As Christ Has Loved

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.  Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body.  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.  He that loves his wife loves himself.  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church:  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery:  but I speak concerning Christ and the church.  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-33

In His relationship with His Church, Christ creates the most hospitable situation possible for His people to submit to Him.  Verses 25 through 30 describe this situation.  There is the total sacrifice of Christ; His purpose to support her to be the best version of herself; His love of her as His own body; His forsaking all others for her alone, and His solidarity with her which amounts to a total union.  This is leadership that is easy to follow.  All that God has done thus far in bringing us to be ‘in Christ’ has brought us to this place.  What we read in this passage is the logically spiritual result of being filled with the Holy Spirit.  None of the behaviors which Paul describes, for any of the roles to which he refers, are flowers that grow naturally in anyone’s garden.  If we are to the follow the Scriptures, then we must follow Christ.  If we are to follow Christ we must first look to Him and to His Spirit to bring us to imitate Him.  This makes our roles as husbands and wives totally related to Christ and utterly dependent upon Him.  This will make all the difference in how we fulfill our respective roles as husbands and wives.  Thus, He brings us to reflect ‘Christ and the church.’

Our Good and Gracious God,
we rejoice that You set Christ ever before us.
We praise You that as we look to Him,
we come to understand how to imitate Him
in every circumstance of life.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning