Marriage made in Heaven
A strong Church depends on strong families, which depend on strong marriages. Marriage is God’s design and is precious to Him. To have Heaven in the home we need strong marriages, and strong marriages come from following God’s instructions on how wives and husbands should treat each other. God made marriage and He will make it work if we trust and obey Him.
Scripture
Ephesians 5:22-30 ESV Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
Bible Study Questions
If you’re a child of God, think and act like one
The world we live in has it’s own ways of thinking and acting, and these ways are very different to the way Jesus taught and demonstrated. Should we then think differently about our value responsibilities and relationships?
Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:18-21 ESV And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The Purpose of Marriage
Strong marriages make strong families and strong families make strong Churches. Marriage is God’s design for His purposes. These purposes include Emotional, Social, Physical and Spiritual. How do you see these purposes unfolding in the following four Scriptures?
Genesis 2:18 ESV Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Genesis 1:28 ESV And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
1 Corinthians 7:1-3 ESV Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband.
Ephesians 5:31-33 ESV “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Equal in value, different in responsibility
How does the world equate our value with what responsibilities we carry? Should we think in this way? Is our value determined by our responsibilities?
Galatians 3:27-28 ESV For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 11:3 ESV But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
Wives submit
Ephesians 5:21 ended by commanding us all to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Does this mean that wives have equal authority to husbands and should expect husbands to submit to their authority in the same way that wives are to submit to their husband’s authority, or is there a difference in the way we submit to each other?
Ephesians 5:22-24 ESV Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 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. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
1 Peter 3:1-2 ESV Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
Colossians 3:18 ESV Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Husbands submit through sacrifice
Jesus gave His life for His bride, the Church. He calls husbands to do the same, do you think it’s easier to submit to authority, or sacrifice your life?
Ephesians 5:25 ESV Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,
Husbands sacrifice by sanctifying and satisfying
The authority of husbands is directly linked to their spiritual responsibilities. What is the husband expected to do for himself and for His wife according to the verse below?
Ephesians 5:26-27 ESV that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 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.
Ephesians 5:28-30 ESV In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.
What to do when when it’s broken
The world tells us to demand our rights and to force others to treat us the way we want. Jesus teaches us to treat others the way we want to be treated and to treat others as if we’re serving Jesus Himself. What should we then do when our husband is not sacrificing himself for us, or if our wives are not respecting and submitting to our authority.
Matthew 25:40 ESV And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
Matthew 7:12 ESV “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 18:15-17 ESV “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.