God's Plan For The Wife

OPEN YOUR BIBLES TO GENESIS 3 & EPHESIANS 5:22

1. It’s easy to become confused & mixed-up in this society of ours.

a. So many opinions of what is right & wrong.

b. What is moral & immoral - correct & incorrect.

c. What is the role of the wife? The role of the husband?

d. What’s the proper definition of a marriage?

e. No longer are the words marriage, husband & wife used.

f. In their place are words like, ‘significant other’, ‘life partner’, ‘house buddy’, and the like…

2. SO What voice do we listen to? Where do we yield?

a. AS CHRISTIANS… our final voice is the WORD of God.

b. As the Creator & Sustainer of all things, He has spoken to us clearly in His Word and has a plan & purpose mapped out for every facet of life!

Heb. 1.1-2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;

Paul the Apostle has already described life apart from God’s plan.

· Turn back to Ephesians 2:1ff & 4:17ff

· Things have changed for us who know Jesus personally and intimately… Life’s direction is different… stronger.

· It’s rooted in personal holiness and practical obedience!

SO FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, we will be on a biblical journey.

· God will unfold for us before our eyes, His order & plan for the home and the workplace.

· We will understand the roles & responsibilities of the:

· Husband… the wife… the children… the employee/employer…

THIS MORNING we begin with the wife… in 5:22-24

What an important, life changing person… the wife.

Now… Right at the beginning… I recognize that ‘submission’ is not a popular word in our culture today…

· What the Word of God says won’t be the topic on Oprah, or the latest best seller at Barnes & Noble.

· But I also recognize that it is a misunderstood truth.

· Submission is not an excuse for someone to make anyone a doormat, or whipping post.

· But it certainly has been used that way. WRONG!

But as we speak of submission, it may make some of you respond in the flesh, in the old person… You might get upset or disturbed…

· My prayer has been that this section of Scripture will motivate us as a church, revitalize our homes, and make us shining lights throughout Aurora…

WARNING: Be careful Ladies that you don’t fall into the trap thinking that men are your enemies… thinking men hate you… thinking perhaps that I don’t like you…

· I love you women as a shepherd does his sheep.

· I think you are the greatest gift that God has ever given us.

As some wise guy once said, "A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he’s finished!"

· As moms, as wives, as single ladies, as divorced or widowed…

Oh… to see a marriage saved! To see a couple ready for marriage.

· To see a person obey & surrender their will to Jesus… Awesome!

YOU SEE many years ago I learned that I had to be a God-pleaser and not a man-pleaser as a pastor… as a shepherd.

· God has called me to teach His Word, to give the full counsel of all He has to say to our families and homes.

· I want to present the Word to you and give you something to wrestle with, pray over, and decide upon.

· The choice is before all of us…

· We can either walk the way of the World OR of the LORD.

I. (5:22-24) The Submission of the Wife

There are really two words that describe the role of the wife in the family… submission & subjection.

1. (22) Submission is a POWERFUL WORD.

a. It literally means to “serve, willingly respond, to yield”

b. The wife is to yield & willingly respond to her OWN HUSBAND as to the Lord.

NOTE: We begin speaking to wives this morning but it is only the first half of the biblical roles for the home. GUYS… NEXT WEEK!

· BUT Husbands, when you throw around passages like this, and demand submission, and demand respect…

· You’re not being Scriptural or Spiritual!

· As a matter of fact, if this word is used, the home is upside down

MEN your wife is not your personal slave. She’s a helpmate, a perfect complement to the husband.

· I know that to be absolutely true, because Marie told me to tell you that!

Consider the life of John. He finally went to the doctor after weeks of serious symptoms. The doctor examined him carefully, then called his wife into the office.