The Church as Wife

1) The Commitment Questioned

Some Christians question whether Christ needs to be a person’s Lord if He is their Savior. This is like the wife that reserves the option to not submit to her husband.  Marriage is similar to our Christian faith in the way that the commitment seals how we respond to our spouse or the Lord. Underline the husband and wife’s duties in the following verses.

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband (Ephesians 5:32-33).

2) Appreciating God’s Design

Every time we depart from God’s design, we run into all sorts of problems. We tend to assume our feelings or decisions are better than the Lord’s, They never are. Have you been tempted to think that way? Probably. We all have. We need to resist those temptations. It helps to understand that God gives us commands to help and protect us.

- They remind us of God’s way even when our experiences tell us differently.

- They arrange the relationship in such a way that there is no friction.

- They maximize the depth of joy.

- They protect the unity from threatening forces.

God’s commands preserve and aid in obtaining the very best whether it be in a marriage or in our Christian life. Let’s look at the reason for this.

3) Love Never Fails

Christ loves the church. His love is constant and sure. He is very involved with all aspects of our lives. We can trust Him during times of distress or confusion. We simply need to trust Him as the Spirit of Christ leads our lives. The husband is given this same charge to unconditionally love his wife. The wife needs to rest in his care for her.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her. ... so husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies (Ephesians 5:25, 28).

The Christian and the wife both need to trust that all the love that is needed is always provided. As they do, their tempers and persons will be sweetly shaped to allow God’s love to shine through their lives.

4) But if ...

Things are not always so easy for wives. What does Peter recommend? Underline the phrase starting with, “even if ...”

You wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives (1 Peter 3:1).

Application: Thank God for your relationship with God and your spouse. Ask Him to build up your trust.

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