Christ, the Head

 December 20, 2024

Friday

Colossians 1:18 (NASB 2020)¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

Some time back, people asked, "What would Jesus do?" It became very popular but it often missed the point. When considering the sick, Jesus would have healed them. When considering the mentally unstable, Jesus would have cast out the demons. When considering how to get from point A to point B, Jesus might have started walking on the water. As close as we would like to be to Jesus, we will never be Him. There are many things that He would do that He doesn't expect us to do. He wants us to be disciples of Christ, not Christ Himself.

That means that He must truly be at the center of our lives. This is when we understand what it means to abide in Him. This is when we understand what it means to call Him Lord. He is the head. The rest of the body should respond to the head. 

After having back surgery a couple of years ago, I couldn't lift my foot when I walked. I would try my best to raise it, but it would not obey. After physical therapy, I could again move the foot but it took a lot of work. Even today, there is some resistance. Unfortunately, that is how we appear to Him at times. He commands and we refuse.

Jesus is the beginning- He takes priority in time. He is the first-born from the dead- He takes priority over death. He is first in all things in the sense that there is no one above Him. He is not kept first by us, He is first no matter what we do.

That means that the question of what we should do in any situation is not to ask what Jesus would do but what I should do to remain in Him. What will keep Him the head of my own life? What will keep Him the head of the church? Obviously, it is not simply following a marketing plan that draws people in. It is following Jesus individually and corporately.

Constant introspection is not healthy. It takes our eyes off of Jesus and places them on ourselves. But inspection is healthy. Here, we ask Jesus what our standing with Him is like. Are we going the right direction? He must be the one who inspects. He speaks to those who are His friends.

Jesus is the head of the church. The believers are the church. If believers don't recognize Him as the head, how will the church ever do so? He is the head.