CHURCH, CHRIST, WIVES, HUSBANDS
Wednesday – March 8, 2017
Hump day already! Again, welcome to The Three Minute Word publication and Eastern Gate Ministries International. The Goodness of God is in all the earth and the manifestation of His goodness is becoming increasingly evident, apparent to those with ears to hear and eyes to see. The Glory is always here and ready to spring into full manifestation just like when God said let there be light and light was. The peoples of God are declaring His goodness and He is happy to oblige. I will now pickup with our Bible Study in Ephesians and the topic of submission of the wife to the husband in the same way she submits to the Lord, Christ.
Ephesians 5:20-25 (KJV)
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Yesterday, I did not quite finish with the twenty-third verse so let’s revisit it today briefly.
Ephesians 5:23 (ESV)
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.
Everyone is well aware that Christ is the head of the Church and perhaps a few less and less enthusiastically acknowledge that the husband is the head of the wife. The greatest happiness lies in submission to the higher power. The Church, all of us male and female, are the Church of Jesus Christ, otherwise known as the body of Christ or the body of Anointing in the earth. Christ is the head of the Church directing the activities of the body (you and me) in the earth, bringing light into the world systems (a demonstration of the Word). This is analogous to the human body where the head (brain) directs the activities of the physical body. A very distinct point that I want to make is that the natural husband of the wife (woman) is not her savior or somehow the savior of her body. Jesus is the Savior of all persons who accept Him as Lord (highest in authority). The husband however is the head of the family. If the wife rebels against the lawful authority (Biblically congruent) of the husband she is in sin and will not only separate herself from the husband but from Christ opening the door for stealing, killing, and destroying not only in her life but that of the family. She is not just rebelling against her husband but God. This is a very serious matter. Think for a moment of the tremendous responsibility that rests with the husband who must know the Bible, the laws of God, and the will of God for him and his family. Now let’s move into the next verse, Ephesians 5:24.
Ephesians 5:23-25 (KJV)
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
We the Church, the body of Anointing, are subject or to be submitted to Christ and so the wife to her own husband. Remember the Apostle Paul used this phrase ‘own husband’ in verse twenty-two so this is apparently a common and perverse problem in Christian marriages and likely elsewhere. Just as each one of us is to submit to Christ in all things, everything, so is the wife to submit to the husband in everything. The wife is not to manipulate the husband (or visa versa) with sex for this is witchcraft. Now remember we are talking about the exercise of the higher power which is in agreement with the Word of God. Force is never involved and all things are to be done, submitted to, freely and with joy whether it is the marriage bed, tithing or any other issue. Let’s take this for a moment back to our relationship with Christ. In this relationship we are the wife and Christ is the husband. Anytime we chose something that is not the will of God like Adam in the Garden of Eden we have chosen a different god, a different husband, we have submitted to a husband that is not our own. So when Paul says the wife is to submit to her own husband that is the same as us submitting to our own husband who is Christ. Otherwise we are in idolatry, adultery, with another husband who is not our own.
Next we find the admonition for husbands to love their wives. This word ‘love’ is Bible love, agapeo transliterated from the Greek to English. Remember Bible love is at its core obeying the Word of God, it is also selflessness, and the observance of the Blood Covenant. Therefore husbands are to obey the Word of God towards their wives, they are to be selfless toward them not selfish, and they are to be cognizant of the requirements of Blood Covenant. Two primary aspects of Blood Covenant which exists in the marriage covenant and with the Heavenly Father in Christ Jesus. First is the requirement of equal access to and use of all assets and second is the law of reciprocity. The Law of Reciprocity demands that if one is willing to do a thing the other must be willing to do the same. This law was the final lynchpin to bring Jesus, The Word, into the earth to redeem mankind from their sin. When Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son which he loved, Isaac, so then God the Father was required to sacrifice His only Son which He loved.
Christ has and does love us and so husbands are to love their wives, they are to be selfless. As we husbands give our wives our lives without restraint as Christ did for us all so the wife willingly and joyfully submits and gives all of herself to the husband just as we each have to Christ. Think about it, have I submitted fully to Christ, and have I done it willingly and joyfully? Husbands have you fully come alongside your wife and given yourself fully over to her? Wives what about you?
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
