Today’s topic by its nature is very controversial and I have been avoiding it. Seeing that it is women’s month, I thought it would be a good idea to preach about it. I am aware that many may be offended by this topic but, I hope to preach in such a way that I only explain what the word says and refrain from making my own opinions. In this way, those that are offended will be offended by the word itself and not by my own words. May God please give me the wisdom to be able to to convey His message purely. May He also give wisdom and understanding to those that will read this message. In Jesus name, amen.
The topic is about how a Christian husband and wife must relate to each other in the house or in the family. The topic is about the role that each person should play in the family that has been created by God and through God. Remember that Marriage was created by and Through God. So, the role that a husband and a wife in the house must play in a marriage created by God must also be inline with what God wanted or intended when He created marriage. It must be noted at this stage that there is a difference between wether two people are created equal or not and the roles that people have to take. Example, your boss/ supervisor is not better than you because of the position that he is holding. He is created equal with you, however, his role is different and higher than yours. So, simply because a person is given more responsibilities or is given a higher position or plays a much better role than you, does not mean that they are not equal to you, does not mean that they are better than you. It simply means that they play a much higher role than you.
Likewise, a husband and a wife play different roles in the family. Simply because the other role might be seen through our earthly/fleshly eyes and standards, (which clearly is not according to God’s standard) as better than the other role, does not mean the person playing a
Higher role is more important or better than the other one. God’s way of looking at things is very different from the way we in the flesh look at things. What we consider as important, God does not, what we consider as better, God does not. So, we cannot use earthly standards to judge what God wants or does not, but we need to use God’s standards.
Unfortunately, there are those amongst us who call themselves Christians that continue to distort and use God’s words, to further their own agendas and therefore creating a lot of confusion and animosity. There are also those who are of the devil and used by the devil, to create confusion and anger amongst the children of God using the distorted version of the word.
The reason I started by saying all this, is to set a foundation of how I believe, the next passage must be interpreted. The passage does not say anything about who is better between a husband and a wife or who is more important. The passage simply explains the roles that God has decided that the wife and husband must play in the family and how they should behave towards each other. That is all. This has nothing to do with equality or discrimination based on gender. Remember that God can do as he pleases, why,because he is God and secondly because the bible says so. Matthews 20:1-16. Just as much as God chose Israel to be his own nation, he has chosen these roles for wives and husbands. Everything that has existed, exists and still will exists, was created by God through and for God’s own purpose. God has a reason for everything and his purpose shall be fulfilled in the end.
Isaiah 46:10 (ESVST)
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose, ’
Romans 9:21 (ESVST)
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
As long as you understand this, you will find it easy to understand the passage that I will be preaching about today and the coming days when I talk about women. Here is the passage. I will not explain it in this message but on my next message.
Ephesians 5:22-33 (ESVST)
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.