Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Ephesians 5:25-27 NIV
This passage comes amid instructions concerning family relationships, husband/wife, parent/child, and master/slave. Similar instructions can be found elsewhere in the writings of Paul (Col. 3:18-4:1) and Peter (1 Pet. 3:1-7). But here in Ephesians, Paul adds a twist. He compares the relationship of a husband and his wife with that of Christ and his church.
Christ loved his church so much that he gave his life for her. His sacrifice for us was not just to deliver us from the consequences of our sins. Paul says that Christ gave himself to make us holy, to wash us clean of the filth that had covered us, and to present us to himself as a radiant church—a church without flaw, holy and blameless.
You might say that Jesus went above and beyond in the love that he demonstrated for his church. A love that helps us reach heights that we would never have achieved otherwise.
Clearly, there are significant differences between Christ and his church and a husband and his wife. But that self-sacrificing love Christ has for his church should provide a model for the love a husband has for his wife. An unbreakable love between two who have become one. A love that will cherish her beyond anything else in this world; that will encourage her to blossom into the best she can be; that will see her through the trials and challenges she will face in this life; and will draw her ever closer to our Lord.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church.”