MACO 103 Reprised, Surprised?

MACO 103 Reprised, Surprised!?

“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”
Ephesians 5:22-27 (NKJV)

Hey you men that read Freedom Fighters, I have a question for the vast majority of you. How could you miss what I will cover today? That’s right you don’t even know what I am talking about yet but you guys missed it. A few weeks back I wrote about how Jesus had to rebuke those guys called “The Pharisees” on the issue of adultery because they wanted to trick Him into saying something that they could use against Him so that they could kill Him. And there was a point that I left out and you, my Brethren, missed it too, apparently, because I didn’t hear this point from a man’s point of view but a woman’s.

I have a dear sister in Christ who prayed for my salvation many years ago and in return for that I send her the Freedom Fighters that I write. As much as I value the opinion of my Brothers in Christ is as much as I value the circle of the Sisterhood that is part of the Church. So without further a-do I will share with you what my dear sister shared with me. And for her protection from you guys I’ll just call her….um…Judy.

I am going to not edit what Judy sent me but I will say that this is something that I missed and I am grateful that she spoke up about it. And now…Here’s Judy…

“There was one thing that I was curious as to why you didn't mention. That is the one reason, adultery, where Jesus talks about divorce. It seems to me that I studied somewhere that "adultery" is equated in terms of our relationship with Jesus. In other words, those who commit "adultery" are in a relationship with the devil and not in a relationship with Christ. God wants all our affection and attention; He doesn't want it "shared" with any other "god", or anything else. Those who do that are in an 'adulterous' relationship with Christ. We are the 'bride of Christ'...any other 'relationship' than the relationship with Him is adulterous.

Also, I recently attended a women's brunch at my new church. The speaker was superb. One of the things she was speaking about was being the "bride of Christ". Bingo! After all these years a 'light went on'! I have been told that I was a "kid of the King", "a Princess", etc., but for the first time, being the 'bride of Christ' smacked me right in the heart! I said to her, "it's been very difficult for me relate to being a child of royalty because my folk were just simple people...however, being a 'bride' I can relate to! I was a bride and can relate to all the things that pertain to being a bride...and even more so now, knowing that I am Christ's Bride! It was a very special moment, even though I had heard those words for years.”

I think Judy is right. We are not just a kid of the King, we all are the Bride of Christ. If you are in the Body of Christ you get to be in the wedding. The Pharisees of the time of Christ went around putting burdens on God’s people for no good reason but to elevate themselves at a wedding they didn’t deserve to be part of. And guess what…neither do we, but because we come into right relationship with Jesus we get to be in the wedding and Jesus wanted us to hear that right from His very lips. I would like to thank my dear sister for her insight on this issue and the Apostle Paul’s use of marriage to illustrate just what Jesus meant for us to understand. I encourage you, my Brothers, to take a closer look at marriage. Or at least find yourself a Judy who will be able to show how she feels about the Bride of Christ!! -- Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a frequent contributor to Freedom Fighter

Digging Deeper: Proverbs 12; Psalms 84-86; Romans 12

Dig This Quote: We know it is the weight of our sin that accelerates us into the seasons at the bottom. But here’s the amazing, unbelievable thing---a profound mystery, as Paul says: “A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’…and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31-32). Marriage refers to Christ and the church---every marriage, no matter how pendulum-like because of our sin; every marriage, even if the couple doesn’t care one bit about Jesus. To change metaphors, God designed marriage to be a picture. That makes me ask myself, how clear and well-focused is the portrait of Jesus that our marriage is displaying?” Forward: Pendulums and Pictures
This Momentary Marriage Noel Piper

Determined Digging: Level 1:Isaiah 54:17; Level 2: Psalm 103:15-19

Determined Praying: The act of praying is the very highest energy of which the human mind is capable; praying, that is, with the total concentration of the faculties. -- Samuel Taylor Coleridge