Ephesians 5:21-33 Easy-to-Read Version
Wives and Husbands
21 Be willing to serve each other out of respect for Christ.
22 Wives, be willing to serve your husbands the same as the Lord. 23 A husband is the head of his wife, just as Christ is the head of the church. Christ is the Savior of the church, which is his body. 24 The church serves under Christ, so it is the same with you wives. You should be willing to serve your husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives the same as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He died to make the church holy. He used the telling of the Good News to make the church clean by washing it with water. 27 Christ died so that he could give the church to himself like a bride in all her beauty. He died so that the church could be holy and without fault, with no evil or sin or any other thing wrong in it.
28 And husbands should love their wives like that. They should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself, 29 because no one ever hates his own body, but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church 30 because we are parts of his body. 31 The Scriptures say, “That is why a man will leave his father and mother and join his wife, and the two people will become one.”[a] 32 That secret truth is very important—I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 But each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself. And a wife must respect her husband.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Filled, Overflowing, with Wonder AND PRAISE
Psalm 145 Complete Jewish Bible
145 (0) Praise. By David:
(1) I will praise you to the heights, my God, the king;
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you;
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Adonai and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is beyond all searching out.
4 Each generation will praise your works to the next
and proclaim your mighty acts.
5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor
of your majesty and on the story of your wonders.
6 People will speak of your awesome power,
and I will tell of your great deeds.
7 They will gush forth the fame of your abounding goodness,
and they will sing of your righteousness.
8 Adonai is merciful and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in grace.
9 Adonai is good to all;
his compassion rests on all his creatures.
10 All your creatures will thank you, Adonai,
and your faithful servants will bless you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingship,
and they will tell about your might;
12 to let everyone know of your mighty acts
and the glorious majesty of your kingship.
13 Your kingship is an everlasting kingship,
your reign continues through all generations.
14 Adonai supports all who fall
and lifts up all who are bent over.
15 The eyes of all are looking to you;
you give them their food at the right time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Adonai is righteous in all his ways,
full of grace in all he does.
18 Adonai is close to all who call on him,
to all who sincerely call on him.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 Adonai protects all who love him,
but all the wicked he destroys.
21 My mouth will proclaim the praise of Adonai;
all people will bless his holy name forever and ever.
In the beloved hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” Charles Wesley describes our husband, wife, family life in God’s coming kingdom:
“Changed from glory into glory . . . we [will] cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.”
Being, living in the presence of God, we will be so filled with wonder, love, and praise for the Lord that, in a way, we won’t be able to think of anything else.
The celebration in Psalm 145 is similar.
The psalmist is filled with praise, wonder at the beauty of God, all God’s works.
The writer sings about it in grand language.
He says he will praise God “for ever and ever . . . every day.”
He says that no one can fathom God’s greatness.
God’s majesty is described with “glorious splendor,” and God’s goodness is described as “abundant.” God is “slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,“ God is gracious and compassionate,” and all his works “tell of the glory” of his everlasting kingdom. With all the stark realization, with the senses shattering revelation of such an amazing God, no wonder the psalmist is filled with praise.
Because we, our families, have such a great and beautiful future promised to us, we can resonate with some other phrases in Wesley’s hymn as we look forward to living into God’s kingdom in hope: “Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee.”
Reverence for Christ, Reverence for Each Other
Ephesians 5:6-21 Common English Bible
Be children of light
6 Nobody should deceive you with stupid ideas. God’s anger comes down on those who are disobedient because of this kind of thing. 7 So you shouldn’t have anything to do with them. 8 You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, so live your life as children of light. 9 Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth. 10 Therefore, test everything to see what’s pleasing to the Lord, 11 and don’t participate in the unfruitful actions of darkness. Instead, you should reveal the truth about them. 12 It’s embarrassing to even talk about what certain persons do in secret. 13 But everything exposed to the light is revealed by the light. 14 Everything that is revealed by the light is light. Therefore, it says, Wake up, sleeper![a] Get up from the dead,[b] and Christ will shine on you.[c]
Be filled with the Spirit
15 So be careful to live your life wisely, not foolishly. 16 Take advantage of every opportunity because these are evil times. 17 Because of this, don’t be ignorant, but understand the Lord’s will. 18 Don’t get drunk on wine, which produces depravity. Instead, be filled with the Spirit in the following ways: 19 speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; sing and make music to the Lord in your hearts; 20 always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 and submit to each other out of respect for Christ.
People revere and people submit to one another for many various reasons—on the basis of politics or social structures, or even on the basis of pragmatism.
Sometimes it’s much easier (and certainly nicer!) just to submit to people than it is to take the risk of seeming offensive, impolite, rude or confrontational.
None of these reasons, however, are the #1 motivating factors for Christian submission. Instead, the distinguishing feature of our submission to one another should be that submission is done “out of reverence for Christ.”
Bowing our knees to Jesus keeps us from being preoccupied with ourselves.
Reverence for Christ doesn’t only pull us away from ourselves; it pulls us toward Jesus.
In Him we see how to heed the call of submission, for it was Jesus Himself who taught, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant … even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, (Mark 10:45) and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26, 28).
He not only said those words but lived them.
Consider, for example, Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13.
As John records,
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (John 13:3-5).
What was happening here?
Nothing less than the submission of God the Son to God the Father.
He who came from God and is God was making Himself nothing by “taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).
Jesus came to do not His own will but His Father’s (John 6:38).
As a result, He accepted hardship. He was isolated and ill-treated.
He endured malice, misunderstanding, and death.
Jesus was broken under the weight of our sin in order that our broken lives may be repaired and transformed. It was He who came to die on a cross, submitting Himself to the will of the Father, in order that He might provide a ransom for all who are humble enough to bow down and say, “That is the very #1 Savior I need.”
Philippians 2:1-16 Common English Bible
Imitate Christ
2 Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any sharing in the Spirit, any sympathy, 2 complete my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, being united, and agreeing with each other. 3 Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. 4 Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others. 5 Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:
6 Though he was in the form of God,
he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
7 But he emptied himself
by taking the form of a slave
and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God highly honored him
and gave him a name above all names,
10 so that at the name of Jesus everyone
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Carry out your salvation
12 Therefore, my loved ones, just as you always obey me, not just when I am present but now even more while I am away, carry out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes. 14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing 15 so that you may be blameless and pure, innocent children of God surrounded by people who are crooked and corrupt. Among these people you shine like stars in the world 16 because you hold on to the word of life. This will allow me to say on the day of Christ that I haven’t run for nothing or worked for nothing.
When we consider Christ as He truly is, we cannot but be moved to revere Him.
Who else would we exalt, honor, respect and love more than the divine second Person of the Trinity, who was willing to fully submit Himself even unto death in obedience to His Father and for the good of His people? Philippians 2:1-16
And when we honor, revere, submit to Christ, we are ready to have the same attitude as Christ: one that does not grasp for social, political prominence or strive for authority or stand on our rights, but one that obeys God by submitting our own husband, wife, children interests to those of our brothers and sisters.
There are many reasons why we as a family may choose to submit to another (and many more reasons why we may choose not to do so). But let this be true of you: that you submit yourself to others in your church out of reverence for Christ, who submitted to His Father and, in doing so, became your only Savior.
Laboring, Submitting, Re-Building A Strong Family
Galatians 5:18-26 Common English Bible
18 But if you are being led by the Spirit, you aren’t under the Law. 19 The actions that are produced by selfish motives are obvious, since they include sexual immorality, moral corruption, doing whatever feels good, 20 idolatry, drug use and casting spells, hate, fighting, obsession, losing your temper, competitive opposition, conflict, selfishness, group rivalry, 21 jealousy, drunkenness, partying, and other things like that. I warn you as I have already warned you, that those who do these kinds of things won’t inherit God’s kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit. 26 Let’s not become arrogant, make each other angry, or be jealous of each other.
One of the closest things to the heart of God is the family. God created the family to be in relationship with him. God created the family to be in service of him. God created the family to mentor future generations of followers.
Family start with a term called marriage. A marriage is the institution of God. Whom God has brought together let no man asunder.
In a world with so much suffering, happy families are harder and harder to find. Perhaps you came from a broken family—
A family’s health and happiness can be broken by alcoholism, physical abuse, sexual abuse—even by wrong ideas about child-rearing. But broken families can be rebuilt, and Scripture provides a blueprint to show how this can be done!
1. Rebuild your family with Love: (Ephesians.5:21-26, 6:1).
Love is one of the impotent criteria lacking in families today.
Most of the young couple who were in love for couple of years are broken because of the lacking of love.
Galatians. 5:22: The First fruit of all is “LOVE”.
IN Greek there are 3 types of Love
1. Eros: This is a selfish kind of love.
2. Agape: This is a special term which represents the divine-love
3. Philos: This is a unique kind of love like the one you have for a companion or pal. It refers to loving one another just like your brother or sister.
2. Rebuild your family with your Time.
In recent years there seem to have been a breakdown in families …. families sitting down to dinner, praying, sharing meals and conversation…and spending quality time together. In my home, for example, due to different work schedules and other activities,
ILLUSTRATION:
SON: “Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
DAD: “Yeah sure, what is it?”
SON: “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?”
SON: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?”
DAD: “If you must know, I make $100 an hour.”
SON: “Oh! (With his head down).
SON: “Daddy, may I please borrow $50?”
The father was furious.
DAD: “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard every day for such this childish behavior.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.
The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $ 50 and he really didn’t ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.
DAD: “Are you asleep, son?”
SON: “No daddy, I’m awake”.
DAD: “I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the $50 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, smiling.
SON: “Oh, thank you daddy!”
Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father.
DAD: “Why do you want more money if you already have some?”
SON: “Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do. “Daddy, I have $100 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.” The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.
It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.
Do remember to share that $100 worth of your time with someone you love?
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family.
Some things are more important.
3. Rebuild your family with Christian ethics: (Joshua 24:15)
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The right place to build a life and a family is with Jesus Christ.
So before you focus on building a happy and healthy home, you need to give your heart and life to Jesus.
The family life is not man centered but God centered.
Marriage is one of the greatest gifts God ever gave to humanity.
But, it is truly beautiful when it is operates like God intended it to.
God and His Word must come first. Biblical ethics shows how the man and women in Christ must live in the presence of God and in the power of the Spirit.
May your families be once again be rebuilt with
1. with your Love
2. with your Time
3. with Christian Ethics
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
A very familiar exchange in our household …
“Why don’t you throw away those old pants?” my wife said.
“They’re stained and frayed around the cuffs. They make you look sloppy.”
I bristled at her suggestion. It pushed my “contrary button,” as we say in our family. I dug in both my heels and got stubborn: “Yeah, but they’re my most comfortable pants. Who cares how they look?”
I’ve found that a lot of people have a “contrary button.”
If we don’t like someone’s idea, even if their suggestion is reasonably, politely, and mildly expressed, hardcore hard hearted, rebelliousness stirs in our heart.
Submission calls for humility, but we will often choose to be stubborn rather than submit. Psalm 32:9 counsels us, “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle.”
Why does Paul say, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”?
Surely it is because Christ, though being fully God, “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:7).
He served his disciples by washing their feet (John 13).
And he died the death of a criminal—for us.
If our Lord humbled himself and submitted to death on a cross, why do I or my wife feel we should be boss all the time, always in control and getting my way?
Let’s learn submissiveness from him.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 139 The Message
139 1-6 God, investigate my life;
get all the facts firsthand.
I’m an open book to you;
even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking.
You know when I leave and when I get back;
I’m never out of your sight.
You know everything I’m going to say
before I start the first sentence.
I look behind me and you’re there,
then up ahead and you’re there, too—
your reassuring presence, coming and going.
This is too much, too wonderful—
I can’t take it all in!
7-12 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit?
to be out of your sight?
If I climb to the sky, you’re there!
If I go underground, you’re there!
If I flew on morning’s wings
to the far western horizon,
You’d find me in a minute—
you’re already there waiting!
Then I said to myself, “Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night I’m immersed in the light!”
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light, they’re all the same to you.
13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.
17-22 Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!
And you murderers—out of here!—
all the men and women who belittle you, God,
infatuated with cheap god-imitations.
See how I hate those who hate you, God,
see how I loathe all this godless arrogance;
I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred.
Your enemies are my enemies!
23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
then guide me on the road to eternal life.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 