“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 pre-eminence” (Colossians 1:18 NKJV).
Here is a most obvious reason for Christ’s pre-eminence – He is the head of the church, and it is the first line of duty for the church to honor her head. Paul describes our Lord Jesus as the head of the church in at least five verses of the Scripture in his letters to the Ephesians and Colossians. These will include, in addition to our text, the following verses: “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church” (Ephesians 1:22, NKJV)). “Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church” (Ephesians 4:15 NLT). “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23 NKJV). “And not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God” (Colossians 2:19 NKJV). The head, as a conceptual metaphor for Christ in relation to the church underscores His role as her supreme leader. The term church here does not mean any of the different groupings of people under different denominations or assemblies. The church here denotes the body of the elects, which the book of Hebrews describes as “the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23 NKJV). In the true church, God is honored as the Judge of all and Jesus as the Mediator of the new covenant, and the Author of the new creation. The church is the new creation and Christ as the head of the new creation is the model of the new humanity who is “created according to God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).
Jesus is the head of the church, supreme leader, and source of grace, with believers as His body parts, submitting to His authority and nourished by Him always.
The term “head” has both functional and symbolic implications. Functionally, Christ as the head of the church implies that He is the ultimate leader of the church and as such, the church must submit to His authority and be subservient to His will. As the head of the church, Christ holds the right of ultimate decision-making in her rank and file and the control of the government of the church must be reserved for Him. He is the Father of the family, the President of the nation of believers, and the supreme commander of the army of elect men and women in all eternity and time. He is the great Shepherd of the flock; “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). What He is to the entire assembly, He is to every member thereof. Every individual believer lives by Him and for Him. Hence, the Scripture asserts, “For in Him we live and move and have our being… ‘For we are also His offspring” (Acts 17:28 NKJV). All true believers in Christ are under His ruling authority and must be subject to His leadership – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14 NKJV). While on earth our Lord modelled what submission to Him should mean by the way He submitted to His Father. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8 NKJV). He was obedient to His Father even when that meant His cruel death on the Cross!
Christ being the head of the church bespeaks of His pre-eminence as the representative-head of the elect – the entire body of believers throughout all ages who trusted Him and who trust Him for their salvation. This refers to the body of elects that the Apostle Paul fondly refers to as the Body of Christ. “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23 NKJV). By describing the church as the body, Paul presents it as a living organism, with Christ as its head and the believers constituting the organs and parts of the body. The organic nature of the church is emphasized by Paul saying, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NLT). The entire new creation are joined with Christ as head, the source of all grace and nourishment, to form a coherent whole as each part of the body is enabled to perform its unique function “so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16 NLT). If there is anything we need today, it is to let Jesus be the head of His church and to let Him direct on how she should go to bring Him joy and glory. God wants His Son to reclaim His Bride from men and women who have usurped her all these while. May you let God claim total ownership of your life in Jesus name. Amen.
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