Day 270

Isaiah 51:1–53:12; Ephesians 5:1-33; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 24:7

TODAY IN THE book of Isaiah, we encountered well-known prophetic depictions of Jesus:

But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.

This stark portrait helps us realize that the panoramas of our faith —which we are experiencing in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians —have been offered to us at a great cost. The outflow of this realization should compel us forward into the life God envisions for us. Paul described it like this:

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

On one hand, the idea that we are God’s dear children and we can imitate the Almighty in everything we do is such a vast and overwhelming offer that it’s almost too good to be true. On the other hand, this gift came at a price —the sacrifice of our beloved Jesus. We can partake joyously of these awe-inspiring gifts that God has bestowed on us because they are ours for the taking, but the outpouring of love that made this possible should give us a humbling view of what true, unconditional love really looks like.

Where does the rubber meet the road most on this? In our marriages. Which is where Paul took the discussion:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. . . .

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.

For years, this portion of Ephesians has been misused in unhealthy and controlling ways. With that in mind, husbands, consider the portrait depicted in Isaiah that we began with today. That is what Jesus did for you. His desire and love for you compelled His sacrifice. You are to love your wife like that —as Christ loved the church. What Ephesians reveals is that you tangibly bring the love of Jesus to your wife. This is a big deal.

Wives, consider the same portrait found in Isaiah. That is what Jesus did for you. His desire and love for you compelled His sacrifice. You are to submit to your husband as to the Lord. This doesn’t mean you are to be abused. That is not God’s intention for you.

What Ephesians reveals is this: If your husband is loving you as Christ loved the church, then you must respond to that respectfully, as you would to Jesus. It’s not such a stretch to consider submitting to and trusting in a love so deep that it is willing to die for you. In this kind of love, there is no place for abusive control.

We are to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” —which means we are to love one another with the love of Christ. Although that phrase is common enough to be cliché, the reality of Paul’s words touches everything about us. If we do this, we eliminate turmoil and find the joy of living in the light Paul spoke of today. If we don’t, then we remain in darkness. As Paul put it, “Live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9).

MEDITATION:

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!