Colossians 3:18-25
The Christian Home (cf. Eph. 5:21—6:9)
18 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
After putting our focus on the kingdom of God within us and His house in our relations with one another in the church and the world, we are pointed toward the home and the relationships established there in the Garden of Eden between man and wife. The wife as co-equal helper (Genesis 2:18, 21-22, 1 Corinthians 11:8-9, 11-12) and heir of eternal life (1 Peter 3:7) in Christ. In the roles imposed by the Lord God due to creation as well as resulting from the fall of mankind () into sin, the wife is called to willingly submit to the husband in his role to lead the family just as the husband is called to love the wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:24-25, 33) and sacrificed Himself to deliver from sin’s penalty. Children are likewise told to obey their parents in the Lord to please God and honor the order He has established for the home as part of the house of God’s kingdom and its spiritual foundation. Fathers as the leaders of the household are therefore to honor the honor and respect given by their children in return. This means loving them as Christ loved the church as well, not provoking them to lash back in anger is mistreated in word or action. Even household servants (who were quite different than modern day chattel slaves or white slaves as trafficked today) were called to be willfully obedient to their masters as to Christ and go further to be sincere in their duties and not just do as they are told for outward appearances. The bottom line for all is to fear God and heartily serve Him in the role in which we are called with our hearts and eyes set on the inheritance we all have in the heavenly kingdom to come. We also need to acknowledge that we reap what we sow if we do not do what is right and fight against the callings in which we have been given. God shows no partiality and neither should we as our actions and attitudes in the home and among all of the kingdom of heaven must reflect in sincerity of serving and submitting to one another (Ephesians 5:21) in service to the Lord and each other. This is the guide for the house and home of God in Christ.
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