In the Song of Solomon we see a beautiful model for marriage. Although the husband was a king, the dominant relationship with his wife was that of love rather than authority.
The curse relating to the relationship between men and women is summarized in the last phrase of Genesis 3:16, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” We will see that Paul’s admonition in Ephesians 5:22-33 is a reversal of this curse.
Paul’s admonition to wives and husbands in Ephesians 5:22-33 must be understood against its historical context. Paul is writing to provide a beautiful and redemptive Christian framework for marriage that stands in bold contrast to the world of the 1st century.
The motivation for mutual submission comes from a reverent fear of Christ. What does this mean? How does the Bible define this reverence of Jesus?
One of the central themes of Ephesians 5:3-14 is the metaphor of “light”. Paul uses this concept to help us understand how putting on the “new self” is a process of exposing the darkness in our hearts and in our actions to the light of Christ and his finished work on the cross.
The Hebrew word “offering” (qorbān) primarily used in Leviticus and Numbers is best translated as “a thing brought near.” Sacrifices are thus concerned with the issue of how one can live in nearness to God.
Love, especially love for one’s enemy, becomes the norm to distinguish virtue from vice, especially as that love is seen in “life in Christ” and its social implications.
God can bring about spiritual maturity, and hence unity, through the spiritual leadership he gives to the church.
If we don’t love each other well, we will never love the world well and witness to Jesus well.
To know the love of Christ is to know Christ himself, in ever widening experience, and to have His outgoing and self-denying love reproduced in oneself.
The mystery is revealed in a unique way now: the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members with Israel in the promise in Christ.
“For this reason” is a continuation of Paul’s thoughts, that he wants to bless them and pray for them.
It is likely that Paul wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus and asked Tychicus to deliver it to the various house churches in the immediate region as a circular letter.