the path of submission

I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of every woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.  (1 Corinthians 11:3)

We are told elsewhere in scripture that Christ did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but humbled himself taking on the form of a man.  Jesus, fully God, beautifully and perfectly submitted to the father’s headship.  There is a chain of command, God then Jesus, and it worked flawlessly, without a hitch.

Here we are told that the chain of command extends further, that Christ is the head of every man and that the husband is head of the wife (a wife is only to submit to her own husband, see  Ephesians 5:22).  In the same way Christ so humbly and sacrificially submitted to the Father in all regards, both man and woman are to submit to their head.

Imagine with me for a minute the sad state the word would be in if Christ had chosen not to submit to his head.  If rather than follow God’s leading to the cross, he had established his own rule prematurely.  His decision would have had cosmic implications.  There would be no means of saving grace for you or me, he would have proved God a liar, and God would no longer be ruler of his universe!

Similarly, chaos ensues when man or woman refuse to submit to their head.  Yes, it doesn’t negate Christ’s effective work on the cross.  And yes, God is still true and ruler of his world.  But there are “cosmic ripples” none the less.  Our world can not function optimally when we refuse to walk the path our savior trod – the beautiful path of submission, the laying down of one’s will and desires, the taking up of another’s.  We too are asked to walk the path of the cross.

The beautiful thing is this, that as we take our Father’s yoke, we realize that it is easier and lighter than the world’s!  That we are no longer fighting against God’s ordained order and are instead in alignment and harmony with him.  That our lives take on a purpose greater than ourselves.  That we were really slaves before (slaves to our own selfish desires) and now we are free (free to serve God).  That submission is not some cosmic joke meant to keep women chained and shackled.  But rather, submission comes from a beautiful God-ordained chain of command where man and woman alike lay down their will and take up their cross to follow the path Christ already so perfectly walked.  We are asked to do nothing that our savior has not already so humbly done.

The beautiful implications of Christ’s submission to the Father are as innumerable as the stars.  Imagine with me the beauty and far-reaching impact our own lives would have if we too chose the path of Christ, the path of submission.


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2 responses to “the path of submission”

  1. […] difficult enough, his reasonings behind it can seem even more severe.  Yet the creative order is a path of submission paved for both men and women that Jesus has already so humbly trod.  We have to ask ourselves the […]

  2. […] insist.  The roles that God assigned the genders from the beginning no longer apply.  The path of submission that Christ so humbly trod should be jettisoned for a path of our own making, they say directly […]

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