Church of Christ Sermons and Lessons for 2014
Speaker	Sermon/Lesson Title	Audio Video Text MS Word	Category	Date Added	Lesson
Bobby Stafford	Husbands And Wives (Ephesians 5:22-33)		Ephesians	August 17, 2014	Sunday AM Sermon

Husbands and Wives

“The Husband and Wife Relationship”

Introduction:

The book of Ephesians, probably more than any other, tells us what the church is and why it means so much to Christ. In particular, the text for our lesson (Ephesians 5:22-33) reveals that the relationship between Christ and His church [the church of Christ] is very similar to the relationship that should exist between a husband and his wife; for both originated with God.

Text: Ephesians 5:22-33

Body:

I. Submission by Wives in Marriage (Verses 22-24) Verse 22 The wife is to willingly submit to her own husband as she willingly submits to Christ. (I Peter 3:1, 5-6) Attitude is critical! Verse 23 The husband holds a similar relationship to his wife that Christ does to the church. He is the head. This is God’s arrangement. Just as no person has the right to overrule Christ’s authority over the church; also the wife has no right to reject the authority of her husband, as long as it is not sinful. To do so, is to rebel and sin in God’s sight. With headship comes responsibility to care for, protect, and provide. Husbands and wives have different roles in the house. When honored, a peaceful home will be the result. Verse 24 Here is a reemphasis of the truth regarding submission. The church must be subject to Christ. It is to respect, obey, and be faithful to His Word. Wives are to be subject to their husbands “in everything.” This would only exclude what’s sinful. The wife’s submission cannot be partial. It can’t be a pick-and-choose arrangement; just as the church can’t pick-and-choose what it wants to obey.

 

II. Love by Husbands in Marriage (Verses 25-33) Verse 25 Husbands are to have the same devotion to their wives that Christ had for the church. He was willing to die for it! (Acts 20:28) He loved the church with “an intense love” that much. It is agape love. This is an unselfish love that seeks what’s best for the object of its love. One is willing to do nothing that hurts, only what’s good. This is a sacrificial love. A husband then, during the course of time, should demonstrate his love for his wife so that she knows he would be willing to die for her!! This makes a peaceful home. Verses 26-27 Just as the church is sanctified [set apart for a holy purpose], so is marriage. Note the principle in Romans 7:4. A Christian husband and wife can help each other bear fruit for God. They can often do more together than they could separately. A note to husbands: Because of your love for your wives, you should always act in view of eternity, to have your wife’s spiritual welfare uppermost in your minds. Verses 28-29 Note the word “ought.” This is the right thing, the honorable one, to do. “So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies;” Men take care of their own bodies; attend to its needs; do what they can to preserve them. Recall Luke 10:27. “Love . . . your neighbor as yourself.” “Loves himself” Read Matthew 19:4-6. “And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female. 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.” NKJV This passage stresses unity of marriage. Husband and wife are inseparably linked together. What is done for one should be done in respect for the other. It should be no mine and yours, just ours. The husband should cherish his wife, show affection, and respect her by acknowledging her importance in the marriage. He should esteem her highly. Verses 30-33 “The exalted view, both of marriage and of the church of Jesus Christ, shines forth in this text. The sacredness of marriage is seen in God’s design of it, from the very beginning, to be a figure of the union of Christ and His church.” Coffman Paul ends this section by reemphasizing that husbands must love their wives and wives are to respect their husbands. Respect here is the same word translated fear in Verse 21.

Invitation:

These verses teach us much about the marriage relationship, but they say so much about the relationship between Christ and His church.

Verse 23 “Savior of body” – Savior of the church There is only one church. The church is simply comprised of all the saved people in the world. Verse 26 Those in the church are those who have been sanctified and cleansed by washing of water by the word. Acts 22:16 “. . . arise, and be baptized and wash away your sins. . .” Verse 30 Christians are members of the Lord’s body, of His spiritual flesh and bones. As a bride and groom leave their parents to enter into the new marriage, those who obey the gospel, leave behind their former spiritual ties [denominational ones,] and enter the body of Christ. Then those who remain faithful look forward to a great joyful day. (Revelation 19:7-9) “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God.” NKJV  Won’t you come today and begin that relationship with Christ. Maybe there are some Christians here today whose marriages are not as we have described.

 Bobby Stafford

August 17, 2014