| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net It Starts at Home. Every person is a member of a kingdom; one or the other. "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:" Col. 1:3 There is no middle ground - John 3:18, and 36. Although God is sovereign over every area of life, we tend to compartmentalize what we determine to yield to Him. We determine some areas of our life are Sacred, and reserve others as Secular. "God can have this area of my life, but I'm hanging on to the other." Let's look at the application of this in a controversial area called --- Marriage. God established and organized (put in order) husbands to sacrificially love their wives. We will talk about this later. The wife is to: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." Eph. 5:22-24 In vs 33, she is to "reverence" her husband. Nugget: Culture is diametrically opposed to this. The feminist movement has been nothing but destructive; in fact culture has abandoned Biblical roles completely. Question - Has it worked? What is a Role? It is delegating (not relegating) authority and submission to such as is God Ordained, and is structured (manifest) in the areas of government, work, Church and home. The Perversion (bill of goods) the world has sold us is that submission has anything to do with worth or status. Illustration. When I am driving down the road and Terry Cochran directs me to pull over or stop, I will. No questions asked. Why? I am submitting (biblically) "to every ordinance (institution) of man for the Lord's sake:" 1st Peter 2:13 The principal is this = How can I tell you I submit to God when you see me rebelling against the God ordained authorities around me. Nugget: There is no wimp clause for whether or not I agree with them. Likewise, the wife submits to her husband not because she is inferior (she is not - Gal. 3:28 and 1st Peter 3:7) or of less worth or less intelligent, but Because God Says So. For those of you ladies that are about to wad up the paper, we will get more than even with the guys next time. I have seen many women balk violently to being likened to a "helper", but here's something to consider. Jesus told his disciples it was good that He was to die and go away, so that "The Comforter" or "The Helper" (same word) could come. This is the Holy Spirit, and part of the very Triune God. Is anyone going to tell Him he is of less worth because He is respectfully submitting? Jesus Himself who "being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men". Phil. 2:6-7 Then became obedient to death (which He didn't have to do), and not just death, but the death reserved for the lowest form of criminal, The Cross. Anyone think Jesus was of less worth or power for that matter? Remember what He told Pilate just before His crucifixion: "You have no authority over me save that which my Heavenly Father has given you." And my personal favorite, 1st Cor. 11:3 "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." Does this make Christ of less worth? No, there were things Jesus willingly subjected Himself to as in the Human sacrificial God with us. I could go on about the "Dulos" or the fact that In Heb. 1:8 God the Father calls God the Son, God. There is no power struggle in heaven, and any submitting is done as ours should be, out of love and respect. Think about this during the coming year. Why is this (submission) the hardest thing for Christians to get a grip on? God Bless. |
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