Meditations on Ephesians 5

Over the next few days I am hoping to post some solid thoughts I am having on Ephesians 5:22-33.

Thought 1:
The way a husband should love his wife is the way Christ loved the church. This is a profound truth that is so often misplaced. Many preachers will say the phrase "gave himself up for her" means that he died for her, which is true, but it is so much more than that. The words "gave up" are "paredoken" in Greek. The semantic range of this word means:
1) give over from one's hand to someone or something
2) of authoritative commitment of something to someone
3) of a sacrificial love
4) as a legal technical term for passing someone along in the judicial
process- an unjustified act of handing someone over to judicial authorities

We can choose one of these working definitions, but I believe under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul meant every one of them. Christ gave HimSELF up. He gave up SELF for the sake of the church, his bride. Human beings operate in the vein of "I will do whatever brings me the most amount of pleasure and the least amount of pain." It is built into us to do such a thing, and there is very little to drive us from that thought process. But for Christ, He was driven from that thought process. He abandoned heaven and equality with God, not counting it something to be grasped, made Himself a servant and took the form of nothing, and humbled Himself to death, even death on a cross. Remember- this is GOD we are talking about. The deity of Christ cannot be forgotten. If we lose the fullness of His deity we lose the fullness of His sacrifice and thus the cross does not have the same effect- namely, to draw us to it in awestruck worship.

Ultimately, the example we meet of how Christ loved the church is a brief one- He betrayed (this is the literal meaning) His SELF and handed His SELF over to her. This was all done with full knowledge (for Jesus is God and all knowing) that His bride would deny Him and shame Him for centuries until He returns. That she would turn and run at times, and do horrific things in His name. In full knowledge of this He died to Himself, and He took responsibility for His bride.

This self-sacrificing love comes from a heart that loves it's object more than itself. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for a husband to love his wife with full knowledge that she will not love him back, or submit to him as she's supposed to, or deny him to his face. I cannot imagine the pain a husband would experience when his bride finds comfort in another man. But Scripture is clear on this- it is His job to die to Himself and love His wife, no matter how she is acting. He must give up His SELF and love her. Husbands, respond to this call. Follow the example of our precious Savior! Seek His strength in being able to love your wives as you must, die to yourself for them at every moment!

Next Post- Why should we, and why would He?