By Pastor David Shadday
FROM THE WORD:
“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Ephesians 5:32-33
We are living in a time when large numbers of young people see no value in marriage. That they are not getting married, and see no need to get married should not come as a huge surprise when you consider that marriage is defined by some as whatever someone subjectively says it is. If that’s true, there is no benefit to participating in something one cannot truly even define. We need to make the case for the gift of marriage. God instituted it in Paradise for our welfare. God joins a man and woman together into one flesh. He created woman from the rib He took from the man’s side, and reunites the two in marriage. He also defines husband and wife, not by expectation, but by the relationship He has with us in the marriage covenant of salvation. Husbands are defined by Jesus, who loved us by laying down his life to make us His own. He made his covenant with us by taking our sins, and dressing us in His righteousness. A husband is one who God has united to his wife, and who follows Jesus’ example by his loving sacrificial service to her. Husbands are called to truly love, in the sacrificial love Jesus has for us. This is not because they have to, but voluntarily in love. Wives are defined by the Church, who received Jesus’ loving sacrifice, and responds in loving service for Him. The Church’s submission to Christ is not primarily what she does, but what she willingly receives from Him. He is the Savior, and she does not try to save herself. Likewise, the primary submission of wives is their voluntary willingness to receive the loving service of their husbands, then responding with their own expressions of love. In joy, wives show love for their husbands in giving of themselves to be a blessing to them. This relationship is not the 50-50 relationship promoted by society, because such relationships rely on subjective opinions as to what their 50% is. Husbands and wives are called to give 100% of themselves in love for each other. God joins men and women in the blessing of marriage. Those who are called into that relationship are called, not to obligation, but to the sacrificial love of Christ. This is what we believe, and this is what we will promote to a world in need of the true definition of this blessing.