Christ is the Head of the church and we are His body. For this reason we have been called to a staggeringly superlative position and to a startlingly significant purpose.
Paul said, God’s power in the gospel that transforms us, “is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” - Ephesians 1:19-23
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Ephesians 3:10-11
In the history of the world nations have witnessed some great rulers with impressive power. But they all pale before Christ. When the funeral of Louis XIV, the King of France, was held, the cathedral was packed with mourners praying and paying their final tributes to the king. They considered him to have been a great monarch. The room was darkened. There was one single candle illuminating the great casket holding the mortal remains of the king.
The court preacher, Massillon, stood to address the audience. He reached over the pulpit and snuffed out a lone candle. The room went totally dark. That candle, which symbolized the greatness of the king, was extinguished. Out of the darkness Massillon’s words rang forth, “God only is great! God only is great!” This great God discloses himself and displays himself most prominently in His word and the first thing we see in this passage in Ephesians is the One who thus discloses himself, the Head, our Sovereign Source: Christ.
Christ was “raised from the dead and seated at the Father’s right hand ... far above all rule and authority, power and dominion”. Nothing is above Christ (Ephesians 1:20-21). The head once crowned with thorns now wears the diadem of universal dominion. There is no rival to his authority, his power or his position. Never will there be anyone or anything above him in this age or in the age to come. Christ is exalted above ALL things. All things are in subjection under his feet (verse 22).
In this unique context he expresses this in a shocking way, he says, “He is head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:22). Dr. Bryan Chappell, in his unpublished work on Ephesians, says that all of creation, indeed all of human history, is “Christ’s bouquet to his bride, the church”. Why did he create? Why does he providentially sustain and maintain all things and order all things after the council of his own will? What is the purpose of all of creation and all of history? What is his final purpose and design? It is so staggering that we could not say this, were it not written in scripture: It is all for us, his church!
He is in charge of all things to bless one thing … his church. It is not an institution made by man. It is not a piece of spiritual furniture with which we may or may not adorn our spiritual house at our own individual whim. That Christ is Lord or Head of the church is absolutely central and foundational in understanding the Christian life and all the rest of God ordained reality.
The headship of Christ over the church is a vital doctrine and it is exceedingly practical. When the head of a human body is not really running that body, is not in charge of that body, the body flops around in spastic fits. The same thing happens to a church when Jesus is not visibly the head, manifestly and obviously in charge. Paul’s development of thought actually begins with verse 18, the headship of Christ is related to his resurrection because God raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in triumphant victory. He was humbled to the lowest and raised to the highest and seated or enthroned in that position of authority and power. That same power that was unleashed in raising Christ from the dead now operates in his church, although diminished in its full manifestation because of our sin. Nonetheless, this is the power in and over and through his church that Jesus was promising when he said that he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The church of Jesus Christ, in spite of all of her sin and weakness and setbacks and defects, will ultimately be victorious because that is the very reason for which he created the world.
The church has certainly been, and seems to be continuing, in a state of eclipse in North America. There are other parts of the world in which the church is expanding in unprecedented ways. Paul prayed, beginning in about verse 15, that the Ephesians would be enlightened about all that they have in Christ: who he is, what he has done, and what they participate in because of who he is and what he has done. The apostle prays here that the Ephesians would not just know about, but that they would deeply experience the hope of their calling in Christ. He prays that the riches of their inheritance in Christ and the incomparably great power that is available to them will be unleashed in and through them individually and collectively. In other words, he prays that they will fully lay hold of their gospel resources. In praying in this way he implied that the secret of living the Christian life now is found in deeply experiencing what we already have through the finished work of Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, ascension and session at the Father’s right hand. This is how his power is unleashed through us individually and collectively.
It takes this many “watts” of spiritual power (the same as was unleashed in raising Christ from the dead) to run the Christian life, to run the Christian church. We must trust him for that power and not generate schemes of our own fertile imaginations or exert the energy of our own fleshly proud efforts, but rather cast ourselves upon him in abject dependence. This power working through us is the only thing that will truly change the world for good.
Warren Wiersbe tells a story about a man in his church who was sick in the hospital. He was so ill that he couldn’t even lift his hand to sign a document to draw on his financial assets for his care. His wife desperately needed that money to pay for his many medical expenses. Finally, he had to get witnesses to verify his “X” on a document. His weakness almost deprived him of what was already his. Spiritual weakness, in the form of shallow experience of our inheritance in Christ or outright unbelief can deprive us of our spiritual wealth and power in Christ.
What does this concept of Christ’s headship mean as it is lived out in a church? In “Life in the Father’s House”1, the authors contrast the distinction between a man-centered church and a God-centered church. A man-centered church is one in which the headship of Christ is not embraced, enjoyed, experienced and unbelief has substantially cut off it members from their vast spiritual wealth. A God-centered church is obviously one that is vibrantly connected to the head (Christ) and the power of the head is flowing through its members.
Here are distinguishing characteristics of each:
- A man-centered church will follow extra-biblical traditions, but a God-centered church jettisons unbiblical traditions
- A man-centered church will hesitate to address certain doctrines or avoid them entirely because they might be offensive to some members, but a God-centered church will boldly and faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God.
- A man-centered church will encourage people to receive counsel from ungodly experts, either directly or through the integration of their ideas with scripture, but a God-centered church points them to the sufficient answers provided by our zealous Lord in his word.
- A man-centered church will not practice church discipline in regard to sinning members because that process is deemed to be too harsh or unloving and it might diminish attendance or giving, but a God-centered church will reveal true love for its members by carrying out discipline when it is necessary.
- Finally, a man-centered church will have very little emphasis on prayer and will seldom be engaged in corporate prayer, but a God-centered church will be like the early believers and they will be continually devoting themselves to prayer.1
So the first thing we need to see is the One who discloses himself, the Head, our Sovereign Source, Christ. But, secondly, we see the one through whom he discloses himself … us; the body. Therein we see our superlative status, which is to complete Christ.
First of all, this means that we are derived from him. We have no independent spiritual life. Jesus said to his disciples, we can do nothing without him.
Secondly, this means that we find our direction in him. The nervous system controls the body. The command and control center of the nervous system is clearly the brain or the head. We are utterly dependent upon direction from him.
Thirdly, this means that we find our dignity in him. If he is the Head, and we are his body, what the apostle is saying here is that in some sense we are his fullness. That doesn’t mean we help him be God … he doesn’t need any help being God. But in his role as Mediator he doesn’t consider himself as complete until all those for whom he mediates are fully joined to him and are enjoying relationship with him.
Think of it this way … a head of a human body is not complete without the body. It needs a body to make a whole person. Do you see how significant we are? John Calvin put it this way: “This is the highest honor of the Church, that, until he is united to us, the Son of God reckons himself in some measure imperfect. What a consolation it is for us to learn that, not until we are in his presence, does he possess all his parts, or does he wish to be regarded as complete.”
But we are the body, we are not the head. The whole purpose of our existence individually and collectively is to express the life, the views, the values and the will of the Head. So what is the meaning of life? The meaning of life is all wrapped up in a mystical union with Christ that is so deep and so profound that for all practical purposes he has already lived our history. He lived our life; he died our death; he is our righteousness. His judgment on the cross is our judgment. As the apostle expresses it in chapter 2 verse 6, we are already, right now, seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. Hallelujah!
This big theological idea is incredibly practical in so many ways. Together, we, the body, are inseparably connected to one another whether we like it or not. Probably some of us can look around at the people with us in church and say, “I prefer to be connected to somebody else, thank you.” But as we say down south, “Tough grits”! We are connected to each other. We are not complete without him and we are not complete without each other.
I can no more live without a proper relationship with you than I can live without Christ my Lord and head. There is no such thing as an individual, independent, separate Christian life. There is only one kind of Christian life; one that is connected not only to Jesus the Head but is connected to other believers in a local assembly called “church”. Just think about that in light of how much time we spend trying to look good to one another rather than enjoying candid intimacy with one another out of deep recognition of how much we need one another. Rarely, if ever, are we honest with anyone, and we remain imprisoned in a lonely tower of pretense; admired by a few, ignored by most, but truly enjoyed by almost no one.
We desperately need each other! But we hardly even know each other. Of course, we must remember that it is not enough to just be vulnerable and honest. We can develop a kind of cult of self-righteous honesty that admits need but doesn’t submit to the authority of Christ. We can become so comfortable with being self revealing that we do not move beyond a sense of our powerlessness and make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. When we hear people talk about their weaknesses and defects, but then they wrap those admissions in a jocular, flippant tone that betrays a desire to minimize sin and flaunts a lack of genuine brokenness, no true change will occur. We can almost brag about our weaknesses and dysfunctions rather than grieve over them. Some will dismiss the issue by saying, “that’s just the way I am.” But true repentance will move us to be horrified by our sin and to cast ourselves in absolute abandonment upon the forgiving, cleansing and soul transforming mercy of God.
Another way that we prove that we do not really believe we belong to one another though we are inseparably bound together is the way we judge and condemn each other. We constantly compare ourselves with each other and engage in all kinds of spiritual “one-upsmanship”. Verbal jabs, posturing for advantage and condemning each other fracture our relationships. I must come to grips with the fact that your joys are my joys, and your sorrows are my sorrows. We are wedded and welded together forever!
George Findlay entitles his exposition of Ephesians 3:10-11, “Earth Teaching Heaven”.2 Angels and demons witness all that transpires in this marvel of the manifold, literally multi-colored, wisdom of God where God buys back and reconciles to himself rebels and recreates the world that has been mortgaged to and ravaged by sin. And the place that he does that, the place where he discloses himself is the church. It is the place where God dwells; the church is how he unveils himself. It is the church that is this cosmic university and each believer is a tenured professor and the curriculum is individual salvation and our corporate unity as the body of Christ. Did you ever think that your life, your church, has such cosmic significance?
This business of the Christian life, this business of the Christian church, is no small thing in the created order. Again Mack and Swaveley point out that the church is the primary means through which God accomplishes his plan in the world. Do you believe that? Contrast that with comedian, Lenny Bruce, who says, “Every day people are straying away from church and going back to God.”3 But that is an oxymoron. You may think that’s what you are doing, but biblical logic declares it to be impossible!
In 1 Timothy 3:15, the apostle Paul calls “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” Now the pillar is not the building, but the pillar supports the rest of the building on the foundation. It gives the building stability. It makes it sturdy and safe. So God has designed the church to support the truth, to promote it, to protect it, to promulgate it, to stabilize the truth. The church is to provide a context in which the truth can greatly flourish in people’s lives. The church is designed by God to be the spiritual womb in which the truth can gestate in human hearts and mature in human lives. It is the best place to find the truth and be nurtured in the truth. The church is the pillar and foundation in the sense that it strengthens the truth, it reinforces it, it proves it. The church is to be “Exhibit A” of the truth. It is to be the very personification of the truth.
Civil government, the arts, academia, business and industry and all the many and varied spheres of life are places where the themes of the kingdom of God can be promoted and advanced. But it is the planting of these alternative societies, called local churches, inside of the existing social order that gradually infiltrates and influences by the gentle and loving but unconquerable pressure of the incarnational presence of Christ that he began in his coming and continues in his church that changes society.
In light of this exalted status and service we should recoil in horror from the unholy temerity by which we dare to raise our hands or our voices against Christ’s church. The Church’s high calling forever dignifies her beyond all shameful dismissals of her significance. May the mysteries of God’s wisdom be so resplendently visible in our midst that angels stand in speechless awe or gasp in rapturous wonder at the heirs of salvation who faithfully prosecute this glorious calling! May peels of praise burst from their lips and groans of defeat bellow from the wretched mouths of devils when they see sinful humanity so renovated that the barriers between God and man are broken, and the barriers between man and man are likewise shattered, and God is uncovered before the enchanted gaze of all of creation!
Holy and righteous Father, help us to understand these things sufficiently to fall in worship before you, our Sovereign Lord and rise as the saints of God to grasp with humble confidence and indomitable courage our high and holy calling!
1 Wayne Mack and Dave Swavely, Life in the Father’s House, Phillipsburg, NJ: Puritan and Reformed Publishing, 1996, 2006, pp. 64-65.
2 Rev. George Gillanders Findlay, The Epistle to the Ephesians, Headingly College, Leeds: Hodder and Stoughton Publishing, 1892, p. 22
3 “Sola Ecclesia: The Lost Reformation Doctrine”, originally printed in Reformation and Revival Journal, Fall 2000. Reprinted in New Horizons, May 2001.
