Chief End 13 – Marriage 6

The following paragraph is from the Chief End for Which God Created the World 8 (Marriage). It is meant to give context.

We need to look at the big picture for a moment before we have a short look at some of the particulars. If we desire marriage for selfish and self-centered considerations, then we do not desire the glory of God and the true good of the other. Most marriage counseling appears to be done on a needs basis, that is, that one spouse is to meet the needs of the other. Other forms of counseling are more behavior oriented and verses are prescribed as behavior modifiers in much the same way as medical doctors prescribe medication. The one says meeting the needs of the other glorifies God and the second says that certain behavior glorifies God. But does it really do that? Do certain behaviors in and of themselves glorify God according to His terminal purpose for humanity and all of creation?

The thing that makes the wife submitting to her husband so hard is pride and selfishness, but perhaps something more is involved in that as well. When Adam and Eve fell in the Garden, there was a curse placed on them. All of their descendants have had to bear that curse. The curse on them and marriage is only lifted in Christ. Unbelievers, though they may think that they are believers, have a curse placed on them and their marriage. So many try hard at having Christian marriages and perform in some way the duties of them and yet do not have the reversal of the curse as only found in Christ. Jesus said that His yoke was light and His burden was easy (Mat 11:30). He also said that His commands were not burdensome (I John 5:3).

What makes the yoke of Christ not burdensome is that the believing woman has the life of Christ in her. The One who perfectly submitted to His Father is the One who is working that life in her. The One who perfectly submitted to His Father is the One who is on the other side of the yoke doing the work. Since submission to a husband is really submission to God, Christ works that submission in the woman that is submitted to Him from the heart. The believer must submit to Christ from the heart in order to submit to another human in truth and love. When Christ is doing the work of submission in the heart and life of the woman, submission is not a burden but is an act of love to Christ. It is also the giving of the body and soul as His instrument of glory in the world as He created it to be.

I Peter shows how submission should be: “In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. 3 Your adornment must not be merely external– braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; 4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear” (3:1-6).

As we see this text lived out we can see the glory of Christ shining through the woman. It was in perfect submission to the Father that the glory of Christ shone through. He told his disciples that all men will know that you are My disciples if you have love for each other (John 13:35). When a woman truly submits to Christ through her husband and that from the heart, it is plain for others to see that there is a different power in that woman. The behavior shows a power that Christ alone can put there. A chaste and respectful behavior shows the life of Christ. It is a gentle and quiet spirit toward the husband which only flows from the hearts of women who have Christ. Notice that in verse 5 it says (taking out the commas) that holy women who hoped in God adorned themselves with submission to their husbands. The beauty of Christ in a woman is put on with submission to Him by submitting to the husband and in that the glory of the submissive Savior shines through the woman. Women were made to glorify God as all are created to manifest the glory of God. Submission to the husband is one main way that the glory of God shines through Christ and then through the woman. It is His chief end in creating human beings.

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