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2 October 2007
Ephesians 5 v 25-33
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water. He died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church, because we are parts of his body. The Scripture says, "So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body." That secret is very important - I am talking about Christ and the church. But each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and a wife must respect her husband.
I love this passage because, whilst Paul is trying to tell his readers how to conduct themselves in marriage, as soon as he mentions Christ he can't help but launch off on tangents about all the wonderful things Christ has done for us, his church. He can't hide his excitement! This is the most exciting message! Ever!
He begins by instructing husbands to imitate Christ's example of servant-heartedness, but can't continue along this line of thought when he's just blown away by Christ himself. Instead, he turns the example on its head and uses the image of a marriage to explain the love of Christ.
Have you been to a wedding recently? No doubt, after much nervous preparation, the bride turned out in all her beauty because this was a day to mark forever - the day when 'the two will become one body' (v31). Paul here quotes a verse from Genesis 2, which describes God's creation before sin entered the world. This is significant because, by identifying Christ as the husband, Paul explains that God has achieved his original plan; that sin has lost its power to separate humans from God!
And so we have become one with Christ. Do you know that intimacy with Him? Because Jesus died so that you 'could be pure and without fault'.
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for giving yourself up so that I can be clean from sin! Thank you that you call me part of your own body. Help me to realise just how wonderful that news is. Amen
Written by Tom thingyburn
Ephesians 5 v 25-33
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it to make it belong to God. Christ used the word to make the church clean by washing it with water. He died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be pure and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other wrong thing in it. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. No one ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church, because we are parts of his body. The Scripture says, "So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body." That secret is very important - I am talking about Christ and the church. But each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and a wife must respect her husband.
I love this passage because, whilst Paul is trying to tell his readers how to conduct themselves in marriage, as soon as he mentions Christ he can't help but launch off on tangents about all the wonderful things Christ has done for us, his church. He can't hide his excitement! This is the most exciting message! Ever!
He begins by instructing husbands to imitate Christ's example of servant-heartedness, but can't continue along this line of thought when he's just blown away by Christ himself. Instead, he turns the example on its head and uses the image of a marriage to explain the love of Christ.
Have you been to a wedding recently? No doubt, after much nervous preparation, the bride turned out in all her beauty because this was a day to mark forever - the day when 'the two will become one body' (v31). Paul here quotes a verse from Genesis 2, which describes God's creation before sin entered the world. This is significant because, by identifying Christ as the husband, Paul explains that God has achieved his original plan; that sin has lost its power to separate humans from God!
And so we have become one with Christ. Do you know that intimacy with Him? Because Jesus died so that you 'could be pure and without fault'.
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for giving yourself up so that I can be clean from sin! Thank you that you call me part of your own body. Help me to realise just how wonderful that news is. Amen
Written by Tom thingyburn