Ephesians 6:1-3

Day 54

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3

“In the Lord”
Paul’s obsession with Christ becomes crystal clear in these verses.  Consider the text from Ephesians 1:3-12.  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ  just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… adoption as sons through Jesus Christ… freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood…the summing up of all things in Christ… In Him also we have obtained an inheritance… we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Now consider our current passage, Ephesians 5:21-6:9.  “Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ… Wives…as to the Lord…as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ…love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…just as Christ also does the church…I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church…Children, obey your parents in the Lord…Fathers…bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.  Slaves, be obedient…in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ…as slaves of Christ…render service, as to the Lord…this he will receive back from the Lord…And masters…knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven…”

The analysis of these two sample passages could really be repeated throughout the entire book of Ephesians.  Salvation is all about the glory of God in the person of Christ.  Family is all about the glory of God in the person of Christ.  The church is all about the glory of God in the person of Christ and spiritual warfare is all about the glory of God in the person of Christ.  Jesus Christ must dominate all facets of our lives.

For the particular focus on the parent-child relationship, Paul affirmed the biblical mandate that children should do two things.  First, children should obey their parents. Second, children should honor their parents.  When a child is below a certain age, they are to obey their parents as if God Himself is giving them their instruction.  As children get older and become adults, the responsibility to their parents continues, but in a different form.  Now, instead of obey, adult children should honor their parents.  The verb change is significant. Paul affirmed the uniqueness of the marriage relationship in Ephesians chapter 5. A man and a woman leave their respective parents to become a new family.  The new family now takes on the priority.  A husband now directs his primary responsibilities for family life toward his wife and children, and not his parents.  A wife also considers the needs of her husband and her children over the concerns of her parents.  Many a marriage has struggled from undo pressure from the in-laws.  God, knowing all things, gave as one of the first instructions to Adam and Eve, a couple completely void of an in-law problem, “marriage and kids first, in-laws second.”  There must be balance in all of this.  When children are young, the message from the Bible is “obey your parents.”  As children move into adulthood, the command shifts to “honor your parents.”  We will not always obey but our honor for our parents should remain.  In honoring parents, we do so without undermining our relationship to our spouse, if we are married.  This warrants great wisdom. Some extended families help us spiritually and emotionally along with supporting us in many other helpful ways. Some extended families create more exhaustion and sorrow than help.  If you have incredible in-laws on both sides of the family, praise God for that.  If instead your in-laws function more as outlaws, pray for wisdom and strength to balance honor while protecting the most important human relationships with your spouse and kids.  May God be glorified in our families. May He grant us grace to honor our parents. May He grant us wisdom to honor our parents while keeping our greater commitment to our immediate family.

Suggested Prayer:  God, make my life reflect Your priorities for me, the church, the world, and all of creation.  Make my life proclaim Your glory through the exalting of Your Son.  As a child or a parent, as an employee or a boss, as a church member and a citizen of my country, produce a Christ exalting work in me.  Amen.

Ephesians