The Christ Week 2 - The Head of the Church

Introduction

Recap Series

It is great to know the Christmas story, but we must know who this child is that has been born.

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 1)

14 In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Paul then spends v15-20 describing who this “him” is in v14

He is the image of the invisible God

He is the Creator of All and the Sustainer of All

Not only did Jesus, the one who came in the form of a baby born in the manger is the creator of everything that we see and everything that we cannot see.

It is also by his power that everything is held together

Colossians 1:15–18 (CSB)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

Today - Jesus is the Head of The Church

This is one of those topics that people would think is not necessary to have to say

Do we really need to inform everyone that Jesus is over the church

unfortunately, yes

This is not something that is new

That is why Paul had to write to the Colossians 2000 years ago

Every week I have a reminder on my phone to go off at a certain time to send anything that I need in the bulletin to Eileen.

I still sometimes forget, I still sometimes send it to her late or worse yet, she still has to text me every once in a while and ask, do you have stuff that you need in the bulletin?

We are forgetful people, we are self centered people, we are a people that are desperate for Christ.

because of this, God took on human flesh, was born in a manger, born of a virgin, so that we might have redemption and forgiveness of sins

The Church is Dependent on Christ

This truth has not changed for the thousands of years since Jesus ascended into Heaven

it is true of every church that professes the name of Jesus

it is true for churches that lean to the left politically, or to the right politically

Colossians 1:18 (CSB)

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

A church without Jesus as the head, is dead.

as H.B. Charles said, “A body without a head is dead. A body with two heads is a monster.”

through the power of Jesus we are able to grow and mature

this should be the goal of every church

Ephesians 4:11–13 (CSB)

11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.

Christ gives - different positions to the church

to train the members (saints)

to mature the body

how do we know that we are mature

we measure ourselves against Jesus

If Jesus is not the head of the church, we end up measuring ourselves against a standard that is not of God

If Jesus is not the head of the church then we do not receive what it is that we need to grow in Christ

pastors, teachers

We have Christ as the head of the church when we operate by his word

We operate by his word as the body is dependent on the brain to move and breath

when a body is no longer getting a signal from the brain to move we call that being paralyzed

it is no different for the church

a church that is not allowing the head to speak to the body and direct the body in the way that it should go is a paralyzed church

a church that is not functioning they way that it was designed

there are also a lot of nerves inside your body

a google search told me that there are over 7 trillion nerves in the human body

the brain connects and sends signals back and forth between all the nerves

a healthy body is one where all the parts of the body are connected and communicating with the head

a healthy church, all the members of that body are communicating with the head of the church, Jesus.

The Church Shares in the Victory of Christ

As a kid, we always knew which team was going to win based on who got to pick first

there were three main athletes in the class, whoever picked first had two of them

this was not an absolute rule, but it happened the majority of the time

Colossians 1:18 (CSB)

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

He is the beginning, the firstborn

We talked last week that he firstborn in all creation

not that he was the first child born, we know that was Cain according to Genesis

but that he was first in rank

so he was the first in rank among all who were ever born

Now we are told that he is the firstborn among the dead

does this mean that Jesus is dead? No, only that he did die

He is the highest in rank of those who have died.

everyone dies, but only one was able to rise from the grave by their own power!

This is HIS VICTORY!

Not the first to rise from the dead

Jesus raised three people from the dead during his ministry

the official’s daughter

the widow’s son

Lazarus

not the first to go to heaven alive

Enoch walked with the Lord until he wasn’t there anymore

Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire

first to do it with his own power

His victory makes our victory possible

1 Thessalonians 4:14 (CSB)

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

He brings us with him

through Christ, we too will be resurrected

we too will have a glorified body for all of eternity and we will share in the victory of Christ

The Church Submits to the Preeminence of Christ

Submission = the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person:

we are not good at this,

maybe it is in our nature as Americans

maybe it is just the pride that people have had from the beginning

but even people who claim to be submissive to Jesus, aren’t fully

we are collecting the vision forms and getting ready for the years budget meeting

that is one of the hardest tasks that I think that we do as Elders

the reason that it is hard is because we have to make sure that we are fulfilling God’s will and desires with the finances that he has blessed us with

There are a lot of people who will tell God what he is to do with the money that they give him

I know nobody admits to being that bold, but God tells us to bring our tithes to the storehouse, the church

to test him to see if he will not take care of his people

then a lot of people will bring their tithe to the storehouse and tell the storehouse how they are to spend it

Maybe we can do that to somebody who is subservient to us, but

Colossians 1:18 (CSB)

18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

First place in the Church

this means that above all else, the church is about Jesus

this is hard to remember because we all have preferences or opinions on how that should be done

we like this certain temperature on the thermostat

we like these certain songs

we like the sermon to be a certain amount of time with a certain amount of jokes

glorifying Jesus,

in worship and prayer

proclaiming Jesus

to all the world, through outreach, missions

First place in the Church Ministries

programs in the church are worthless if they are not focused on Jesus

that does not mean that all things that we do everyone sits and listens like this

but all that we do point those who are participating to Jesus

First place in the Church Members

in the same way that we have to make sure that the church is focused on Christ, that all the ministries of the church ore Christ centered, our lives must be the same way individually

Luke 9:23 (CSB)

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We set our desires and wants aside daily, we sacrifice ourselves daily, and follow Christ!