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Introduction
We have been working our way through the first chapter of Colossians together and specifically looking for the last couple of weeks at the Hymn of praise written for us in verses 15-20.
The reason for this praise is seen in the prayer for the Colossians as the beginning of the book.
The Colossian Christians were living together in love.
This love was like that of the special unconditional love of God.
A love stronger than a brotherly love.
The Colossians were also growing in the gospel.
The gospel was not and is not a once and done thing.
They continued growing, increasing, and bearing fruit.
The believers in Colosse had been delivered out of the domain of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light.
Jesus kingdom.
For this and much more Paul and Timothy wrote a praise to God.
They praise Jesus, that all is created in the sphere of Christ.
He is the mediator.
He is the preserver.
He is the controller.
He is ultimately where all of creation is pointing.
In this last section today the praise is shifting focus to the new creation.
The praise is for Jesus present role.
In the end of v. 17 we saw that all things are held together in Jesus.
Now we see also that Jesus is bringing together those who were once lost in darkness.
In our passage for today we will see that Jesus brings reconciliation through His headship.
Read Col. 1:15-20
Prayer
Jesus - Head of the church.
What does it mean for us that Jesus is the head of the church?
The Body
We first have to come to an understanding of the body.
The word that church comes from refers to
a regularly summoned legislative body, assembly
a casual gathering of people
people with shared belief, community, congregation
This is not a specific Christian term as it is found in other literature but in the context of scripture it often refers to
the global community of Christians, (universal) church
This is not the only place where Paul refers to the church as a body.
Paul when writing to the Romans in chapter 12 speaks of the body and how its members should relate to one another.
Also in 1 Cor.
12
As well as Eph 4:16
While there is a stress on individual parts of the body in these passages, the purpose is the body as a whole.
A body that is growing together as a unit.
This description of the church is an organic one rather than organizational.
The church is so much more than an organization.
What about us?
What is our view of the church?
Do we have a right view of the church?
Is the church for us a business model?
You have your everyday workers, those that are members who attend regularly,
You have your supervisors, your deacons or elders, who help to keep things on track.
You have your owners and executives, your pastors, who provide leadership and vision.
In the business world today there is often a disconnect between many of these different levels.
There can also be the same disconnect in the church as well.
The church though is not a business.
The church is the body of Jesus!
What does it mean then that we are the body of Jesus?
It is true that there is an organizational structure for the church that is laid out for us in scripture.
It also more importantly means that we are dependent upon our head.
If you think with me of a body, perhaps your own body.
How important is the head to the body?
There are so many applications to this, a few that came to mind for me were football, self defense, and steer wrestling.
What part of the steer is the rider aiming for when they leave their horse?
The head of course.
Why?
Because the body follows where the head goes!
This is why it is so important for us as the church, as the body of Christ, to have the right head on our shoulders.
If we are replacing Jesus as our head with something else.
We will not be heading in the right direction.
The body and its function is important to Paul as we see from these verses but that is not what is being praised in any of these verses and especially not our text for today.
What is being praised is Jesus and His role as Redeemer.
The Head
The praise in our passage is for Jesus as our head!
If Christ is the head of the church, it means that the destinies of creation and the church are bound together and that God’s purposes for all creation grow in the the congregational life of the church.
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The church does not exist to meet the needs of its members or to insure its institutional survival, but to fulfill the redemptive purposes of Christ, its head.
Let me restate that, the church exists to fulfill the redemptive purposes of Jesus, not to insure it’s own survival or solely meet the needs of its members.
We are here, we exist as a body, for Jesus!
He is our head, and as our head we seek to share the good news.
Of course part of Jesus redemptive purpose is to build up believers.
This is all well and good but if we stop there are we not missing the point?
If we aren’t following our head, our Lord Jesus, and spreading the good news that Jesus died for all outside of these walls, outside of our church community are we truly being directed by our head.
We are referred to as the bride of Christ.
Eph 5:23 provides for us a picture of submission.
Jesus as head is our savior, our redeemer.
The metaphor “head” designates him both as supreme over the church and as the source of the church’s life.
In the image of a living body, the head not only directs and governs the body, it gives it life and strength.
We are to praise Jesus because He is the perfect head.
It is through this headship that Jesus brings reconciliation.
Authority in New Creation
This reconciliation is what brings about the new creation that we as believers are now part of.
Just as Jesus is praised for initial creation, He is also praised for new creation.
Jesus is the source of the church’s life.
Reconciliation as defined in the Holman Bible Dictionary is
Bringing together of two parties that are estranged or in dispute.
Jesus Christ is the one who brings together God and man, with salvation as the result of the union.
Reconciliation basically means “change” or “exchange.”
The idea is of a change of relationship, an exchange of antagonism for goodwill, enmity for friendship.
Attitudes are transformed and hostility ceases.
As we see in our verse, Jesus is the beginning of this.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Jesus of course was not born from the dead but raised from death.
Paul is again using the term firstborn to represent status.
Jesus resurrection is a source of new life for others.
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