READING: Eph. 5:22-33: Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. … Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her … So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. … 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 is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. …
In this passage, the created order of the relationship between man and woman in marriage is illuminated in New Testament light. While this created order remains in a sinful world, there is the new situation where Christ Himself is the shining example in His relationship with His church. Both man and woman must mirror themselves after that.
Thus, Paul says: husbands, love your own wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Men should go to any lengths in their love for their wives, see also 5:2. How far Christ went in His love for us!
Paul adds: love your wife as yourself, as your own body. In the world, you have a wife as long as it benefits you. When you grow tired of each other, you seek another. The Lord asks of us faithfulness for life, not merely formally but with all our commitment.
Women are also addressed: be submissive to your own husbands, in everything! This too is significant and contrasts with what the world teaches us about equal rights and positions. We should not dismiss submission by arguing that men should also be submissive.
Submission pertains to everything that aligns with God’s will. It requires that as a woman, you acknowledge that your husband is the head, that he takes the lead. You support him in love, complementing him and being a help suitable for him.
This is a profound mystery: something marvelous that you understand when you focus on Christ and His church.
Why does love involve sacrificing oneself?
Singing: Ps. 128:1,2