EPHESIANS 5:25, 29-32 - UNITED

United

Lord, you gave yourself for me.

For me you bled and died.

Yet, today you live in me,

And in you I abide.

Lord, you have adhered to me,

You cleave, you stick like glue.

No matter what the world throws my way,

Nothing can snatch me from you.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…”

“After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it,

just as Christ does the church – for we are members of his body.

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,

and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery –

but I am talking about Christ and the church.”

Ephesians 5:25 & 5:29-32 (NIV)

paradidōmi³⁸⁶⁰ – to surrender, i.e. yield up, intrust, transmit: - betray, bring forth, cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend.

mĕlŏs³¹⁹⁶ – a limb or part of the body: - member.

prŏskŏllaō⁴³⁴⁷ – to glue to, i.e. (fig.) to adhere: - cleave, join (self).

            Most people use Ephesians 5:22-33 to talk to wives about submission and husbands about what true love means, and this is good. However, as I listened to this passage again today, something jumped out at me. Paul says he is talking about Christ and the church right after he discusses the husband and wife becoming one flesh.

            Jesus surrendered himself for us, became our substitute on the cross, in order to redeem his wayward bride. He has made us a part of his body (I Corinthians 12:12), and he also calls our bodies his temple (I Corinthians 6:19). Jesus’ prayer for the body is recorded in John 17:21-23 “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

            The marriage relationship is used to help us picture our union with the Lord. We are to be glued to, adhere, cleave, and join ourselves to Jesus. We are the bride he loves as one loves his own body. We are the betrothed for which he gave his life. We are the precious ones he desires to draw unto himself for eternity. As the beloved in the Song of Songs says, “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me,” (Song of Solomon 7:10). He lives in us and wraps us in his glorious love eternally and no one can take us from him (John 10:28).

            Lord, thank you for desiring a relationship with me and drawing me to your side. I look forward to the wedding feast when we, the church, will become your bride. Lord, help me to share this wondrous love with others.