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“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
“The Head Of The Body”:
 Ephesians 5:22-33
Even though Ephesians five is used as one of the chief supports for the position that womenshould be under the authority of men, I believe it is this passage which has elevated the women of thechurch to the position in which they find themselves today. Slowly but surely, the beauty of thesefamiliar verses has brought the equality of women with men into sharper focus.Nowhere do women receive greater real everyday respect and honor from men than those inthe Christian church. I believe this. I observe this. I feel this. I live this.
We may talk about Christ‟s authority over the
church, but when we look at Jesus we see just
what Paul saw, his love, sacrifice, and servanthood. The inescapable clarity of Christ‟s example has
led Christian men into conformity with his image. Not seeing many examples of Christ exercising hisauthority over the church, men have not made that an important part of their behavior, even though
they may be intellectually committed to a husband‟s authority over his wife. Instead, Christ living in
them has led them to respect their wives as fellow-heirs. Christ in them has molded their behaviorwith attitudes of humility, gentleness, and love.
As the woman‟s offspring crushes the serpent‟s head the curse is lifted (Genesis 3:15;
Galatians 3:13- 14; Romans 16:20).I praise God for his word.Since the whole book of Ephesians flows together as one message, it is difficult to know justwhere Paul takes up the subject we focus on in chapter five, verses 22-33. But at the beginning of chapter four Paul introduces the specific issue of how to live the Christian life. His subject is -sincewe are one with Christ, how can we make that a greater reality in our daily lives?Having just finished a prayer requesting God to fill the Ephesian believers with all his fullness
Paul begins, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I ur 
ge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have
received.” (Ephesians 4:1) Then Paul goes on to describe “a life worthy of the calling...”
 
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and
live a life of love, just as Christloved us and g
ave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians
5:1-2)
This restatement of the servanthood principle is addressed to all believers.What is love? The Scriptures answer:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid dow
n his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (I John 3:16)
 
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete
in us.” (I John 4:10
-12)
“God is love.” (I John 4:16)
 
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It isnot rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does notdelight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, alwaysperseveres. Love never fails. ...And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of 
these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:4
-8,13)
After we are told to love we find another restatement of the servanthood principle, “
Submit toone another
out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians
5:2
1) Once again, we are to exerciseservanthood through submission out of respect for the servanthood which Christ exercised on ourbehalf. We should submit because Christ submitted.
The meaning of both love and submission is dying to self and living to God. “
Your attitude
 
“The Full Rights Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter VII
-
“The Head Of The Body”: Ephesians 5:22
-33
56
 
 should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equalitywith God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, ...hehumbled himself and became obedient to death -
even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5
-8) This is
how Christ loved us. He “gave himself up...to God.” (Ephesians 5:2) This is how we are to submit tohim. We “offer 
our 
 bodies as living sacrifices...to God.” (Romans 12:1) Jesus did it. We must
do it ...because he did it.
This confirmation of the servanthood principle as the path for all Christians is Paul‟sintroduction to his directives to husbands and wives. “Wives, submit to your husbands...”(Ephesians
5:22).
“Husbands, love your wives,...”
(Ephesians
5:25).
Are these two commands meant exclusively for those addressed? Are only wives to submit?Are only husbands to love? Can we assume wives are not to love and husbands are not to submit? No.Paul has already made it clear that all believers are to both love and submit to one another.Why
are believers, specifically husbands and wives, to love and submit? Let‟s go over itagain....because Paul goes over it again. Wives are to submit to their husbands because “...the husband
is the head of the w
ife as Christ is the head of the church, his body,...” (Ephesians
5:23).
The truths
we found in our study of „head‟ can now be applied to this passage.
 
1) The church, Christ‟s body, is the “fullness” of Christ, the head. The church radiates forthChrist‟s
glory, his image.
2) The church, Christ‟s body, grows from Christ, the head.
 3) The head, Christ, holds all the body, the church, together as one.These things are beginning to seem obvious now. Taken together, the transcending theme of onenessemerges. These verses confirm that the head/fullness relationship is oneness.Here Paul completely intermingles and parallels a discussion of these two head/fullness-bodyrelationships, Christ as head of the church, his body, and a husband as head of the wife. The secondmirrors the first.
Wives are to submit for the same reason that all believers are told to submit to Christ, “...outof reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians
5:21)
“...and the wife must respect her husband.” (Ephesians
5:33)
Since Jesus is our savior, we naturally want to display great gratitude and reverence towardshim by acting like he acted. Wives are not told to submit because they are under the authority of theirhusbands, but because they love the Lord. Self-
denial is our worship response to Christ‟s
self-sacrificeon our behalf (Mark 8:34-35; Romans 12:1). He submitted (Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews
5:4-
10) so allbelievers should submit to each other (Ephesians
5:2
1), and wives should submit to their husbands(Ephesians
5:22,33).
Husbands are to love because Christ loved the church. It is for this same reason we are allcommanded to love in imitation of God (Ephesians 5:1-2,25). Jesus loved us (Ephesians
5:25;
1 John4:19), so we are to love each other (Ephesians 5:1-2; I John 3:11,4:21), and so husbands are to lovetheir wives (Ephesians
5:25).
How are wives and husbands to fulfill these commands?
“Wives, submit to your husbands...as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should
submit to their husbands in everything.
” (Ephesians 5:22,24) We aren‟t to submit just when we feel
like it, or when it is convenient. Submission is complete, not half-hearted. It is not giving your fair
share. It is giving your all. Submission must be “in everything.”
 
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...”
(Ephesians
5:23).
This does not mean authority. Neither does it mean leadership, nor evenadministration. This means death!
1
Christ is perfect, without sin, and husbands are not. So wives are faced with the possibility of having to submitto evil. This is a difficult issue, but one the church and wives in particular must face. (Chapter IV -
Servanthood: “Serve
 
one another in love.”,
pg. 30-32.)
 
“The Full Rights
 
Of Sons” Simply Put / 
K.E.Stegall
 
Chapter VII
-
“The Head Of The Body”: Ephesians 5:22
-33
57
 
 Loving as Christ loved means giving your all, all you are and all you have. It means givinguntil there is nothing more left to give, because you have given your very life. Love means giving upyour superior position of strength and power (Philippians 2:6-7). This is how Jesus loved. This is howhusbands are to love.Wives are to submit and husbands are to love. But also wives are to love and husbands are tosubmit. Both love and submission mean giving ourselves up for another (I John 3: 16), consideringothers as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:3) and their good above our own (I Corinthians 10:33),honoring others above ourselves (Romans 12:10), treating others as we wish to be treated (Matthew7:12), loving others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39-40: Ephesians 5:33).This complete giving and reciprocity leads Paul to the central truth of the head-fullness/body
relationship. “...and the two will become one flesh.‟ This is a profound my
stery -but I am talking
about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31
-32) The oneness of Adam and Eve was the focal pointof their relationship at creation. This is the point Moses chose to comment on (Genesis 2:24), thepoint Jesus chose to comment on (Matthew 19:4-6), the point Paul has here chosen to emphasize asthe essence of the relationship between the head and his body in marriage, and the head and his bodyin the church. The simile of metaphors points to oneness (Ephesians 5:23,31,32). It is a mystery,
something we can see only by God‟s revelation, but nevertheless real and true.
 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, ...In thissame way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wifeloves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own both, but he feeds and cares for it, just asChrist does the church - for we are members of his body
. „For this reason a man will leave his
father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh.
‟ This is a
profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of youalso must love his wife as he loves himself.... (Ephesians 5:23, 28-33)Marriage pictures a far deeper eternal truth for the world, the oneness of the church. Justas a man and his body are one (Ephesians 5:28b-29), so is Christ and his body (Ephesians 5:29b-
30). The phrase, “He who loves his wife loves himself.” is not talked about much in this passage.
 Yet to me it is very telling. A man should love his wife because his wife is him. The woman is man.They are one.And if Paul is building a parallelism here between Christ and the church and husbands andwives, then this adds evidence to what we have already found. The Church is then Christ Himself, inthe sense that the church is the dwelling place of God (Ephesians 2:19-22: 1 John 4: 13). Jesus is thelife of the church (Colossians 3:4). If we consider the reference to God being the head of Christ in ICor. l 1:3, we conclude that Christ is God himself! All three of these concepts are supportedthroughout the rest of Scripture. All this is but one more confirmation of the oneness of Christ and thechurch, man and woman, and God and Christ.I Corinthians 11:3-16 points
the word “head” to where the fullness comes from. Ephesians
5:22-
33 points the word “head” toward oneness. This takes us right back to creation a
nd the creationnorm (Matthew 19:4-
6). “The man said. „This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: sheshall be called „woman‟ for she was taken out of man.‟
For this reason a man will leave his father andmother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
” (Genesis 2:23
-24) Paul says itagain
here in Ephesians, “...just as Christ does the church
- for we are members of his body
. „
For thisreason...the two will become one
flesh.‟ .
..I am talking about Christ and his church.
” (Ephesian
s 5:29-32)
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