It never ceases to amaze me how God's Word is alive and active. Sometimes it seems a verse just leaps from the page for me to ponder. Such was the case recently while one of the men of the church was reading from Ephesians 5 for a communion meditation. The passage was...
"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."
-Ephesians 5:25-27
I never realized before that this passage refers to baptism. I guess I've always focused on the husband/wife & church/Jesus relationship it mentions but it never clicked until now that baptism is what makes this relationship possible.
"...the washing of water with the word..." precedes the church being referred to as "without spot" and "without blemish". It is at the point of baptism that this occurs for each one that seeks to be part of the Lord's church. "the word" has a role to play as it is through the proclamation of the word that one first comes to an understanding of faith. As it states in Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."
Even though Ephesians 5 speaks of the relationship between wives and husbands this is not the main focus or point of the passage. As verse 32 states, "This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." Without the "washing of water" we miss the profound nature of being part of the Lord's church and miss out on being "without spot" or "without blemish" in God's eyes.
For years when reading this passage I focused on the husband/wife relationship (which is something to seriously consider) but all the time missed the main point of focus of the text being about Christ and His Church. Thank you Lord, for illuminating me with this profound mystery.
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