April 12, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Find out what pleases the Lord. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the Church; His body of which He is the Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” (Ephesians 5.10; 22-24)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Following the reflection template proposed yesterday concerning “righteousness is the balancing of living in the flesh and in the spirit,” I offered that love and submission were synonymous. Therefore, God’s righteousness reconciles the difference between living in the world and living in the Kingdom of God in the world. I do not mean reconciling as in we can justify our words of profession with our acts of sinfulness. We all have become fairly proficient in justifying a wrong to make it seem right. It is something we learned early on in our lives. It is always a matter of control. It is a way of making our statement that we will submit only to ourselves and that others should submit to us as well. Is there any wonder such vile and destructive conflict exists exponentially in the world today? If everyone is looking out for themselves and believing that everyone else should be looking out for them, too, at the expense of their selves, then no one is looking out for anyone else but themself. This might be akin to that definition of stupidity which says “we do the same things the same way expecting a different outcome.” By that I mean, in association, when everyone is most concerned with themselves and not others then we live in a battling world of competing ones. That, mighty ones of God, is the very reality of living in Hell. In the words of the Highlander, but with a far different application, “There can be only one!“

Now, as we follow Paul’s submission protocol answering the proposal of “What pleases God?”, let’s add a layer of understanding and conflict to where he leads us. That conflict I mention rises up in the question of “Why did Paul mention a correction and direction for women first. In a recent study it was noticed that men have a very difficult time seeing themselves as members of the Church because the Church is called ‘the Bride of Christ.” It is not an unfamiliar terminology. It is rooted in the Old Testament teaching that Israel was the bride of God. It speaks of submission all by itself. So, it stands to reason that Paul would speak to the “women” first because as he does so he weaves men right into the fabric of spiritual submission to God. Now it is not so much that they “cannot identify with women” but that they fight against the call of obedience which is submission to God and God’s Word. It also does not speak to and most certainly can speak against the prioritization of men over women. The world in sin smacks of such confusion. It isn’t biblical at all! On the sixth day of God’s creative effort, humanity was born out of all that was created. Humanity was formed in the very image of God and the image God had for humanity. He saw us as we are meant to be. What is that vision, according to Genesis chapter 1? “And so He created them, male and female” is the word that was given and the word that was commanded. By that Word, the Holy Spirit followed in obedience and submission to form the object of God’s love and affection. They were to be a balanced pair and of purpose together for the glory of God.

Set aside any confusion at this point since I have mentioned the “priority of man over woman.” God has no such priority in mind. It is not a rating system. It is not a comparative system. It is a collaborative system of working together being equally yoked. Now that yoking is not indicative of a 50/50 system as if they are the same but opposite or of equal status, power and authority. Such a 50/50 relationship will tend to move from collaboration to competition. We see the fruit of that transition in today’s world more than ever. So, confusing is this conflict that now “gender identity” has become a destructive element in our society. No, when Paul speaks of hierarchy of men as over women it is with the no-holds barred that the “Man of Christ” is above all. Calling women into accountability calls men into accountability at the same time. It is about the roles we are called to serve in our service to God who is Father of us all. Jesus knew of such relationship and understood that He, too, was answerable to God and God’s will. Though they are as Father and Son, in this world the hierarchy is clear. Jesus says “I do as the Father wills me to do.” Jesus is not above God any more than man is above woman. The balance point is that man is not above Jesus any more than woman is above man. And this image is cast upon the Church, the body of Christ of which Christ is the Head of the Church, His own body. He has made it His body by giving up His own life for our lives. His life for our death. His death for our lives. Our death for His life. Our lives for His death. In that I mean, we preach Christ and Him crucified. It is by His death that we have life and have it abundantly forever.

No, the commission of submission applies to us all. It isn’t about gender identity but our spiritual identity. We are together in this ministry called life. The objective of our ministry is to praise God from whom all blessings flow. Our goal is that we shall make disciples in and of every nation (at least the representatives of those nations) by being His disciples. Being His disciples means we live in proper relationship with God, neighbor, ourselves, the enemy and with one another. We do so not to gain some advantage for ourselves but that we might lift up others, seek and bring to the awareness of salvation those who have been lost or cast out and bring glory to God in the collaborative effort of faith, hope and love. We must not confuse accountability with perfection. I have known those who believe that perfection is the goal and the use of accountability is the tool by which perfection is accomplished. Yes, I know Jesus taught “Be perfect and Your Father in Heaven is perfect.” We ought to be perfectly committed to the perfecting of faith, hope and love as God has made it known to us in His very own nature. We see that nature in Jesus Christ who is the Son of Man and the Son of God. Even Jesus demonstrates the act of obedience and submission to His mother and His stepfather. He keeps the proper modelling in place in this world so that we might see it for ourselves and adopt it as our own. Thus Jesus is submissive to God even to the point of death and not just death but death on a cross. It is the implement of vile destruction approved by the government of the land and sought out by the religious leaders of that same land. They showed their spiritual corruption by consenting and advocating for the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. They are not absolved because they did not take the sledge and pound the nails through Jesus’ flesh nor bind His arms to the yoke of the cross. They had yoked themselves to Rome and not God. What they failed to understand was that the yoked are not the leader. The yoke is tethered to the master of the yoke. That Master is still at the helm today and will never be dethroned.

Therefore, let us consider well the call to obedience and submission in our earthly lives and in our spiritual lives lived out in the Kingdom of God on earth as it will be in Heaven.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit so that others may be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind that we would know that we are Your people and that You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.