In my last blog I wrote about a friend who was angry at God, because he felt as though God was rejecting him. My friend believed that God created him with flaws and then judged him based on those flaws. I can understand his discouragement and anger, but I believe he is wrong. I don't believe God creates junk with the intention of throwing it away.
When we look at how God works throughout the bible, we see a God whose heart is broken by the sin in this world. Instead of running from the problem, God responds by rolling up His sleeves in order to help. God initially gave us the choice to follow Him, and then He entered into our world to give us another chance. And another. And another. And another. And another...(I could do this all day).
God is constantly pursuing us with an intention of healing us and making us better. And we need His help, because we are messed! Humans are a mixed bag of glory and gory. We are gloriously gory. Created in the image of God, but acting like demons at times. It's sad, it's frustrating, and it could be so much better.
As a husband, I can relate to the image of Jesus loving the Church as a husband. I see Ashley's flaws, and she sees mine. Instead of focusing on our flaws, we focus on our strengths. We clean up each other's messes, and let their strengths shine. That's what I see Jesus doing in the bible. God sees our potential, and loves us enough to help us achieve greatness. We will never be a truly great society without His help. But look at the bible and read it for yourself.
Read about Christ's love for His
Church in Ephesians 5:21-33 (NLT):
And
further, 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. He is the Savior of his body, the church. As the church
submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in
everything.
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. He did this to present her
to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any
other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault. In the
same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own
bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself.
No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ
cares for the church. And we are members of his body.
As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and
is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a
great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the
church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he
loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Answer the following questions:
- Why does Paul teach us about submission?
- What does Jesus desire for His bride (the Church)?
- What does this passage teach us about Jesus?
- What married couple has set a good example for you? How does their relationship relate to the relationship that Jesus has with the Church?
Conclusion:
Christians are on a path
towards righteousness, and that means we strive to remove greed,
sexual immorality and impurity from our lives. God is ultimately the
only one who can remove these issues from our lives, but we are
responsible for persisting in our fight against sinful desires. He
transforms our thoughts and desires by placing His Spirit inside our
hearts. Next week we will discover how to fight against the
temptations of this world.
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