Trinity Series - Sermon #11

If you have not been following this series, please go to the post for January 22 where an explanation of the format is given. Happy studying!

All of God:
Exploring the Mystery of the Trinity
Order in the Trinity, Order in the Court:
Applications from the Trinity

I am a child of the 60’s. I was a teenager in high school in those days, not a college student, but I consider myself, nonetheless, a child of the 60’s. Many times, when my children were growing up, I heard these words: “Dad, turn the radio down!” I am not bragging, nor am I confessing – it is just a fact, I grew up in the 60’s, and like most of us, whether we admit it or not, I was affected by the spirit of the day. What was the spirit of the day? Rebellion and rejection of established authority.

I would say that is the spirit of this age, also. Even though we don’t see protests and riots of the magnitude of the late 60’s and early 70’s, the radical ideas of those days left an indelible imprint on our national psyche. We tend to dislike and/or distrust those in authority. Americans tend to be very individualistic, anyway, and our “I will take care of it myself” mentality also tends to breed a spirit of “leave me alone and let me get the job done my way.”

My way. That, in a nutshell, is why we bristle against authority. We want to do it “my way.” Now, your way may very well be better than your boss’s way or the government’s way, or your husband’s way, or your parents’ way, but there is a problem with insisting on bucking against authority, even if your way is clearly better. Before you turn me off, please know that I am not saying you should always be quiet and let anything and everything go. We are blessed enough to live in a land where opinions of those under authority are often valued. What if we lived in a totalitarian society? Well, whether we live in a free or oppressive society, there is much we have to learn from the structure of the Trinity, and I want to get into some biblical meat before we read our text because after we read our passage we will be thinking about human relationships as an application of our knowledge of God.

There is order within the Trinity. Authority and submission are found within the Trinity without the slightest hint of resentment, jealousy, or bitterness. Bruce Ware said, “One of the lessons of the Trinity is that God loves, exercises, and embraces rightful authority-submission relationships. In the very eternal relations that are true of the Persons of the Trinity, authority and submission are lived out with love and joy.”

We spent a lot of time earlier talking about the order that exists in the Trinity. The Father is the ultimate authority and the Son is submissive to the Father, and the Spirit is submissive to the Father and the Son, though when Jesus was on the earth He was led by the Spirit in all that He did. These roles are eternal, both in eternity past and eternity future, and are irreversible – the Son never exercises authority over the Father, nor is the Father ever submissive to the Son or the Spirit. Does this mean the Father is greater than the Son and the Spirit? No. The three all have the same identical nature, they are equal in divinity and all three are eternal – for, they are one. So, there is no rank in the Trinity that would show that the Father is on a different plane than the Son or the Spirit, but there is clear order.

I will not take time to review the numerous passages we have read that establish this truth, but you can find all of the messages in audio form on our website and the written transcripts on my blog, which you can also access from our website. The truth that we have learned about order in the Trinity serves as the foundation for God’s teaching about authority and submission in human relationships. You will see just a little of that in our text, but the main focus after we read Ephesians 5:15-6:9 will be to think about our responsibility in authority-submission relationships in our lives. Let’s look at our text – please stand for the reading of the Word.

15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.
24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her,
26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
27 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.
28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,
30 because we are members of His body.
31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise),
3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
6 not by the way of eye-service, as people pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave, or free.
9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with Him.

I suppose one of the first objections we might raise to the prospect of submitting ourselves from the heart, as in children to parents, a wife to a husband, employees to their boss, and as citizens to a government whose policies we consider irrational at best and immoral at worst, is that even though there is order in the Trinity, the three Persons of the Trinity are perfect. We are called to submit to imperfect humans, and, I might add, humans with only half the sense that God has given us! We all get that, don’t we? We see the problem, and God addresses it by saying – well, God doesn’t address it. He just calls for submission to authority, whether it is Christians to whom we are called to submit, or it is unbelievers who are our authority figure. How can we do that when we are, in effect, a rebellious people? By being filled with the Spirit.

It is significant, don’t you think, that the long section about all kinds of authority-submission relationships is prefaced by the challenge to be filled with the Spirit? Interestingly, the Spirit knows how to submit. We refer to the Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity, not because He is ranked below the Father and the Son, but because His role is one of submission. He gladly does the Father’s business and glorifies the Son.

As we have repeatedly observed in other NT texts, once again we see all three persons of the Trinity in Ephesians 5:18-21. Notice that when the Spirit is in control of our lives, we will dwell together as a church in unity and with love for one another, love that goes so far that we submit to one another, or, in other words, we live in humility and treat one another with deference.

There is debate about whether verse 21 belongs with the section before it or the section after it. Do we submit to our brothers and sisters in the body, or are husbands and wives called to live in mutual submission to one another? Verse 21 is most likely a bridge between the two passages, but it is more in the sense of, “Submit to one another – and while we are talking about submission, wives, submit to your husbands.”

Now, this is a structure that is widely accepted in society today. Hardly! In fact, what are your emotions when you hear these words spoken – “Wives, submit to your husbands?” Red flags, alarm bells, words of warning. We all have examples that would nullify this command and so we are tempted to make the monumental mistake of wanting to let the exception serve as the rule. “Wives, submit to your husbands – as long as he is a godly man and he loves you like Christ loves the church and he is a good father to your children and he fulfills your emotional needs.” Doesn’t say that, does it? It is amazing how many Christian women want a divorce from their husbands on the grounds that “he keeps me from being all I could be and surely God would not want me to live in a relationship in which I am hindered from being the best Christian I can be. Right?” No, it is not right!

Now, please understand that I believe, though some of you will disagree, that in Matthew 19 Jesus stated that divorce is an acceptable course of action when one’s spouse commits adultery. What you may not know is that in so saying, Jesus was not giving people an out, but rather He was actually seeking to put a stop to the ridiculous reasons men were giving, with rabbinical approval, to divorce their wives. Offenses such as putting too much salt in the food or talking too much were all men needed to put their wives out. God makes it clear that He hates divorce and we are called to do whatever we can to keep our marriages intact. In the cases of infidelity or abandonment, as detailed in 1 Corinthians 7, divorce is allowed, and I understand why! Also, I would not want a woman or children to live in a home where physical or extreme emotional abuse puts them in danger. I say “extreme” emotional abuse because it would be so easy to overstate an unhappy relationship.

If God’s order for the home is the same as it is the Trinity, a leader and a follower, is it any surprise that Satan would want to cause us to question that order? For decades, almost all secular entertainment depicted husbands and fathers as ignorant and/or tyrannical, either buffoons that deserved scorn or bullies that required being put in their place. Guys got tired of such treatment and thus the sports/beer drinking crowd put men back in control. Neither picture is biblical.

What does it mean for wives to submit to their husbands? There is not a whole lot of explanation given here, though other NT texts talk about a gentle quiet spirit, pure conduct, and a godly heart. In verse 33 of Ephesians 5, wives are told to respect their husbands. I suppose the best example I have ever seen of that is my own dear wife. When I doubted myself, she did not. Ever. Not in my worst moments, and believe me, there were times that I made life less than wonderful for her and probably didn’t deserve her respect. It is not that she never raised her voice at me, she did – but, she always, always, always respected me, and her respect made me a far better man, husband, father, and minister.

God’s design for wives is that they submit to their husbands, giving them honor and respect. It is counter-cultural. Bruce Ware says that “we live in a culture that despises submission as much as it does authority.” You know that is true. But, we are not going to answer to society at the end of this age – we are going to answer to Jesus. That’s why, in verse 24, spiritual accountability is brought into the command to submit – in the same way the church is to submit to Christ, wives are to submit to their husbands.

So, husbands are probably feeling pretty good about things right now. Unfortunately, God’s word is quite clear, both here (Ephesians 5:25-31) and in other places, such as James 3:1 and 1 Peter 3:7, that those who have leadership responsibilities have the greater responsibility and are more accountable than those they are called to lead. The kind of leadership to which husbands are called is one of absolute sacrificial love. It is compared to the kind of love that Jesus exhibited for the church when He died for us. We are called to be the spiritual leaders of our homes, just as Christ leads the church.

1 Peter 3:7 is one of those verses that will make you wince, if you care more about what is culturally acceptable than what is biblical: “Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” In other words, if you mistreat your wife, don’t waste your time in prayer. That’s pretty blunt, but it is the heavy responsibility put on husbands as leaders of their homes. Within the Trinity, God the Father’s plan and His love are perfect. Men, as leaders of their homes, must be filled with the Holy Spirit if they are to have any hope of being the kind of husbands God has called them to be.

I know a lot of husbands who love their wives – on their own terms. 1 Peter 3:7 commands husbands to live with their wives in an understanding way – in other words, love them the way they need to be loved. With words that would be most controversial today, Peter describes women as the weaker of the two. Probably Peter means that men are stronger physically and emotionally, and certainly they have more delegated authority, so the temptation to abuse is significant. Most men would hurt their wives in a physical struggle, they can damage their wives’ spirits greatly with careless words, and they can take advantage of their spiritual authority given to them by God. If they do, they have forgotten that there is someone to whom they are accountable who is much bigger than they – God. Along with leadership comes great responsibility.

Well, now that we have looked at Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3, you have all the answers you need for a long and fulfilled marriage, right? We have not scratched the surface! I want to recommend a book that I admit I have not yet finished. In fact, I bought it several weeks ago, but because of a very busy schedule and the Carolina Hurricanes’ quest for the Stanley Cup, I have not been able to finish it. I am discovering as I read it, though that what I have heard from a number of people that I highly respect is accurate – this is a great book! Love and Respect, by Emerson Eggerichs, is saying something quite well that needs to be said and that we need to hear. The subtitle affirms what we have been discussing: The Love She Most Desires, The Respect He Desperately Needs. Rush out to a bookstore in the next few days and pick up this valuable help for your marriage.

Order in the Trinity, order in the home. In addition to wives being submissive to their husbands, children are called to submit – or, more precisely – to obey their parents. Children are called to honor both father and mother. In so stating here in Ephesians 6:1-3, the Apostle Paul looked back to the Ten Commandments and pointed out that this commandment carried a promise with it – a prosperous and long life. Once again, the order in the Trinity is our model. Just as Jesus said that He did what the Father told Him to do, we are called to obedience. Children are called to obey from the heart – that is what it means to honor our father and mother.

This does not mean that parents get a free pass. “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” It is the role of the parents – and, especially the father – to point children to Jesus. This requires that we are consistent in our lifestyles – not perfect, but consistent. It means that we instruct them rather than bully them. It means that we love them deeply and recognize that it is our responsibility to prepare them, as we were told in Ephesians 5, to leave our homes ready to serve the Lord and love their wives and respect their husbands.

Before we conclude this text and message in the next few verses, I want to point out that Romans 13:1-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-3, and 1 Peter 2:13-17 are quite clear that we are to submit to governmental authorities, thus the title of this message – Order in the Trinity, Order in the Court. Please write these passages down and study these texts. You will think more deeply about this command in Home Fellowships this week. God makes it clear that if we want to be in obedience to Him, we are to be subject to every human institution – even to the point, we are told in 1 Peter 2:17 honoring the emperor. Remember, the Roman Emperor was hardly a godly man when Peter wrote his letter. In fact, many were about to be put to death for their refusal to worship the emperor. Peter – and, thus, God – distinguished, though, between worship and honor. Our submission to government is a matter of our testimony – so says God’s word. That’s hard, as is the call for employees to submit to employers.

Well, OK, Ephesians 6:5-9 says that slaves are to submit to their masters and masters are to treat their slaves with dignity, but since we are thankfully devoid of such in our society, we will make application to bosses and workers. It certainly fits. Once again, both authority and submission are shown to be matters of the heart. Workers submit as unto Christ and bosses lead recognizing that they have a boss in heaven, and this boss shows no partiality. He has no favorites. He is not inclined toward certain personalities or physical appearance. He created us all and He expects us to fulfill whatever role to which we have been called with love from the heart, and we are to live our lives seeking to please Him, not men.

That does not mean that we give no thought to others – indeed, the whole lesson has been that we treat others with love and respect. But, we do not do what we do in order that others will commend us and treat us well. We lead and follow with our eyes on heaven – and that brings us full circle, with our eyes on the Trinity.

We are made in the image of God. As we learned last week, the Father, Son, and Spirit dwell in perfect unity and express perfect love for one another. To be made in God’s image means that as the people of God, we called to live in community with love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have talked today about the authority-submission structure in the Trinity and how it should translate to our human relationships where we gently lead in love and submit, first to Jesus, then to those in authority over us with honor and respect.

I began this message by saying that we are a rebellious people. That is true. When God is absent from our lives and we are allowed to go our own way, we really want to go our own way. But, since we are made in the image of God, there is a part of us that very much craves order, including proper leadership and proper submission. If you think government should stay completely out of our lives, what will you do if and when there is anarchy in the streets? You will desire for order to be restored. Of course, the ultimate answer is for Jesus to be in control of this world. That will happen, regardless of your beliefs about end times – whether it is a thousand year reign on this earth or in the new heavens and new earth. For now, though, we can clearly give people a glimpse of God as we agree with and embrace God’s design for authority-submission and as the Spirit of God fills us with His power to live for Him, not for ourselves. His plan is perfect. Let’s pray.