Sunday: Christ, the Head of the Church
As we have seen already in an earlier lesson, in the New Testament the church is represented by the metaphor of body. The church is the body of Christ. This metaphor alludes to several aspects of the church and the relation between Christ and His people. As the body of Christ, the church depends on Him for its very existence. He is the Head (Col. 1:18, Eph. 1:22) and the Source of the life of the church. Without Him there would be no church.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The church also derives its identity from Christ, for He is the Source and the Foundation and the Originator of its belief and teachings. Yet, the church is more than these things, as crucial as they are to its identity. It is Christ and His Word as revealed in Scripture that determine what the church is. Thus, the church derives its identity and significance from Christ.
In Ephesians 5:23-27, Paul uses the relationship between Christ and His church to illustrate the kind of relationship there should be between husband and wife. What are the key ideas of this relationship between Christ and His church?
Although we may be hesitant with the concept of submission because of how leaders in the centuries past have abused it, the church is nonetheless to be subject to the Head, Christ, and is subject to His authority. Our acknowledgment of Christ as the Head of the church helps us remember to whom our ultimate allegiance must belong, and that is the Lord Himself and to no one else. The church is to be organized, but that organization always must be subordinate to the authority of Jesus, the true Leader of our church.
“The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head. It is not to depend upon man, or be controlled by man. Many claim that a position of trust in the church gives them authority to dictate what other men shall believe and what they shall do. This claim God does not sanction. The Saviour declares, ‘All ye are brethren.’ All are exposed to temptation, and are liable to error. Upon no finite being can we depend for guidance. The Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church. Upon this the weakest may depend, and those who think themselves the strongest will prove to be the weakest, unless they make Christ their efficiency.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 414.
| How can we learn to depend upon Christ and not upon any other “finite being”, as it is so easy to do? |
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I have told this story before but somehow it is appropriate for today's topic. I was waiting for a train and as usual, I pulled out my iPad and started reading. A little old Catholic Nun sat down beside me and she also started reading. We had a while to wait for the train and as often happens we fell into conversation. I asked her what she liked reading the most, and she told me that she liked reading the sermons of Pope Benedict. I followed up with a question as to why she liked reading his sermons and she said that he pointed her to Jesus. So for a few moments, we shared our mutual love of Jesus. I think that she was moderately surprised that someone else in a largely secular county actually thought about Jesus. The little old Catholic Nun taught me a lot about Jesus in that few minutes on the station.
For some of us, thinking about Jesus takes on a forensic aspect. We are out to prove that he is God, or we delve into the mechanism of salvation. Perhaps we should focus a little less on the proving and more on the sharing of a rich experience of living with Jesus.
Peter had the experience of living with Jesus to the extent that even when he tried to deny it, others still noted that he had been with Jesus. That shocked Peter!
The Gospel is less about theology and more about the changes in our lives when we follow him.
Just this morning at our worship group, we were studying Galatians 5:13-26 where we were discussing 'walking in the Spirit' and what it meant to be 'led by Christ'...vis-a-vis keeping the law. The speaker in his explanation said, "Focusing on the law is like focusing on the doctrines and losing focus on the people or the Church!"
Wow. With your permission,must share.
You are welcome to share.
How can we learn to depend upon Christ and not upon any other “finite being”, as it is so easy to do?
I cannot brag about anything, but I have to consider my sufferings as blessings! The lost of a very close "finite being" that you most depend on while being a kid somehow, at the same time, can be devastating and also be a call to faith's development. And it may take years until a tragedy becomes beauty! Although
the marks stongly persevere for decades Jesus is able to replace them by His touch of love. The key is to surrender!
I believe a Christian life is simple. We should live like Christ did and remember that everything is tested from scripture. Children should be able follow our example. It is said that the greatest concern we have today is that when we call on the name of Christ, we should live what His name represent. May God keep us faithful and true to the end which is what is most important. Thanks
Amen, yes I believe that we must HOLD on to our faith, trust, depend on Jesus, study our scriptures and have a relationship with him, to seek him daily. Matthew 6.33 Jesus is our only hope that gives us all salvation.
“The church is built upon Christ as its foundation; it is to obey Christ as its head." Our brains control every part of our bodies including all their operations. It is difficult to understand how all these organs collaborate and unite to achieve a single goal. "And when one member suffer, all the members suffer with it...", 1 Cor. 12:26. It is only through conditions like stroke, vascular dementia, etc, that come through our failure to take care of these bodies, that this unity is affected.
Just as stroke renders some body parts useless, we become spiritually dead when we disconnect ourselves from the Head, Isaiah 59:2. Instead of blessing other members we become a burden to them making their usefulness even more difficult. Just as a dead limb affects the entire body and its operations, a spiritually dead member puts a check on the progress of the gospel. It is as good as scattering abroad when Christ is gathering. In this state uniting with others is impossible.
Thus loosing interest in God's word and struggling to show love to others should lead us to the cross in genuine repentance. Through the body metaphor Christ wants us to focus on Him, to burden Him not our leaders. Everyone has a part to play. No one should blindly follow our earthly leaders.
Reading this in the lesson reminded me that we too often misunderstand the word "head"/ 'kephale' in Ephesians 5:23:
That quote perfectly captures the meaning of 'kephale' in the original Greek text, because 'kephale' means "head" or "source," as in the "head of a stream," among other things.
Christ is, indeed, the "Source" of the church, because it is derived from Him and His mission, just as Adam was the "source" of Eve, because she was formed from his rib.
Nowhere does the Bible have a command for anyone to exercise authority over the church or over women or wives. Rather, in Eph. 5:21 (just before the texts mentioned), Paul urges the members of the body of Christ to be "subject one to another." That is mutual submission - not one group or one gender subject to another group or gender.
Even pastors are not asked to exercise authority, but to lead as Christ led. (See Matt 20:25-20)
I understand that submission is to be freely given, not exacted. Authority is ascribed to leaders who lead as Christ led, not exercised "like the Gentiles do." That's the way our church governance structure is set up. But there's another model that is advocated in some circles even in our church. It has a human authority figure as its head, and it seems to me that's a contrary to the teachings of Christ, whether it is found in our church or another.
Your thoughts?