Paul Parallels Marriage with Christ and His Church:
Part 4 Husbands and Wives Are One Flesh
Ephesians
5:30-33 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak
concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in
particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she
reverence her husband. KJVPaul now gives the reason why our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ takes such care to supply His Church with the spiritual nourishment she needs and desires to function in this world. The reality that each member of Christ Church is a member or a part of His Mystical Body. As Paul made the comparison to the Corinthian believers about the physical body of a man or a woman being like the Spiritual Body of Christ when he said, “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body --- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free --- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14). Therefore, just as we are members of Christ, so shall the Christian husband and his wife be so united physically and more importantly spiritually that they no longer operate or function as individuals, but as a unit, that is, a single undivided whole in every capacity of their marriage union.
Like our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ left the bosom of God the Father to so humble Himself by entering into a weak human body and die for His Bride (the Church), in like manner shall the man/husband leave his family (Father & Mother) and shall be joined to his wife. This English phrase “shall be joined” is translated by one Greek word proskollao which means to glue to, that is, (figuratively) to adhere or weld to: - cleave, join (self). In other words, once this union has been established it becomes immediately, instantly, and indelibly the most important relationship (of all human relationships) the Christian husband has here on the earth. Of course the Christian husbands most important relationship above even his wife is the one with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus reaffirmed what God the Father said to the first man Adam in Genesis 2:24 when the Pharisees asked Him this question, “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’” (Matthew 19:3). The Apostle Matthew records the response from our Lord Jesus Christ with these words reaffirming the Father’s plan from the beginning, “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.’” (Matthew 19:4-6).
Also, just as Christ Jesus our Lord came forth into this world of woe from God the Father (John 16:28), in like manner the woman was fashioned or formed from the man’s side after God the Father caused him to go into a deep sleep being a visible symbol of Christ death and then Adam’s awakening picturing Christ’ Resurrection and the subsequent birth of His Bride the Church. This parallel Paul is making of the Christian marriage and Christ engagement to His Bride (the Church) is meant as an illustration to Christian husbands and Christian wives and not as equal to and Paul clarifies this with these words, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:32). Paul here wants there to be know confusion in the minds of these Ephesian believers and us today as to his parallel here being simply, sweetly, and solely an illustration of Christ Spiritual connection with His Bride (the Church) collectively and with each individual member of His Body.
The reason Paul writes then that this is a great mystery was that during Israel’s history, there were men like Moses, King David, Sampson, Gideon, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc., yet despite having the Power of the Holy Spirit come upon them so that great mighty and miraculous things were done at their word, none of them had God the Holy Spirit indwell them whereby they had this close, constant, and confidant union and intimacy with the Father as Christ Bride the Church does today. Likewise, this is a great mystery today and forever, that a Pure, Perfect, and Powerful One True God would inhabit such sinful creatures as we are loving us while we were sinners and working “in us” (Philippians 1:6) to conform us or change us into the likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s purpose from the beginning of his preaching on this subject of marriage is ended where he began reaffirming to each spouse their roles and responsibilities to one another by saying, “Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (Ephesians 5:33). The Christian husband that loves his wife as Christ loves His Church will always have the ear of our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:7) and the Christian wife that submits willingly to the headship of her husband will at all times be very precious in the heart and mind of God the Father (1 Peter 3:4).
My own Personal Note: “Although I have no personal experiential practice in so loving a Sister ‘in Christ’ as Paul here lines out for us, however, I do have personal experiential practice in so loving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and just as I grieve every time I behave, act, and live in a manner in opposition to His Word, so I and any Christian husband should be sorrowful and saddened to cause the wife he has declared his love to and devotion to any feelings of neglect or nervousness not wanting even to be in the presence of her husband.”
“The husband is to love his wife, the wife to obey and venerate her husband; love and protection on the one hand, affectionate subjection and fidelity on the other. The husband should provide for his wife without encouraging profuseness; watch over her conduct without giving her vexation; keep her in subjection without making her a slave; love her without jealousy; oblige her without flattery; honor her without making her proud; and be hers entirely, without becoming either her footman or her slave. In short, they have equal rights and equal claims; but superior strength gives the man dominion, affection and subjection entitle the woman to love and protection. Without the woman, man is but half a human being; in union with the man, the woman finds her safety and perfection.” Adam Clarke
“Wives should manifest such a character as to be worthy of love. They owe this to their husbands. They demand the confidence and affection of man; and they should show that they are worthy of that confidence and affection. It is not possible to love that which is unlovely, nor to force affection where it is undeserved; and, as a wife expects that a husband will love her more than he does any other earthly being, it is but right that she should evince such a spirit as shall make that proper. A wife may easily alienate the affections of her partner in life. If she is irritable and fault-finding; if none of his ways please her; if she takes no interest in his plans, and in what he does; if she forsakes her home when she should he there, and seeks happiness abroad; or if, at home, she never greets him with a smile; if she is wasteful of his earnings, and extravagant in her habits, it will be impossible to prevent the effects of such a course of life on his mind. And when a wife perceives the slightest evidence of alienated affection in her husband, she should inquire at once whether she has not given occasion for it, and exhibited such a spirit as tended inevitably to produce such a result.” Albert Barnes
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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