Most of us eat every day, some of us too much, because yesterday's
food is not enough to supply energy for today's needs. Why then, do
some of us expect yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to
keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are going to change
all that. Let's experience God's words today and receive the power we need to
live healthy, vibrant lives. Welcome to your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker L. David Harris. Good morning, good morning, Good morning.
It is Sunday, August twenty seven, twenty twenty three. Hello,
my name is L. David Harris. I am your host, and this
is your Daily Portion where we give you God's word every single day, and
today is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson study series through the
Book of Ephesians, and our caption for today is Counsel to Christian Wives.
Counsel to Christian Wives. We'll get into that in just a moment, but
first I'd like to say welcome to you and happy new week. Right,
happy new week. We're in our work week and hopefully you are running with
God, knowing that He is the one who is in control of your life,
and that he is the one who will guide you on this uncharted path.
Right at least for us it's uncharted, but he has already marked out
a path before you, and he just wants you to yield to him so
he can show you the path of righteousness. Let's go ahead and pray,
and then we will get underway. Father in Heaven, thank you for giving
us this new morning and the privilege that we have to open up your word.
Please give us the fullness of your holy spirit. Teach us how to
love you. Please, Lord, give us wisdom and understanding about what you
did say in the scriptures, and not be confused. In Jesus name,
I pray, Amen and Amen again. Counsel to Christian Wives. Oh this
is good. Okay, So Paul does something very interesting. If you did
not watch or listen yesterday, please scroll back your Daily Portion dot com.
You can go back and click the link to the YouTube channel and find yesterday
the twenty sixth guidance. Right, okay, So now we're going to how
God wants our wives to relate to us husbands. But in the meantime,
the lesson writer does something that I see as key. I see as key,
because there are so many Bible teachers that are uncomfortable with what God says,
and therefore those individuals mix up what he says in order to make themselves
or others feel better in this case, and you're like, well, how
could that be so complicated, Dave, Well, let me just read here
in verse twenty one, right, So if we were to read it in
its context, Ephesians one Ephesians five one through twenty one is part of a
conversation that Paul is having with believers about how they are to relate to each
other and to relate to God believers in general. Like, call it a
church if you want to say, right, a church of believers. Fill
in the name of your church here. Right. He's speaking to all of
us equally and in the same way. And it culminates here in verse twenty
one, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And so
that discussion or aspect of the discussion ends here, and then he picks up
a new topic. Now, let me ask you a question. Is submission
negative? Come on now, submission is it negative? Well, the answer
obviously is no. In fact, the descendant of Ishmael, the people who
have their belief system right in the East. Their belief system is based on
the terminology submission or the principle let's call it submission, right, Okay,
So let me ask you a question. Did Jesus submit to the Father?
I'm going somewhere with this. Did Jesus submit to the Father? And we're
talking about now, as Jesus lived on planet Earth, he is now fulfilling
the prophecy that said he would save his people from our sins. And so
at the time, right before Jesus was going to give his life, he's
in the garden of Getsemite and he's going through a massive struggle. And that
is an understatement. And the Bible says that he said, Father, if
this cup can pass, please let it pass nevertheless, nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou wilt. And we see all throughout the Gospels
where Jesus is is giving deference to the Father. He is submitting to the
Father. So submission is not a demeaning term. We're not talking about subservience.
We're not talking about being abused, we're not talking about under anyone's thumb,
we're not talking about being walked on. And I have to deal with
this right here, because there are so many people who reject submission because they
have added their foolishness, their societal unfortunate norms, or whatever happened in a
wrong way in their own households to what God is saying. No, Jesus
submitted to the Father. We agree that submission in this context is positive,
and so submission is equal among believers in the church fellowship. We are preferring
other above ourselves. Okay, Now the transition happens right It says here,
wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband
is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church and he is the savior of the body. Okay, so let me
just pause right here. We've already said that submission is not negative, it
is positive. We've already said that Jesus Christ manifest manifested submission as he lived
on planet Earth. Was Jesus less? Was Jesus less than the Father?
And let me answer it quickly before you get confused. No, the Bible
teaches us, I and my Father are one. I believe that is in
John chapter ten, verse thirty. And Jesus said in John chapter seventeen.
Please restore me to that glory that I had from before. There was a
beginning like the glory I had before I came down to planet Earth. And
John chapter seventeen and his so called mediatorial prayer, high priestly prayer. Okay,
so that's the simple answer. I don't really have the time to get
into that. But you can go back to Micah chapter five in verse two,
where it teaches that Jesus or the Messiah who was to come, was
equal to the Father like eternal. He was eternal, just as the Father
is. So equality here does not fly in the face of submission. Some
of you are following with me, So submission is not negative. Jesus manifests
submission to the Father while he lived on planet Earth. Yes, and submission
does not mean inequality. So when the Bible says that our wives are to
submit to their own husbands as unto the Lord, God is not putting them
under the thumb. God is not saying that the man is what the boss
of the wife. He's not saying that the wife is not his equal.
But he is saying that as with Christ and the Father, there are roles.
There are roles and I'm not talking about household roles. I'm not talking
about societal roles. I'm talking about the woman was created second. She represents
what the nurturing attributes of God's character. The man, he was created first.
He was what to represent the sterner attributes of God's character. The man
was created first. And I wish I had the time to deal with that.
But again, that has nothing to do with inequality. It does not
feed into the misogynistic elements of society. It does not say that the woman
is less than. It doesn't mean that any at all. Okay, And
so again when it says here that the woman is to submit to her own
husband, it is a privilege. And if you did not listen yesterday about
the privilege that we read about for the husbands to love our wives as Christ
love the church to the point that he gave his life for the church.
Right, husbands, you are to be willing to give you your very life
for your wife and women wives to be submissive to your own husbands as unto
the Lord. Like I said yesterday, is it that God is saying that
you should love your wives if they meet whatever your criteria is. No,
it says love them because Christ said love them. It's our privilege. And
in the same way, our wives are to submit to their own husbands as
unto the Lord, but not unto your own husbands as unto the world.
Like if your husband wants you to do something evil, submission doesn't say do
something evil, but submission is an attitude that says, you know what God
said, you submit and I will. We'll get into more of that as
the days come on. Peace. Thanks for joining us listening. Friends.
Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God. This has been your daily portion with l David
Harris. Make it a great day.