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Book: Ephesians
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Ephesians 5:22-33 Christ and His Church
I. The closest and most intimate relationship that man can experience is
that of husband and wife.
A. God said that the two shall be one flesh.
1. I don't know if you can get any closer than that.
2. Whether the one flesh refers to the act of cohabitation
or in the fruit of that cohabitation I do not know.
a. It is true that your child gets half of its
genes from each of you, so that two of you
produced that one flesh.
b. That should silence that look what your kid did
now, bit.
B. The second thing that is said about this relationship was said
by Adam concerning Eve.
1. "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh,
she shall be called Woman for she was taken out of man.
a. The King James translation of the Hebrew word
tsela as rib is perhaps correct, the same word
is also beam thus the rib as a part of the
structure. Only twice is that word translated
rib in the Old Testament, 19 times it is
translated side.
b. Dr. Wilson in his excellent book "Wonders of
the Human Body" opts for the translation side,
and suggests that God created Eve, and then
gave her a blood transfusion from the side of
Adam, hence, "Bone of my bone, and flesh of my
flesh."
c. Isn't it interesting that if we existed because
of the evolutionary processes, that both sexes
would have had to have come to the same degree
of development at the same time in order to
reproduce.
C. Using the marriage of a man and woman to symbolize the
relationship of Christ and the church we thus see that we have
become one with Him. Verse 31 For the two shall become one
flesh.
1. "And in that day, you will know that I am in the Father
and you are in Me, and I in you."
2. In the prayer of Jesus in John 17 he prayed,
JOH 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they
may be one, even as we are one:
JOH 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and
hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
3. To the Galatians Paul said, "I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ
liveth in me."
D. The further symbol is the Eve being taken out of the side of
Adam, and thus being as in verse 30 of his body and of his
flesh and of his bones.
1. We have been given life by the blood of Jesus Christ
that flowed forth when the soldier with his spear
pierced the side of Jesus.
2. So as Eve came from the pierced side of Adam, So the
church came from the pierced side of Jesus, and are
thus, flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones.
E. The Lord desires this kind of intimacy with you.
II. In the Old Testament we find that this is the relationship that God
sought with Israel.
A. Many times Israel was spoken of as a faithless wife.
1. The whole book of Hosea brings out the parallels
between the prophet and his wife, with God and the
nation of Israel. God spoke of a future day when He
would betroth them forever.
HOS 2:19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in
lovingkindness, and in mercies.
HOS 2:20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou
shalt know the LORD.
2. The prophet Isaiah wrote,
ISA 54:5 For thy Maker [is] thine husband; the LORD of hosts [is] his
name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the
whole earth shall he be called.
ISA 62:4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land
any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called
Hephzibah, (My delight is in her) and thy land Beulah:
(married) for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall
be married.
ISA 62:5 For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, [so] shall thy sons
marry thee: and [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
[so] shall thy God rejoice over thee.
III. In the New Testament that relationship between a husband and wife is
likened to the relationship of Christ and His church.
A. So wives are to submit themselves unto their own husbands as
unto the Lord. vs. 22
1. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ
is the head of the church. vs. 23
2. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ so let
the wives be to their own husbands.
B. Husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and
gave Himself for it.
1. Christ gave Himself for the church that He might
sanctify if with the washing of the water by the word.
2. That He might present it to Himself as a glorious
church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
that it should be holy and without blemish.
a. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
2CO 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have
espoused you to one husband, that I may present [you as] a
chaste virgin to Christ.
3. Psalm 45 is a beautiful picture of the Messiah with His
bride. The first 6 verses speak of the glory of the
King. Beginning with verse 7 the Psalmist begins to
speak of the bride,
PSA 45:7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore
God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows.
PSA 45:8 All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out
of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
PSA 45:9 Kings' daughters [were] among thy honourable women: upon thy
right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
PSA 45:10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;
PSA 45:11 So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he [is] thy
Lord; and worship thou him.
PSA 45:12 And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with a gift; [even]
the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.
PSA 45:13 The king's daughter [is] all glorious within: her clothing [is]
of wrought gold.
PSA 45:14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework:
the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought
unto thee.
PSA 45:15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall
enter into the king's palace.
4. Paul writing to the Colossians said,
COL 1:27 To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory:
COL 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in
all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ
Jesus:
5. In the Song of Solomon which many see as the love song
between Christ and the church, the bridegroom says to
the bride,
SOL 4:7 Thou [art] all fair, my love; [there is] no spot in thee.
C. Finally this unity between a husband and wife Paul declares to
be a great mystery, for Paul said that he was speaking
concerning Christ and His church.
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