October 22, hedonism for husbands and wives.

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Ephesians 5, 24, and 25.

There is a pattern of love in marriage ordained by God.

The roles of husband and wife are not the same.

The husband is to take his special cues from Christ as the head of the church.

The wife is to take her special cues from God's design for the church

as submissive to Christ.

In doing this, the sinful and damaging results of the fall begin to be reversed.

The fall twisted man's loving headship into hostile domination in some men

and lazy indifference in others.

The fall twisted woman's intelligent, willing submission into manipulative

obsequiousness in some women and brazen insubordination in others.

The redemption we anticipated when the Messiah finally came in Jesus Christ

was not the dismantling of the created order of loving headship and willing submission

but a recovery of it.

Wives, redeem your fallen submission by modeling it after Christ's intention

for a joyful church.

Husbands, redeem your fallen headship by modeling it after Christ's intention

for the lavishly loving Christ.

I find in Ephesians 5, 21 to 33 these two things the display of Christian

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