Kindness Toward One Another

May 24, 2009

Lesson: Ephesians 5:1-5, 21-6:4

Key Verse: Ephesians 5:21

Introduction

We are glad that there are those who are role models to the children, helping them to move in the direction, which we think they ought to go. Sport figures are thought to be roll models. But considering those wandering in the ways of the world from greed to fornications of all kinds, there is doubt as to what walk of life children are beginning to imitate. It matters not whether there is a sport hero, friend, or parent, the need for direction must come from one whose moral character and practice are above reproach. This does not mean that we do not sin; but that when we do sin we show a measure of remorse and repentance desiring to do what is right and good for all.

Paul calls us to “imitate Christ, who is our true model. We ought to embrace each other with that love with which Christ has embraced us, for what we perceive in Christ is our true guide” (Calvin). With Christ, as the perfect gift of the Father, there is no variableness or turning from righteousness, truth, or justice. We may try to be role models to our children, but our role is not to have them look to us but to Christ. Being our true model we imitate Christ Jesus by embracing one another with the same love with which he has embraced us. What we see in Christ ought to be seen in each of us who bear his name. This relationship with our Savior and one another is summed up in these words of our Savior, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4). To be able to imitate Christ means to abide in him and he in us. This is part and parcel of our Father’s gift of salvation in His Son.

Walk in Love –Ephesians 5:1-5

Paul has just admonished the church to be “kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32). Therefore, reveal this love by being “followers of God, as dear children.” We are to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweets-smelling aroma.” How has Christ loved us? By appearing in this world as our Savior, “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9:26). Our own response to this love is to love God with our whole heart and mind, and our neighbors as we have been loved. An illustration of this love we have toward one another is seen in how Paul perceived the gift, which he received from the Christians at Philippi, writing, “the things which was sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God” (Phil. 4:18).

God’s Word tells us that we are to be faithful and obedient followers of God. We are to show that we belong to God as his very own dear children. The word for child is in this sense: ‘we are begotten by our parents,’ and therefore belong to them. God has not only created us, but we have been redeemed, purchased by him, through the precious blood of Christ. Therefore, we are to be followers as children who bear the image of God both in creation and redemption.

Our “inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God” is revealed in Christ and his sacrifice, shown also in our sacrifice of love toward God and one another. Those who practice fornication, covetousness, idolaters, etc. have no place in the kingdom of the Lord. These transgressions against the Lord are not ours any longer. Only those glorious things of Christ bring to our hearts and souls the “giving of thanks.” We now hate the acts of the congregations of evildoers, refusing to sit with the wicked. We are washed clean with the precious blood of Christ, and, therefore, we will besiege the altar of our Lord, that we “may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all (God’s) wondrous works” (Ps. 26:5-7).

Discussion: What does it mean to walk in the love of Christ?

Love as Christ Loved –Ephesians 5:21-29

This walk in the love of Christ is further illustrated in our love for one another in the home. Paul begins with a general statement, that we are to submit ourselves, one to another in the fear of God.” To love in the ‘fear’ of God is to recognize who he is in all our relationships. It is in reverence that we bow down before our Creator and Redeemer, giving him the glory in submitting ourselves to one another in Christ.

Therefore, in our homes, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” This is the only statement to the wives in these eight verses concerning the husband and the wife. The submission of the wives, therefore, is conditioned upon the submission of the husband to Christ, and of their love toward their wives. The husband is responsible for making the submission of the wife a truly desirous ambition. The wife is to be subject to the husband as “the church is subject unto Christ” in everything. She becomes the recipient of grace and love, unconditional and sacrificial. This enables her to be free to be the woman whom God loves, to be able to employ or exercise all her wonderful gifts and talents.

The husband is “the head of the wife.” He is to love his wife. These two characteristics of a husband who walks in the love of Christ should be manifested in each home. As to being the head of the wife, the husband looks to Christ alone as his model. Christ is “head of the church; and he is the Saviour of the body.” You cannot accept the position of head of the wife if you are not able to accept the responsibility of being her savior. Christ became head of the church because he gave himself unconditionally to its salvation. The husband must do likewise. He must do all that is possible, in Christ, to bring about the best environment for her to live in. he must be willing to sacrifice himself for her.

The husband is to love his wife, as Christ “loved the church, and gave himself for it.” His love is, again, a sacrificial love. This is illustrated in the next two verses, which reads, “That (Christ) might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. That he might present it to himself a glorious church.” The husband sets apart his wife to himself that he might know her as his very own. This is no ordinary love. It is an unconditional love, an imitation of Christ’s love for us. This great affection of husband toward his wife is further emphasized in that men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. Calvin wrote, “Every man, by his very nature, loves himself. But no man can love himself without loving his wife. Therefore, the man who does not love his wife is a monster.”

Discussion: What does it mean to love as Christ has loved us?

Love as Obedience -Ephesians 6:1-4

True love is a moral act toward God and man. God’s commandment reads, “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.” The teaching of obedience the child learns what it means to truly love his parents, and therefore, love God. The promise added to the commandment is that it “may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Obedient love brings about a quality of life, which minimizes the stresses of sin and sorrow in this world. It gains victory for the Christian. Therefore, fathers are not to provoke their “children to wrath.” They are not to act contrary to the love of Christ that they would stir up hatred in the heart of their children. They must grant forgiveness when needed as well as the teaching of the Word of God, bringing “them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Whatever admonition the parents’ give to the child it must rest firmly, by the grace of God, in his Word. “It is not the will of God that parents, in the exercise of kindness, shall spare and corrupt their children. Let their conduct toward their children be at once mild and considerate, so as to guide them in the fear of the Lord, and correct them also when they go astray. That age is so apt to become wanton that it requires frequent admonition and restraint” (Calvin). In our relationships with one another, in home and church, let us reveal our walk with Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Discussion: Why are the children told to honor and obey their parents?