THIRD QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #10
SEPTEMBER 2, 2023
“HUSBANDS AND WIVES:  TOGETHER AT THE CROSS”

 

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25–27, NKJV).

 

This week continues with practical Christian counsel.  In these passages Paul is giving to husbands and wives the recipe for a happy, holy and fruitful marriage.  The foundation to his instruction is in the manner that Christ loves and is head of the church.  This is the basis for everything Paul says in this passage about the marriage relationship.  He also uses the marriage relationship to illustrate the church’s value to Jesus and her relation to Him.

 

As Christ Loves the Church

Christ loves the church.  How so?  Well Paul simply says “as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Ephesians 5:25, NKJV). His love is defined by His giving.  To the Philippians Paul expounds on His giving by saying “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8).  John shares the same idea with Nicodemus, “for God so loved the world that He gave” (John 3:16).

To what degree did He give?  “Into the world where Satan claimed dominion God permitted His Son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's peril in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 49.  For “never can the cost of our redemption be realized until the redeemed shall stand with the Redeemer before the throne of God.  Then as the glories of the eternal home burst upon our enraptured senses we shall remember that Jesus left all this for us, that He not only became an exile from the heavenly courts, but for us took the risk of failure and eternal loss.   Then we shall cast our crowns at His feet, and raise the song, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.’ Revelation 5:12.” —ibid., p. 131. 

“Remember that Christ risked all.  For our redemption, heaven itself was imperiled.  At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Christ would have laid down His life, you may estimate the value of a soul.” —Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 196. What God has given for a world that would not love Him cannot be measured, all given at the risk of failure and eternal loss of not only Christ but all of heaven itself.  Infinite value was at risk and given because He loved each one more than He loved Himself.  And here we see how valuable you are and the depth of love He has for you, the church, and the entire world.

 

As Christ is Head of the Church

Christ is head of the church.  In what manner is He the head?  Paul says that He is the Savior (deliverer, preserver) of the body and hence the head of the body, the church.  He is the one Who gave Himself in order to deliver the church and is the Preserver Who maintains and keeps the church that has been brought forth by Him. He has done this “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26,27).

It is certainly clear that it is the purpose of Christ, as head of the church, to give of Himself for the good of the church and to enable the church to reach her fullest potential which is “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).  And the only chance for the church to reach this potential is to submit to the loving purpose that He has for her as her Savior.

 

Husbands Love your Wives

Paul’s counsel to the Ephesian husbands was to love their wives in the same manner and degree as Christ loved the church, in that same manner and degree of giving — in the same manner of degree so as to help her reach her fullest potential, putting her above himself in priority and concern.

As a husband considering this counsel in light of the cross, I am humbled beyond degree as to what this means, and in light of Philippians 2:5-8 I am forced to ask myself the following questions:

“Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

 

Would I step down from my place of comfort for her?

“And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself”

Would I humble myself and relinquish my own plans or gain for her?

“and became obedient unto death”

Would I put her life above my own?

“even the death of the cross”

 

Would I put her eternal life and well-being above my own?

The answer to these questions would all be yes if I love my wife in the manner and degree that Christ loves the church.  And I must quickly realize that I can only have this measure of love as I receive it from Him.

Just as Christ’s purpose for the church is to help her gain her full potential in this world and the world to come, so likewise is the husband’s purpose for his wife.

Perhaps as a husband it would mean doing laundry and ironing her clothes to remove those spots and wrinkles from her garments.  Perhaps it means to help her achieve the most beautifully radiant complexion free of blemishes.  But these external spots, wrinkles, and blemishes are the easy ones.  Helping her to remove internal spots, wrinkles and blemishes of her character is infinitely harder.  If you don’t think so, just point out one of your wife’s character pimples and see what happens.

The inside work is a most delicate matter especially if attempted by one who has plenty of spots, wrinkles, and blemishes of his own.  But this is the purpose of Christ’s love for His church, and in like manner, part of the husband’s purpose for his wife.  It’s not being afraid to ask the hard questions and do the hard work.  It is creating an atmosphere of love, acceptance, mercy and grace such that the hard things can be addressed — a place of safety where shame does not exist.  A place where one knows they are loved for who they are, not for what they give or bring to you.

As a husband, this is the love to which I am called.  This is the love I cannot produce or even come close to imitating.  This is the love I need Christ alive in my heart to have.  And this is the love which it is my daily prayer to receive that I may live this for the one whom God has given me to care for.

 

Wives Submit yourselves to your Own Husbands

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22). The human heart struggles with submission — men, women, youth and aged.  What about our rights?  Our personal freedoms?  Our voice? What about justice and equality?  What do these things look like when held up to the light of agape?

In the shadow of the cross, self pales and disappears.  The realization of the price heaven paid to redeem this selfish race compels us to surrender our all.  The gospel calls us to submit to one another in love, as Christ Himself submitted to the Father.  It is God Who humbles the heart and fills us with agape.  When we desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, that path will lead us to surrender our needs and desires, talents, positions of authority, careers, goals, and our relationships, to our heavenly Father.  Jesus demonstrated that the greatest position one can hold in the kingdom of the Most High is that of a servant.

Marriage is a tool that God uses to fit us for heaven.  Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”  On our wedding day, we vowed to love each other, with all our hearts, keeping nothing back, submitting completely to one another, under all circumstances.  The love the Bible speaks of is patient and kind; does not envy or boast; does not insist on its own way; is not irritable or resentful; it is not easily provoked; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love is selfless and puts the needs of the other first.  Love bears, believes, hopes and endures all things.  Love submits. Agape steps down.

 

A Great Mystery: Concerning Christ and the Church

In the Scriptures the Christian’s relationship to Christ is described under the symbol of marriage. “Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:4. “I have espoused you to one husband.” 2 Corinthians 11:2. The individual Christian is here represented as having been espoused “as a chaste virgin to Christ.”

 

Such individuals gathered in fellowship form the Church of Christ. And Paul described such a collection of individuals in our passage this week using the same symbol of marriage. “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it.... So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord the church.... For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Ephesians 5:25-32.

 

The church of Christ is represented in the Scriptures as the purest and fairest of women, leaning upon the arm of her beloved; drawn to Him with the drawings of His love; her only thought being of her beloved; to her the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely, whose banner over her is love, and who would present her to Himself “a glorious church not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Such is the church to Christ; such is Christ to His church; and such is the relationship between Christ and His church.

 

To such a church as this Christ committed His gospel to be by her made known to every creature. It is only such a church as this that can make known the Gospel of Christ. That Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.” Romans 1:16. No one can make known that power who does not know that power for himself and in himself. And the church could make known the power of God only by knowing the power in and for himself. And that power being known only by faith, in the nature of things it is only by abiding faithful to her Lord that the church could fulfill the work of the Gospel committed to her trust.

 

The Gospel is Christ in men the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. This is what the church of Christ is to make known to men. No one can make known Christ in men who for himself does not know Christ in himself. It pleased God “to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him.” Galatians 1:16. But Christ dwells in men only by faith: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Ephesians 3:17. It is evident, therefore, that the only way in which the church can make known Christ in men the hope of glory, is to have, and to know Christ revealed in herself. And as this is only known by faith it is evident that it is only by abiding faithful to Christ that she can know Christ in herself or make Him known in men.

 

In the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. It is the righteousness of God only which the church of Christ is to know, and which she is to make known to all the world. This is the ministry of the Gospel which is committed to the church of Christ. This righteousness is known only by faith, and revealed only to faith. “Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.” “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Romans 1:17, and 3:22. As, therefore, this righteousness is known only by faith, and is revealed only to faith, it is plain that it is only by abiding steadfast in faithfulness to Christ that the church can know or make known the righteousness of God which is revealed in the Gospel.

 

The sum of all these counts, and of many more that might be given, is simply to demonstrate over and over that it is only by abiding wholly in Christ, by trusting in Him entirely, by depending upon Him completely, by perfect faithfulness to Him, that the church can be what she must be in order to do what she is established to do. — adapted from A. T. Jones, Present Truth UK, December 29, 1892.

 

The Bride Will Be Ready

Now is the time for the bride to put her full faith and trust in the One Who has given all for her.  As husbands and wives living to bring honor and glory to the heavenly Bridegroom, may our marriages and families represent Him to the fullest.  May we all come to the foot of the cross and see all that heaven has given for us and appreciate the infinite value heaven has placed on us.  May we all recognize to what He has called us.  May we realize that we have nothing to give but our sin polluted hearts.  May we understand that He alone will accomplish this work in and through us.  May we let Him prepare us to be used for the preparation of others, for the Heavenly Groom is patiently waiting to receive the love of His life.

“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.” (Revelation 19:7, NKJV).

 

~Kelly and Beverly Kinsley