Ephesians Lesson 36 of 39 part 6

Genesis 2:23-24

"And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man*. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

*Woman was in Adam as one being, a key to understanding our union in Christ.

This concept is seen in Genesis 1:27 and was at some point prior to creation itself. That is the way it began. Even though Eve was in Adam before creation, yet it was not until God presented her to the man as his complement and completion that they took on the concept of the two becoming of one. That is where it really began, and Paul will refer to that here in Ephesians.

Ephesians 5:25-26

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word."

We are already forgiven, we are Redeemed. But we are in this old world which remains filled with darkness and we are going to be defiled occasionally by sin. And so we need this daily cleansing that only the Word can provide us. It is the only washing that Paul mentions for us. Paul continues on with the spiritual concept. Let me take you to Peter again to hear what he says along this line of thought, turn with me to 1Peter 1.

1Peter 1:22-25
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away: But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you.”

Peter here reveals that our soul is purified when we have responded and acted upon God's revelation of life after death. First by accepting of His perfect Will, our seeing ourselves in Jesus suspended on the tree, in a death of our sinful flesh. But even more than that, when by the Holy Spirit He reveals the Truth and fulness of the Lord's Passover and the hidden meaning not only with the disciples but farther back to Genesis and Exodus. When Israel, no, when Melchizedek and Abraham shared the wine and bread of the elements of God's Covenant. And then when Israel before coming out of Egypt was given the elements of the lamb and its blood as their covering and protection from death. And then by continuation in His Living Word as our daily exercise because of His Love and Spirit restored within our soul, the inner man of the heart as Paul states it. This we do each day as our reasonable form of worship by presentation to the Church, the Head who is Christ and Who is the Living Life giving Word. We, Peter tells us are thereby obedient to His Love, His Word and we walk in love to all.

Ephesians 5:27

"That he (Christ) might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

These are all Spiritual elements of the original Passover and as stated before when Melchizedek and Abraham shared God's Covenant meal of wine and bread and then Jesus carries this theme on during His ministry of revealing God's kingdom and the required entry into the heavenly kingdom relationship restored to mans soul. We cannot discount the Covenant of God with Abraham, when Abraham cut the Covenant, because this speaks to us still. Because of the word nations, granted from Abraham’s own loins did come many sons or nations but when understanding comes and how this ties with God's promise first given man in Genesis 3:15 then the Light of Revelation glows within us. And we become the Living Church of God in and through Christ and His working of His Salvation in Grace and Truth by faith.

And then in verse 28 Paul comes back to the physical and practical aspect.

Ephesians 5:28

"So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."

We mean everyone of us knows that. As soon as we are less than loving to our wives, we are going to notice it. She is not going to be as responsive. We are not going to expect fresh made apple pie if we have been treating her like dirt. But oh my when we treat her right, then those are some of the things that we can expect. God is NO different, He expects us to grow in understanding and knowledge of Christ, or we become the sons of the kingdom who are rejected (Matthew 5:19, 8:11-12, 13:38, 41-43).

Ephesians 5:29-33

"For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.* For this cause** shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

*did you hear that we're part and parcel of Christ's invisible ascended body, where and when did this take place? At the Lord's Last Supper. **because we are one in Christ, and one with our wife.