“Love and Submission in Relationships”

(Ephesians 5:22 – 6:9)

Series: God’s Fulfilled Promise [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

March 14, 2021

The Passage

Ephesians 5:22 – 6:9

5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body. 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. 4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. 7 Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, 8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. 9 And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Introductory Comments:

If I say the word submission what comes to mind? 

What if I told you Jesus submitted himself for others? Philippians 2:5-8 says, “5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.” [on screen]

What if I told you that Paul instructed followers of Jesus to submit to one another. We just studied that last week. Paul says in verses 18 and 21 of chapter 5, “ . . . but be filled by the Spirit . . . submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.” [on screen]

Submission normally carries with it a negative reaction. Have you ever thought of why that is? Why do we think of submission as negative?

If Jesus modeled it and commended it, if Paul instructed us to do it, if it’s a result of being filled with the Spirit, shouldn’t we desire it?

Well, today we’re going to consider love and submission in our relationships. Before we do so, let’s pray together.

(prayer)

You may have certain tools or utensils in your house that have a particular function and they are not really utilized to the best of their ability unless they operate properly. I have here with me such a tool. This is a banana slicer (hold up banana slicer). This banana slicer is designed for a certain purpose and it works best when it operates according to its design. In the same way, God has a specific design and function for human beings, and even more specific for those who are followers