Kay

“But the reality is you can’t have it both ways. If you are going to use Jesus’ lordship and authority as the model, you have to go the whole 9 yards (ok, enough cliches). The husband has to be everything that Jesus is to the world and the church…”

gengwall,
You beat me to it –
Paul simply illustrates the love and mututal submission inherent in the “one flesh” relationship by likening that relationship to the self sacrafice and devotion that Chist has for His Church. At the same time, he stops short of extending Christ’s Lordship to the husband. Rather, the sacrificial giving and caring of the husband is a two way street which invovles mutual submission as a matter of course (Eph 5:21).