Jesus The Faithful Son

It is easy to think of the baby Jesus in simple loving terms.  However, that little baby was more than just the beginning of something.  In that moment of visibility we are able to see something that had began before creation.  In Revelation 13:8 we are told that Jesus was “slain from the foundation of the world.”  That means that before creation was begun, the Father and the Son had agreed to the plan that required the Son to take on the nature of a man and pay the price for the sins of mankind.  His birth was a beginning but not.  An example of this is when the Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.  It was a beginning, but a lot of things happened before that which may or may not have been clear to the French.  Planning, moving of troops and assets all had to be worked out before that visible moment of troops landing.  In the same way the little baby Jesus was the divine presence making its own landing on the beachhead of humanity.  Much planning and prepositioning of assets had happened up to this point.  This is an eternal plan reaching a critical and visible point.  Jesus could have been born to Abram and Sarah.  They received a “miracle child.”  However God knew that Jesus’ birth would not be understood and would not help mankind without a lot of teaching.

Let’s look at Hebrews chapter 3 as we focus on the coming of Jesus.

Jesus Comes As The Faithful Son Of God

The writer of Hebrews is writing to people who thought very highly of Moses.  He points out that Jesus comes in a way that is similar to Moses and yet much more glorious.  Thus in the first 2 verses we see that the Father has appointed the Son to be the apostle and high priest of our confession.  As apostle, he is the one sent by the Father to make the gospel known.  As high priest he is the one who mediates between God and man.  He directs and accomplishes the sacrifice needed to cover sins.  Thus the little baby has quite the job to do.  The word confession refers to our statement of faith in Jesus and the gospel.  Thus it literally means to speak the same thing.  This is an important thing for new believers to understand in this day and age.  We are called to embrace the same Truth that the Prime Apostle, Jesus, handed down to his apostles.  If we do not “speak the same thing” as them, then we are departing from the good confession.

Jesus had agreed to fulfill this mission in eternity past, before the world was created.  All of history was leading up to this moment that had been prophesied, a day of salvation and healing for mankind.

Jesus Is The One Worthy Of Glory

It is difficult to imagine the boundless glory of God taking up residence within a human body.  This is the realm of Movies and Marvel comics.  Jesus looked like any other baby, but there was something different about him.  In him dwelt the divine being that had been involved in the creation of all things that existed.  Not only that, but in verse 5 the writer points out that Moses served as a servant in God’s house.  However, Jesus comes forth as the Son to build his own house.  Thus the glory of Moses that Israel so often referred to was nothing compared to the glory of the Son who had come down to build his own house.  Moses’ life and activity was a witness and example of what Jesus would come and do.  Just as Moses called the people to leave Egypt and follow him into the desert until God led them to a Promised Land, so Jesus calls us out of the world to follow him into the desert where he promises to lead us to the promised end of the Father.  The Church is the “house” that belongs to Jesus.  We are his body and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus takes the believing remnant of natural Israel and he combines them with a believing remnant of the Gentile nations to create a new house, the Church.  Those who believe have a part, a share, a portion in this endeavor that has been set aside for them. 

To Reject Jesus Is To Forfeit A Share In Him

The rest of the chapter focuses on the danger of missing who Jesus is and falling away from faith in him.  Let me just say that many get bogged down in trying to determine whether those who “fall away” ever believed or not.  Whole systematic theologies have been built up through trying to fill in all the gaps that exist within the teaching of Scripture.  So I challenge you with this.  Regardless what your systematic theology, do not let it distract from the warning that is given here in God’s Word.  The Holy Spirit clearly warns us of danger and we need to treat it as so.  The word Beware in verse 12 is literally “watch,” or “look.”  Jesus had warned his disciples at the last supper that he was going to be put to death.  He warned them again in the garden.  In fact he told them to “watch and pray” so that they might not fall into temptation.  Watching is not just about looking outward to the world.  Often it is looking into our heart before God in prayer.  It is where we confess before God the weakness of our flesh and pray for power to obey the Spirit.  Prayer is ultimately watching and guarding our heart.  What we are watching out for is an unbelieving heart that causes us to “depart” from God.  We see that at Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.  His disciples were afraid and departed from him.  They failed to stand with him, even though their spirit wanted to.  They learned to lean upon the Holy Spirit and guard their hearts against the desires of the flesh.  We can fail here just as easily.  The Bible warns of an end times apostasy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.    IF we do not guard our hearts and watch our souls in prayer then we will not pass the trials of this life.  But if we believe to the end, vs. 14, we will be saved.  Notice the emphasis is on the belief and not so much works.  Belief will always lead to real works.  But the lack of belief can be masked by false works of pretence.  In fact Jesus had commanded them in Luke 21:1 to take possession of their souls by patience.  Trust God and wait upon him.  Don’t get to over thinking things and desire to go back to Egypt (the world).  We are warned in vs. 13 of Hebrews 3 that sin is deceitful.  It lies to us and manipulates our flesh to self-justify that which endangers our soul.  It is a process that dulls our senses and saps us of strength.  This is precisely what we combat when we watch in prayer over our souls.  A hardened heart will refuse to follow Jesus at the time that it matters most. 

Final Thoughts

God has made a place for you before everything was created.  He even knows the place that “could have been” for those who refuse to believe.  Don’t let yourself be pulled away from it.  Satan does not want you to take your place in the Church of Jesus and neither does he want you to receive your portion in the Age that is to come.  If we let ourselves be deceived and live for the flesh now, it will be harder to follow Jesus later.  God has set us up for success, but we can squander that and set ourselves up for failure.  God help us all to be faithful until the end.  Blessings.

Jesus the faithful audio

The Most Wonderful Time of The Year?

Don’t get me wrong Christmas is a wonderful time of the year.  However, there are some ways in which it isn’t so wonderful.  Just think of those gift buying excursions that often turn into anything but wonderful: stop-and-go traffic, rude drivers, frenzied purchasing, etc…  The commercialization of Christmas will only continue to pressurize the holidays to the point where those who “buy” into its message will find themselves hating the holiday.

Now let’s remember Jesus.  He really is the reason for this season.  He said in John 7:7 that the world hates him because he testifies that its works are evil.  Now can you imagine buying a doll for your child that has a truth detector built into it?  Not only that, but it can detect good or bad motivation.  And, to top things off, it can flat out declare the most hidden sins of anyone within range.  Does that sound like a doll you want to bring into your house?  Can you see now how the commercialized message of Christmas has changed the original message of Christmas?  Let’s explore this further, beginning in Luke 2:34-35.

God Upsets The Present Order At Christmas

Mary had taken the baby Jesus to the temple in order to present him before the Lord.  During this time an old man named Simeon comes up to her and begins to prophecy about Jesus.  When he states that Jesus is destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel, it is clear that some will like it and some won’t.  The current way things were had developed by actions that weren’t always godly.  Many fortunes had been influenced by things that were wicked and deceptive.  The High Priest himself had been appointed by the Roman Prefect.  In many cases this process was helped along with bribes.  We see the same dynamic in Jesus’ trial 30 some years later.  Both government and religion revealed their seedy underbelly during it. 

Now the rising and falling that is referred to here is in relation to God himself.  The apostles would not have appeared to have been elevated in Israel.  In fact after the death and resurrection of Jesus, we see those who crucified him throwing the apostles in Jail.  But in God’s eyes things were different.  Suddenly Galilean fishermen were of higher esteem in his eyes than the High Priest in Jerusalem.

Simeon also refers to Jesus as a sign that will be spoken against.  As a “sign” the words and actions of Jesus would point to something.  What was that?  Jesus points us to the Truth, but specifically the truth about the Father in heaven and our predicament before him.  This clarity of who God is stood in stark contrast to the teachings of the religious leaders.  Their sin and twisting of the Scriptures was glaringly obvious.  Thus, they not only spoke against him, but they also crucified him.  This picture of a sword piercing through to our soul is told to Mary about herself.  But notice the wording implies that it will pierce others (in fact all).  Even Mary, who had been found worthy to give birth to the Son of God, was not sinless.  Her flesh would struggle with the actions and words of Jesus.  The sword is a metaphor for the word of God cutting through the outer image we put on and going down to the “heart” of our motivations, thoughts, and actions.  This Word would reveal the thoughts of the hearts of men.  It is easy to try and hide our motivations from each other.  This is how we protect ourselves and get ahead.  Those who are the most skilled often are rewarded with greater honors.  We can only judge by conjectures we make looking at surface projections.  Are they real?  Often not.  Thus Paul states in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  Here he specifically deals with trying to judge the thoughts and motivations of people’s hearts.  The praise of men is no guarantee that God is pleased with us.  In Christ, we no longer have to hide in the darkness of pretense.  However, neither should we use the grace of God as a license for flaunting willful sin.  Paul warns about this in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

The World Uses The Things Of God To Cover Wickedness

Paul warned that things would become very perilous, both in the natural and in the spiritual.  People may say all the right things and do the right things, but if that is merely a mask that they are hiding selfish motives behind then it will eventually come to light.  True believers need to keep alert so that they can protect themselves from false teaching that pampers the flesh and has demonic origins.  After listing the many different sins, Paul points to perhaps the worst.  “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.”  Whether they are Christians or not, Godly ways and terms are co-opted and redefined to cover wickedness.  This is done by false religions, Christians who follow “another gospel,” and even by the secular humanists of our present day.  The things of God, such as: peace on earth, joy, love, and forgiveness are kept but the part of the gospel that could actually make those things a reality are rejected.  Only God’s Spirit can convict us of sin and regenerate our heart.  No amount of good works can regenerate a heart.  Without repentance from sin and faith towards Jesus the gospel is neutered.  It becomes impotent.  We live in a day and age where many Christians are bargaining with humanists in order to create a compromise.  But that compromise will be a eunuch that cannot save the world.

Final Thoughts

To have Christmas without God is the same as neutering Christmas.  It is to embrace pretense and run from the reality.  We must not allow ourselves to embrace a gospel and Jesus that is powerless to save us.

We must choose whether we desire to rise among men or to rise before God.  This is a huge problem in the church today.  We seek to be praised by the world.  But Jesus said he was hated by the world.  What are we doing differently?  Do not be deceived by the veneer of this world.  It has already been judged by God and his wrath is looming over it.  Don’t seek joy in toys.  Don’t look for peace in believing that all men are good.  Don’t put your hope in man’s ability to solve the world’s problems.  These are the paths of the destruction of our soul.  But all these things will be delivered to those who put their trust in Jesus the Christ alone.

The Most Wonderful Audio

Submission In The Home 2

Peter has been speaking to believers in general and in specific subsets about the virtue of submission.  All believers need to demonstrate submission in their life to the proper authorities within the biblical boundaries that we have mentioned in the past.  All “horror” stories of submission can be traced back to sinful authority, and a lack of understanding of the biblical boundaries of that authority and the purpose of that authority.  So those who immediately break out in hives at the mention of submission need to reconcile the fact that no society can function without a proper understanding and functioning of authority and submission.  There really is a healthy and proper way in which this virtue can be lived out and it starts by recognizing that those in authority are under the authority of God and His Word.

Peter clearly speaks to husbands in order to balance the previous word to wives concerning submission.  Though he doesn’t explicitly state it, he expects husbands to “submit” to the instruction that he gives to them on behalf of the Lord Jesus.  He doesn’t treat the husband’s duties as fully as Paul does in Ephesians 5 because marriage and its duties is not his main point. 

For God to speak a word to husbands and wives that will enable them in every possible cultural condition to properly reflect the very nature of God is challenging indeed.  Thus we need to be careful that we do not reject God’s Word simply because it doesn’t reflect 21^st century American thoughts.  Would American thoughts work in Iran or Saudi Arabia?  More than likely they would bring women further suffering or even death, and lead no one to give the gospel of Jesus a second thought.  So let’s look at the Word of the Lord to husbands in 1 Peter 3:7.

Husbands, Live With Your Wife In Understanding

Peter begins by giving husbands the duty of living with their wives in understanding.  His first word is “likewise.”  In the same way that wives were given instruction that they needed to humbly receive, so husbands need to receive this instruction.  They need to have that same godly, respectful fear of God concerning these words.

It is easy to focus on the duties of those next to you more than you focus on your own.  This is a common problem in marriages.  It is easy to make performance by your spouse a prerequisite to your own duties.  However, you do this at the peril of displeasing the Lord who has given you this duty.  We are called to do our duties to the fullest without requiring the spouse to perform first.  Neither can we think that the lack of perfection on our spouse’s part excuses us from our duties.  Both are directly answerable to God.  Now Paul adds to this duty, to live in understanding, the duty to love your wife in the same way Jesus loved the Church.  So my words and actions need to reflect Jesus and his willingness to die to his own flesh considerations in order to help the Church live in a way pleasing to God.

The words “dwell with them” are the idea of doing life together.  This is more than sharing the same address.  Your wife is not a part of your “stuff.”  You are doing life with her.  You have left the single life behind and become a new “one” or union with her before God.  This takes a working together as a team in order to please God and bring honor to Him.

Now to live together in understanding is not referring to your own understanding.  Every husband has his own understanding of his marriage and wife.  But we are to have the mind of Christ concerning our marriage and our wife.  This requires a mental discipline of rejecting the selfish understanding that we come up with on our own and embracing the understanding of God’s Word.  That understanding starts with the purpose of marriage.  The two genders and propagation of humanity all flow from the husband-wife relationship.  However, God’s purpose was more than propagation.  In Ephesians 5 Paul makes clear that the main purpose behind God’s design of two genders coming together in a relationship to make the next generation, is to be a picture of the relationship between Jesus and his Church.  So a husband needs to understand that his actions to his wife need to be a picture of Jesus.  Your marriage is supposed to be a witnessing tool.  What is it witnessing?  Is it sending the wrong message?

Another part of dwelling in understanding is realizing the heavy weight this relationship will have on your ability to please God.  In most cases you spend more, intimate time with your spouse than anyone else.  That means your rewards from God or lack thereof are going to be more heavily impacted by your dealings with your wife.

You also need to have an understanding of her individuality.  Is the relationship safe enough for her to share her inner-most secrets and the things of her past that affect her present?  It is your duty to create such an atmosphere that you can more perfectly minister God’s love to her.  Jesus knew exactly the very heart of believers and what they needed in order to be set back to “rightness.”  It required his death and he embraced that duty like a warrior.    Ignorance will not be an acceptable defense before God.  You are expected to draw her out by the love of Jesus.

You should also be aware of the abuse of women in general.  It is clear that historically men have taken advantage of cultural norms and Scripture to abuse their authority.  God was not hardened towards our situation.  Rather, he empathized with our weakness and put his great power aside that he might come alongside of us.  Why do we run from such things in fear? 

Husbands, Honor Your Wife

The next command Peter gives is for husbands to honor their wife.  Without control our words and actions will often be dishonoring.  A husband’s duty to honor his wife will take focus and work.  Honor at its foundation is about value.  It is the opposite of demeaning.  Do my actions and words make clear that my wife is valuable?  She is not just valuable because she is my wife.  She is a child of God who is quite capable of holding us accountable for how we treat her.  You will stand before God one day and give account for how you treated her.  Are you ready?  Anything you think you might want to change?

It is interesting that in the same society that talks about the equality of women we see some of the most degrading things imaginable all the time in our entertainment, music, movies etc…  And these are things that women willingly choose in degrading themselves.  Marriage is not a merely sexual relationship.  A woman’s value is not based upon her “sexiness.”  If it did we would be worthless when our beauty fades.  This woman is valuable and your relationship with her is of incredible value.  A divine purpose is at the very foundation of your relationship with her.  As marriages have increasingly failed, so the reputation of God has been tarnished increasingly.

Now Peter uses a phrase that some may think of as degrading.  He refers to a wife as the “weaker vessel.”  First of all, it is a fact that women in general are not as physically strong as men.  In that sense only are they the “weaker sex.”  However, Peter is taking this concept of the weaker sex and pulling it into a metaphor.  The Greeks did use “vessel” as a way to refer to the body.  However, in Romans 9, Paul’s use of vessel is clearly connecting the body to the analogy of household items such as cups or dishes, etc…  Notice too that Paul was pointing out the issue of honor and dishonor in that passage.  I believe that Peter is pointing husbands to recognize that any perceived and real “weaknesses” on their wife’s part should be honored in the same way that we see in our household items.  Notice that the really expensive household “vessels” are made of more fragile material, and the common everyday “vessels” are made of far more durable material.  We honor the “weaker” vessel because there is something special about it that is beyond its physical strength.  Thus a husband, who would be tempted to only honor a wife who is “strong” like him, needs to listen to God’s instruction.  He needs to honor her especially because of her difference from himself.  She was made by God to be a complement to him.  A complement by definition must not be the same as that which it complements.  The wife has strength in ways that a husband does not.  It takes understanding to see that and honor it.

Peter reminds husbands that their wives are co-heirs with them in Christ.  Jesus died for her just as much as for you.  She stands to receive eternal reward before Christ for her activity while on earth.  She will not be “your wife” in the after-life.  She will stand equally before God.  So you can work together with her for the eternal good of you both, or, you can fight each other to your eternal detriment.

Lastly, Peter reminds husbands that there are spiritual consequences to rejecting or ignoring the Lord’s instructions here.  It sounds tough that our prayers could be “hindered” as a result of mistreatment of our wife.  However, the word behind the translation “hindered” is far stronger than that.  It is used by our lord when he says, “Every tree that does not bear fruit will be cut down (“hindered?”) and thrown into the fire.  I have this picture in my mind of a jerk husband who prays for something and when it is brought before the Lord he says, “Throw that prayer in file 13.”  Of course file 13 is a huge burning barrel.  God will not receive your prayers if you are falling down in your duty.  We are not talking about perfection here.  However, the Lord knows those who are working to understand their wives and honor them.  The Lord knows those who seriously are working to properly reflect Jesus and his Church in their marriage.

Final Thoughts:                                                                                                          

Let me just remind us of what I said last week.  Satan has wedged himself between men and women since the very beginning.  However, a Christian marriage can be a beautiful thing for both husband and wife if they both love each other in heart and action.  Instead of being driven by the desires of your flesh-self, choose to be led by the Holy Spirit’s desire to properly reflect the Lord Jesus and his Gospel through your marriage.  So get to work husbands.  It truly is a challenging proposition.

Submission Home 2 Audio

Submission In The Home 1

As we begin 1 Peter chapter 3, I recognize that as a man it would be easy to tune me out at this time.  A lot of garbage has washed under the bridge of submission in the home.  So let me first try to bring us back to Peter’s main point.  He is concerned with our ability to submit because of the way in which our refusal to do it will cause Jesus to be seen as a rebel.  If we rebel against authorities in the name of God’s Word then we can give the wrong impression of who God is.  In fact we will attract all the wrong people to the Church (rebels).  Jesus, who was God in the flesh, submitted himself to wicked authorities because he trusted the plan of the Father.

Yes, we can use God’s Word to justify rebellion against governments, and we can use God’s Word to justify a slave’s rebellion against his master.  But the goodness of the government or master was never the question.  It was an issue of the heart.  It is hard for modern man to hear these words, especially Americans.  We are so used to getting our way that we don’t understand how we more easily embrace rebellion and despise submission.  Submission as a virtue does have boundaries.  But even then our response needs to be more about submitting to God’s will above the will of an earthly authority, rather than one that is about my flesh rebelling against authority.  America was not founded upon a rebellious “no one will be in authority over us.”  It was the desire to submit to God over the top of a wicked king.

So as we approach this subject of wives submitting to husbands, let’s approach cautiously and with a listening heart.

Wives Should Be Submissive To Their Own Husbands

It doesn’t take rocket science to see Peter’s first instruction.  He tells wives to “take their place under” the authority that a husband has been given.  The gospel taught that in Christ there was no longer slave and free, Jew and Gentile, or male and female.  Such teachings could naturally lead to strife in the homes of Christians.  It is important that we represent Christ well in this world.  If we send the wrong message in order to get our justice now, then we have sacrificed God’s reputation and ability to draw people unto him for ourselves.  Peter speaks against such selfishness in each of the cases of submission he has brought up.

Now notice that the context is not men and women.  Women are not told to be submitted to men in general.  But a wife should not strive with her husband for authority in the home.  Why would he say this?  Paul makes it clearer in Ephesians chapter 5.  Paul pointed back to creation and explained that God made the species of man as male and female on purpose.  He wanted the relationship of marriage between a man and a woman to be a picture of Christ’s love for the Church.  Thus when we marry we are not just agreeing to love each other.  We are also entering into an agreement to work together to model the relationship between Jesus and his Church.  Thus God gives man, not just the authority, but also the responsibility for the home.  Religion is not the “woman’s” place.  Each husband will be responsible before God for how he lead his family in worship of God or lack thereof.

Peter recognizes that a believing woman married to an unbelieving husband would be tempted to divorce him, or at least fight his authority and ungodly leadership.  Peter asks the wife to submit to the ungodly husband in order to win him over to Christ.  Imagine telling your husband on one hand that he should turn from his sins and believe on Jesus (who submitted to death on a cross) and yet you are unwilling to submit to something far less.  Now are there obvious exceptions to Peter’s point?  Of course there are, however, Peter is not dealing with submission in the home as his main point.  It is a side point to the greater problem of Christians embracing rebellion and justifying it with God’s Word.  If a husband is physically abusing his wife then God is not telling her to submit to it.  However, it would be foolish to tell her to fight back.  In fact without repentance a divorce may be the only solution.  Can we hear the heart of Peter’s point without trying to completely dismiss it?

Wives Should Have Virtues Of The Heart

Peter turns to women more fully and speaks to them as daughters.  Verse 3 begins to challenge them to be more concerned about their inner heart than their outer appearance.  This is not just about adornment but is connected to the issue of submission.  Must I force the conformance of my marriage to an outward appearance that I want, all the while losing the transformation that Christ is doing in my heart?  Peter is not asking women to “stuff it” and submit.  Rather he is asking them to focus on their inner heart and make sure it is following Jesus and not their own flesh.

Now verse 2 encourages “chaste conduct accompanied by fear.”  Let me just say that God does not want women to be afraid of their husbands.  This is simply a misreading of what is being said.  Part of that is a cultural issue and part of it is our own sinful nature.  The Hebrew people had an understanding of fear, far more broad then we do.  It is the same with love and hate.  Do you remember in Genesis 29 when the Bible talks about Jacob loving Rachel more than Leah? The very next verse says that when God say Leah was hated he opened her womb.  Now we reserve the word “hate” for a strong revulsion against something.  But the context clearly shows that Jacob merely loved Rachel more.  Rachel was special to him.  He didn’t hate Leah in the way that we would think.  But he did love Rachel more than her.  This word for Hate can be exactly what we are used to it meaning, but it can also mean to love less.  This is the same with fear.  It can mean to be scared and in terror of something.  But in the context of authority it usually means respect for the job or position the person in authority has.  So the point is not to be afraid of the husband but rather to respect the gravity of the position he holds.  He will be accountable to God one day for how he leads.  Are you helping him to understand that and not be condemned or are you pushing each other to further error, in which you will both give account before God?  So a Christian wife should have chaste conduct that flows from a heart of respect for the duty God has placed on her husband.  She should be working with him and not against him, even when he is making poor choices.  Again, submission does have its boundaries and God is not calling women to be slaves.  Historically this has been misinterpreted and taken advantage of by men, for which they will give account.

Peter points to the importance of inner beauty over the top of outer beauty.  This is not a prohibition against outward adornment.  But rather, it is a call to spend more time on inner beauty than outward.  Outward beauty is fading.  You cannot spend enough money to counteract the effects of aging forever.  You will lose it.  What will you be left with?  If you spent all your focus on outer beauty then your life will be crushed and there will be no inner beauty within.  You can grow more beautiful with age.  God’s plan is not for men to have a mid-life crisis, divorce their wife, and marry a 25 year old.  His plan is for us to recognize the beauty in each other that is beyond the skin.  Will I be desirable when I am 50, 60, 70, 80….?  I will only if I focus on the inner above the outer.

Next he mentions a gentle and quiet spirit.  The word gentle is fairly clear.  It is basically strength under control.  A strong person can learn to be gentle and still strong.  We do not look for the weakest people to be our brain surgeons; rather we train them to be extremely careful and gentle in their movements.  The word “quiet” does not mean silence.  It actually means peaceful and tranquil.  Even when we disagree with one another we can interact in a peaceful way rather than with a rancorous fight.

Peter then gives an example of Sarah the wife of Abraham.  The main point is that she trusted God.  Her trust in God enabled her to peacefully walk with Abraham through some mighty, stupid plans of his.  I can hear Sarah now.  “We are moving, but God hasn’t told you where we are going yet?  O, great plan, Abram.”  Or, “I’m supposed to pretend to be your sister?  Please, do you think that cockamamie plan is going to work?”  Sarah trusted God and in the end God was faithful to her.

Lastly, Peter mentions that he doesn’t want the wives to be in fear and terror.  Mostly likely he is referring to the duty of submission although it could apply to their husbands as well.  Terror is not God’s plan for women.  He wants them to embrace it out of love to him.  But also out of a love of him, because God is not a rebel.  He is a submitted being at heart.  Historically, men have used strength to terrorize women into submission.  Is that Christ?  No, it is sin that will be judged by Christ when he comes.

Final Thoughts

Satan has wedged men and women against each other since the garden.  It is time we recognized that and fought back by uniting together in love.  A Christian marriage can be a beautiful thing for both husband and wife when they love each other in heart and action.  We should never justify horrible marriages under the banner of submission.  Rather, we should correct each other according to the word of God.

Don’t be driven by the desires of your flesh.  Rather,  be driven by the desire to properly represent the Lord and his gospel.

Submission Home I Audio