The man and the woman were made for each other. Scriptures that correlate with marital relationships are plentiful. In the beginning, God created roles for both men and women before the fall of man. This is conveyed in Genesis 1:26, which reads:” Let us make humankind in our image, and the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and all over the Earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth. Genesis 1:27 Outlines God’s expectations and directions for the sexes and relates: “So God created humankind in his own image and the image of God he created him male and female he created them.”
Did you know the original intention for man and woman was for them to rule, have dominion on the earth, be fruitful, and multiply? God’s vision included men having a helpmate made comparable to him. The desire was for a marital relationship between two people who share, cherish, love, and encourage one another in life. After the fall of humankind in the Garden of Eden, God revised his plan for man and woman. Due to disobedience, constant division and jockeying for power were born. Marital problems and/or divorce are related as a result of the conflict. The course of life of mankind changed.
Genesis 3:15-16 reflects the change and reveals: “I will put animosity between you and the woman and between your descendant and her descendant: he will bruise your head and you will bruise his heel. To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your pain and childbirth. You will bring forth children in pain. Your desire will be toward your husband, but he will rule over you.”
God gives follow-up instructions and charges for husband and wife to love one another And for wives specifically to submit to their husbands. Many disagree about this. There has been much debate on this issue. For me while hard at times. I try to live up to this standard that God has mandated. A favorite verse about the instructions after the fall appears in the New Testament in Ephesians 5:21-24: “Submit to one another in fear of the Messiah. Wives should submit to their husbands as they do to the Lord because the husband is the head of the wife, just as the Messiah, as head of the Messianic community, is himself the one who keeps the body safe.”
Just as the Messianic community submits to the Messiah, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Ephesians 5: 25-26 also speaks of this and it reads as for husbands, love your wives, just as the Messiah loved the Messianic community, indeed, gave himself up on its behalf, in order to set it apart for God, making it clean through immersion in the mikveh so to speak.
In order to present the Messianic community to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle or any such thing, but wholly and without defect. This is how husband’s ought to love their wives – like their own bodies for the man who loves his wife is loving himself.” It goes on to say in Ephesians 5:33, “However the text also applies to each of you individually, let each man love his wife as he does himself and see that the wife respects her husband.”
Similarly, Colossians 3:18-19 also provides instructions for husbands and wives in this regard. These again are instructions from the Lord. Am I suggesting that I have all the knowledge on this subject? No, I do not. The purpose of this article is to remind us of what God expects in our union. We can circumvent problematic areas in our relationship if we just heed the call of God. The desire to be independent makes it hard. Because my husband gives reverence in the relationship, I find it easier to live by the instructions of the Father.
Colossians 3:18-19 are like Ephesians 5: 21-24. It echoes similar sentiments regarding the relationship between the husband and the wife. And it reads: “Wives, subject yourself to your husband’s, as is appropriate in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and don’t treat them harshly.” Some feminists may disagree with this charge. However, I believe that if we listened and applied God’s word, we might have fewer divorces or marital problems. The struggle is real because of the fall of man and Satan’s dominion over the earth. However, we can rise above this if we submit to the will of God. Will you surrender your own will today to live according to the instructions of the Messiah? What are your thoughts? What do you say?
My prayer today is to abide by the Father in my relationship with my husband. Hoping that in doing this our marriage will be three chords not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12 reads: “Moreover, an attacker may defeat someone who is alone, but two can resist him, and a three-strand chord is not easily broken.” Heed the words of the Father. Make your marriage three chords not easily broken.
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