We are looking around and everywhere we see are families destroyed, ruins, misfortune and no blessings. Why is that? God said: "be blessed", then why are we in this condition? We know the answer - the sin. God gave us a second chance in Jesus Christ - in Him we (husband and wife) can be one, we can have happiness, peace, joy and blessing in our families. Now, I'm looking to different families and see joyless, less happiness, lack of blessings; I can see worry, despair, dissatisfaction and the list is long. Why is that?
God established certain roles in a family: the husband has his role and the wife has hers. When we resign from our roles, we have the opposite result that God planned in family. Let's see the husband role in the Bible.
Paul said in a well-known text: "Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head () of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head -it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her haircut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her haircut or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.
In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. "I Corinthians 11:3-12
If we pay attention to this passage we will see that Paul speaks about the spiritual fight (prayer and prophecy) where Christ church is involved. In same idea, this passage is part from a larger text (chapters 8-11) where Paul warns Corinthians Christian about the danger of worshiping idols. In this battle the family has a special place because it is the "cell" of the Church, so, healthy cells equal healthy body and sick cells lead to a sick body. We can not have healthy families if husbands and wives refuse to stay under the authorities established on their side. Trying to understand husband's role in the family, we are forced to see this in the light of spiritual war.
Keeping in mind the relation between God the Father and God the Son, relation were the Father is the Head of Christ, we will try to perceive three functional dimensions of (the head).
1.Authority - the power to action in the name of a superior person, concerning hierarchical order; in other words, authority is the power invested or transferred from other person. In Greek we have the term " which means right, freedom, ability, capacity, the power to do excellent realizations. This expression is used in verse 10: "For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head". Let's see what Jesus Christ teaches about His authority as head of the Church.
First you have to admit that the power is not yours, it belongs to whom gives it to you: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18), "By myself I can do nothing;" (John 5:30).
2. Second, you have to admit your totally dependence: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." (John 5:19).
This is how Jesus relates to The Father. Now see more about how this applies in the life of the husband in the next article.
