As Their Own Bodies
Ephesians 5:28-30
The Lord desires to present the Church as His bride. We have received the washing of sins through baptism. By obeying the word of salvation, we have come to rely on the Lord’s power to cleanse us. This cleansing, which began at that moment, must continue until the glorious day when we are presented to the Lord as His bride.
1. Christ’s Nourishing and Cherishing
Christ nourishes and cherishes us because we are members of His body. His concern is not with each person’s individual success. It is His will that we become part of His body and participate in His plan. He is fully committed to the success of the church with all His strength. The reason we are receiving His blessings now is that we are members of the church, which is His body. Christ is the One who united with the church—He breathes with it, suffers with it, and rejoices with it.
2. A Husband’s Nourishing and Cherishing
The responsibility and attitude that Christ has toward the church should be reflected in the way husbands treat their wives. A husband provides for his wife’s needs and cherishes her with warmth. In such love, the wife finds peace and comfort. But when a husband controls or treats his wife as if she were his possession, it is like harming his own body. A husband within Christ’s grace should reflect the same responsibility—toward his own wife—just as Christ demonstrates toward the church.
3. Not a Possession, but His Own Self
This does not mean honoring your wife as though she were your possession. To a husband, his wife is like his own self. Christ did not merely elevate the status of the church—the church is His very body, and we are members of that body. We, who were once unable to escape the eternal curse, have now been joined to Christ and become parts of Him. When Christ nourishes and cherishes us, He is, in fact, nourishing and cherishing Himself. This is the love we have received. Let us manifest this love through our lives.
March 30, 2025
Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim
