Ephesians 5:21-33
Notes
Transcript
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
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. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Pray:
Last week we said that Jesus must be in the dead center of our collected universe in order for those who make up the corporate Body of Christ to be willing to submit to one another. There is no way that I will put my wishes and desires on the altar and sacrifice them if there if there had not been someone who sacrificed Himself on the altar on my behalf.
When I observe what He has done for me and what’s in store for me that is mine that I recieved by grace, through faith apart from the works of the law, I offer my life as a living sacrifice and restrain my flesh from crawling up off the altar. I dethrone my will and say, “Let thy will be done.” I put Jesus in the dead center…which is His rightful place.
He must be dead center if we are represent Him well as His blood bought bride.
This next section of Ephesians is going be some real practical outworking of verse 21 which says:
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
In this next section of Scripture we will see what submission looks like in marriages, in our parenting in the working relationships between bosses and those they employ. The rubber is still meeting the road as it has been since April 18 when we started the second half of this book by observing these words.
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
We are accountable to walk in a manner worthy of the calling we have recieved at our conversion.
Today we are going to see that Jesus must be the dead center of the lives of those who have said, “I do” to their spouses.
Textual Idea: Jesus must be in the dead center of your marriage if you are to pull it off.
Textual Idea: Jesus must be in the dead center of your marriage if you are to pull it off.
What do you mean by “it?”
Our human marriages exist to reflect and rehearse the truths and the ultimate realities that the Gospel has secured for those Beloved of God.
Our marriages reflect the Gospel past.
Our marriages rehearse the Gospel future.
Paul is going to give a lot of practical details in this section about the specific roles and specific purposes for each spouse…but all of that teaching in Paul’s mind is just a reactement of a greater reality…that is the redemption of God’s people through the mediating, sacrificial love of Christ. Paul flat out tells the Ephesians...
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
So today will be less practical and more theological because Paul wants us to think rightly about marriage so that we can do rightly with our marriages.
Illustration: you think it (THIS) but it really is (THIS). (What is the really?)
Today we will talk about the mystery and the meaning of our marriages.
First of all, we must remember that.
God was the One who invented marriage.
God was the One who invented marriage.
It was God’s invention.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
Paul is going to give praise, where praise is due. He quotes Genesis 2:24. God was the one who invented marriage. The uniting and joining of two people to become one. It was “not good” for the man to be alone and so the Lord “custom made” a “helper fit for him.” or “coorsponding to him. I realize that in our world of hyper sensitivity to terms that could sound demaning, but it is anything but to the Hebrew ear. When an ancient Hebrew heard the word, eh·zer, (helper) images of Yahweh HImself would begin to conjure up in their minds. Yahweh was
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
We are twisted…but if God refers to HImself as and eh-zer, and we feel like it is demeaning to be called an eh-zer, then I think we are the ones that need to have our perspectives changed.
All of this to say, that
Go to the teachings of Jesus...
all of it shadows and types to point to what truely is in the dead center of the universe.
So many of us what to be part of something bigger than ourselves…in fact I think there is a longing in all of us for that. If you survey everything that has ever happened in the world, any project, building, document, etc. even “individual” sports accomplishment you name it…it was done in collaboration. Most golfers don’t swing the club they made, to hit they ball they made on the tee they made on the course they made, while driving a golf cart they made on the asphalt they poured or the grass they mowed. To golf is to engage in the collaborated efforts of others.
QUICK SIDE NOTE - to the single
what if you are single? (well that is a gift first of all. it is the gift that no one wants…like fruitcake at Christmas…but your singleness IS a gift and although you aren’t “married” to someone you are surrounded by hundreds who are and you can be a MASSIVE support to those little Gospel reenactments come alive with purposeful meaning. These messages on marriage are for all of us…no one can check their minds at the door this morning.
Even if you are a kid…you have (how do kids contribute to marriages)? one day God might call you to get married…NO WAY!!! The little boys are spoken for… “i’m marrying mom!” and the little girls are too… “i’m marrying dad.”
Our culture does not ascribe the same amount of value to marriages that the biblical authors who were inspired by God’s Spirit do.
One, then done, then on to the next one.
Marriage was God’s solution to confront the issolation and loneliness of one of His creatures...
MAN AND WOMEN - by the authority of God almighty…not the state of (civil perspecitve)
It’s not all about you; it's not all about your comfort; it's not all about your definition of happiness; it's not all about the meeting of your self-defined needs - marriage is part of something bigger; it's part of a grand redemptive plan that spreads through all of history and through the whole universe. Marriage is a piece of God’s sovereign plan. Yes, even your individual marriage is part of something that God is doing. _TRIPP
Your marriage is NOT about you but I does involve you.
Marriage is a little beautiful picture of union. The union betwen man and woman that provides the safety and security to be fruitful and multiply and human flourising.
Our marriages reflect the Gospel past.
Our marriages reflect the Gospel past.
What is the Gospel? God’s intervention into human history. It first started with God’s people in the OT…and that spilled over into the NT.
Marriage is a principal image in the Scriptures for describing the binding covenantal relationship between YHWH and Israel.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
and again between Christ and the church
2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
The foremost idea conveyed through this image is that Yahweh is loyal and committed to His people…even when they sleep around on Him. Read the prophets. God is unplugged about their promiscuty…but He is the faithful, committed, steadfast, loyal lover. He is permanent and His love and commitment is more comprehensive than His peoples wantoness. They have become united.
Good News of Jesus. Your marriage is not about you, but it does involve you. (happiness rant…holiness
Mutual submission (the text says wives submit to your husbands in everyhtihng…that’s not mutual. that says wives! show me where you see mutual submission.
look at verse 25 where we see husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church…how did he do that?
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
He knew who He was…He was God, the author of all life, but He submitted Himself to the needs of His rebellious creatures by “taking on the form of a servant.” He “humbled Himself,” by obeying to the point of death…by being beaten, stripped, mocked, scorned, crowned with thorns and hoisted up ion a cross to die through asphixiation. and as the last ragged breath left his lungs, the the hands of lawless men could clock out for the day.
Why? Why would He do that? Well He did that because he was showing in real time what Phil. 2:4 says.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
He was more interested in meeting the needs of us than His own. He laid aside His desires for self-preservation and took it on the chin for us. He told His Father, “not my will by thy will be done,” while he was isolated and alone in a garden on the night he was betrayed because those whose interests he had in mind were more interested in getting some sleep. If that is not submission…I have no idea what submission is.
Husbands you are to love your wives like Christ loved the church. There is a mutual submission that occurs in marriage. I hope that we see that this week from a theological perspective and then again next week from a practical perspective as we talk about the God assigned roles in marriage.
Our marriages rehearse the Gospel future.
Our marriages rehearse the Gospel future.
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
What this is saying is simply this: the rule of thumb in marriage is you always serve the needs of your spouse before your own. Right away somebody says, “Oh, that means you let the other spouse walk all over you.” You weren’t listening. No. Here’s why. Does your spouse need to walk all over you? Is that good for him or her? Does your spouse need to abuse you? Is that good for him or her? Absolutely not. Therefore, confrontation is the best way to tell whether you have a biblical and not a selfish submissive servant attitude.
Consummation is the end of history and the ultimate fulfillment of all the Kingdom promises.