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All right, welcome back to day three of our deep dive into Ephesians chapter five, specifically on what it means to be a godly husband. Now we'll get to the specific verses where Paul addresses how husbands are to be mutually submitted under their wives out of reverence for Christ. Verse 25 says, Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. And then when you get down to verse 33, he says, However, let each one of you love his wife as himself. So, what does it mean to love her as Christ loved the church? Now reminder, you can't pull this off on your own. That if you don't know Jesus, there's no way that you're going to be able to love her as Christ loved the church if you don't know the love of Jesus. First John chapter 4, verse 7 says this, beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God, and anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. And then you skip down to verse 19, and the Bible says, We love because he first loved us. So, husbands, we are called to love our wives the way Christ loves us. Let me ask you. So, how did Jesus love us? Well, here's a few ways. Number one, he sacrificed himself. Ephesians 5 25 says that he loved us and laid down his life for us. Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for your wife? And I know that in some sort of heroic physical sense, the answer is yes. I don't know the man that at least won't verbally say, I'm willing to lay down my life for my wife. But are you willing to lay down your life daily for your wife? Do you put your needs above her needs? Well, you got to lay that down. He sacrificed himself. Secondly, that Christ's love towards his church, Christ initiated his love. First John 4 10 says, This is love. We didn't first love God, but God first loved us. Romans 5 8. He says that the way that Christ loves the church is he did not wait on us to get our act together, but Christ demonstrated his love for us in this that while we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us. So he has a sacrificial love, he has an initiating love. He has a love that's not waiting on us to get our act together. The fourth way that Christ loves us is his love was manifested in action. That Jesus does not just simply feel a thing or even believe a thing, but he does something. John 3 16, the Bible says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life. So is your love just something that you feel on the inside, or does it manifest itself in action? Next, God's love towards his church never gives up. In Luke chapter 15, in the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus tells a story that is all about the grace of the Heavenly Father. And even though the Son had screwed up royally and deserved to be cast out, the Father gladly welcomes the Son back when he finally comes home. He lavishes his son with grace. He gives him a ring, he gives him shoes, he gives him a robe, he throws him a party. That God's love towards his church is lavish love. Another way that Christ loves the church is that his words over his bride give life. In John chapter 14 and 15 and all through that section, Jesus calls us, his disciples, friends. He says that a servant doesn't know his master's business, but I have called you friends because that is what you are. Do the words that you speak over your wife speak life? You see, husbands, the bar is very, very high. I know you love your wife in your heart, and that's adorable, but we are to love our wives as Christ loved the church and the way he loved us. He sacrificed for us, he initiated his love, he did not wait for us to get our act together, he manifested his love in action, his love never gives up, and his love speaks life over us. One of the things that you could do all throughout the scripture is just keep notes of how Christ loves us as the church and let that help you love your wife better.

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