In Corinthians, Paul tells us that man “is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.” [1 Cor 11:7] Much like the gold of the temple would reflect the sunlight, or how the moon reflects the same, the man is to reflect the glory of God. In Lamentations, it says, regarding the temple, “how is the gold become dim! How is the most fine gold changed!” [Lam 4:1] Jeremiah is grieving for the state of the temple in his day: the gold of it had become dim. No longer did the temple shine in all its radiance, reflecting the glory of the sun with its clean rock and golden-clad wood; it had become dim. This is also representative of those who have drifted from God as the Israelites had, for of a truth, their idolatries and wicked practices had greatly marred their ability to exhibit the glory of God from their nation and their lives. In like manner, this dimness describes the man who no longer has Christ at the center of his heart, who has either replaced Him completely or simply put Him aside that He might share that sacred throne with another. For our “[bodies are] the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in [us], which [we] have of God, and [we] are not [our] own.” [1 Cor 6:19] We are the temple of The Holy Spirit, given to us of Christ, who dwells in us. And like the temple was overlaid with gold and made of reflective stones, and thus reflected sunlight, so too we, by our faith in Christ, are to reflect His glory.
Through this analogy we can understand more clearly what Paul means when he says that the man “is the image and glory of God.” Our lives are to reflect the character of God, that is, of Jesus, who Himself is “the radiance of [The Father’s] glory.” [Heb 1:3] This happens through our fellowshipping with Jesus, we having been “called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ,” [1 Cor 1:9] and through our abiding in Him and His word, wherein we behold His glory. As Paul, inspirited of God, writes, “but we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of The Lord, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by The Spirit of The Lord.” [2 Cor 3:18] Primarily, this means we spend time with Jesus in His word, The Bible; and as we do that, The Holy Spirit sanctifies us to become more like Him, helping us to fulfil our calling to reflect Him more clearly. And truly, this is our calling, or at least part of it; for it is written that we were saved, among other reasons, “that ye should proclaim the excellencies/glories of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” [1 Pe 2:9] and we are admonished that as Christians we should be, “in all things exhibiting ourselves as the ministers of God,” and, “that ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto His kingdom and glory.” [2 Cor 6:4, 1 Th 2:12] As it says in Proverbs, “the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” [Prov 4:18] so our lives ought to be: ever growing in our bearing of Jesus’ light. And again, as Jesus says, (showing us that one of God’s chief goals is to, as Paul says, “to be conformed into the image of [God’s] Son”), “every one that is complete shall be as his master.” [Rom 8:29, Lk 6:40]
The same analogy translates well into marriage. As the wife spends more and more time with the husband, she will begin to look more and more like him; for, “the woman is the glory of the man.” The woman reflects through her life the character of the husband. This has very serious implications. Because this is true, a husband must to cling to Christ and study Him. He should fellowship with Him and love Him above all. This will ensure that his wife is being built up and growing into a godly woman. If there is a deviation from Jesus’ character in the wife, the first course of action is not to complain or reprove. The first course of action is for the husband to search himself, for she is the glory of him, and if something distasteful is in her, there is a good chance it came from him. Therefore, as the head of the wife, the husband ought to be devoting himself to the study and practice of Jesus’ glory, so that he is changed and in turn, his wife is too.
So, dear husband, if you have not known it before, see it now: your wife is the reflection of you. Therefore, if you have any love toward her, sanctify yourself that she may be sanctified as well. As Jesus prayed, knowing well that we would become more and more like Him, “and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” [Jn 17:19] There is a grave responsibility here: the husband has a great influence upon His wife, and we would do well to take heed to it. If we love our wives, if we want them to succeed, to prosper, to become better and more like Jesus: then let us sanctify ourselves. Let us take heed to our lives, habits, and other such things. Let us cling fast to Christ Jesus, and learn of Him, abiding closely in love to Him, that we might ever reflect a more pure glory upon our wives.