Home Base 1
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 8 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Tension
Tension
Our world is in open rebellion against God and one of the ways they love to attack is by redefining marriage and family. We are tempted and beckoned to fold to their wills and redefinitions. We are tempted to make sex about pleasure alone rather than serving and pursuing a spouse.
Christ calls us to a better vision for our sexuality an it’s called Christian marriage. It i critical that we get this right for our own well being and also for the sake of Christ’s glory in the world.
Truth
Truth
I. What is the chief motivation for Christian marriage?
Answer: The glory of Christ
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
We first must understand that the home is not independent of the church, but is a part of the church and a critical building block of both the church and the kingdom.
Have you ever noticed how the rulership of the kingdom of God and the leadership of the church are both modeled after a family? Or rather, we may say that the family is a living example and a model of how God governs everything.
God refers to himself as our Father, and we his children, and Christ the preeminent Son and also our material brother through his true human flesh.
For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying,
“I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
God always intended the human family to have a priestly role in the world. As husband relates to God and his wife, he shows what Jesus is like. As wife relates to husband, the Father, her children, and the world she shows what the Spirit is like.
I believe this is why the Devil is so committed to undermining the family unit in human societies. By undermining the family, not only does he weaken culture and make it easier to manipulate and prey on, but he weakens the ability for the world to know what God is like through the witness of the family.
Marriage and family were created for God’s glory and as such we should treat them very seriously. The marriage bed and the marriage relationship are sacred to God.
II. What is a wife’s role in building and maintaining a Christian marriage?
Answer: To submit to her husband.
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
I realize many modern women cringe at the word “submit.” I will also concede that the word has often been used in unbiblical and unhelpful ways. I would like to work a little toward reclaiming it for Christ today.
A wife pushes back against the way of Adam and Eve through submission to her husband. But what does this mean? Does this mean she is passive, or accepts everything her husband does and says without protest?
The Greek word used in both Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5 which we translate as either “submit” or “be subject” or “obey” is the same word.
The word has the connotation of being subordinate to a leader. The idea is not that the man has greater value, or is somehow better than the woman, but that he is called by God is lead his home and the wife is called to respect God’s authority through her husband. She is to recognize him as leader.
Does this make a woman weak and passive? By no means! Is the Holy Spirit weak and passive because he proceeds from the Father? No. He has a role to play and his role is equally important to that of the Father, it is just different.
Take the example of Abigail who we meet in 1 Samuel 25. She is married to a fool but she is wise and in her wisdom she is able to keep her home from befalling disaster. She is seen as very noble even though she defies her husband.
Ladies, you are called by God to represent wisdom in your home and your voice is important. Submitting does not mean you just sit down and take whatever comes to you. It means you recognize God’s order of leadership but when you see your husband walking down a road that is not with Christ, you should be speaking up and if you have a good marriage he will listen to you.
But you also must have the humility to receive correction when needed and trust that your husband will lead your family towards Christ over time, especially if he is truly seeking the Lord.
III. What is a husband’s role in building and maintaining a Christian marriage?
Answer: To love his wife like Jesus loves the church.
Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.
A husband dies. Guys, we shouldn't make it difficult for our wives to respect us and submit to our leadership.
One of the greatest mistakes we make men, is expecting our wives to serve us and respect us when we are depositing little into them or our relationship.
Husbands, our marriages will generally go where we take them. I believe that 80% to 90% of unhealthy marriages can be ultimately traced back to a man who has not loved his wife like Jesus, who is passive, and in pursuit of neither Christ nor his wife.
Men, if you feel trapped in an unhealthy marriage I would encourage you to stop complaining about all the stuff your wife does that hurts the marriage, and start looking at yourself. You are the federal head of your marriage and where the head goes, so does the body.
The reason the church is headed for health is that we have a healthy federal head; that is of course Christ.
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
On the flip side, the world is headed for destruction because their federal head is still Adam.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
We have a choice. Will we follow Christ and be healthy men, or will we follow Adam and be toxic men.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
If you have been walking the way of Adam, it may take a long time of serving your wife and loving her like Jesus to break the cycle but I am convinced that the vast majority of marriages can be healthy if a man commits himself to loving and leading like Jesus.
5 things Jesus does for us that we must do for our wives.
Agape her
Agape is the sort of love Jesus has for us, and it is a love that is willing to die so our beloved can live and thrive.
Treat her gently
Honor her, be kind to her, and highly esteem her for the value she has as a daughter of the King.
Be patient with her
Be slow to anger, give her time to grow, and give her time to come around when you feel the family needs to move in a particular direction.
Put her wellbeing and thriving above your own
Christ-like husbands dedicate themselves to empowering our wives to have wonderful lives full or grace, truth, mercy, and love.
Nourish her
Take time to hear her without trying to fix her
IV. Why does God care so much about marriage, who we love, and how we love?
Answer: Because he cares about us and does not want us to be destroyed with the sinful world.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Marriage is the mingling of two souls, as demonstrated by the sexual acts in the body. It is about deep connection which resembles the connection we were designed to have with God.
God created us to be both distinct, and intermingled with him. Husbands and wives likewise are distinct, but also one in body and spirit.
What we do with the sexual part of us will show directly who we are linked to in lordship, either Christ or this world.
Holy marriages in pursuit of Christ together as husbands and wives are a powerful vessel moving us towards Christ-likeness.
Unholy marriages and relationships in general are a vessel leading us towards destruction. So, yeah… working hard at marriage is important in a variety of ways.
Healthy marriages are both an example to the church and a powerful discipleship tool for the ones in the marriage.
Application
Application
We need active and regular repentance of favoring the world’s vision for marriage over God’s. We need to pursue alignment with God’s vision.
Pray
Study the word
Agree with God rather than forcing God to agree with you
If you are married, Jesus wants you to work hard at fulfilling your role in that marriage. How can you pursue that?
Do you need counseling?
Do you need to repent of dishonoring your marriage by refusing to play the role God has given you?
Do you need to repent of disrespecting your spouse in some way?
Be honest with your spouse about where you have failed and where you feel hurt. Communication is a huge deal here.
If you are not married, these concepts still apply.
How are you fulfilling your role in God’s family, the church?
What needs to change in you?