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THIS MYSTERY IS GREAT: to
musterion touto mega estin, (3SPAI):
(Eph
6:19; Col 2:2; 1Ti 3:8,16)
Note:
All verbs in
bold red
indicate commands, not suggestions!
Also
hold mouse pointer over
underlined links for pop up of Scripture which stays open and can
be copied.
This mystery is
great - As a wife is to her husband, so the church is to Christ.
Marriage is a reflection of the magnificent mystery of union between
Christ and His church, completely unknown until the New Testament.
MacArthur
writes that...
The sacredness of the church is wed
to the sacredness of marriage; so by your marriage, you are either a
symbol or a denial of Christ and His church. (MacArthur, J. The
Fulfilled Family. Chicago: Moody Press)
John Piper
comments that...
And, with that as his clue, he
unfolds the meaning of marriage: it’s a symbol of Christ’s love for the
church represented in the husband’s loving headship toward his wife; and
it’s a symbol of the church’s glad submission to Christ represented in
the wife’s relation to her husband.
He calls Ge 2:24 a “mystery”
because God did not reveal clearly all his purposes for the marriage of
male and female in Genesis. There were hints and pointers in the Old
Testament that marriage was like the relation of God and his people. But
only when Christ came did the mystery of marriage get spelled out in
detail. It is meant to be a portrait of Christ’s covenant with his
people, his commitment to the church. (Male
and Female He Created Them in the Image of God
)
So marriage is like a metaphor or an
image or a picture or parable that stands for something more than a man
and a woman becoming one flesh. It stands for the relationship between
Christ and the church. That’s the deepest meaning of marriage. It’s
meant to be a living drama of how Christ and the church relate to each
other. (Husbands
Who Love Like Christ and the Wives Who Submit to Them
)
Spurgeon
wrote...
Unity, mark you, for that is the
essence of the marriage-bond. We are one with Christ, who made himself
one with his people.
Constable
writes that...
The relationship that exists between
a husband and his wife is the same as the one that exists between Christ
and His church. The church has as close a tie to Christ spiritually as a
wife has to her husband spiritually.
Lloyd-Jones
has an interesting comment writing that...
This is true in regard to the pattern
of the first man and the first woman. “Woman was made at the beginning
as the result of an operation which God performed upon man. How does the
church come into being? As the result of an operation which God
performed on the Second Man, His only begotten, beloved Son on Calvary’s
hill. A deep sleep fell upon Adam. A deep sleep fell upon the Son of
God, He gave up the ghost, He expired, and there in that operation the
church was taken out. As the woman was taken out of Adam, so the church
is taken out of Christ. The woman was taken out of the side of Adam; and
it is from the Lord’s bleeding, wounded side that the church comes.
One spirit with the Lord:
Jesus, the glorified,
Esteems the church for which He bled,
His body and His bride.
—Mary Bowley Peters
Mystery
(3466)
(musterion
from mustes = one initiated [as into the
Greco-Roman religious "mystery" cults] from mueo = to close or
shut) (Click
word study on
musterion) as used in classical
Greek conveyed the idea of silence in the rites of the "mystery"
religions so common in the Greco-Roman Empire. Musterion referred
to religious secrets which were confided only to the initiated. Thus in
Paul's day, musterion embrace ideas such as "a secret rite," "secret
teaching," and "a divine mystery which is beyond human comprehension."
The "mystery-religions" had their secrets and signs as modern secret
societies have today. Those initiated into these pagan cults, knew these
secret signs.
Musterion
in Scripture takes on a completely different meaning and does not refer
to truths know only to a select, initiated few but in contrast was is a
previously hidden purpose of God which when uncovered is understood by
the Spirit-taught believer. In other words musterion signifies those
truths which are part of God's plan and can only be understood as He
reveals them by His Spirit through His Word. Musterion is
a
truth which without special revelation would have been unknown and thus
is commonly used with words denoting revelation or knowledge (e.g., "to
know the mysteries", (Mt 13:11), "revelation of the mystery", (Ro
16:25-note)
or "made known...the mystery", Eph 3:3-note)
The secret
counsels of God remain hidden from the ungodly (to them they are a true
"mystery" as the word is commonly used in English) but when these truths
are revealed to the godly, they are understood by them. The mystery
is not in the fact that the truths are difficult to interpret, but that
they are impossible to interpret until their meaning is revealed at
which time the truth becomes plain.
Mysteries in
the Scripture fall into two categories. Some have already been
revealed, and among these are the incarnation of Christ and the
salvation of sinners. Others are yet to be seen, such as the general
resurrection, the coming Antichrist, and the evil of the last day. It is
comforting to realize that all the mysteries which bear on our salvation
are already revealed to readers of Scripture.
Vincent
defines musterion as that
which was kept hidden from the world
until revealed at the appointed time, and which is a secret to ordinary
eyes, but is made known by divine revelation." (Vincent, M. R. Word
studies in the New Testament. Vol. 4, Page 234-235).
There are 28 uses of musterion in the NT - Mt 13:11; Mk. 4:11; Lk
8:10; Ro 11:25; 16:25; 1Co. 2:1, 7; 4:1; 13:2; 14:2; 15:51; Ep 1:9; 3:3,
4, 9; 5:32; 6:19; Col. 1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3; 2Th 2:7; 1Ti 3:9, 16; Rev.
1:20; 10:7; 17:5, 7
F B Meyer writes in his devotional commentary on Ephesians...
Here is a mystery indeed. That scene in Eden is also a parable. It was
not good for Christ to be alone. He needed one to love and to give love.
But there was none among unfallen angels that could answer to Him. And
therefore God the Father sought a bride for his Son from among the
children of men; yea, He took the Second Eve from the wounded side of
the Second Man, as He lay asleep in the garden-grave.
Redeemed men compose that bride. The Saviour loves them, as a true man
who for the first time loves a pure and noble woman. He does not love
them because they are fair, but to make them so. He has approved his
love by becoming man, and giving Himself to death. By his blood, and
Word, and Spirit, He is sanctifying and purifying them for Himself. The
process is long and severe; but He nourishes and cherishes them, as a
man does his wounded flesh. And ere long, when the bride is complete in
numbers and in beauty, the mystery that now veils her shall be flung
aside, and amid the joy of creation, He will present her to Himself,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; bearing his name, sharing his
rank, and position, and wealth, and power, and glory, for ever and ever.
Then the Church shall cleave to Him for ever, and He shall cleave to
her. And they twain shall be one spirit. And his own prayer shall be
realized, offered on the eve of his agony and passion, "The glory which
Thou hast given Me, I have given unto them; that they may be one, even
as We are one." (F. B. Meyer. Ephesians - A Devotional Commentary)
BUT I AM
SPEAKING WITH REFERENCE TO CHRIST AND THE CHURCH: ego de lego (1SPAI)
eis Christon kai eis ten ekklesian:
(Ps 45:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17; Song 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; Is 54:5; 62:4,5; Jn 3:29; 2Co 11:2;
Re 19:7,8; 21:2)
I am speaking
with reference to Christ and the Church - John MacArthur asks...
Why is submission as well as
sacrificial, purifying, and caring love so strongly emphasized in
Scripture? Because the sacredness of the church is wed to the sacredness
of marriage. Your marriage is either a symbol or a denial of Christ and
His church. (MacArthur, J. Different by Design)
Christ
(5547)
(Christos from chrio = to anoint, rub with oil, consecrate
to an office) is the Anointed One, the Messiah, Christos being
the Greek equivalent of the transliterated Hebrew word Messiah.
Church (1577)
(ekklesia from ekkaléo = call out in turn from ek =
out + kaleo = call) literally "called-out ones". The Greeks used
ekklesia for assembly of citizens called out to transact city
business. The church is a living organism, composed of living members
joined together; through which Christ works, carries out His purposes
and He lives.
Everyone who has
been saved belongs to the body of Christ, the universal church. The
universal church is manifested in the world by individual local
churches, each of which is to be a microcosm of the body of Christ. The
church is to function under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, operating
under His sovereign rule. Jesus Christ is the Founder and Lord of His
church and has guaranteed its perpetuity until He returns.
John Piper writes that...
In other words, the covenant involved in leaving mother and father and
holding fast to a spouse and becoming one flesh is a portrayal of the
covenant between Christ and his church. Marriage exists most ultimately
to display the covenant-keeping love between Christ and his church. ( Marriage:
God’s Showcase of Covenant-Keeping Grace
) |
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Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless,
each
individual
among you
also
is to
love
his
own
wife
even as
himself,
and the
wife
must see to it that she
respects
her
husband
(NASB:
Lockman) |
|
Greek:
plen
kai
humeis
oi
kath'
ena
hekastos
ten
heautou
gunaika
houtos
agapato
os
heauton,
e
de
gune
hina
phobetai
ton
andra.
Amplified: However,
let each man of you [without exception] love his wife as [being in a
sense] his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and
reverences her husband [hat she notices him, regards him, honors him,
prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and hat she defers to him,
praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly].
(Amplified
Bible - Lockman)
NLT: So again I say, each man must love his wife as he
loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (NLT
- Tyndale House)
Phillips: In practice what I have said amounts to
this: let every one of you who is a husband love his wife as he loves
himself; let the wife reverence her husband. (Phillips:
Touchstone)
Wuest: Nevertheless, also as for you, let each one in
this manner be loving his own wife as himself, and the wife, let her
be continually treating her husband with deference and reverential
obedience. (Erdmans)
Young's Literal: but ye also, every one in
particular--let each his own wife so love as himself, and the
wife--that she may reverence the husband. |
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NEVERTHELESS, EACH INDIVIDUAL
AMONG YOU ALSO IS TO
LOVE
HIS OWN WIFE EVEN AS HIMSELF: plen kai humeis oi kath' ena
hekastos ten heautou gunaika houtos agapato (3SPAM) os heauton.:
(Ep 5:25,28,29; Col 3:19; 1Pe
3:7)
There is no more
definitive statement of God’s ideal for marriage than Ephesians 5:32.
When believing husbands and believing wives walk in the power of the
Spirit, subject themselves to Christ holy fear, yield to His Word
and His control, and are mutually submissive, blessing is the result.
Spurgeon
comments...
Thus the Spirit of God follows us to
our homes, and teaches us how to live to the glory of God. May he help
us so to do, for Christ’s sake! Amen.
McGee
comments that Paul's word...
Nevertheless brings us down to
earth with a jolt. This is the practical part about marriage. Oh, how
sin has marred this glorious relationship—as it has marred everything
else—but this relationship can be yours if you want it to be the best.
Paul brings the reader back to the
ordinary routine of Christian living in the home. “Let each love his
wife as himself.” This shows the kind of husband to whom the wife is to
be in subjection. The husband and the wife in the home are to set forth
in simplicity the mystery of the coming glory. This is a very practical
application of that which is highly idealistic. He brings the romantic
into the realm of reality.
(McGee,
J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson
or
Logos)
Each individual
among you - Paul addresses every husband individually without
naming him as such and encourages (actually he commands -
present imperative
- as our habitual, continuous practice) each to go on loving his wife as
his very self.
Remember husbands
what God commands, He always enables. We can't love our wives in our
strength, but only in the grace and power supplied by the indwelling
Spirit. Try to love your wives to the point of being willing to die for
them and see how far you get in your own strength.
MacDonald
commenting on husbands loving their wife as themselves says...
Not merely as you might love
yourself, but in recognition of the fact that she is one with you.
(MacDonald,
W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or
Logos)
Love (25)
(agapao
related to noun
agape -
see
word study) describes the love
God gives freely, sacrificially and unconditionally regardless of
response -- love that goes out not only to the lovable but to one’s
enemies or those that don't "deserve" it. Agapao speaks
especially of love as based on evaluation and choice, a matter of will
and action. This love is not sentimental or emotional but obedient and
reflective of the act of one's will with the ultimate desire being for
another's highest good. Since it is unconditional, this love is still
given if it's not received/returned! Agape gives and give and gives. It
is not withheld.
Agape love is
commanded of believers, empowered by His Spirit, activated by personal
choice of one's will, not based on one's feelings toward the object of
one's love and manifested by specific actions (see 1Cor 13:4-8 [see
notes
] for a
succinct list of these actions). Agape love speaks of a love called out
of one’s heart by the preciousness of the one loved, a love that impels
one to sacrifice one’s self for the benefit of the object loved. It is
the love shown at Calvary. The prototype of this quality of supernatural
love is the Father's love for sinful men as manifest by the Son's
sacrifice on the Cross.
Speaking to
faithless Israel God speaks of coming days of restoration declaring...
"I have loved you with an
everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
(Jeremiah
31:3)
In Romans Paul
explains that even while we were helpless and ungodly, Christ died for
the ungodly adding...
But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (see
note
Romans 5:8)
John writes...
In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. (1John
4:10)
F B Meyer writes that...
It is no ordinary love to which we are summoned. Whether in the home
circle, where man and wife live in each other's presence, or in the
daily walk and conversation of life, we are to imitate God, as his dear
children. It is not enough to love as our fellows do. We must love as
Christ did. Our one ideal must be, "as Christ loved."
To love foes to make them friends; to love in the teeth of obloquy and
shame; to love to the point of self-giving and blood; to love the foul
till the pollution gives place to purity and beauty --such is the love
of Christ. Let us sit at his feet and learn of Him, until we reflect
Him, and are changed into the same image from glory to glory. Oh to love
like Thee, blessed Master! and that we may, fill us with thy love until
our cup run over! (F. B. Meyer. Ephesians - A Devotional Commentary)
AND THE WIFE
MUST SEE TO IT THAT SHE RESPECTS HER HUSBAND:
e de gune hina phobetai (3SPPS) ton andra.:
(Eph
5:22; 1Ki 1:31; Esther 1:20; Hebrews 12:9; 1Peter 3:2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
Respects
(5399)
(phobeo from phobos = fear, reverence, respect, honor)
means to be afraid of someone, clearly not the meaning in this context.
The idea of phobeo here is to have a profound measure of respect for
one's husband. Note the
present tense
calls for continuous
respect, which will surely be her response when she is sacrificially,
unconditionally loved by her husband.
Paul had
used the noun (phobos) related to phobeo in this section
when he exhorted both spouses to...
be subject to one another in the
fear of Christ. (Eph 5:21)
And remember that
the context of this exhortation is related to the charge for believers
to be continually be being filled with or controlled by the Holy Spirit.
John Eadie
comments...
The wife for her part is to give her
husband the respect that is due him in the Lord (Eph 5:22). As Eph
5:21
has made plain, such respect is conditioned by and expressive of
reverence (phobos) for Christ. It also assumes that the husband will so
love his wife as to be worthy of such deference. Those who are
puzzled because Paul does not tell wives that they are to love their
husbands fail to appreciate the almost rabbinical precision with which
the analogy is handled. Christ loves the church; the church's love for
Christ is expressed in submission and obedience
Torrey's Topic
Wives
Not to be selected from among the
ungodly -Genesis 24:3; 26:34,35; 28:1
DUTIES OF, TO THEIR HUSBANDS
To love them -Titus 2:4
To reverence them -Ephesians 5:33
To be faithful to them -1 Corinthians 7:3-5,10
To be subject to them -Genesis 3:16; Ephesians 5:22,24; 1 Peter 3:1
To obey them -1 Corinthians 14:34; Titus 2:5
To remain with them for life -Romans 7:2,3
SHOULD BE ADORNED
Not with ornaments -1 Timothy 2:9; 1 Peter 3:3
With modesty and sobriety -1 Timothy 2:9
With a meek and quiet spirit -1 Peter 3:4,5
With good works -1 Timothy 2:10; 5:10
GOOD
Are from the Lord -Proverbs 19:14
Are a token of the favour of God -Proverbs 18:22
Are a blessing to husbands -Proverbs 12:4; 31:10,12
Bring honour on husbands -Proverbs 31:23
Secure confidence of husbands -Proverbs 31:11
Are praised by husbands Proverbs 31:28
Are diligent and prudent -Proverbs 31:13-27
Are benevolent to the poor -Proverbs 31:20
Duty of, to unbelieving husbands 1 Corinthians 7:13,14,16; 1 Peter 3:1,2
Should be silent in the Churches -1 Corinthians 14:34
Should seek religious instruction from their husbands 1 Corinthians
14:35
Of ministers should be exemplary -1 Timothy 3:11
Good-Exemplified
Wife of Manoah -Judges 13:10
Orpah and Ruth -Ruth 1:4,8
Abigail -1 Samuel 25:3
Esther -Esther 2:15-17
Elizabeth -Luke 1:6
Priscilla -Acts 18:2,26
Sarah -1 Peter 3:6
Bad-Exemplified
Samson’s wife -Judges 14:15-17
Michal -2 Samuel 6:16
Jezebel -1 Kings 21:25
Zeresh -Esther 5:14
Job’s wife -Job 2:9
Herodias -Mark 6:17
Sapphira -Acts 5:1,2
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