Colossians 1:18 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Colossians 1:18

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Consider the impact of that! What a privilege! He is the Creator, he has made all things, all things are sustained by him and are at his disposal, and, says Paul, he is the head of the church. He is not the head of the world, though he is ultimately the One who superintends all its affairs. No, but that great Person, Christ, who made all things, is especially the head of the church. He is our head, our ruler, our owner, our guide; he is the head of the body. What honour he brings to his people, his bride! There is no society on earth other than the church that has as its patron Jesus Christ, the creator and sustainer of the whole world. ‘Who is the beginning.’ Through him it all began. It was for Christ that he created all things. Of course, Christ knew that humanity would fall. He knew that humanity would rebel against God and we would become fallen creatures, subject to sin, under God’s judgement. But he also knew that he would come, and suffer and die to redeem millions of people from throughout the world, and bring them to know him and to be with him eternally. He is the beginning. It was all started for Christ the Redeemer.‘That in all things he might have the preeminence.’ This word pre-eminence comes from a simple Greek word which simply means first, and it is expanded in the Greek to mean the first in rank, the first in time, the first in power, the first in glory, the first in authority. He is supreme. He is and he represents to us divine sovereignty and divine supremacy: that in all things he might have the first place and the chief place with no one challenging him. He must have uncluttered, unconfused, uncompromised pre-eminence or first place, first rank in everything all the time. It is the greatness and the glory of Christ. This was the purpose of his resurrection, he may be the Lord of his people, Lord of the church and have absolutely unchallengeable first place in everything. The Christian faith is Christ; he is everything. Christ is all. Salvation is His work entirely and no one can share in it. The honour and glory for salvation and for the church belongs to Christ alone. He is the one who is seen or should be seen in the Christian faith. He is the one who is in our view and chiefly in our view. He is the one to be adored by His people. He is to be approached by all His people and He is to be obeyed by all His people. Christ is all.

Application

Christ cannot be substituted in anyway. Nothing we do in the church can substitute for him. He must not and cannot be supplanted. We have to take so much care that nothing that we do in worship or in our activities, edges Christ out of the picture so that we enjoy something else more than him. It may be music, rhythm, or some other aesthetic devices. Nothing must ever push out Christ from first place. He cannot be represented adequately in this world, represented in the sense of somebody taking his place. If a company sends out a salesman who they are pleased to call a representative, it means obviously that the members of the board and the management cannot go themselves, so they are represented by a person who must act entirely for them. That can never happen with Christ. He cannot be represented in that sense so that something else stands in for him. He must be present in power by his Spirit to work himself. He must engage directly with all souls who are to be saved. In worship, he must receive the worship and indeed inspire the worship. He cannot be represented by any priesthood, any noble or special person, by any angel. He cannot be assisted and we must not try to assist him. We desire to see souls saved and may be tempted to say, ‘Christ needs some help, maybe he needs some technique in the presentation of the gospel or something which would impress at an earthly level, to assist him because he cannot do it quite by himself.’ No, it is all done through the word and the Spirit. He cannot be and must not be assisted. It is an insult to him. He has all power.

That is why in the church of Christ we say Christ alone is the head of the church. How does he exercise his authority? Through the word of God. Not through any clergyman or priest or minister; minsters, we are all fallible. We cannot claim – I have this word from God, I know what is right. We teach the word; Christ is the head. We obey the word of God, inspired words of the living God. That sets out what the church should look like, what its duties are, how it should serve him, all the standards, how we should proceed, even how we should select our office bearers and how they should humble themselves before him. How we should prove everything from Scripture so that Christ and Christ alone is the head of the church. No pope is the head of the church. What an awful thing to suggest. Even in our land, constitutionally, who is the head of the state church, the Church of England? The queen. No, no. How can the queen be the head of the church? He, Christ is the head of the church.

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Colossians 1:18 Commentary and Bible Study