Community Unites

JESUS AS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH

“And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23).

“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior” (Eph. 5:23).

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Col. 1:17-18).

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Col. 2:9-10).

There is a transcendence and an imminence in these verses.  Clearly, Jesus transcends all things.  He stands over all things.  He has supremacy in everything–over the dead and the living, the earthly and the heavenly, the physical and the spiritual.  Jesus is fully God, so He is first above all.

Two Heads — Adam and Christ.

The writings of the Apostle Paul bring the headship of Christ before us in the New Testament. Although the word head is not used, in the fifth chapter of Romans there is a very striking contrast between Adam and Christ; Adam, the head of a race derived from him after his fall; Christ — of whom Adam was a figure — head of a race that inherits rich and abiding blessings through His work on the cross. 

What is Headship?

There are two ideas associated with Headship: firstly, it refers to the position that a person holds; secondly, it has the idea of the source of sustenance for the body. In the first respect, it is closely related to Lordship. The major difference is that Headship refers to the position itself, whereas Lordship is the exercise of the powers which are consistent with that position.

When God sets up His Kingdom, He sets up Christ as Head with the right to govern, but also as Lord with the power to rule. This is a reason for us to rejoice, because it removes any possibility of failure due to human weakness.

The truth of Headship is universal in that every man will bow to Christ, but this is not seen openly at present. As believers, we have now accepted His claims in our lives personally. The teaching of the New Testament is that everyone who exercises faith in Christ for salvation will acknowledge that He is Lord in their lives. This is why the statement that Christ is the Head of every man is not only fundamental to this our study of Colossians but also is one which ought to be accepted by all believers. In the act of baptism, we effectively state that we renounce our link to the first Adam and that we acknowledge the second Adam Christ now as Head.

Questions 1-3

JESUS AS THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD

The title "Jesus as the firstborn from among the dead" refers to a significant theological concept, primarily found in Colossians 1:18. While it implies Jesus's resurrection, it's more accurately interpreted as a metaphorical representation of his preeminence and authority over all creation and those who will be resurrected.

Jesus wasn't the first person resurrected in history. He was raised back to life after his death, but other individuals, like Lazarus, were also resurrected before him, though these were temporary.

New Era of Life

Jesus's resurrection signifies the beginning of a new era, where believers, through faith in him, can anticipate a similar resurrection.

AUTHORITY AND KINGSHIP

We can draw all this together to see that there are two central ideas in the title “firstborn of the dead” in Revelation 1:5.

First, the allusion to Psalm 89 shows that Jesus fulfills all history as the messianic King descended from the line of David.

Second, being the “firstborn of the dead” means that Jesus is both the first to rise and the first in supremacy. He is the first to rise from the dead and thus the first of the new creation. He is also the inaugurator of the new creation and sovereign over everything. He is the rightful heir to it all.

FIRST IN CREATION

The phrase is also related to the concept of Jesus being the firstborn of all creation, meaning he is the image of God and the source of all things.

FIRST FRUITES OF THE RESURRECTION

The resurrection of Jesus is seen as a type or prototype of the future resurrection of believers. 

Questions 5-6

Apply the Text 1-3

Alienation is the state of being withdrawn or separated from a group, person, or situation to which one was formerly attached. Alienation is another word for estrangement. Ephesians 4:18 describes unbelievers as “darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (ESV).

The word alienation comes from the root word alien, which means “foreigner or stranger.” So, to be alienated from God means that we have made ourselves strangers to Him because of our sin.

The Theology of Reconciliation in the Church

Reconciliation in Christian theology refers to the restoration of a broken relationship, specifically between humanity and God, through Jesus Christ. It signifies the end of estrangement caused by sin and the re-establishment of peace and harmony. This reconciliation is achieved through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus, who atoned for the sins of the world.

Reconciliation is God’s initiative making Christ the one who pays the price for our sins. Making Christ the wrath bearer for our sins.

Paul emphasizes this in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, where God is said to be reconciling the world to Himself through Christ, entrusting the message of reconciliation to believers. 

Human Response:

While God initiates reconciliation, humans also play a role by responding to the gospel in faith and obedience. We are called to be reconciled to God, and Paul encourages believers to be ambassadors of this reconciliation

Here is where we get all tangled up, while Salvation is the work of God alone through Christ alone to atone for our sins it also requires a response on our part.

Will Everyone Be Saved?

First, through Christ, God reconciles all things to himself, whether in heaven or on earth. Does that mean that there is universal salvation and that, in the end, hell will not exist, and all unbelievers and all demons and Satan himself will be reconciled and saved?

The first problem with that interpretation is that Paul himself, both in this letter of Colossians and elsewhere, teaches that there will be the final wrath of God that will last forever on people.

It’s not even that they will be put out of existence (called annihilationism). For example, in Colossians 3:5–6, he says, “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”

Then if you ask, “Well, how long will that wrath last? What will that experience be like?” And he says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “[Those who do not obey the gospel] will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”

So the question is, Well, what does it mean? If it can’t mean universalism or annihilationism, what does it mean — “through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven”?

I would say to our readers, Have you ever asked why it doesn’t say “to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven or under the earth”?

Why does Paul omit “under the earth”? And I say that because he uses that phrase in Philippians 2:10, when he says that every knee will bow to Jesus and confess that he’s Lord — every knee “in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” Even the unsaved will grant that Jesus is Lord.

So, when Paul says that all things will be reconciled in heaven and on earth, he means that because of the work of Christ, there will be nothing unreconciled on earth, nothing unreconciled in heaven, when God consummates his purposes.

For demons and unbelievers, there will be another entirely different realm of existence, which we call “under the earth” or “outer darkness,” but it will not be part of the new creation.

APPLY THE TEXT QUESTIONS

Questions 3-6