October 26, 2003 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

Toward the end of the sixth day, God gazed upon everything He had made, and He saw that it was all very good except for one thing. The man Adam was alone, so God paraded every living creature before Adam in hopes that he would find the perfect companion, but nothing suitable was found. Creation needed a finishing touch, and God saved the best for last. When Adam woke up after his surgery, you can sense in his words that the pain in his side was overcome by the sight before him. He had a lot of practice naming all the creatures, and he was eager to name this new one. I'm paraphrasing, but when he first saw her, in the language of our day he said something like, "Wow! At last, someone just like me (sort of)! I'll call her Woman because I'm missing what she has. This is the reason to get married." (Genesis 2:15-25)

Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

We can glean at least four things from this verse:

1. Husbands, it's ok to read it, but never say it out loud in front of any woman. If you're ever losing an argument so badly that you use this verse against your wife, you're out of line. This verse isn't addressed to you. These are God's words to your wife, not yours.

2. Wives, this is a present tense imperative command, and it's fallout from the Garden of Eden. After God finished judging the serpent, He turned to Eve and said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

(This would be a good place to pick on the New Living Translation of Genesis 3:16...)

Genesis 3:16 (NLT) Then he said to the woman, "You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though your desire will be for your husband, he will be your master." Footnote: Or And though you may desire to control your husband.

3. Wives, submit yourselves. You choose to do this because of your faith in God and His plan for your family. Submission requires meekness, and by definition it's a voluntary act. Whenever you reach the point where this requires more faith than you can muster, communion can help you. Do this in remembrance of Jesus. Remember how He washed Judas' feet at the Last Supper. Remember how He served communion even to His betrayer before dismissing him that night. Remember how He healed the ear of one of the men who came to arrest Him. Remember how He comforted the governor who passed the death sentence on Him, telling him that this sin was lesser than the sin of Judas and Caiphas. Remember the cross, where He interceded for those who were hurting Him, saying, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Remember the submission in His words from John 10:17-18, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father."

4. Wives, submit to your own husbands. This bit of clarification is pretty self-explanatory. The bigger picture of the church Paul drew in Ephesians 5:21, "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

5. Submit...as it is fit in the Lord. This has a couple of interpretations. It's often used as a disclaimer when the husband is commanding you to do something outside the boundaries of what is "fit in the Lord." So husbands, God commanded that your wife submit unto you...as it is fit in the Lord. This means that you rank second in the household chain of command, and she ranks third. If you order her to do something that would cause harm to her virtue, or cause her to disobey the One who outranks you both, don't be surprised if she refuses.

The second interpretation is probably the truer one. A wife's submission to her husband is "fit in the Lord" because He commanded it in Genesis 3:16. Wives, submit even if it means going along with one of your husband's hair-brained ideas. When you oppose him, even if he knows he's wrong, it's natural for him to dig in his heels against you. By yielding to your husband rather than resisting him, it frees him up to see for himself when he's wrong, but even better, it gives the Holy Spirit more room to swing the hammer on his conscience. Peter gives a little strategic advice when he explains how your Godly behavior toward your husband has more clout than your words do (1 Peter 3:1-6) .

A good wife is the most precious gift that any man can have while living in this world, period. This verse was pretty tough, but the next one is tougher, and we find even more of Jesus in it...