Ephesians 5:25-33
My parents had two sons and a daughter, and I remember a few
times that they compared us to one another. Both my brother and sister excelled in academia, I hated it
and the only class I did well in was recess. But when you and I entered into Christ, the Father said,
husbands love your wife in the same way as my only Son loves the Church.
Now I’m not sure of many things but this I’ve observed, men
are good at making excuses, I do not know who a single man blames things on! And when God tells husbands to
love their wives as Christ loved the church, is that not an impossible goal to
attain, and being compared to Christ is surely one we can opt out of, or can
we? Excuses that might come to
light are; Jesus is God, Jesus is love, and I was only made in His likeness,
surely the Father does not have unreasonable expectations of man? So the first thing we as men must come
to grip with is, has God the Father ask us to do the impossible? It is important to address this point;
God is not talking to non-believers, this command is spoken to sons, men who by
faith have been born of the Spirit, God calls that man a new creation.
I often ask myself this question; is God good? Because I have experienced His mercy and
His goodness and because His Bible is all about His goodness, I know He is
good. But that Bible tells men to
be holy, and that means to be morally and spiritually perfect, as He is, I’ve
come to this understanding of that truth; I cannot perform at that level. It is important for us Christian men to
understand God has no misgiving of what we can do, in fact He never expected us
to meet that requirement in our ability.
Some of you are saying go man go at this point, if God has
no expectation for me in this area of my life what a relief, because I am not
close to reaching that attainment.
I hate to break your bubble, but remember this truth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!” (2Corinthians 5:17) Your no longer that old sinner who
loves to sin; I am not saying you do not sin; I am saying that when you sin, it
brings conviction and sadness into your life, not that you got caught, but that
you brought pain to the heart of God.
Many Christian husbands have gone to a study on how to perform better in
marriage, but find that after a few days at best they are still falling short
of the mark God has set to love your wife as Christ loved the Church. I know because I’ve been there and done
that!
The only answer is in agreement with God, that in my flesh I
can do not one thing that will please God, that my flesh is at war with my
Spirit, and I need to let Christ do it all for me. Ephesians 4:22-24 gives this insight;” to put off your old self, (it is dead, it was crucified
with Christ) which belongs to your former manner of
life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit
of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in
true righteousness and holiness.” To
love your wife as Christ love the Church you must do what Christ did. “Have this
mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the
form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but make
himself nothing taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of
men.” (Philippians 2:5-7)
Jesus Christ the only Son of God, put on flesh, so that you and I could
understand the love the Father has for us, and not once did He depend on being
God but when to His Father for everything. Husbands, if we allow Christ who is our life to live out His
life in us we will love our wives as Christ loved the Church.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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