Lesson 3
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27that 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.[1]
Let’s focus now on verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.
In the next two verses we see that Christ took upon himself our sin and guilt and took the punishment for that sin upon himself.
I Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed
II Corinthians
Many times in our human relationships we are looking for someone to blame rather than being willing to take the blame upon ourselves. Remember in the garden how God confronted Adam and he immediately blamed his wife for what had happened. Shen then blamed the serpent. This is the way we usually handle blame. In a marriage, it is very important for the husband to have the same attitude toward his wife that Christ had for the church. We are told that we are to love our wives in the same way that Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.
To give ourselves for our wife means more than opening the
car door for her, or watching the
Look at the prayer of Daniel in chapter 9
3 - Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5“we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6“Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7“O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9“To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10“We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11“Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12“And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14“Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15“And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18“O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”[2]
Daniel wasn’t offering up a family prayer, but rather a prayer for his people. But notice the fact that although Daniel was a sinner like any other man, he was undoubtedly not personally guilty of the sins he was confessing in this prayer. He was confessing the sins of the people. He was taking responsibility and confessing their sins. You as a husband and father in your home can do the same thing. When the finances go sour because of mismanagement, you can confess that before God and take responsibility for it. When a child goes astray, you can confess the lack of discipline you have provided and the lack of prayer on behalf of the family and the lack of time and attention you have given to the child. No matter how well you think you have done in these areas, you can still confess them and personalize them as the head of your home. Christ took the blame and punishment for your sins. You are to do the same for your wife.
Questions to Ponder