UNITED - Week 7

UNITED
Week 7: Families in Christ
•Even when the world is divided, the church of Jesus Christ is called to be United.
•“For the first time in its history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of the terms 'marriage' and ‘family.’ What until now has been considered a 'normal' family, made up of a father, a mother, and a number of children, has in recent years increasingly begun to be viewed as one among several options, which can no longer claim to be the only or even superior form of ordering human relationships.”
- Andreas J. Köstenberger
Ephesians 5:21-31 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”
Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
1. The Calling: God has Called Each Spouse to Play a Role in Serving Each Other within their Marriage.
Picture: Slow Dance

Ephesians 5:22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
> The Wife is Called to Serve Her Husband through Christ-Like Submission.
Submission is not:
1 ) Submission does not mean a wife is inferior to her husband.
2 ) Submission is not agreeing on everything.
3 ) Submission does not justify abusive relationships.
4 ) Submission does not mean that Women are not strong, valuable or incapable.
“The woman described in Proverbs 31:10 – 31 wasn’t some passive, mindless person standing around waiting to be told what to do. This lady was awesome. She had her MBA, because the Bible says she negotiated with merchants from afar. She had her real estate license, because she bought and sold property. She also managed the family’s finances, supervised a household staff, and had her own ministry to the poor. But in terms of her marriage, she used her considerable skills in such a way that they enhanced her husband in his role instead of usurping him or tearing him down. Proverbs 31: 23 says her husband was one of the leaders in town who was well known, which suggests that he benefited from his wife’s ministry. - Tony Evans

1 ) The Motive: Submission begins with Adoration for Jesus.
Ephesians 5:22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
2 ) The Mindset: Submission is a Gift that you offer to your husband.
“I discovered here that my submission in marriage was a gift I offered, not a duty coerced from me.” - Kathy Keller
3 ) The Method: Submission is Honoring Your Husband.

Ephesians 5:23-24,33 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything… So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
1 Corinthians 11:3 But there is one thing I want you to know: The head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
> The Husband is called to Serve His Wife through Christ-Like Leadership.
Ephesians 5:23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

Ephesians 1:22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

Ephesians 5:25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her.

1 ) He’s Passionate about His Wife

2 ) He’s not Passive with His Wife
3 ) He’s Protective of His Wife
Ephesians 5:28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.

4 ) He Prioritizes His Wife
Ephesians 5:29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church.

5 ) He Provides for His Wife

“Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.” - Matthew Henry
2. The Commission: Marriage is meant to display the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:30-32 And we are members of his body. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, or this is the right thing to do.
>Obedience to your Parents is a Command.
Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

> Obedience to your Parents brings blessing to your life.
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.
> Parents are called to Encourage their kids and disciple them.