Christ And The Church

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

What is the relationship between Christ and His Church?  More than that, how do we reflect that relationship in real time and in meaningful ways?  If we examine this passage carefully, we arrive at the conclusion very quickly that it is Christ and His behavior which sets the tone for everything else.  If a husband loves his wife ‘as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her;’ if he loves her as his own body, then that casts such a statement as ‘wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord,’ in a different light.  By itself, and without the context, such a statement seems abrupt and abrasive.  Taken within the context, it brings us again to Christ and His example.  If we consider where we started, with ‘submitting to one another in the fear of God,’ we understand that there are many situations where, in order to follow Christ’s example, we will all be submitting to someone else.  Unpleasantly, not all of the people to whom we may submit reflect Christ and His behavior.  It makes it much easier when they do.  The question we must ask ourselves is, ‘How may I best imitate Christ?’  That will lead us to the wisest path of behavior as we ‘submit to one another in the fear of God.’

Our Wise and Wonderful God,
we rejoice that You have set Christ before us
as our Great Example.
We praise You that by Your Holy Spirit,
You lead us to Christlike behavior.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning