Don’t Forsake Your First Love! Part One
“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.” Eph 5:25-28 (NKJV)
Are you approaching Valentine’s Day with an “ah, it ain’t no big deal” attitude? How about the “this is just another phony holiday created by florists and card companies to make money” attitude. Or as I have heard some men say, “I don’t need one day to show her I love her. She should see my love for her by seeing how hard I work to provide for her and the kids every day.” Well in reality, as Christian men, none of these attitudes should be in our hearts because we are the head of her in the same way that Christ is the head of His church. Further reading into today’s passage of Scripture goes, “For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.”
When we look at this verse we should see that when a husband realizes that his wife is truly his own flesh he will treat her with love and care. Unless you have some sort of issue, like an addiction or an aversion to showering, most of us treat ourselves pretty well. And as we go along we find that in verse 31 Paul quotes what we find in Genesis 2:24, "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 verse teaches that the special union between husband and wife supersedes the original family ties. For some of you out there this means goodbye to the apron strings and mama’s home cooking. (Deal with it)
But take a look at what Paul writes in Ephesians 5:32, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” I am going to split this into two parts. The first is “This is a great mystery”…When Paul says that this is a great mystery, he doesn’t mean that we need to get deep into looking for evidence for explanation, he is stating that the implications of the truth are tremendous. The mystery that was once hidden in God in previous times is now revealed and its purpose is to call out of the nation a people to become the Body and Bride of Jesus Christ. The mystery, a sacred secret revealed, is that Christian marriage parallels the union that exists spiritually between Christ and His bride, the church.
And now to look at the second part…” but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
It is in a very real way that Christ gave Himself for the church so that He might sanctify it in this world and glorify it in the next. Jesus wants to bestow on all his members a principle of holiness, deliver them from the guilt, the pollution, and the dominion of sin that plagues this world by the influence of the Holy Spirit. But we still need to understand that the church and its believers will not be without spot or wrinkle till they come to glory. But those only who are sanctified now, shall be glorified later.
In an e-devotional sent out last month by The Institute of Creation Research titled “Adam’s Rib” was something very interesting. They made reference to Genesis 2:21-22 and how it may not have been an actual “rib” that God used. The Hebrew word used may be translated as “side chamber” and when I looked into this it may have been said as “a portion of his side or side chamber”. So since “the life of the flesh is in the blood” this would have meant that Eve got a primeval blood transfusion from Adam to give her life. The deep sleep that first Adam was put under is representative of the deep sleep of death that the last Adam would enter into. In the same way Adam sacrifice gave life to his bride, Eve, is the same way that Christ’s sacrifice gave life to his bride, the church.
There is another part of this to go. But before I close I will leave you with this quote from that e-devotional, “As Eve thenceforth shared Adam’s very life, so do we believers today constitute Christ’s beloved bride, and we are “hid with Christ in God,” so that Christ Himself is “our life”. (Col 3:34) – Chris Hughes is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy and a regular Freedom Fighter Contributor
This Thursday night is our monthly Men’s Fellowship Night. Pastor Mike Woods will be our guest speaker. Pastor Mike serves at a church in Hamilton Township New Jersey and served for ten years at the Colony of Mercy. Come and bring and friend. Dinner is at 6:15 PM followed by the program. For reservations, please call: 732-350-1187
Compass Pointers: “The Gospel of Christ crucified for our sins is the foundation of our lives. Marriage exists to display it. And when marriage breaks down, the Gospel is there to forgive and heal and sustain until He comes, or until he calls.” This Momentary Marriage John Piper
Navigation Rules: Level 1: Proverbs 6:23; Level 2: Proverbs 6:12-19
Anchored to the Rock: Prayer as a means to affect a private end is theft and meanness. Ralph Waldo Emerson
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