The Headship of Christ in the Church

The church is of immeasurable worth to the Lord Jesus Christ. A redeemed humanity, joined and knit together to form the church, was the joy set before the Lord Jesus that led Him to endure the great suffering on the cross (Hebrews 12:2). As one running a marathon would focus their mind on the finish line in the midst of exhaustion and pain, so the Lord Jesus held the church in His heart, and it motivated Him to drink the cup of suffering and death that was before Him.

The Lord Jesus also considers Himself one with the church—they are inseparable. When the Lord Jesus appeared to Saul on his journey to Damascus, He said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" (Acts 22:7). Saul had, up until then, spent his time seeking after and persecuting Christians. What then did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, "Why are you persecuting Me?" We see in this text that the Lord Jesus identifies Himself with His people. Saul's acts of persecution against Christians were actually acts of persecution against the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! The reality is that the church is the very body of Christ! "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones" (Ephesians 5:30).

The Lord needs to press upon us the full weight of what this means. The church is the glorious body of the great I AM! The church is His prized possession, a pearl of such great worth that He sold all that He had to purchase it (Matthew 13:45-46). Knowing the great weight that the Lord places on the church, may the Lord grant us all sober hearts to conduct ourselves in the church with great fear and humility (1 Peter 1:17-19).

"Conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."

—1 Peter 1:17b-19

The church is not ours, but God's. It is the "church of God, which He purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). We are not free to do as we please in the church. We may have some practical function of service within the church, but let that not lead us to think that we can conduct ourselves as we please. Brothers and sisters, let us remember that Christ is the Head of the body! He is the Head whom we ought to submit to and be governed by (Colossians 2:19). His rulership ought to extend to all aspects and areas of our lives (Luke 14:33).

We know of a medical condition where parts of a body don’t appropriately respond to the directions of the head. We call this paralysis. If we, as the members of Christ's body, do not respond to the leading of Christ, the Head, can we really say that the condition of the body of Christ here on earth is healthy? Oh, may we yield to Him! His way is perfect, and His Word is proven (Psalm 18:30)!

The Lord Jesus has a plan and a design for the church. If we yield ourselves to His headship, then He will find us to be useful tools in His hand to accomplish His great purpose. If we don't yield ourselves to the Lord, then even our best intentions will end up being a hindrance to His work. The Lord Jesus made this abundantly clear to us when He said, "He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). The Lord Jesus didn't exaggerate or use hyperbole; He meant each word that He said. When He said, "Without Me you can do nothing," He truly meant nothing of any lasting value. Regretfully, we also see many examples in the Scriptures where the good intentions of man were starkly opposed to the purpose of God.

“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

—Matthew 16:21-23

At the news of His coming death, Peter attempted to rebuke the Lord Jesus, telling Him, "This shall not happen to You!" But as the Lord Jesus then said, Peter was minding the things of men, not the things of God. Peter's best intentions were entirely different from the purposes of God. Can we imagine what our condition would presently be if, at the word of Peter, the Lord Jesus hadn't gone to the cross? Oh, how there would be no hope for mankind!

In similar fashion, if we conduct ourselves in the church according to our own wisdom and best intentions, and not in humble submission before the Lord, then the fruit of our labor will end up being a hindrance to the work of God. Christ is the Head of the Church, which is His body, and He has given us His Word so that we may know how we ought to conduct ourselves in it. Let us discard any notions of our own and cleave to His Word so that our life in the church may be one that pleases Him!

"But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

—1 Timothy 3:15

Saints, let us consider the glorious beauty of the church and see the love that the Lord has placed upon it. And may the full weight of this give us a holy fear that makes us afraid of doing anything in the church of ourselves. In submission to Him, may the Lord find us to be "vessels of honor, sanctified and useful to the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:21).