Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. On the surface this may appear to lower the standard from the perfect eternal love of Christ, to one's imperfect and fallen love of oneself. But this is not speaking of the measure or quality of a husband's love – it is not saying, husbands love your wife as much as you love yourself, or in the same manner that you love yourself, but rather, it reveals the nature of the marital relationship. Husbands and wives are by nature, one flesh, and so they make up one body. When a husband cares for his wife He cares for himself because they are one; what he does for her he does to himself. Just as the husband is one flesh with his wife, so the church is one body with Christ. So martial love is a portrait not only of the sacrificial death of Christ for the church (described in v. 25), but our union with Christ (described in vss. 28-32). Verse 32 amplifies this by describing the one flesh relationship between the husband and wife as a great mystery, which portrays Christ and the church. So the metaphor is just as important – just as the husband and wife are one flesh, so Christ is in union with His people. If you want to understand God's meaning for marriage you have to grasp that we are dealing with a copy and an original, a metaphor and a reality, and parable and a truth. And the original, the reality, the truth is God's marriage to his people, or Christ's marriage to the church. While the copy, the metaphor, the parable is a husband's marriage to his wife. Geoffrey Bromiley wrote, "As God made man in His own image, so He made earthly marriage in the image of His own eternal marriage with His people."
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“ Great Sermon! ” Loving your wife as Christ loves the church. Very good sermon!
Jim M (6/19/2011)
from JC, New Jersey
“ Wonderful Sermon! ” A truly wonderful sermon capping off chapter 5 of Ephesians. If we, the men of the church, can only understand this all important biblical truth concerning marriage. If we truly get this, it would end divorce amongst the people of the church. Sadly, and unfortunately, we see how high the divorce rate is amongst believers shows that the body of Christ doesn't get this. It's our prayer that there would not be one more divorce amongst the church of God. Please men, listen to this sermon on the position of the man in the marriage. You will be blessed.
Jim. M.
A native of New York, Pastor LoSardo was saved by the grace of God in 1986 after hearing the Gospel from his brother, while pursuing a career in scientific research. He was ordained into the ministry in 1995 and served as the Associate Pastor of a large Messianic Congregation...
