Christ, The Head Of The Church.
Paul was concerned about making clear the relationship of Christ with His people.
Sometimes his emphasis was on Christ’s people, His church, as His body.
At other times, Paul’s emphasis was on Christ as the head, or Lord, of His church.
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Welcome to The Refinery.
The Church The Body of Christ is the theme for the next few Sunday’s.
These messages are primarily based around Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
Today we are discussing, Christ, The Head Of The Church.
Our Scriptures today are, Colossians 1:9-23 NKJV
Preeminence of Christ
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Introduction.
Paul was concerned about making clear the relationship of Christ with His people.
Sometimes his emphasis was on Christ’s people, His church, as His body.
At other times, Paul’s emphasis was on Christ as the head, or Lord, of His church.
The later emphasis is true of our text, “He is the head of the body, the church.”
This simple but profound text has three down to earth meanings for us.
- The absolute primacy of Christ in His church.
Christ’s people must understand this, subscribe to it, and glory in it.
His interests are supreme, His cause comes first, His will is primary.
To the world the church is a convenient group of respectable people to be used, when the occasion arises, to serve the interests of the world.
Actually, the church is to serve only the interests, purposes, and will of Christ, to put Him first.
When in the church we put our own interests ahead of the interests of Christ, we dishonour Him as the head.
The question we need to ask ourselves is not, “How will this affect me?” But “What will be the result for Christ’s cause? Will this promote or injure? Will this serve His best interests or defeat them?”
When in the church we put human sentiment ahead of the interests of Christ, we dishonour Him as head.
Sometimes services are conducted that have little to do with the gospel but make a powerful appeal to sentiment.
People respond to these appeals with enthusiasm that shames our response to the simple appeal of the gospel.
When we let human sentiment become a more powerful force in our church life than our love for and loyalty to Christ, we are not putting Christ first, we are not letting him be the head of His church.
When in the church we put the interests and claims of the world ahead of Christ, we dishonour Him as head.
The worlds interests do have some claim on us, but not first claim.
Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Christ’s claims are first always.
Yet the cry of the majority of our church members is, “Don’t you know I’ve got to make a living?”
What they are really saying is, “I am only in this world on a business trip. If I can find a little time to spare, I’ll use it to serve the Lord.”
To a man who put a worldly claim first, Jesus said in Luke 9:62, But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
When in the church we put the desire to please people ahead of the desire to please Christ, we dishonour Him as head.
Genuine harmony in a church is a vital necessity.
Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:13, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
Yet there is a spurious, superficial sort of harmony in the church, bought at the expense of pleasing people instead of Christ, that doesn’t mean a thing except the defeat of the highest purposes of the gospel.
Some in the church are childish emotionally.
Their feelings will be hurt anyway.
In Christ’s church, we are not to be slappers of backs and dispensers of sugar cubes.
We are to serve the interests of Christ.
2. The absolute authority of Christ over His church.
Christ is the supreme ruler of His church on earth.
No one else is, nor could be.
Since His authority is supreme, since His church is answerable only to Him, three inescapable implications follow.
Firstly a New Testament church must be a pure democracy, a democratic body.
This is inescapable.
Answerable only to Christ, who is the head, every member must be equal in rank, privilege, and power with every other member.
Jesus said, in Matthew 23:8, But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.
There are to be no ruling officials in the church.
Secondly, a New Testament church must be independent and self sufficient.
Since Christ is the head of the church, the doctrine of the autonomy of the local church not only makes sense, it is also necessary.
Since churches owe their supreme and individual allegiance to Christ, they must not accept rule from one another or any other kind of earthly rule.
If Christ is the head of His church, no one else can be.
This teaching denies all ecclesiastical systems that would substitute the rule of man for the rule of Christ.
It also mandates that the church should not be subservient to or united in anyway with the state.
The sphere of the church is entirely spiritual and answerable only to Christ.
Thirdly, New Testament churches, though independent of one another, must cooperate with one another in Christ’s program.
Since Christ is the head of the church, He is the head of every local New Testament church.
He has a program, and He can direct churches in that program.
Churches working together under the leadership of Christ, the head, do not surrender their sovereign rights in cooperating with one another, they exercise them.
The whole program, therefore, both within and among the churches ought to be characterised by harmony, unity, and purpose.
3. The absolute dependence of Christ’s church on Christ.
Just as the human body is helpless and lifeless apart from the head, so the church is helpless and lifeless apart from Christ.
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus gently warned His disciples, in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Do we not devise and promote and try to carry on programs that are of men and not of Christ?
In our modern day we speak of “the program of the church.”
But apart from Christ, the church has no program and no power to conceive or to execute a program.
The church is completely dependant on Him.
Conclusion.
“He is the head of the body, the church.”
How can we as individuals apply this text to our lives?
Since the body is composed of members, Christ must be the head of every member of the body.
Let each one of us ask, “Are His interests primary in my life? Is His rule over me complete? Is my faith in Him implicit?”
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer. Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at The Refinery.
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So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us at www.refinerylife.org
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