Bible Study

The Gift of Eternal Life Berean Bible Study Course

Part IV--The Family Of God / The Body Of Christ

A. Lesson 19--The Nature Of Christ's Body

3. READ: COLOSSIANS 1:15-23

a. What is Christ Jesus the head of?

Answer: Jesus is the head of the body, (verse 18).

MORE INFORMATION AND/OR OTHER SCRIPTURE REFERENCES:

• In Colossians 1:15-17, Christ and creation are dealt with by Paul from the standpoint of Christ's deity rather than His humanity--to the Son in His eternal being rather than the incarnate Son. Christ is divine. He is the source of life as He is also the agent of all creation including the heavenly and invisible. Christ is outside creation, prior to it, distinct from it, and He is sovereign to it all, for it was created by Him and indeed for Him. As Lightfoot says, "He [Christ] impresses upon creation that unity and solidarity which makes it a cosmos instead of a chaos."

• Here in Colossians 1:18, Paul now passes to the subject of the incarnate Son in His historical mission and revelation. The church is described not as the body of Christians but as the body of Christ, so vital a union that to persecute the members on earth is to persecute the head in heaven! Paul knew this from first-hand experience:

  Acts 9:1-5: "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' "Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting,' He replied."

• Ephesians 1:22-23: "And God placed all things under His [Christ's] feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him Who fills everything in every way."