HUSBANDS
LOVE YOUR WIVES
ISAAC
SENT JACOB BACK TO THEIR HOME LAND TO FIND A WIFE.
JACOB
MEETS RACHAEL WHILE SPEAKING TO HER BROTHER, LABAN.
Gen.
29:9-11 "Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up
his voice and
wept."
Gen.
29:15-20 "Rachel was beautiful...Jacob
loved Rachel...So Jacob
served
seven years for Rachel, and
they
seemed but a few days
to him
because of the love he had for
her."
REMEMBER
WHEN YOU MET THE ONE YOU MARRIED?
How
did you feel?
WESTERN
CULTURE MARRIAGES WERE BASED ON DIFFERENT CUSTOMS. WE
CHOOSE
OUR OWN
MATE. THEIR MARRIAGES WERE ARRANGED.
How
did arranged marriages succeed? The same way our marriages are to
last.
IN
A CULTURE OF ARRANGED MARRIAGES - Notice
God's laws of marriage.
HUSBANDS
LOVE YOUR WIVES.....
Eph.
5:25-31 Text
Many
young men before marriage have claimed to know how to do this.
They
give examples: Send her flowers, Candlelit meal, Box of candy, etc.
.....AS
CHRIST ALSO LOVED THE CHURCH
Not
a matter of how you FEEL. The
essence of this love is the quality of SACRIFICE
.....AND
GAVE HIMSELF FOR IT.
You
have given yourself up for her.
Eph.
1:4-6 God chose
to love us before He made
us - in spite of our rejection.
Husband
to love his wife because he chooses
to - without regard to beauty
or ability [unconditional]
(This is how arranged marriages work out)
Rom.
5:6-8 Christ demonstrated
this love.
1
Pet. 2:21-23 Christ is our example
No
deceit Marriage
is built on trust. Never betray trust.
No
reviling No
Abusive railing.
No
threatening No
coercion. Not a means of motivation.
1
Cor. 13:4-8 Love's pattern for a perfect marriage.
This
love never fails. If mutual, divorce will never happen.
THIS
IS WHAT UNCONDITIONAL LOVE LOOKS LIKE.
It
is a "no matter what" kind of love.
THE
EXAMPLE OF HOSEA THE PROPHET - HIS ASSIGNMENT FROM GOD:
Marry
a woman who will be unfaithful to you.
She
will abandon you & your children and
become a prostitute.
She
will bring you great shame.
While
your marriage bed lies empty, she will be
giving herself willingly to
any man who
will pay
her for her services.
Her
harlotry will lead her to slavery.
She
will be sold into slavery to satisfy her debts
she has accumulated.
She
will be taken to the slave auction, stripped
naked & sold to the
highest bidder.
When
this happens, you are to buy her back
(redeem) and again make her
your wife. (He
would humble himself in the middle of the
market place to pay good money
to buy her
back who left him to become a prostitute.)
HOSEA
WAS TO BECOME A LIVING
PARABLE.
HIS
EXAMPLE - A DEMONSTRATION OF
GOD'S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR
HIS
CHOSEN BRIDE.
WHILE
GOD'S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL - FORGIVENESS IS NOT.
Tit.
2:11-12 "For
the grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men,
[12]
teaching
us that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should
live
soberly, righteously, and godly in the
present age."
Eph.
1:7-10 "In
Him we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches
of His grace
[8]
which He made to abound toward us in
all wisdom and
prudence, [9]
having
made known to us the
mystery of His
will, according to His good pleasure
which He purposed
in Himself, [10]
that
in the dispensation of the fulness of the
times
He might gather together in one
all things in Christ, but which are in
heaven and which are on earth - in
Him,"
Gal.
3:27 "For
as many of you as were baptized into
Christ have put on Christ."