Grace For Your Day November 2

The term "submission" is considered by some to be a foul word today. It is considered to be offensive. In fact, one reason there is so much violence and revolution in the world is because so many people do not want to do it. They do not want to submit to their leaders and, therefore, they turn against them. They revolt and try to start their own country or business or organization.

Yet the Bible says that this is not what God wants for us as Christians. He does not want us to revolt. He wants us to submit as Ephesians 5:19 says:

"And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."

The word for "subject" here could be translated "submit". It is the Greek word hupotasso which is a compound word from hupo (under) and tasso (to put). It means to put yourself under someone. It means to follow their lead.

In the weeks to come, Paul will show us how this should occur in every sphere of life. It should occur in every relationship. Ephesians 5 and 6 tell us that wives should submit to their husbands, children should submit to their parents, and employees should submit to their employers.

However, before we get to that, we need to understand what submission means. We need to understand what it looks like and how it is even possible in the first place. Since it is so difficult for us, we need to talk about how God prepares us for it.

To do that, we will look at the following principles:
1). Submission begins with meekness.
2). Submission begins with humility.
3). Submission begins with selflessness.
4). Submission or spiritual submission is only possible for Christians.
5). Submission is only possible because of our relationship to Christ.
6). Submission is an honorable thing because it is what the Trinity does. God the Son and God the Spirit submit to God the Father so that, when we submit to others, we imitate them which is a very noble thing.

All of this is to say that, if this is a subject that you are interested in, please join us this week at Grace Fellowship Church. Certain topics hit close to home and I believe that this is one of those. No one likes to submit. It grates against our fallen nature and yet our Savior did it. He submitted Himself to the Father in order to save us which is a good thing. It is a wonderful thing and we need to unpack it together which is what we are going to do this Sunday morning at 9:30. Bring your Bibles and be prepared to open them up to this short but profound text.

- Jeremy Cagle