According to The Complete Christian Dictionary, submission means the acceptance of someone else’s authority. Strong’s concordance states that submission means to be subordinated, subjected, surrendered, controlled or subdued.
All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to God (Psalm 24:1). From the beginning, all things were created by God and therefore are subject to him. Man also was created and subjected to God in everything. It was not until man violated this condition that submission became a virtue to be pursued. Submission is therefore the theme of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
At the highest level of authority, man is commanded to submit himself to God and not the devil (James 4:7). As an example for us to follow, Christ himself submitted to God (Philippians 2:5-11). Submission meant that he obeyed God in everything and did not seek equality with Him. His submission to the Father earned him the right to be submitted to everyone.
Christ is the authority to which the church submits. As his body, members have different gifts and responsibilities for life to be prosperous. We are commanded to submit to one another as a way of worship (Ephesians 5:21). Failure to submit to one another is hostility to God which is reflected in the sinfulness of man.
Similarly, God has ordained man to be the head of the wife. The authority that is given to man is similar to the authority of Christ over the church. Just as the church is expected to submit to Christ in the same way he submitted to God, the wife is to submit to the husband in the same way he submits to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). Christ did not demand that the Church submit to Him, but he demonstrated submission to God and therefore got the authority to be submitted to. Likewise, a husband should submit to Christ so that he obtains authority that the wife will submit to. The submission of the wife to the husband is in the context of a marriage. This should be differentiated from the submission of a woman as a member of the church. This means that there is no general rule for women to submit to men any differently from the submission to one another as members of the body of Christ.
As parents who are submissive in the Lord, children are able to submit and get to live for long. When a submission is broken in the family, in most cases by the father failing to submit to Christ, children are provoked to become disobedient. Submission to the Lord, therefore, calls for the husband to become the priest of the family so that the children grow up with the discipline of submission to the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4).
Submission is a lifelong discipline and is also required where the authority of an employer is concerned. A servant who submits to the Lord will serve with goodwill without requiring to be supervised. Submission will always be rewarded or judged by the Supreme authority to which all people must submit (Ephesians 6:5-9). When service loses submission, businesses operate under the wrath of God or collapse together. God is not only merciful to give us the businesses and jobs to do but is also just to punish sin when it occurs. All occupational standards are derived from the word of God and when we submit ourselves to those standards we succeed in whatever we do (Joshua 1:8).
Submission is also required in governance. We are called to submit to the authority that God puts over us so that there is peace and we are able to submit to one another as a way of our spiritual worship (Romans 12:1, 13:1-7). Submitting ourselves to the constitution of the land means observing the laws including paying our taxes to the government. It also involves paying for goods and services provided by the government and other authorities established under the constitution. This is because the constitution is derived from the word of God by which the servants in the government take their oath of service. It is unfortunate that those who take an oath of office do so with a closed Bible, and they often never get to open it until such a time as they are campaigning for office again upon the expiry of their term. A clear understanding of submission is what is needed by all people without exception, as God is the supreme authority to whom all knees should bow, and He cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7).
Submission, therefore, is required for a prosperous life at the individual, family, community and national levels. In our submission, we are called to pray always for everything especially for all authorities to submit to the highest authority, God himself.
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