It’s obvious that we can never, ever exhaust God’s truths concerning the union between a man and a woman, this great mystery that reveals Christ and the church.  We’ll never be able to fully comprehend every aspect but we can continue to press on to know and to apprehend that that is available for us.  We saw that in the creation, as we stated earlier, man was to have a helpmeet.  God said it was not good for him to be alone so He made him the woman, taken from himself.  We see that unification in the covenant called marriage where woman was taken out of Adam and now, in marriage, we two become one again.  The fulfillment from both the masculine and the feminine—two being better than one—assist our victory as we walk in the great redemption that’s been given us in Jesus, awaiting that glorification.  We are married for the purpose of promoting, in one another’s lives, Christlikeness; amen?  If we look at that as our role in marriage, it’s nothing to do with what I get out of it, it’s what I’m putting into it, in seeing the body of Christ built as I’m personally assisting my spouse in Christlikeness.  In marriage, we don’t approach it with a perspective of ownership or possessiveness, because our spouses do not belong to us.  Just like our children, they’ve been lent to us and there will be a time when they become all in all Jesus’ children, Jesus’ friend, Jesus’ bride, praise God.  So, we’re assisting one another to finish this course and to then finally, ultimately, see Him and be like Him.  Hallelujah!

So, how are we doing in assisting one another?  The first thing we need to see, and we talked to the men about not being harsh or sharp with the wives:  do not tear down that gift that God has given you for your edification.  So, we realize that responsibility.  The responsibility, men, that we saw was ours to oversee our wives, to set course for our homes and that that course must be Christlikeness.  That course must be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom.  That course must be to raise up a godly seed.  That course must be to bring a cleansing, a refreshing, a special anointing to our wives that they might oversee and fulfill their role as keepers of the home.  We men, in this marriage, have to relinquish that aspect.  We’ve talked about it in many ways:  you are the superintendent but your wife is in charge of the home, fulfilling your heart’s desire.  In other words, recognize the worth and the authority in that role and encourage, and strengthen, and assist in any way you can but we surely don’t become critical, and one of the worst things we can do, men, is try to micromanage our homes.  That’s her domain, we see in Titus and it’s what God has purposed to allow you to be able to set this course, to see godly children, to see a wife that’s been washed with the water of the Word, not what you say to her but what you exhibit to her in your pursuit of Christ.  And this is how we wash these great gifts that God has given to us.