If you'd open up your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5.
Last week we started in a section in which Paul is addressing husbands and wives.
Married couples in the room.
Did you come this morning thinking that your marriage is beyond hope?
Did you walk into this building this morning thinking that your marriage is missing something?
Do you think that you're a failure as a wife?
Husband, do you think you're a failure as a husband?
Or maybe you just think your marriage is just fine.
I mean, everybody's happy.
No problems here.
Well, last Sunday we looked at Paul's exhortations to wives to come under their husbands' care.
But did you know in this passage, starting in verse 22 going through verse 33 of chapter 5,
the Apostle Paul spends three times as much holy writ on husbands than on wives.
He's got a lot to say to husbands.
So let's look at it now.
I'm going to start off in verse 22, bring us back up to speed with what he said to wives,
and then we'll read through 33.
So please read along with me in your Bibles.
This is God's Word.
Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord,
for the husband is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
and himself its Savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ,
so also wives should submit in everything to their own husbands, their husbands.
25.
Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
that he might sanctify her,
having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word,
so that he may 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,
for no one ever hated his own flesh,
but nourishes and cherishes it,
just as Christ does the church.
Because we are members of his body.
Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
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.
Husbands, this morning, I want you to feel what's going on here.
It's not me exhorting you.
It's not your wife exhorting you.
It's God exhorting you through His Word.
And here's what he's saying.
Husband, love your wife like Christ loves His bride.
Love your lady like Christ loves His lady.
Now don't hear me wrong.
I'm not saying be Christ to your wife.
You can't.
Because you're not.
You're not Jesus.
But what you can be,
what you must be,
is like Christ in the way you love this woman God has given to you.
Husbands, you have a high calling in marriage
to be like Christ in the way that you love her.
You are to exercise this responsibility entrusted to you
in love.
So this morning, I want you to see five points.
Five points.
We're going to pull it from the text.
The first point is going to be a little bit of a reminder.
So let's go to that first point right now.
So five points.
Here's the first one.
Five points.
Remember,
marriage is a dance.
Last week, I wanted to help you see
kind of the big sweep of our Bibles.
Creation, fall, redemption.
And in creation, in Genesis chapters 1 and 2,
we read that God created Adam and Eve
in His own likeness.
And so Adam bore the likeness of God
and so did Eve.
They are of equal value in God's sight.
Equal worth.
But what we also saw
is that God assigned them roles
based on Adam's manness
and based on Eve's woman-ness.
And so equal value,
but differing roles in this thing called marriage.
This dance.
So Adam was to lead his lady in this dance.
But then there was the fall.
And the dance was distorted.
The roles in this thing called marriage
were distorted.
Husbands would either abdicate or be tyrannical.
Wives would either be a floor mat or usurp.
Sin made a mess of the roles.
But it didn't stay there
because with the coming of Jesus,
Jesus came to redeem the roles in marriage.
He came to make right what was made wrong.
He came to bring order to that
which was placed into disorder.
And so what we read in Ephesians 5,
22-33,
is God's plan of restoration
of the roles in marriage.
And what we see is that
husbands are going to take their cues
from Jesus, the head.
We are the heads of our wives.
And so we are to lead our ladies.
And what you are going to see is
we lead out of love.
And what we read in 5-23
are that wives,
you are assigned a role.
And your role is the church-like response
to Christ.
To come under the care of Christ.
Come under the care of your husband.
What we see Paul doing in Ephesians 5,
22-33,
is making Christ the ultimate bridegroom
and the church the ultimate bride.
And they become our examples
as Christian husbands and wives.
They kind of determine our steps,
if you will,
in this thing called marriage.
What you are going to see is that
this Christ church basis
runs throughout 22-33.
Point two.
And let's now get into the passage.
Verse 25, we read this.
Husbands, love your wives
as Christ loved the church.
Husbands, love your bride
like Christ loves His bride.
Now what does that look like?
Well, it's a Christ-like love.
There are two mistakes, guys,
that we make in our husbanding.
We can fall off the horse on either side.
It's either abdicating
and we tempt our wife in a certain way.
Or we become tyrants
and we tempt our wife in a certain way.
Both are wrong.
Do you know what they both have in common?
It's about me.
It's about my comfort.
It's about what I want.
But what we see going on in verse 25
is what God is calling us to.
He's calling us out of abdicating
and He's calling us out of being a tyrant.
He's calling us to be like Christ
in the way that we love our wives.
That word love is that classic word agape.
And it's used six times in verses 25-33.
There is an emphasis on love in this passage.
Notice that the command in 25,
the exhortation isn't husbands,
head your wives.
It's husbands, love your wives.
Here's what that means.
God has entrusted husbands
with a responsibility
for the welfare of their wives.
And that responsibility
is to be exercised in Christ-like love.
And that agape love
is not a selfish love.
It's a love that is concerned
about the greatest good of another.
And so husbands,
what we're being called to here
is to lead in a certain way
in which we have the greatest good
of our wives in mind.
That's the love we're being called to here.
Can I just tell you something, brother?
In order for you to love your wife
like Christ,
you must first know what it means
to be loved by Christ.
Do you know His great love for you, brother?
Do you know He gave Himself up for you?
He died for you.
And now you're being called
to love your wives
in like fashion.
So, what kind of love?
It's a Christ-like love.
And that kind of love,
I've just been towing it,
is a sacrificial love.
He gave Himself.
It's a voluntary love.
In John chapter 10,
Jesus is talking about Him
as the good shepherd.
And about eight times
in that passage,
He references Himself
as laying down His life.
In verse 18 in chapter 10,
He says this,
I lay down my life
of my own accord.
I do it voluntarily.
Brother,
you're being called
to love your wife
not as a strong-armed in,
God is angry,
but a calling to,
a wooing,
voluntarily loving your wife,
laying down your life.
Christ gave Himself
for His bride.
It's not only voluntary,
it's sacrificial.
He gave Himself.
He's talking about His death.
He's talking about the cross.
He's talking about
coming to an end to Himself
for the good of someone else,
His bride.
It's voluntary,
it's sacrificial,
it's substitutionary.
He gave Himself up for her.
He took what
was deserving,
His bride deserved.
You get it?
Martin Lloyd-Jones,
who was a wonderful
preacher and pastor
of a bygone era,
when he was preaching
through this passage,
he said something to the effect,
what God gives us
a pattern of,
husbands,
is none other than
the atoning work
of Jesus Christ
in the way we love our wives.
Husbands,
you want a model
for loving your wife?
Think cross.
Think atonement.
Brothers,
to love our brides
like Christ loved His bride
is to give ourselves
for them.
to give up our lives.
But you know what?
That giving up your life
is not the goal.
That's the means
to another end.
We give our lives
for something glorious,
for something splendid.
And we see that played out
in verses 26 and 27.
There are three that's
in 26 and 27.
Let me just read them to you.
Christ gave Himself up
that He, Christ,
might sanctify her.
The church.
That's in verse 26.
And then verse 27,
Christ gave Himself up
that He might present
the church to Himself
in splendor.
And then,
also in verse 27,
that she might be holy
and without blemish.
You know what
all those that's
have in common?
They're all purpose clauses,
which means this.
Jesus gave Himself up
for a goal.
He gave Himself up
for the splendor
of His bride.
For her holiness.
holiness.
He gave Himself up
for the greatest good
of the one He loved.
Holiness.
Let's go back to that
first that.
That He might sanctify her.
When you hear the word
sanctify,
I know many of you
in this room,
when you hear that word
sanctify,
you think of
sanctification,
the process
of being made
more and more like Jesus.
That work of God
that He does
in cooperation
with a saint
to become like Jesus.
But,
that's not how
this word is being used
here in this passage.
This sanctify
is actually
a one-time
definitive act
in which
God calls
a sinner
out of sin
and consecrates
that sinner
to God
in holiness.
And so,
instead of
progressive sanctification,
sanctification,
you need to be thinking
positional sanctification.
This is true
of you
in Christ.
You are
a holy one.
You are
a saint.
It happened
the moment
you believed.
God set you apart
for Himself.
And we see
how He did that.
That He might
sanctify her,
having cleansed her
by the washing
of water
with the word.
Christ sanctified
us
by cleansing
us.
It's a
moral,
spiritual
cleansing
that's being
spoken of here.
Cleansing
us from our
sin.
That's what
He's getting
at.
And He did
that by
washing us
with the water
of the word.
What is He
talking about
there?
He's talking
about the gospel.
Jesus
cleanses us
from sin
through the
message of
the cross
of Christ.
A sinner
believes in
what God
and Christ
has done
for them.
They hear
the message,
they believe
it,
and they
are cleansed
from their
sin.
Who will
wash away
my sin?
Nothing but
the blood
of Jesus.
So in
love for us,
Christ gave
Himself up
for us
to sanctify
us,
and He did
that by
cleansing us
with His
atoning
blood.
Behind this
is a really
interesting
practice.
In the
first century
there's this
thing called
the bridal
bath,
in which
a bride
on her,
or the
day before
her wedding
day,
would bathe
herself to
present her
clean to
her husband,
her bride.
Paul is
pulling on
that strength
that He
might
sanctify
her.
Second
that,
that He
might present
the church
to Himself
in splendor.
Now,
I want you
to see two
things here.
It's Christ
presenting the
church to
Himself.
And what that
means is this.
This is a
work of
Jesus.
Christ
doing a
work from
beginning to
end in
His
bride.
But the
other thing I
want to
point out
is this.
When this
presentation
takes place.
Whenever it
takes place,
Christ is
going to
present to
Himself a
church in
splendor,
without spot,
without wrinkle,
without any
such thing.
You know what
He's talking
about?
He's talking
about when
He comes
back.
Jesus is
going to
present,
to Himself
a church
perfected.
And what
that means
is this.
He's in
it for the
long haul.
He's making
us clean.
And on the
day He
comes back,
He's going
to present
us to
Himself
in
perfected
glory,
in
perfected
splendor.
Which brings
us to the
last of
that.
That she
might be
holy and
without
blemish.
It's in
contrast to
the without
spot,
wrinkle,
or any
such thing.
Those would
be spot and
wrinkles.
They're
imperfections.
We try to
cover those
up.
Christ died
for His
bride so
that He
could one
day present
her to
Himself in
moral
perfection,
in splendor.
The goal
of Christ's
sacrificial
death was
the moral
splendor of
the church.
That she
would be
holy and
without
blame.
maybe you're
thinking,
man, I
thought this
was a
passage about
husbands.
Husbands,
love your
wife like
Christ loved
the church.
Give
yourself up
for the
splendor of
your wife.
What kind
of splendor?
Paul spells
it out in
spiritual terms,
holy and
blameless.
brothers,
I know
many of
you are
wonderful
protectors of
your families,
of your
wives.
Keep on
doing that.
I know
many of
you are
just
outstanding
providers for
your wife.
Keep on
doing that.
That's right
on the money.
But if we
take our
cues from
Jesus in
this passage,
do you know
what our
greatest aim
is in
loving our
wives?
It's their
holiness.
This is a
call to
spiritual
leadership,
brothers.
This is a
call to
lead our
wives in
such a
way that
we lay
down our
lives for
their
greatest
good,
to be
like
Jesus.
So
brothers,
love your
wives into
holiness.
Lay your
lives down
so that
your wife
can
spiritually
thrive in
Christ.
You're
caring for
her
spiritual
welfare
above
all else.
But you
can't give
your wife
something that
you don't
have.
You can't
lead your
wife somewhere
that you
yourself are
not going.
So to
spiritually lead
your wife
starts with
your own
personal
holiness.
That's where
it starts.
And your
personal holiness
starts and
ends with
Christ.
brother, is
Jesus your
first love?
Are you
seeking to
obey the
greatest
commandment
to love
the Lord
your God
with everything
you got?
The greatest
thing that you
can do,
husband,
the greatest
thing that you
can do for
your wife
is to love
your God
with everything
you got.
To love
him without
any reservations.
all sails to
the wind
loving Jesus.
Full throttle
love for
Jesus.
That is the
greatest thing
that you can
do for your
wife.
That's where
spiritual
leadership
starts.
In your
private
devotion to
Christ.
Now, if
you're pursuing
Jesus that
way, do you
know who's
going to
notice?
Oh, your
wife will
notice that.
She might
not know what
to do with
you, actually.
She may
just want to
come under
your care
and trust
herself to
you fully.
Allow you
to lead
her into
greater and
greater holiness.
It might be
an adjustment,
but it's a
good adjustment.
Now, you
might be
thinking this,
but my wife
is more
spiritually
mature than
I am.
My wife
is a
spiritual
giant.
I'm just
showing up.
Well, brothers,
here's the
good news.
It's not
about how
mature you
are.
It's about
how faithful
you are,
living out
the role
God has
entrusted
to you.
You don't
have to be a
spiritual giant
to lead
your wife.
Look who
I am.
Your wife's
holiness is
not dependent
on you,
brother.
your wife's
holiness is
dependent on
Jesus.
So, because
he's the
vine, do
you know
what you
do?
Over and
over and
over again.
You point
your bride
to her
Savior over
and over
again.
You love
her to
Jesus.
You love
her into
holiness.
There's
only one
Savior.
And to
love your
wife like
Christ is
not to
be Christ.
It's to
love her to
Christ.
Think of
your wife's
splendor as
Christ-likeness.
Holiness.
And your
job,
brothers,
is to
love your
wife so
that she
becomes more
and more
like Jesus.
You're not
seeking to
transform your
wife into
your image,
but you're
seeking to
love her
into the
image of
Christ.
Christ has
delegated you
the responsibility
and you
fulfill it
for the
glory of
Christ as
you depend
on Christ.
I'll tell
you what,
guys, I
think you'll
testify with
this, that
there's no
greater joy
for a
Christian
husband than
to see his
wife spiritually
thriving,
loving her
Savior.
so we
exercise our
responsibility,
our headship
in love
for the
welfare of
our wives,
and at the
top of that
list is her
spiritual health.
So here's
what that
means,
guys.
Our eyes
need to be
on Jesus.
In order to
lead your
wife well,
eyes on
Jesus, hearts
for him.
Second, very
practical
recommendation to
lead your
wives.
Pray for
your wife.
Make time,
maybe it's on
your commute,
maybe it's got
some down time
every day,
pray for your
wife.
It's
Christ-like.
Ben was
talking about
it earlier.
Romans 8,
Jesus
intercedes
for us.
He's at the
right hand
of God.
Hebrews
chapter 7,
he is
alive
to intercede
for us.
Brothers,
let's intercede
for our
wives.
Maybe you're
saying right
now,
well,
I just
wouldn't
know what
to pray.
Let me
give you
some
suggestions.
Start
praying that
your wife
would love
Jesus above
all else.
start
praying
Ephesians
3,
16-19
for your
wife.
I find
myself
praying
that
for my
wife
a lot.
That
God
by his
spirit
would
strengthen
my
wife's
inner
being,
that
she
would
know
God's
great
love
for her.
And be
strengthened
by that.
Pray
for wisdom
for your
wife,
whatever
she's
facing
that
day,
whether
in the
workplace
or
in the
home.
Pray
for your
wife
for
patience,
especially
if she's
raising
little
ones.
Pray
for
them.
Direct
them to
the Bible
over and
over again.
If
Jesus
bathed
his
bride
with
the
gospel,
let's
be
bathing
our
brides
with
the
gospel,
reminding
them
over and
over again
who they
are in
Christ.
This
is who
you are.
This
is who
you are.
You're
blood-bought.
You belong
to the
king.
That's
who you
are.
Not
what you
look like.
It's
who you
belong
to.
And
you
belong
to
first
and
foremost
Jesus.
Young
men.
Young
unmarried
men in
the room.
I was
helping
move
somebody
yesterday
and I
was
working
alongside
two
young
guys
and I
said,
I got
something
in your
sermon
for you
tomorrow.
Middle
school
guys,
high
school
guys,
college
guys,
unmarried
guys.
You
don't get
married
and flip
this switch
and all
of a
sudden
you're
loving
your
wife
like
Christ
loved
the
church.
You
start
training
yourself
now
for that.
You
start
loving
now
that way.
Loving
your
mothers
and loving
your
sisters,
looking
out for
their
welfare.
Get in
the practice
of dying
to yourself
for the
welfare
of the
women
God
has
placed
in
your
life.
You're
going to
build
some
momentum
into
marriage.
Sisters,
unmarried
sisters,
I'm
just going
to give
you some
humble
advice.
Here's
who to
be looking
for,
for a
husband.
Someone
who's going
to love
Jesus more
than you.
That's who
you're looking
for.
He's
loving
Jesus more
than you.
He will
love you
well.
Well,
we've
taken a lot
of time
on this
first one.
Let's
now move
to point
three.
Husbands,
love your
wife as
Christ loves
his body.
This is in
verses 28
through 30.
So,
Paul has
been spending
a lot of
time in
comparing a
husband's
love for
his wife
to Christ's
love for
his bride.
But in
verse 28,
he seems
to change
metaphors.
He moves
from bride
talk to
body
talk.
He says
in verse
28,
in the
same way,
husbands
should love
their wives
as their
own bodies.
It's a
comparison.
What I
love about
the Apostle
Paul is
he's a
realist.
And so
what he's
doing here
is he's
appealing to
something every
husband can
relate to,
looking out
for his
own body.
Says it in
verse 29,
for no one
ever hated
his own
flesh,
but nourishes
it and
cherishes
it.
Okay,
just a
quick note.
In verse
28,
he refers to
the husband's
body,
and then in
verse 29,
he refers to
the husband's
flesh.
He's using
them synonymously,
and there's a
reason for that.
It's going to
come out later.
So hold on
to that
thought.
But what
Paul is
saying here
is as you
take care of
your own
body,
husband,
as you
rest it,
exercise it,
protect it,
as you feed
it and
clean it,
did I
mention feed
it?
Take that
way of
thinking and
apply it to
how you love
your wife.
Just as you
take care of
yourself,
love yourself,
take care of
your wife,
love your
wife.
Behind it's
the golden
rule,
love your
neighbor as
yourself.
Brother,
your closest
neighbor is
your wife.
But you
know what,
there's
something about
this that
kind of falls
a little flat
because just
before he's
talking about
loving your
wife like
Christ loved
the church,
it's like
the selfless
kind of love
and now he
says love
your wife
like your
body,
it's like
Paul,
he kind
of like went
from selfless
to selfish.
What's going
on here?
There's more
going on here.
There are a
couple clues in
this text to
help us see
that.
The first
clue is in
the beginning
of verse 28,
that first
clause phrase
in the same
way.
In the same
way,
husbands,
husbands should
love their
wives as
their own
bodies.
That phrase
in the same
way at the
beginning of
verse 28 is
actually pointing
back.
Pointing back
to what,
you ask?
Well,
the way that
Christ loves
the church.
But you
said,
well,
in verses
25 to
27,
Christ loves
his church
like a
bride.
He's not
talking about
loving his
church like
a body.
What are
you talking
about?
Look at
verse 23.
For the
husband is
the head
of the
wife,
even as
Christ is
the head
of the
church,
his body.
And there
it is.
Husbands are
to love
their wives
as their
own bodies
as Christ
loves the
church which
is his
body.
That's what's
under this
passage.
Under verses
28 and 29.
Even though
Paul has been
talking about
the church as
the bride of
Christ,
he now
introduces the
church as the
body of
Christ with
that phrase
in the same
way.
It's never
left his
thoughts.
So what we
see here is
Christ as a
model.
He's
appealing to
us husbands
to love our
brides as
Christ loved
his church.
In this
case, his
body.
In verse
29, we
read this,
for no one
ever hated
his own
flesh, but
nourishes it
and cherishes
it.
Just as
Christ does
the church
because we
are members
of his
body.
Do you
see what
Paul is
doing right
there?
He is
exhorting
husbands to
love their
wives as
their own
bodies just
as Christ
loves his
body, the
church.
And so
when it
talks about
hey,
husbands,
nourish and
cherish your
wife like
you do your
own body,
just as
Christ did
the church.
What we
can say
there is
Christ
nourished and
cherishes
his body,
the church.
So
husbands,
nourish your
wives.
That word
nourish is
going to
show up
again just
around the
corner in
Ephesians 6.4.
It's the
only other
place it
shows up
in the
New Testament.
And in
that context,
Paul is
telling parents
to do
this, to
raise your
children in
the discipline,
nurture,
and
instruction of
the Lord.
And the
idea there
is that we
nurture our
children into
maturity.
We nurture
our children
into adulthood.
We bring
them up to
live out the
fullness of
who God has
made them to
be.
That's our
task as
parents.
But when we
look at it
here in
this verse,
we've got to
remember Paul's
not talking to
parents, he's
talking to
husbands.
And he's
using the
framework of
bodies.
So here's
what he's
getting at.
It would
appear that
Paul wants
a husband
to nurture
their wives
as they do
their own
bodies into
health.
Physical,
emotional,
spiritual health.
Think of how
Jesus nurtures
his own body.
The church.
He provides
for all of
our needs.
He has our
greatest good
at heart.
He wants
us to thrive
under his
headship.
vitality.
Think vitality.
Husbands, you're
being called
here to lovingly
exercise your
responsibility as
head so that
your wives
thrive.
We don't
exercise our
headship to
squelch our
wives.
That's not the
picture here.
We leverage our
responsibility as
husbands.
we love our
wives so that
they become
what God has
fully called
them to be.
We want
our wives
to thrive.
Sisters,
married sisters,
are you feeling
God's love for
you right now?
Do you get a
sense of what
God wants for
you in your
husband?
He is looking
out for you.
not looking to
put you under
someone's
thumb.
Not only are
husbands to
nourish their
wives, we are
to cherish our
wives.
In that original
sense of that
word, it
actually means
warmth, as
in tenderness.
This word also
shows up in one
other place in
the New Testament.
It's in 1
Thessalonians 2
7.
And Paul starts
by saying this,
but we were
gentle among you
like a nursing
mother taking
care, cherishing
her own
children.
So when we
hear that word
cherish, brothers,
we think
tenderness.
We think
warmth.
We think
gentleness.
We exercise
our responsibility
gently,
tenderly,
just as
Christ tenderly
cares for his
body, the
church.
Christ nourishes
and cherishes
us because we
are so
intimately
connected to
him, he
thinks of us
as part of
him.
That's how
much he loves
us.
And so what
we're getting
told here,
brothers, is
this.
We are so
intimately
connected to
our wives,
we must think
of them as
part of us
just as the
church is
part of
Christ.
We are to
love our
wives as
Christ loves
his body.
Point four.
Husbands,
love your
wives just
as Christ
loves his
church and
is one with
his church.
In verse
31, Paul
quotes
Genesis
2.24.
2.24
happens, this
is one of my
favorite passages
of scripture.
Remember
this?
Adam is
naming all of
the animals,
he bear,
she bear,
he giraffe,
she giraffe,
he gorilla,
she gorilla.
Remember
that?
And there's
no she
man.
he's like,
he man,
where's the
she man?
He gorilla,
she gorilla,
no she
woman,
she man,
there's none
of that.
Remember what
God does?
Falls asleep
and he pulls
out of Adam
one of his
ribs and he
forms Eve
out of his
ribs.
Do you
remember that?
And then do you
remember what
God does?
He presents
her to
Adam and
in my
little
imagination,
this is how
I think it
went.
You ready?
Adam wakes
up,
oh man,
and before
him is
something amazing.
I think he
would have said
the equivalent,
Hebrew equivalent
of whoa.
Whoa,
God you're
good.
Whoa,
whoa,
whoa.
And then he
says,
she came out
of man.
Whoa,
man,
whoa,
man.
You get
it?
It is
Adam naming
Eve in
utter joy.
He's no
longer alone.
He is a helper
fit for him.
And God
provided her.
for him.
And so
Genesis 2
24
is the
summing up
of what
God did
in Genesis
2.
It is the
biblical
foundation
for marriage.
It's shot
through your
Bibles.
It reads,
therefore a man
shall leave
his father
and mother
and hold
fast to
his wife
and the
two shall
become
one flesh.
Paul has
been talking
about Christ's
love for
his bride
and Christ's
love for
his body
as a
motivator
for husbands
to love
their wife
as their
bride,
as their
wife,
as their
body.
But by
quoting
Genesis 2
24 here,
Paul is
bringing it
all together
in a
climax in
his way
of thinking.
He's bringing
together these
thoughts of
both bride
and body.
for this
reason a
man and
woman leave
their father
and mother
in order to
get married
and become
one flesh,
one body.
So remember
that 28 to
29 switch
from body
to flesh?
This is where
Paul was
heading with
that.
Genesis 2
24.
Brothers,
love your
wife.
You are
one with
your wife
just as
Christ is
united with
his bride,
the church.
There is
an awesome
surprise in
this passage.
Would you
look at
verse 32?
He just
started,
quoted
Genesis 2
24 and
then he
says this,
this is a
mystery.
This mystery
is profound.
And you're
left kind of
saying like,
huh?
What?
What mystery?
What are you
talking about?
Huh?
What's so
mysterious about
Genesis 2
24?
It's very
clear.
It's very
compelling.
A husband
and his
bride becoming
one in
body?
That's very
clear,
thank you.
What's so
mysterious about
that?
Well,
look at the
rest of
verse 32.
This mystery
is profound
and I am
saying that
it refers to
Christ and
the church.
What are you
talking about,
Paul?
When Paul
uses the word
mystery in
his letters,
it has to do
with making
known something
that's been
secret on a
large scale.
In Ephesians,
he's been
talking about
in terms of
Jews and
Gentiles,
that God
had kept
secret,
that his
plan for
all along
was to
create a
whole new
people group
out of
Jews and
Gentiles by
uniting them
in Christ.
It was a
mystery made
known in
Christ.
And in
Romans 11,
he talks about
another mystery,
the partial
hardening of
Israel until
the fullness
of Gentiles
come in.
The mystery
is a secret.
It has to
do with a
big sweep
of salvation
and God
bringing stuff
into clarity
in Christ.
And so the
mystery Paul is
talking about
here in
Ephesians 5.32,
it's the
making known
of another
kind of a
secret.
I've told you,
Genesis 2.24
is the
foundation for
marriage,
a lifelong
exclusive
covenant
between one
man and
one woman.
And what
God does
throughout the
Old Testament
is he takes
Genesis 2.24
and uses it
to describe
his relationship
with his
people.
He describes
himself as a
husband and his
people as his
bride all
throughout the
Old Testament.
He's exclusively
devoted to
his wife,
Israel,
and his wife,
Israel,
is to be
exclusively devoted
to him.
We see it in
passages like
Jeremiah 2.1 and
2.
Jeremiah 31.31 and
32.
Isaiah 54.
Hosea 1-3.
It's a tragic
example.
Israel is a
whore,
unfaithful to
her husband.
It is a hard
thing to read.
If you haven't
read Ezekiel 16,
oh, you've got to
read Ezekiel 16.
It is a beautiful
picture of God's
redemptive love
for Israel whom
he makes a
bride.
His bride.
All throughout
the Old Testament,
God refers to
his covenant
people as his
bride.
Which brings us
back to the
mystery of
Ephesians 5.32.
Here's the
mystery.
Made known.
Christ claims
to be the
bridegroom.
He says,
I'm him.
New covenant
in my blood.
I am the
bridegroom now.
That's the
mystery.
The church is
his new covenant
bride.
Jesus is saying
it's about me.
The union
between Christ
and his body,
the church,
is a mystery
made known.
Jesus is
claiming to
be the
fulfillment of
this picture in
the Old Testament.
So here's what
Paul is saying
about Genesis
2.24.
Genesis 2.24
has always been
pointing to
Jesus in the
church.
It always
has been.
It was always
aimed at
Jesus in the
church.
It was going
to be fulfilled
in him.
God knew it
when it was
penned.
That's why
Paul says,
and I am
saying,
he's putting
his apostolic
stamp on this.
when we
realize that
Genesis 2.24
has always
been pointing
to Christ,
we realize a
couple things.
First,
Christ,
the second
Adam,
is reversing
the failure
and fallout
of the first
Adam's marriage.
Second,
when you think
of Genesis 2.24,
you need to be
thinking Christ
in the church.
It's pointing
to him.
It's a big
picture,
isn't it?
third,
our marriages
are living
examples
of Christ's
redemptive
love for
his bride.
Do you know
about the
passion play
that takes
place in
Zion?
It's a huge
scale event.
And what the
passion play
is,
is a live
living out
of Christ's
redemptive
work.
Brothers and
sisters,
your marriages
are live
passion plays
of Christ
loving
his bride.
The key
to Christian
marriage
is Christ.
Oh,
I've gone
long.
Sorry.
Husbands,
let me just
boil down to
this.
Brothers,
the greatest
thing that you
can do for
your wife
is love
Jesus.
Wives,
the greatest
thing that you
can do for
your husband
is love
Jesus.
And so when
you have a
husband and
a wife both
loving Jesus
with all their
hearts,
you know what's
going to happen?
You're going to
have a marriage
that thrives.
And you're
going to have a
marriage that
speaks a word
about Christ
and his
church.
Amen.