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.
Colossians 1:18 NIVUK
Modern English has an interesting idiom, 'to run around like a headless chicken'. It means to work in a panicked, haphazard, disorganised manner, with no particular sense of direction. It emerged from the 18th century, when a popular way of slaughtering chickens was to behead them. The problem is that the body of the chicken can remain alive for a while (one allegedly lived for 18 months!), but without the ability to see or make decisions, it simply runs around, bumping into things before dropping down dead.
You might find this metaphor somewhat barbaric, but this is sometimes how churches and religious organisations - even individual Christians - often function. Easily spooked or distracted, they simply lurch from one crisis to another, from one problem to another, from one decision to another, seemingly without stopping, taking stock and working out what to do next.
In fact, it's not just Christians who behave like this. Often unbelievers are the same.
But what is the cause of this?
Shamefully, the root cause is the same for both groups of people:
They have lost contact with The Head.
And who is that Head?
Jesus Christ.
You see, three times in these verses, Paul uses a picture to explain to the Colossians that Jesus is supreme. He is their ruler. There is no-one else. And what are those pictures?
Firstly, Jesus is the Head of His Body, the Church. The word for 'head' in the original Greek here means exactly that - the head. It also means the supreme one, the boss. In architectural terms, it also means the cornerstone, which is appropriate given this verse:
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
Psalms 118:22-24 NIVUK
The New Testament sees Jesus as the fulfilment of this Psalm (Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11-12; Ephesians 2:20).
In fact, the Bible tells us that trusting in this cornerstone removes from us any form of panic:
So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
Isaiah 28:16 NIVUK
But this is just an image of the fact that Jesus Christ is the Head of His Body, and as Paul explains, if we are Christians then we are all part of it:
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. And so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27 NIVUK
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:4-6 NIVUK
Do you understand the concept here? We are the Body of Christ. The Body is not made up of one part, but many (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Each of those parts has a debt to the other - not to enforce uniformity or conformity, but a duty of care. A hand can't beat an eye until it grows five fingers. A foot can't kick an ear until it grows some toes. Part of being the Body of Christ is accepting that other people have a fundamental right to have different likes, dislikes, thoughts, taste, gifting and ability to yours.
But it's also understanding why Jesus created His Body - what it's purpose is. As Paul explains:
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed to and fro by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NIVUK
Do you see it? The purpose of the Body of Christ is to make us more like Him and attain to His fulness! It's not a social gathering of like-minded, similarly cultured people. It's a group of people whose purpose is to become more like Christ and to help others to do the same.
Being part of the Body of Christ and accepting Him as our Head means agreeing with His design and purpose, and doing so willingly and gladly. If we cannot, then we have no place in the Body of Christ.
I have seen good friends fall ill with degenerative conditions like Parkinson's disease or Motor Neurone Disease, when the body stops listening to signals from the brain or no longer receives them. It's not a fun thing to see. It's quite disturbing to watch as, part by part, their body slowly shuts down.
Spiritually, this is what happens when so-called Christians shut themselves off from Jesus and decide to try and live their life their way, on their terms and by their rules. It's just as awful a sight.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not the head of the Church. The Pope is not the head of the Church. No pastor, preacher or human ruler is head of the Church. Only Jesus. And if we refuse to listen to Him, we disable ourselves spiritually and cut ourselves off from the True Vine (John 15:4-6). We must accept His Lordship. We must accept Him as our Head. The alternative is too awful to contemplate.
But this is not the only reason why Jesus is our ruler. He is also the beginning. The Greek phrase doesn't just mean that He was at the beginning or even that He was the first. No, it means that He was the initiator, the founder, the One who started it all.
As Paul states elsewhere:
For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:11 NIVUK
Or in Hebrews:
For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:10 NIVUK
Or in Revelation:
‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’
Revelation 1:8 NIVUK
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Revelation 22:13 NIVUK
And it isn't just the Church that He founded. No, as we saw earlier, Jesus founded the world. Therefore He is deserving of our utmost respect.
And even then, there is more. Jesus is also the firstborn from among the dead. In other words, He is both the first person to be raised from the dead forever, and the foremost person to be resurrected. As Paul states elsewhere:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 NIVUK
There is no other being in all of history, and neither will there be, that is both our ruler now, the founder of all things and resurrected from the dead.
Think about it. All the saints are dead. Their tombs are venerated as holy places. And not just for Catholic or Orthodox believers. Shia Muslims do precisely the same thing. The very bones (or so they say) of ancient religious rulers are paraded around the world and people honour them and bow down in worship towards Saint Paul's left shin bone or Saint Peter's big toe or Saint Stephen's fractured skull bone or Buddha's belly button.
However, there is a truth of which this relic worship can remind us: all of these people are dead. They are all lying stone cold in a tomb. They can no more help us than a rock can do brain surgery.
But Jesus is alive!
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
1 Corinthians 15:20 NIVUK
Those who visit His tomb find it empty not because the body has decayed to nothing or because it was stolen, but because it hasn't been there since three days after His resurrection because Jesus has risen!
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Matthew 28:6 NIVUK
The claims that we make about Jesus may seem outlandish and fanciful, but when you believe that a God exists who created the world then nothing is impossible. Besides, two thousand years have passed since the original disciples made these claims and they have never, ever been successfully refuted.
If believing that He is our Creator gives us meaning, purpose and direction, and believing Him to be our Sustainer gives us resiliency, then believing in Him as our ruler gives us a sense of our place in the world, a sense of belonging, a sense of identity.
The ironic thing is that this sense of belonging and identity is something that our world is crying out for. Never in all my life have I seen people so lost, confused and messed up as I've seen in this generation. The answer is not to take drugs or alcohol or hormone suppressants, or to throw yourself into science fiction or cosplay or to change your gender, or to seek transcendental experiences or to join a cult or an extremist group. The answer is Jesus, pure and simple. Come to know Him. Submit to His rule. Join His family. Become part of His Body.
Then you will truly know who you are. Then you will truly belong.
But Jesus isn't just our Creator, Sustainer and Ruler, He is (and this is highly relevant to our generation) our RECONCILER.
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