Colossians 1:18-20 (NIV)
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. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Paul points out what was probably very obvious to most Christians: that Jesus is the head of the Church, which is his body. It’s easy to mentally affirm that. But all too often we look to mere human beings, and exalt them as the head of the Church. In part this is done because we find it difficult to believe that we, as lowly humans, can approach Jesus on our own, let alone approached the throne of the Father. So, we honor some human leader to do it on our behalf, someone set apart as holy, whom we expect to intercede for the rest of us.
How different from the concept of the early Church! Even the apostles, as honored as they were by people, understood that they were not worthy of worship – that was reserved for the Father, for Jesus, and for the Holy Spirit. And, while many referred to them as pillars of the church (Galatians 2:9), they clearly understood that the body of Christ had only one head: Jesus Himself, and that they not only served Him directly, they were to help every single member forge a direct connection to Him also, so that they were able to serve Jesus directly without any human standing between them and Him.
Jesus is also the firstborn from among the dead. Though there had been a couple of resurrections in the Old Testament, and even though Jesus had raised at least three people from the dead, Jesus’ resurrection was qualitatively different from theirs. Jesus raised their original mortal bodies, which would ultimately die again. But Jesus’ body was transformed when he rose into an immortal, imperishable body that is fit to live forever in God’s presence. And, since Jesus was the first to experience that transformation, He has the supremacy that goes along with it, becoming the model and standard for what we can expect to happen to us when we ourselves are resurrected.
Jesus was also possessed of all God’s fullness, so that by His suffering, His death, and His resurrection, He could fully pay the penalty for the sins of all mankind, so that anyone who repents and turns to Him for Salvation can find full forgiveness and receive each, life. No mere human being could do that – the cost of saving even a single soul is far too high (Psalm 49:7-9). But God could, and did, do that through Jesus.
Father, these are amazing truths! And, of course, you are right. We do often exalt mere people to headship over the church, and expect them to be holy for us, to intercede for us, and to stand before you for us. But you have already given us Jesus as our only head. It is He who died for us, and who now intercedes for us before your throne. It is He who is your very image, filled with all your fullness. And it is He who rose immortal from the dead to show us our own future. Lord, help us to always and only turn to Jesus as our leader in your Kingdom, our head, our Lord and Savior. Amen.