Ephesians 5: 22 – 33
“22 Wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Saviour. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” [b] 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
Whether we know it or not, and whether we want to or not, marriage is preaching a message about the Gospel to the world, because God has designed it to be so in the mists of eternity past. Paul the Apostle, tells us in this passage that marriage is a great mystery, created by God to offer a picture of Christ’s love for His church.
Husband, the way you love your wife is meant to show the world how Christ loves his church. Wife, the way you honour your husband and follow his leadership is meant to show the world how the church submits to Christ. Husband, because the Gospel tells us of a Christ who loves his bride by laying his life down for her, so you must love your wife. You must not measure your love for her by your culture’s standards, but by Christ’s. He loved His bride, he came for His bride, he died for His bride. The way you lay down your life for her, placing her before yourself, providing for her needs, taking burdens away from her and placing them upon yourself, remaining faithful to her in difficult times, should reflect the way that Christ loves His bride. I charge you to love your wife.
Wife, because the Gospel tells us of a church who follows and honours Christ, so you must follow and honour your husband. This means you will give him honour by respecting him, encouraging him, helping him fulfil his calling by God, and following his leadership as he does his best to love you. The church does not fight Christ’s leadership; she responds to his love by gladly following him. You do the same. I charge you to honour your husband.
Husband and wife, because the Gospel is a message about the forgiveness of sin, I charge you both to forgive each other. Both of you are sinners, and both are marrying another sinner. This means it should be no surprise when you do in fact sin against each other, in small ways and larger ones. You will at times be impatient and short with each other, you will neglect each other, you will be selfish with your time, you will rude and demanding. When you do sin, confess your sin to each other quickly, humbly, and sincerely. When you receive this confession, forgive each other whole-heartedly, freely, as God in Christ has forgiven you. I charge you to forgive each other.
ISRAEL O. GABRIEL.