“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.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 5:21-24]
The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man
Paul cites three specific areas in the Christian household where submission is the will of God:
- Wives should submit to their own husbands.
- Children should submit to their parents.
- Servants should submit to their masters.
The fact that all believers are one in Christ Jesus does not mean that earthly relationships are abolished. We must still respect the various forms of authority and government which God has instituted. Every well-ordered society rests on two supporting pillars—authority and submission. There must be some who exercise authority and some who submit to that rule.
This principle is so basic that it is found even in the Godhead: “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Cor. 11:3.
There must be a head in the home, and there must be obedience to that head. God ordained that the place of headship be give to the man. He indicated this by creating man first, then creating woman for the man. Thus, both in order and purpose of creation, He put man in the place of authority and woman in the place of submission.
Submission never implies inferiority. The Lord Jesus is submissive to God the Father, but in no way is He inferior to Him .Neither is the woman inferior to the man. In many ways she may be superior—in devotedness, in sympathy, in diligence, and in patience. But wives are commanded to submit to their own husbands, as to the Lord. In submitting to the authority of her husband, a wife is submitting to the Lord’s authority. This in itself removes any attitude of reluctance or rebellion.
Nothing could more exalt the role of the wife than comparing it to the role of the church as the Bride of Christ. The church’s submission is the pattern to be followed by the wife.
Husbands are told to love their wives just as Christ also loved the church.
A man and woman wrestling
Instructions for Christian Households
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” [Ephesians 5:22,25]
