The Structure of Submission

© 2025 C. O. Bishop

Ephesians 6:1-9

Introduction:

Last week we began talking about an unpopular subject: Submission. We saw that the entire human race is self-willed, having inherited that attribute along with our sin nature, from Adam. And we alluded to, but did not pursue, the fact that the original source of that self-will was Satan.

In Isaiah 14:12-15, we see Lucifer, the “light-bearer,”fall into the trap of self-will.

¹² How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³ For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ¹⁵ Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

That is how Lucifer, the “Light-bearer” became Satan, the “Adversary!”

How Does the Fall of Lucifer Affect Us?

And, we bear his likeness, because, as unbelievers, in our natural state, he was our spiritual father. Jesus said, in John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

We fell with Adam, and we died with him. Usually, we don’t like hearing about that, and we like to think we can improve ourselves. We don’t like admitting the completeness of our “lostness” in Adam. But in 1^st Corinthians 15:22, we see that “In Adam, all died!” Fortunately, it goes on to say, “In Christ shall all be made alive!” If you are “in Christ” today, then God says you have been made alive! In Ephesians 2:1-5, he says “When we were dead in our sins, God made us alive with Christ.” The day you trusted Jesus as your Savior, you were made alive in Christ!

But why? What is His purpose in bringing us to life?

That I Might Live Unto God

Galatians 2:19 says, “Through the law I am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God.”

This is our “purpose clause.” This is the reason God has set us free from slavery to our old sin natures: It is so that we can “live unto God.” (But, how?)

Jesus set the example for us in Philippians 2:5-8. He was completely submissive to His Father. God says that we are to take Him as our example as to how we are to “live unto God.” He says, ⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

How Do We Follow His Example?

We submit ourselves unto Jesus as He submitted Himself to the Father. Notice that in submitting Himself to the Father, He willingly endured shameful abuse at the hands of sinners like us. It was not a “holy, peaceful, monastic lifestyle.” It was a hard life, mostly without honor.

He was born into a very poor family (as revealed by the sacrifice of two doves, for the offering of the firstborn: that offering was reserved for those too poor for a lamb.)

Jesus was born in a poor, tiny village: Bethlehem…He was reared in a poor community: Nazareth, not considered an important place, at all. He was born as a part of a nation already enslaved to Rome, one of the most evil nations in history. They were literally “under the Roman boot.”

The Example Is Complete

And, in submission to God, as an adult, Jesus paid taxes to that regime! We moan about paying taxes to our government, fearing that God will hold us accountable for what that government will do with the money. Jesus simply submitted Himself to God by submitting Himself to that evil Emperor, thus “rendering unto Caesar” the coin with Caesar’s image…but recognizing that He, Himself was in the image of God, and so He gave Himself to God.

He did His Father’s bidding, even when it was in stark contrast to the social and political norms of his day. He endured the verbal abuse and public verbal assaults and false accusations, until they became physical, and then He endured the physical abuse, in submission to His Father.

When the attacks led to an illegal trial by night, He endured it in submission to the Father. And  He finally endured the shameful, agonizing death of the Cross, a penalty usually reserved for the worst criminals. In fact, he took the place of a murderer, Barabbas!

So, Where Do We Fit In?

1^st Corinthians 12 says that our new position is in Christ, as members of His Body. Paul went to some lengths to demonstrate the parallels between a physical human body, and the Body of Christ.

But, as any living body (every living thing, in fact) has structure and order, so the Body of Christ has structure and order: There are no “Lone Ranger” Christians in the Body of Christ. Each of us finds ourselves subject to someone else. And all of us are ultimately subject to Him, as individuals. The other side of that reality is that we also each have direct communication with the Head of the Body, Jesus. No one has to “go through someone else” to approach the Master!

As we saw last week, Ephesians 5:21 says it is a life of mutual submission. No one has been given the right to exalt himself or herself over others, as though he or she were superior to someone else. We function together as a true team!

What is The Structure of Submission?

Submission has a structure. We submit ourselves to one another in the fear of God: But how?

Remember from our reading in Ephesians 5:17-21, that everything after verse 18 is describing how we are to live, under the influence of the Holy Spirit (Being filled with the Holy Spirit.)

• All are to be submissive to God.
• All are to live in submission to one another, in the fear of God.
• Wives are to be submissive, specifically to their husbands.
• Husbands, in submission to God, are to love their wives as their own body.
• Fathers (in submission to God) are to raise up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and we are specifically commanded to be reasonable…not to exasperate our children.
• Children are to be submissive to their parents.
• Servants (actually, the word, here, is “slaves,” but we apply it to “employees,” in our culture) are to be submissive to their own masters (employers).
• Masters (or employers) are to treat their servants (employees) kindly, honestly, not threatening them; remembering that they (the masters) are servants in turn, of an almighty, all-knowing God.

It is good for us to remember that there are millions of literal slaves in the world today, who cannot choose to “apply it to employees:” They are slaves! We don’t like to hear about that, but it is a reality. There is no way to make that truth less repugnant, except to realize that we all have been enslaved to sin, and to know that Jesus “sets the prisoners free” at whatever level they are.

Another Example:

Joseph, in iron manacles, in a dungeon in Egypt, was free to serve God, and he did so…by submitting himself to the authority under which God had placed him. Was it pleasant, and satisfying? Was it fulfilling, in some way?

No, it was not! Psalm 105 tells us that Joseph was in pain, with his feet in iron manacles!

Psalm 105:17-20  ¹⁷ He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: ¹⁸ Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: ¹⁹ Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him. ²⁰ The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free.

(Some translations specifically say that he was locked in shackles and had an iron collar around his neck.) Whatever the details may have been, Joseph, the patriarch, a picture of Christ, was bound in painful servitude; not through any wrong he had done! But he submitted himself to God! And, eventually, “the King set him free!”

How Does it Apply To Us?

We are in no such torment as Joseph experienced, nor anywhere near the suffering that Jesus endured for us. But God calls us to have the same attitude of submission that Jesus did.

God commands each husband, in submission to God, (specifically, under the influence of the Holy Spirit) to make his wife his primary focus, in terms of human relations. No other human is to take her place in any way. She is his best friend, his closest confidant, his favorite companion and his only lover.

All these ideas are mutual, of course, but think about this: how difficult might it be for a wife to submit herself to a man who exemplifies the Person of Christ toward her in this way? I expect that it would not be very difficult at all, provided that she herself is also “under the influence” of the Holy Spirit.

Please consider, then, as a husband: How difficult are you making it for her?

Biblical Directives

If I ask, “What makes a good wife?” I can read Proverbs 31:10-31 and see several principles addressing that question:

• She will do her husband good and not evil all the days of her life.
• This woman is a good steward of their possessions: a good manager of money, not a spendthrift.
• She manages her household faithfully, and diligently.
• She opens her mouth with Wisdom: there are no brash outbursts or foolish talk.
• The Law of Kindness is in her tongue (no gossip nor any mean-spirited sniping) and,

She will not do or say anything that would cause shame to her husband at any level. In short, when God says, “the heart of her husband doth safely trust in her” (verse 11), it means that he can safely entrust to her his money, his household, his family, and his reputation, and never have to worry that she will damage him in any way.

Application to Believers, Today

But, this standard applies to all believers. Remember: you are a full-time Ambassador of Christ! Is there anything in your thoughts, words or deeds that would embarrass Jesus, at any level?

If I ask, “What makes a good husband?” I have the entire New Testament, in which to see the Person of Christ, and the way He deals with the Church. I have verses like:

• Colossians 3:19, “Husbands love your wives, and be not bitter against them.” It means that if I am ever angry at my wife, I am out of line.
• 1^st Peter 3:7, which points out that if I do not treat my wife with the Love of God, specifically treating her kindly, considerately and honorably—then my relationship with God will suffer: He says my prayers will be hindered.

The universal Church—the Bride—is in full, joyous submission to Christ…or eventually will be. (The local assemblies…those of us still on Earth…are still struggling with the Flesh.)

But God says that He is cleansing us with the “Washing of Water, by the Word.” (Amen! Keep scrubbing us, Lord! Make us over into Your image!)

You see, we are still a “work in progress.” But the subject of submission is to be a joyous freedom in our relationship with Christ and in our relationships with one another…not a grievous burden.

If we first learn to submit ourselves to God, the rest will come easily. So that needs to be our primary goal. Let’s pray!

Lord Jesus, fill us with your Spirit, and teach us obedience, from a full heart.

Amen!