Sun, 01 Oct 2017 09:38:22 +0000
By Pastor Jasper Mutale
THE wife needs to understand the role of divine submission. Let us look at the relationship of the Father and Jesus the Son so we can understand this better. We must clearly understand God’s principles of authority and submission in order to understand the roles of wife and husband. God instituted the principle of submission. This principle was put there by God in the beginning.
Phil. 2:5 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus Who, being in very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” The wife submits to her husbands SERVANTHOOD (his ministry). Peter, in embarrassment, did not want Jesus to serve him. He was refusing to submit to the ministry of Jesus. It is this ministry that elevates the person submitting to it. This is how a wife, in her submission, is made great by her husband: She shows honour and respect to his calling as a husband. She allows him to be provider, protector and preserver. She never challenges his headship. You may say pastor Jasper what do you really mean by all these? All our answers are found in the word of God, Jesus is our example and model .Look at these verse now.
Jesus did nothing of His own accord. He only did what the Father did (Read John 5:19-30). He was submissive to the Father out of a love so strong that He said: “Not My will, but Thine be done.” It was His heart’s delight to please the Father. He was EQUAL YET SUBMISSIVE. This submission was not limited to Jesus’ days on earth. It is part of the eternal relationship between Father and Son. There is no inferiority here. He is also God.
1 Cor. 11:3 “Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” Note Jesus’ submission to Father God.
Let us read again Eph. 5:22-24 “Wives, submit to your husbands as 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 Saviour. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Both husband and wife are EQUAL, but the wife has a different role to the husband. It does not mean that the wife is inferior. Woman was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27)
Just as the man is made in the image of God, so too is the woman. Both are completely equal before God in creation.
While the wife is completely equal to the man, she is not exactly the same as the man.
God created Eve to be Adam’s friend. She was to be a helper, but not a servant.
If a man in any way mistreats a woman because he thinks she is less than he, then he is in great error. He has committed the sin of treating someone created in the image of God as something lower than himself.
Therefore the word SUBMIT in Eph. 5:22-24 does not refer to someone of a lower class such as a slave or servant. Submit refers (in Greek) to a “VOLUNTARY CHOICE” on the part of an equal. It refers to AN ATTITUDE OF THE HEART. This is opposite to the idea of slavery. This submitting is out of love and obedience to God. It is God’s order of Headship as Christ is Head of the church. To say that women are inferior, is to say Christ is inferior to the Father which is not true. Christ is subject to the Father and, in the same way, the wife is subject to her husband. The concepts of authority and submission have become perverted in so many ways by worldly thinking.
God has made a SOVEREIGN DECISION regarding headship and subordination. We serve where God calls us to serve. Remember we are talking about functional authority and submission of those who are mutually equal. It is all VOLUNTARY OBEDIENCE to the Word of God. Women are to be respectful and dedicated to the Lord and His Word. A wife’s submission to her husband will always be an outstanding distinction of a GODLY WIFE. We as wives should accept this and love our husbands as they are instructed to love their wives too. God is so wise. A virtuous woman glorifies her husband, while the husband glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
The REBELLION of a wife against her husband is exactly the same spirit as that of a disobedient Church (body of Christ) against the Head which is Christ. The wife should voluntarily accept her husband’s authority as unto the Lord, even as Christ accepts the authority of the Father. There is a great truth that a wife who in faith and patience submits to her husband’s authority, moves God to make the husband a responsible, caring head. This can be a big test for a woman, but God honours the wife who submits to her husband out of obedience to Him.
There is also a QUALIFIED SUBMISSION referred to in Eph. 5:22-24: “Submit to your OWN husbands.” Women are not called to submit to all men in general. Their submission is SPECIFIED. Wives are to submit only to their own husbands – IN EVERYTHING. In other words, the OBJECT of the wife’s submission is her OWN HUSBAND and not just any man. This is an intimate possessive submission, because the wife is the WEAKER VESSEL. 1 Pet. 3:7 “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner (vessel) and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”
As the weaker vessel, the wife is the one who is to be provided for, cared for, protected and preserved. God did not design a woman to fend for herself and rely on her own resources.
Furthermore, SUBMISSION IS PROPER. Col. 3:18 “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.” FITTING means “seemly or proper” and is used of things legally binding. Therefore it goes against basic principles for a wife to be independent. The unbelieving or disobedient husband Now you may ask, “what if my husband is not a believer? “When you read 1 pet. 3:1-6 the Bible tells us Verse by verse, Look at Verse 1: submit anyway even if your husband is not a believer. Look very closer at this verse below and see what it is saying to you
An attitude of submission, of awe, reverence and respect for your husband will win your husband. Sadly, many Christian women despise their unbelieving or carnal husbands. They develop a holier-than-thou attitude. They give them the impression that God Himself has rejected them and so the husband stays away and make her life more miserable. Verse 2: says win him by your behaviour. “Chaste conduct” means “pure motives” or “purity and reverence “ (NIV). “Fear” means “awe, reverence and respect, where there is humility and a lack of pride.
We live in a world where the emphasis is on the outward appearance and possessions. Many wives wear their husbands down by always demanding things. If they cannot get what they want, they throw tantrums or sulk. Eventually even her outward beauty looks ugly to him. According to Prov 21:19 it is “Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.” Has this wife ever wondered why her husband is never at home?
It is not that the outward is wrong, but if that is what we place our heart and desire on, it is wrong. There must be a pre-occupation with inner values. Concentrate on developing the spiritual things rather than the things of the world. Certain things happen when you concentrate on the inner man, namely a MEEK or GENTLE and QUIET SPIRIT. This means that the woman with a gentle and still or peaceful attitude is what pleases the Lord. She is not someone who has to prove herself – she is contented with her role as a woman. This attitude is what the Word of God calls GODLINESS. The opposite of this is a nagging and screaming woman. A godly woman is contented and satisfied and secure. The point is that wives take a position of submission. In this way the husband glorifies the Lord.
For fellowship contact 0966487131 or Jasper.Mutale@yahoo.com
