Perfect Submission of Wives to their Husbands, Perfect Love of Husbands to their Wives (Ephesians 5:22-33)

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 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. So husbands ought to love their own 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 the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband." (Ephesians 5:22-33)

God is truth, light, love, life, and way forever and ever. There is no pretense or facades in Him. He is eternally straight. In Him, there is no variation of turning. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What He says is unequivocally real without any deviation of truth. That is the nature of the Scripture, infallibility. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

In light of the revelations on marriage, husbands ought to love their wives as Christ loved the church and wives ought to submit to their husbands, as to the Lord. There are a lot of twist and distortion on this revelation. Some even protest and deny it. As other Scripture is true, so is this. It is a great mystery, marriage. We ought not to miss the words, “as to the Lord.” This is the age of self-esteem and of self-glory. No one wants to submit one another. No one wants to give himself for others.

But our Lord Jesus Christ submitted Himself to the Father, even to the point of death and gave Himself for all. In this way, He washed and cleansed all the stains and trespasses to bring the washed and cleansed to the Father without blemish. He made His children holy and blameless with His cleansing blood of the Calvary. He was wounded and broken for our healing. He was smitten and struck for our peace. He endured sufferings and pains for our redemption. He was lifted up and cursed for our happiness. He was cut off and became nothing for our life.

That’s the truth, the way, and the life. Anything out of that line is falsity and no truth in it. Jesus Christ is the perfect and final example of life in which full riches and surpassing glory of God has been marvelously displayed and demonstrated. God does not lie, in fact He cannot lie. We ought to obey Him and His promises by the faith in Christ Jesus. Husbands ought to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Wives ought to submit their husbands, as to the Lord.

How do we do it? Christ in you, the hope of glory. That’s the answer. The Promised Holy Spirit indwells in you since the new birth. God has made His eternal residency in your spirit. Just as He promised that He will be with us until the very end of the age, so is He in you and me now. The real blessing of God is to send the Spirit to His children of light as Patriarch Abraham had received by faith. “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” (Galatians 3:14)

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Our Sufficiency Is from God (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

“And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6)

Paul says that we are the letters of Christ who are carrying the unforgettable fragrance of the Lord within. The stamp of the likeness of Christ was marked not by ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on the tablets of stone, but on the tablets of flesh. That’s what we are in Christ, a new creation through the cleansing blood of Jesus. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

How can we be sure of all these? The answer is given by Paul, saying “We have such trust through Christ toward God.” God is an uttermost realist who sees all things as bare and undecorated as they are without any deviation or illusion. Our trust is not from the earth but from the heaven above. Whatever is from this world is not trustworthy, but whatever from God is for He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Human sight and vision is so limited and partial that it cannot see the whole spectrum of reality in any circumstance or event. But our God sees the whole things not only each individual circumstance but in entirety. Everything either good or bad is purposeful and meaningful in Him. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Since we have trust through Christ toward God our sufficiency is not from ourselves but from Him. This is the most encouraging and strengthening words of truth. We know that we cannot know all, which always leads us the terrible frustration and futility called the destination sickness. We cannot trust ourselves at all, so we feel continuously defeated and wounded ever and ever. This is a conundrum of humanity that the more we wanted to have sufficiency in ourselves the deeper we encounter the impossibility to break it. We don’t have what it takes. That’s what we are. We are made not to be the caption of our life. Our sufficiency is from the other Person, Christ Jesus the Lord when we rely on His works.

In fact, we have been made to be functioning and operating through the reliance on the Person of Jesus Christ from the beginning. We are His possessions and belongings which were bought with a price, so we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Whenever we try to have sufficiency on ourselves, our hearts are blinded and made dull, not seeing a living God clearly and being completely blocked from the access to the inheritance of God. God hates our human pride caused by self-sufficiency. It is the abomination to God. That’s why we need a whole new way of living through Jesus Christ. He is our true sufficiency and competence. He not only paid the price for the self-sufficiency of humanity but gives the new power to obey the Law of God in perfection. He broke His body and made us available whenever we need it. He shed His blood and made us available whenever we thirst.

Therefore, we have what it takes in Christ Jesus. We have all the heavenly blessings in Him. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3-10)

Offense of the Cross (Galatians 5:11)

“And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.” (Galatians 5:11)

Why does the cross of Jesus Christ offend the learned and wise of the world? The cross is where the Lord Jesus Christ was put to death. The best man who had ever lived on the face of the earth is Jesus. Yet he was pronounced to death in the court of heaven when the Father imposed the sin of the world upon Him. That’s the offense to the world. No one can stand on his own no matter how he has been educated, achieved, and earned. In order to have life everyone must stand on the cross. There is no other ground than the cross to come into full riches of life.

Cross is the symbol of excruciating and unbearable humiliation, shame, guilt, pain, agony, and death. People don’t want that at all. Rather, everyone wants to be exalted, adulated, praised, commenced, and honored. We all are good at it. We hate to be humiliated, ashamed, isolated, insulted, and offended. That’s what the cross does even to our Lord Jesus Christ when he was made sin in our place. Why is the offense of the cross the way to life? It’s because as the best man must be crucified to death man is deadly poisoned by the lie that he can run his life without God. It is not true and will not be true that man can handle his life on his own. Man is not made that way. We are made in His image and His likeness to be His eternal indwelling residence.

Since the fall of Adam, man lost His likeness to function and operate as God intended him to function and operate. Natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” (Romans 8:7) “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” (Galatians 5:17) That’s the mystery of lawlessness. As Paul cried out, so also we cry out, saying “What a wretched man I am!” No value whatsoever is found in man to earn the righteousness of God. Total bankruptcy is the reality of humanity in the sight of Holy God.

The cross of Christ forever stands as the offence and the stumbling block to the stubborn and the self-righteous. “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’ They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.” (2 Peter 2:7-8) The cross of Christ forever stands as the way to the Father, rivers of living water to the humble and the contrite in heart. “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." (John 7:38) The cross leads us to eternal life. “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Colossians 2:15)

Letter of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

“Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3)

Good news. You are a letter of Christ. It is written in your heart and can be known and read by all men. It is written not with any inked marks but by the Spirit of the living God. What can be known and read by all men? The first and foremost of all, you are born of God and have become son in the family of God. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) You shall not come into judgment but have passed from death to life, eternal life (John 5:24).

Jesus sent out His disciples on the field trip to all the tribes of Israel and gave them authority to heal the sick, drive out the demons, and raise the dead. When they reported what had happened during the trip with excitement, Jesus gave the most significant word, saying “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20) God promised to send a mediator to save the fallen race and give eternal life to those who believe in Christ the Son of God (John 3:16). That’s all has been fulfilled, standing as impeccable facts eternally. God has provided life in Christ Jesus that you may have that life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).  

Since you have been made alive in Christ and entitled to have the right to become the children of God, you are privileged to exercise and practice the gift of faith in Christ. You can rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks to God in all circumstances, for that’s the will of God in Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). You are obligated to encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone, and live in peace each other. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) You are obligated to mediate the law of God day and night.

“Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

You know that you don’t wrestle against flesh and blood but against the prince of the world, the mastermind of murder and deceit, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). Remember you do not have any power out of flesh and blood for there is no value in man before God. All power is given unto the Son Jesus Christ who liberally gives to anyone who comes and takes whatever he asks according to the provision made by God, the faith in Christ. You are called to partake His power to engage in the warfare which has been already won by Christ Jesus. You don’t have to muster all your power to fight the evil. You have already been equipped with the full armor of God, Jesus Christ. Let Him fight with the word of His mouth, the double-edged sword. You shall be His letter if you do it continually.