[1] #310, Lasting Relationships, Pastor Mark Boucher, Sunday, 05-11-2008

Text: Ephesians 5:25-33
Theme: Love your wife as Christ loves the church … you.

INTRODUCTION:

1. I didn’t really notice it until looking back and considering.
   1. My mother gave so much of herself.
   2. Sometimes she got tired and discouraged.
2. What can we do to help and bless these women?
   1. I want to proceed along the husband/wife relationship.
   2. Some of you are unmarried, single parents, divorced or separated by death.
3. The Bible gives us God’s wisdom concerning relationships.
   1. Paul addresses family relationships and starts with the most important (husband and wife).
   2. In Ephesians, Paul addresses husbands twice as much as the wife.

Text: Ephesians 5:25-33
The repeated pronouncement of Paul to the husbands is “love your wife.
How do we do this? We’re so different.
Theme: Love your wife as Christ loves the church … you.

HOW DOES CHRIST TREAT US THE CHURCH AND APPLY THIS TO OUR RELATIONSHIP.

1. Jesus gives Himself to us.

a. “God built a bridge with two board and a nail.” –a sign

b. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (v25)

c. *If you have to insist on your own way, you’re not ready for marriage.

d. Jesus gives of Himself for the building up of His church.

e. Agape love does what helps the other.

f. He provides for us in every way without spoiling us.

2. Jesus listens to us.

a. He ever lives to make intercession for us.

b. He hears our prayers and invites us into deeper fellowship.

c. As husbands we need to work at listening.

d. Sometimes, I am preoccupied, but when I listen I benefit from her prospective.

e. Survey of the five major needs of women:

f. Affection

g. Conversation

h. Honesty/Openness

i. Financial Support

j. Family Commitment

k. * This can be difficult because of differences in verbal abilities/

3. Jesus forgives us.

a. “We all stumble in many ways.” James 3:2

b. It is easy to focus on, “how she needs to change.”

c. Conflict management, resolution, and transformation are huge issues in a marriage.

d. Jesus overlooks and forgives.

e. Our faults in the light of God are so much greater than our wife’s faults in comparison.

f. A good marriage is made up of two good forgivers.

4. Jesus remains faithful to us.

a. He will always be faithful.

b. “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

c. Faithfulness to our wife reveals our heart to God.

d. We want to be faithful, not just to the vow, but to the person.

e. *Faithfulness to God is not just to the Word, but to Himself.

f. We don’t even talk about divorce.

CONCLUSION:

1. God has mirrors, not for Himself but for us.
   1. People can’t see God directly, but we are to reflect Him.
   2. Our marriage can reflect the glory of God. Don’t distort His image by breaking it up.