Friday – July 22, 2016
Friday is the day that the Lord wants me to remind us all to pray for the Church, the body of Christ (body of anointing) across America and today in Nova Scotia. The building pictured is Bethel Presbyterian Church located in Scotsburn, Nova Scotia. This congregation was first formed in 1822. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
There is certainly no shortage of wicked people out in the world but He, God, wants the wicked people in the Church to repent. Who among us is willing to admit, at least to God, that we are wicked, we have wicked ways in His sight and we are willing to change?
Colossians 3:18-19 (KJV)
18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Ephesians 5:21-25 (KJV)
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;
Notice in this companion passage concerning submission we find in verse twenty-one the command to submit one to another in the fear or as a way to honor God. Verse twenty-one applies to men and women. That is to say the husband submitting or being subject to the wife in all things Godly and the wife submitting or being subject to the husband in all things Godly. We honor God since we are all in the image and likeness of God, the image and likeness of Jesus the Christ. You probably have noticed that the idea of submission is very closely tied to the idea of Godly love. Even though things sound rather one sided in favor of the husband in these passages they in reality are not in the least one sided. There is an equality and unity or oneness of purpose, the purposes of God just as with the Trinity. The Church is commonly referred to as the bride of Christ and Christ is the groom. Jesus, God, moves on the words of His people. In that light let’s take a look at the following passage.
Hebrews 2:17-18 (KJV)
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
To succor means to come along side as a helper, even to rush alongside. It is one who is uniquely able to be of help. So we see here that Jesus, the groom, comes alongside the Church, the bride, to provide the needed help. We see the other side of the coin in Genesis with the woman being made as a help meet for Adam. She was one that could succor Adam, meaning to come alongside and be vital in the accomplishment of the God given mission which was given to both of them equally.
Genesis 2:20 (KJV)
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
The female Adam, later named Eve by the male Adam, was the help meet God made for Adam. This woman was literally one flesh with Adam for she was fashioned from his physical flesh. But she was also of the same spirit, living soul, with Adam since her spirit came from Adam, and Adams spirit came from God. Adam by himself could not do the mandate of God given man but neither could Eve had she been made first. The reason that the male was made first is that a woman can be made from a man but a man cannot be made from a woman. A man has both an X (female sex gene) and a Y (male sex gene) chromosome but a woman has two X chromosomes. In summary husbands and wives are in submission one to the other in the will of God.
By Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
