01/18/15 Joined Together!
Worthy
Walk Series - Ephesians 5:22-33
INTRO: So now the worthy walk leads us to walk in a spirit of
submission and love. How much more is there to this worthy walk concept? God’s
instructions are not grievous! If we walk down the path God has laid for us—if
we do just what He says—we experience the most loving and peaceful, the richest
and fullest life imaginable. This is doubly true for husband and wife, for they
have the companionship of each other as well of the Lord.
Marriage is a
spiritual union that can be formed by God and by God alone. It is much more than
two people merely agreeing to live together and to be loyal to one another. It
is much more than natural affection or infatuation. It is much more than a mere
piece of paper, more than a legal contract, more than bearing offspring. After
all, animals do the same. Marriage, when it is brought together and honestly
committed to God, is a totally unique union that is unlike any other
relationship in life. When consummated by God and placed into the hands of God
day by day, it is a spiritual union. A true marriage is a spiritual experience
that is beyond anything known in the physical world. It is a spiritual union
mutually experienced only by the couples who truly know the love of Christ for
His church.
“He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who
made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh'? “So then, they are no longer two but one
flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Matthew
19:4-6
Text: Ephesians 5:22-33 (NKJV)
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as
to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head
of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the
church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in
everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the
church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her
with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that
she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own
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 the Lord does
the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His
bones. 31 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32 This is a
great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless
let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the
wife see that she respects her husband.”
1. The Matter of Submission: vs. 22-24
“Wives,
submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of
the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the
body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be
to their own husbands in everything.
“A husband should fulfill his marital
responsibility to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife
does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same
way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 1
Corinthians 7:3-4 (HCSB)
Why is the wife to walk in a spirit of submission? First
of all; to submit is God's will. It is a commandment of God. There is to be no argument,
not even a question about it: "Wives submit yourselves unto your own
husbands."
God is God, and as God, He has the right to demand anything of
us. The next part of that verse says: “as to the Lord.” Why? Because we love
Him. The Lord has loved and given Himself for us, given Himself that He might
save us. He loved us; we should love Him. This is always the first reason we
obey Him. We love Him, when He says to do something; we do it as to Him—to
please Him. Christian wives do not obey the Lord out of resentment and reaction
because of the commandment. They obey the Lord out of love because they love
both the Lord and their husbands.
To submit is God's order for the family.
There is to be a partnership and order within the family. This is basic for the
family and society to exist. In fact, no organization, no matter what it is,
can survive and exist without a spirit of partnership and order. The husband is
the head of the wife. The word "head" in Scripture refers to
authority not being. Neither man nor woman is superior to the other in being.
Men and women are equal in God's eyes. There is an essential partnership between
men and women. Neither is independent of the other. Both are from the other,
and the relationship that exists between them has come from God.
“In the Lord,
however, woman is not independent of man, and man is not independent of woman. 12
For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, and all things
come from God.” 1 Corinthians 11:11-12 (HCSB)
When God talks about man being
the head of the woman, He is not talking about ability or worth. God is talking
about function and order within an organization. Every organization has to have
a head for it to be operated in an efficient and orderly manner. There are no
greater organizations than God's universe, His church, and His Christian
family. Within God's order of things there is a partnership, but every
partnership must have a head, and God has ordained that man is the head of the
partnership. The wife is to be submissive to that authority just as the church
is to be submissive to Christ. The submission that wives are to show to their
husbands is an example of the submission that all believers are to show to one
another. It does not mean that women are inferior to men. It simply means that
there is to be an arrangement, an order in the household. Everybody must have
such order, and everybody must have a head. Two heads in any body or
organization would be a monstrosity and make for disorder. In God's order of
things for the family, the husband is the head over the family. He arranges
things in a spirit of tenderness and love and the wife is to submit herself in
a sweet spirit of understanding and reasonableness. “Wives, submit to your
husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.” Colossians 3:18
(NLT)
2. The Manner of Love: vs. 25-33
‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ
also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify
and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might
present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands
ought to love their own 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 the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body,
of His flesh and of His bones. 31 "For this reason a man shall leave his
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one
flesh." 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own
wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”
The
husband is to love his wife. The love which the husband is to have for his wife
is the very love of God Himself; this is an Agape love, a selfless and
unselfish love, a giving and sacrificial love. It is the love of the mind and
will as well as of the heart. It is not only a love of affection and feelings;
it is a love of the will and commitment. The standard of the husband's love is
the love of Christ for the church. The love of Christ for the church can be
described in one simple statement: Christ gave Himself for the church. Christ
loved the church so much that He gave Himself—sacrificed Himself totally—gave
all He was and had for it. This is the love the husband is to have for his
wife.
The husband's love involves being holy and without blemish. The word
"holy" means to be separate and untouched by evil. The husband's
love—if it is a real love—will stir him to be holy and unblemished and go a
long way in stirring his wife to be holy and without blemish. Few wives could
reject such love; few wives would refuse to walk hand in hand with their
husbands if they truly loved them with the love that is unselfish and
sacrificial.
What a difference would exist in marriage if the husband just nourished
and cherished his wife as he does his own body. This means that he is to become
one body, one flesh and one set of bones with his wife. Two people could never
become any closer. This is complete absorption and assimilation of each into
the other—a complete union and oneness, of body and spirit, of mind and
thoughts. The love which the husband is to have for his wife is to be the love
that will stir him to leave his parents and be joined to his wife. The love
which the husband is to have for his wife is a spiritual mystery—a spiritual
love—a love just like Christ's love for the church The conclusion is simple and
straightforward: the husband is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to
reverence (respect and esteem) her husband.
“So then, they are no longer two
but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man
separate." Matthew 19:6 I looked at 5 different translations of this one
verse and all of them used the two same words: “Joined Together.” A marriage
that really cleaves and is really joined together by God will experience a physical
union, a sharing of each other: “A wife does not have the right over her own
body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right
over his own body, but his wife does.” There is also a mental union: the
sharing of each other’s life and dreams and hopes. Let’s not forget there is
the spiritual union.
When a couple shares God together day by day, God works
supernaturally within their spirits, melting their beings and molding them into
what He calls one flesh. They actually become as one person. This is what is
meant by "God hath joined together." The Greek word for "joined
together" actually means to yoke together. It is God yoking, God joining,
God binding the couple together into such a spiritual union that causes them to
become one person.
Conclusion: Is this some yucky valentine card statement or is
this really God? A man and a woman being spiritually united by God as one
person is what cleaving means. Cleaving to one another in God's Spirit is true
marriage—the glorious gift of God. No more beautiful picture of marriage could
be painted, yet two serious problems exist in far too many marriages. The
problem of one or both of the spouses being unwilling to be bound together by
the Spirit of God. The problem of one or both of the spouses being
unwilling to break away from dependency upon the parents. When you truly join
together you will understand the matter of submission and manner of love.
The
Biblical premise for a Godly marriage affects everyone is this room today, if
you think it doesn’t, that’s the first mistake.
This worthy walk exposes the light
which gives you the wisdom to join you together. Let us “JOIN TOGETHER!”
In : Sermon
Tags: "worthy walk series" "book of ephesians"
blog comments powered by Disqus