Below you will find the rough draft outline for the sermon delivered at PSNBC.ORG on Sunday May 23. Please forgive any typos or misspellings.

Relationships: Marriage a Gospel Witness

INTRO: Our engagement, obedience first love secondary.

Eph 5:22-33  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.  (31)  “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.

Biblical marriage does not look like the world.

Modern takes on marriage, though good in their books, methods an procedures, often muddy the water. Marriage is not about us. It is about the glory of God.

Is summary, this passage in Ephesians carries the meaning that God created marriage to demonstrate His glory. In all of creation, marriage was to exalt Him.

OUR TEXT

Eph 5:22-33  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. 

• Abuse note about misinterpreting this scripture/What to do.
• Wives are not inferior, but God has created each person for the duty of glorifying God. The role of the wife as such is that she is the nurturer of the home. She literally sets the tone of the upbringing of the children. She is an example to family and those around her of what it is like for a person to be reconciled with God.
• God simply teaches us that He has a purposeful order.

(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. 

• Husbands have a directive to lead their wives in sanctification. This is the continual refinement of Holiness. It cannot be done by any other method than by love, a sacrificial love.
• Both husband and wife are called to sacrifice in ways that clearly benefit the other They also play to one another’s strengths.

(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.

• Love, over and again is the command of God to the husband.

 (31)  “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.

• Thus, the marriage is a picture of our relationship to Christ and the work of love for holiness. Marriages in Christianity are to be a teaching tool and an example that gives God the glory in a confused and bewildered world.

Nor does it take its clues from the world. Worldly marriage is often self-centered driven. “What’s in it for me?”

A secular marriage can be fantastic, it can be long lasting and filled with love. Ut as Christians, our calling is to have a marriage that honors God that is quite evident to the church, our children, and the lost.

WHAT DOES BIBLICAL MARRIAGE LOOK LIKE?

Biblical marriage is a lot like a tandem bicycle. 1 drives the other supports.

Without the encouragement of support =drudgery

Without a clear leader= ambling without purpose

Biblical marriage is quite different from the Greco-Roman or even Jewish marriages that existed at the time that these Scriptures were written. Because of the culture, both Jewish and Gecko-Roman, the idea of submission was involved.

The only time submitting is a problem is when you do not want to submit.

This is so because of 1, your heart position 2 poor leadership that you cannot respect.

To lead in biblical marriage is to be a leader who leads with love and not threats or conditions.

Biblical marriage is a heart issue that seeks to glorify God together.

Christian Gospel Centered marriage therefore demonstrates how God makes a difference.

• In trials, growth, and submitting to Jesus
• In honesty and forgiveness
• In Fidelity
• In Worship
• In cleaving together
• In raising Children
• Endurance and perseverance
• In aging and the chapters of life
• The list goes on.

As Christ loves the church, so should the husband love the wife. This is imperative, non-negotiable.

GOD’S PLAN

Gen 2:24  Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

It is a joy despite circumstances. As a matter of fact, the cleaving of a marriage often occurs as the couple seek God together through the hard trials of life, rather than placing blame or working in selfishness.

The union between man and wife is to grow and return to a condition of being unashamed

Gen 2:25  R1And the manH120 and his wifeH802 were bothH8147 nakedH6174 and were not ashamedH954.

bôš: A verb meaning to be ashamed, to act shamefully, or to put to shame. It is both an external and a subjective experience, ranging from disgrace (Hos_10:6) to guilt (Ezr_9:6). In Gen_2:25, shame is related to the sexual nature of humans. Moreover, to act shamefully is equivalent to acting unwisely (Pro_10:5; Pro_14:35). To be ashamed is to experience distress, as farmers with no harvest (Jer_14:4; Joe_1:11), but the blessing of God means that one will never be put to shame (Psa_25:20; Joe_2:26-27).

Gen 2:23  Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

It finds joy in pleasing the other as a means of honoring God.

The motive of biblical marriage is to honor God.

• The Husband loves His wife
• How the wife submits and respects her husband.

Purposes of a Biblical Marriage

• To complete each other
• To raise godly children
• To honor and glorify God

CONCLUSION

God calls us to be holy and no other relationship (except with Jesus) will be used more for our sanctification.

To neglect your marriage is to shun Christ’s work, His best for you.

Marriage like salvation and church membership is a covenant.

Your committal to God is greater than to your spouse, but God works through your spouse.

Marriage is a witness to the world of

• Love
• Forgiveness
• Mercy and grace
• Submission and sacrifice

Marriage is a gospel witness.