Ephesians 5:23

"For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body." Ephesians 5:23

Paul explains in I Corinthians about a natural order in the structure of the body... the family of God, writing... "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is head of Christ" 1 Cor 11:3. Paul is not saying the woman is inferior to the man, just as Christ is not inferior to His Father. Paul is speaking of divine order that in context of this letter will create an environment in which the marital partners will be "diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Keeping, or respecting this divine order will greatly enable peace and harmony within the marriage bonds. Where the world deals with enmity between man and woman... the Christian man and wife should experience harmonious balance. In Ephesians 4:3 Paul goes on to add that... in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. In I Corinthians, Paul says, "For as the woman's origin from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God." 1 Cor 1:12 Men and women are interdependent, and women are not inferior to men since they give birth to all. In Genesis it is quite clear that both men and women were created in God's image, Moses wrote... "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female".

We have to believe that if Adam had not sinned and used his God given position in the garden to stop what was happening, that Eve would have been subject to him and not taken the fruit. It all goes back to God's plan of order in all things, and not any superiority of husband over the wife. Although God said that the sin had brought enmity between the two... He never took Adams position as "Head" away... that position as Paul clearly states here in verse 23, is God's will today. Christ's position over the church is the Key to understanding the husbands position over the wife. We'll look at more on this ahead in our study.

Let's pick up with Ephesians verse 5:24 next time.

I love you.