the role of the husband

Posted by Doug on Dec 2, 2010 in ALL POSTS, Most Recent Posts | 2 comments

ATTENTION ALL MEN:
What if I could give you one word that would:

• prove to your wife that you are completely in love with her,
• resolve every argument between husband and wife, and
• show the world how loving, kind, compassionate our Savior is toward us…would that interest you?

This is part 2 in the series “The Purpose of the Family”.
CLICK HERE to see part 1
My Thesis:
It is the role of the husband to demonstrate the unwaivering
and sacrificial love that Christ has toward us..His Bride
Paul writes these words in Eph 5:25-27

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 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.

Ready for the ONE WORD that truly represents the manner in which Christ loved His wife?  “DIE”
- and that’s what Jesus did.

Did Jesus ever complain when she, His Bride, was beating him? This woman He came to save insulted Him and pulled out his beard. She whipped him and pressed thorns into His head. When He was at His most vulnerable hours in the Garden she slept. Later His wife denied ever knowing Him. The Husband Jesus was a lamb before the slaughter for us – His Bride. We punched and smacked Him. Upon His face we spit. And to top of it all off, we, His Bride, nailed Him to a cross, and mocked Him until He died.

The entire life of Jesus, this model husband, was one of sacrifice. He had no business aspirations. They might have taken away from the needs of His bride. All personal needs and plans were laid down so that we, His bride, might become everything that we are supposed to be according to the will of The Father. This Husband, This Jesus, spent His life with one mission in mind: “Save my wife – die for her”

So…What has your wife done to you?
Abandon you in some way? In His greatest time if need, while hanging on the cross for His bride, she ran out on Him; denying that she even knew him.

Cheated on you?
Jesus wife was a harlot as well and often remains so. Hosea illustrated this point well.

This Husband of ours, This Jesus, will never stop loving us and pursuing a deeper and more intimate love relationship with one another. It was a choice that he made and it’s not based on our performance.  That’s the picture of a husband by Heaven’s standards. We may never be called to give up our physical being as He was, but we will certainly be challenged mentally and emotionally to die – to lay down our life for our bride.

To the men I end with this: If you are helping your wife become everything that Christ would have her to be, then I would say you are “dying” for her.  I have been married for 26 years.  I know what it means to live for me vs. dying for her. I have failed more times that I have succeeded but I learn and correct it.