praying long, patiently, and graciously over them would help husbands fulfill the second part of the command.
Washing with the Water of the Word
How does a husband wash his wife with the of water of the word? Simply by reading it. Men without teaching gifts or who are not strong wordsmiths often shy away from family worship because they believe every night they have to be Martin Lloyd Jones. The Word has a powerful effect all its own. It doesn’t return void. Husbands can have confidence in God’s Word and not in themselves. A very simple husband can have a very profound and far reaching effect simply by reading God’s Word to His wife and confessing her sins. He will find by doing this that he comes to “dwell with her according to knowledge.” After some practice he might even find he can sanctify his wife by giving a fit word from God’s Word to her in due season.
Blessings!
Pastor Jeremy
Read Christ, His Church, & Marriage Part 3
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