God demands righteousness, and when man fails to meet His standards, He calls for the shedding of blood for the remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Throughout the Old Testament, sacrifices majored on the blood of animals, but these animal sacrifices could never take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). God, in mercy, sent His Son to give “himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2). Unlike the Old Testament sacrifices, the Lord Jesus was a single onetime sacrifice that offered forgiveness of sin for all and to all. In shedding His blood, the Lord Jesus Christ became man’s sacrifice, and man need look no further than the shed blood of Christ for the means by which God is satisfied.
The Bible reflects the special relationship that should exist between a husband and his wife. The Lord wants us to recognize the importance of this relationship by likening it to the Lord's relationship with His church. Three times the Lord commands the man to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He commanded this because He knew man's biggest problem would be faithfully and unconditionally loving his wife. The Lord was not one-sided in His commandments concerning the marriage relationship. He commanded that the woman in the marriage relationship should obey her husband. Our passage also says that she should reverence him. A woman craves the love of her husband. Likewise, the man needs respect from the woman God gave him. A godly wife will not belittle or humiliate her husband but instead show him respect as the head of their home.
