Yes — the Bible describes Christ and the church as Head and body, Husband and bride, and Master and servants, with Ephesians 5 as the fullest single picture.
Ephesians 5 is the central passage, where Paul compares the husband-wife relationship directly to Christ and the church: Christ is the head of the church and the Savior of the body, and He gave Himself for it. Ephesians 1:23 adds that the church is His body, His fullness. Ephesians 6:8 further shows believers as servants of Christ, their Master in heaven.
Ephesians 5:22-33 — This is the central passage where Paul compares the husband-wife relationship directly to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 1:22-23 — This identifies the church as Christ's body and His fullness — the complete description of the relationship.
Ephesians 6:5-9 — This shows Christ as Master and believers as His servants, the same root concept as human masters and servants.
Ephesians 5 is the Bible's clearest picture of the relationship. Paul writes: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:22-23). He then tells husbands: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25). Paul grounds this in the Genesis marriage ordinance: "For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh" — and he explicitly adds, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:31-32). Ephesians 1:22-23 describes the church as Christ's body: God "gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Ephesians 6:8-9 adds the servant dimension: "Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free" — and masters are reminded that "your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him." Scripture also connects the unity of believers to the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12: "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."
Les Feldick emphasizes that Paul deliberately weaves together the marriage relationship and Christ-and-the-church because the two are "a perfect, synonymous relationship" — Christ is to us what a husband is to his wife, and the husband-wife relationship is the same as Christ and the church (Clip 2). He points out that Paul teaches Christ as the Head of the body, never as a King of the church (Clip 1). Les also stresses that "the church is referred to as the virgin, pure bride of Christ," in contrast to Israel, the "adulterous, restored wife of Jehovah" — a positional distinction, not bigamy (Clip 3). Les opens up the Greek: the "fullness" of Ephesians 1:23 means complement — as Eve was given to Adam to be his complement and became part of him, so the church is the complement of Christ (Clip 6). He further notes that this is strictly Pauline doctrine: "Jesus never referred to the group of believers as His body, never. That is strictly a Pauline term" (Clip 4). Finally, he applies it personally: once we are in Christ, we are one with Him as husband and wife are one — a spiritual union comprehended only by faith (Clips 5, 7).
No, according to Les Feldick. He states, "If you ever find that Paul teaches that Christ is the King of the church, again, I invite you to show me, because I can't find it." Instead, Paul's constant reference is that Christ is the head of the body — connected to the church as a physical head is connected to the body, and as a husband is connected to his wife (Clip 1).
The same root word that gives the meaning of Master runs through Scripture. In Genesis 18:12, Sarah calls Abraham "my lord" — the word Adon — referring to her husband. In the New Testament, Paul applies the same concept to Christ: believers are His servants, and Christ is their Master in heaven. Ephesians 6:8 tells every servant that "whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free" (Clip 0).
Les teaches that the church is the virgin, pure bride of Christ, while Israel is the adulterous, restored wife of Jehovah. He cautions that this does not mean bigamy — it is a positional statement, not a sexual one. He points to the book of Hosea, where Hosea was instructed to marry a woman of the street as a living pictured of Israel's unfaithfulness and eventual restoration (Clip 3).
Ephesians 1:23 says the church is "the fulness of him that filleth all in all." Les explains the Greek word for fullness also means complement. Eve was given to Adam as his complement and became part of him; the church is the complement of the Head, Christ. That is why Paul brings in the physical marriage relationship in Ephesians 5 as the beautiful picture of Christ and the church (Clips 4, 6).
Master and Servant Roots
Les traces the word 'Adon' (Master) from Sarah calling Abraham 'my lord' in Genesis 18:12 to Ephesians 6:8, where believers serve Christ as their Master.
Christ as Head, Not King
Les stresses that Paul never calls Christ the King of the church; his constant language is Christ as the Head of the body, connected to believers as a husband is to his wife.
A Perfect, Synonymous Relationship
Les shows that Paul keeps flipping back and forth between Christ-and-the-church and husband-and-wife because the two relationships are perfectly synonymous.
The Bride and the Adulterous Wife
Les distinguishes the church as the virgin bride of Christ from Israel as Jehovah's adulterous, restored wife, using Hosea as the living illustration.
Body of Christ — A Pauline Term
Les explains Ephesians 5:23 — Christ as head and Savior of the body — and stresses that 'body of Christ' is strictly Pauline; Jesus never used it.
One With Him
Les teaches that being in Christ makes believers one with Him the way husband and wife are one — a spiritual relationship understood by faith, not sight.
The Church as His Complement
Les reveals that the Greek word 'fullness' means complement, so the church completes Christ as Eve completed Adam — which is why Ephesians 5 pictures the relationship through marriage.
Ephesians 5:25: Identical Relationships
Les shows that Christ's relationship to the Body of Christ is identical to the husband-wife relationship: two separate entities who become one.
Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
This is the Bible's clearest comparison of the marriage relationship to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
This shows Christ's sacrificial love for the church as the model for husbands.
Ephesians 5:31-32: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Paul takes the one-flesh marriage union from Genesis and says it speaks of Christ and the church.
Ephesians 1:23: Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
This names the church as Christ's body and His fullness — the complement of the Head.
Ephesians 6:8: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
This presents Christ as the Master whom believers serve.
Genesis 18:12: Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
The word 'lord' here comes from the same root as Adon, used both for masters and for husbands.
1 Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
Paul's description of the church as the body of Christ, which Les points out is strictly a Pauline term.
Deuteronomy 29:29: The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Les uses this to explain that God reveals this relationship through His Word, to be received by faith.
Yes. Les Feldick teaches that "the church is referred to as the virgin, pure bride of Christ," united to Him in a positional, spiritual sense — not sexual. He contrasts this with Israel, described as the adulterous, restored wife of Jehovah (Clip 3).
Les says Paul never teaches that. He challenges, "If you ever find that Paul teaches that Christ is the King of the church, I invite you to show me." Instead, Paul's constant language is that Christ is the head of the body (Clip 1).
Because, as Les explains, the relationship is "a perfect, synonymous relationship." Paul flips back and forth between Christ and the church, and husband and wife, because Christ is to the church what a husband is to his wife (Clip 2).
No. Les stresses that this is strictly Pauline: "Jesus never referred to the group of believers as His body, never. That is strictly a Pauline term" (Clip 4).
Watch the Teaching: The Meaning of Adonai: Understanding God as Master