When John the Baptist’s disciples came to him, perhaps somewhat defensively, telling him that men were now going to Jesus to be baptized, John, knowing, (as he said himself), “I am not the Christ”, [Jn 3:28] wisely responded to them, saying, “a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven…He must increase, but I must decrease.” [Jn 3:27, 30] John rightly understood Jesus was the head, and that if Jesus’ ministry and influence was becoming more and more prominent, over and above John, that it was from above: from God. And so therefore, John acted as Samuel had once said, “it is The LORD: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” [1 Sam 3:18] But let us ponder another moment upon John’s words, “a man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” This is a remarkable statement, and frankly true. David also said, “all things come of Thee, and of thine own we have given thee;” and again Paul asked rhetorically, “what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” [1 Ch 29:14, 1 Cor 4:7] If on this earth we have possession of any wealth, any object, any talent, any skill, any thing at all, whatsoever it be: it has come from above; it has been given to us of God. The LORD who is over all, owns all; yea, even “the world, and they that dwell therein,” [Psa 24:1] for God Himself says, “whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.” [Job 41:11] Through this fact the rich and poor alike are humbled; for the distribution of wealth is in large part governed by God, seeing that He owns all. As it is written, “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up.” [1 Sam 2:7] Therefore man, whosoever He be and whatsoever He be, is brought low and humbled: for God has made Him what He is. Man has gotten nothing nor made anything; for it has been “written for our admonition,” that “naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: The LORD gave, and The LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of The LORD.” [1 Cor 10:11, Job 1:21]
Truly, whatever it is that we have obtained, or been given, we must humbly confess it has not been through our own merit nor strength: for God has so provided that benefit. So with that in mind, let us say to our soul as the Psalm encourages, “forget not all His benefits.” [Psa 103:2] It is both a comforting thought and a fearful one: to ponder that God owns all. For on the part of the former, we are released from worry and striving to obtain more, knowing assuredly even as it is written, “all these things shall be dissolved.” [2 Pe 3:11] And regarding the latter, fearful, for we must return to The LORD what rightfully belongs to Him – and woe to us if one day it is told to us as it was to that doleful servant, “thou wicked and slothful servant.” [Mt 25:26]
Now, let us take these conclusions and apply them more particularly to marriage. For we are told in Proverbs, “house and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from The LORD.” [Prov 19:14] See here, good husband, that the wife is compared to an inheritance, even as the church, the bride of Christ, is spoken of as His inheritance – as His word says, “His inheritance in the saints.” [Eph 1:18] Our wives are an inheritance, as a precious collection of fine rubies; and even more so, for again we are told regarding wives, “who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” [Prov 31:10] The price of a good wife, who is given to man from God, (as in the beginning He made Eve “and brought her unto the man,” [Gen 2:22]), is far above rubies, gold, or even silver; like the wise Solomon poetically spoke of marital love, “many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly contemned.” [Songs 8:7] There is no price to which love may be compared, and there is no sufficient price for the love and companionship of a wife.
Through these verse, we come to understand our wives are as a very precious inheritance from God, one that must be carefully looked after and cherished. But there is yet one more aspect of Christ which would instruct us regarding our wives. Reading in Colossians, The Spirit says, “yet now hath [Jesus] reconciled [you] in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in [The Father’s] sight.” [Col 1:21-22] And in Jude, speaking of Christ, we read that it is “Him [who] is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” [Jude 1:24] We conclude from these two passages that Jesus will present us, His bride and inheritance, back to His Father, for we belong firstly to The Father – as Jesus prayed, “thine they were, and thou gavest them me.” [Jn 17:6] And, in like manner, we may now conclude that just as Christ Jesus was given a bride, an inheritance, and will one day present her back to The Father, spotless and beautiful; so too, we, as husbands, have been given of God a wife, a precious inheritance, whom we shall also present back to Him at that great day. Is this not both a fearful and wonderful thought? If, as we have learnt of Scripture, all belongs to God, then surely so too our wives; yea further, if our wives must be presented back to God from whom they came, (for Jesus says, “in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage” [Mt 22:30]), then we husbands have an almost immeasurable responsibility. For on that beautiful day when we meet Christ and our Father, we should earnestly desire to be able to present our wives as Jesus will present us: “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish.” [Eph 5:27] As husbands, we should earnestly work toward this. For having been given such a precious gift and inheritance as a wife is, we do not want to be as the wicked and slothful servant who hid his talent in the dirt. Nay, but we wish to be as a faithful steward, as Christ was and is a faithful steward over us, His bride. Seeing then that these things are so, let us be as Jesus and lay down our lives up for our wives, because this is what Jesus shows us and what we are commanded. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it…that He might present it to Himself a glorious church…” [Eph 5:25, 27] We are called not to lay down our wives’ life but our own, and that because we want to be able, as Jesus does to us, present her back to Him even better than she was received of us. Let us seek to prosper and encourage our wives; to build them up; to nourish and cherish them; to purify them through God’s word and by His love and grace; let us seek earnestly and lovingly to be able to one day present our wives back to Christ better than when we received them; for make no mistake, we shall give account in that day, and “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we must give account.” [Heb 4:13]