Responding to Jesus (Week 4)
Jesus is the Head: Belong to His Body!
In a recent devotional (by Jeff Randleman) I read, the author wrote about the different ways people responded to Jesus in just one chapter in the Book of Matthew. If you read chapter nine, you find that people were in awe of Jesus (v 8) when he healed the paralytic; Matthew followed him and invited friends to meet him (vs 9-10); sought after by a woman with a blood issue (vs 19-22); they laughed at Jesus (vs 23-26) when he went to pray for the ‘sleeping daughter’ of a church leader; pursued by two blind guys who wanted healing for their sight (vs 27-31); marveled at the power he possessed (vs 32-33); and criticized him, saying this power came from the prince of demons (v 34).
So responding to Jesus does not always have a positive connotation. But it does always align with the person doing the responding. When we take and place Christ as the priority or main focus, then we find ourselves on target. God created us to have a choice, never forcing himself upon us, but always longing for us to come back into right relationship with Him! He moved the access point to him from the Temple Holy of Holies, where only the priests could enter in; to His Son, where all who accept Him as Lord and Savior could come to the Father.
Today we are going to further respond to Jesus by declaring him as the head of the church (us) who is the body of Christ, and how we are to fulfill our part in serving Him as our Lord and Savior.
Frank Viola writes:
“To be subject to the headship of Jesus is to respond to His will regarding the life and practice of the church. Submission to the headship of Christ includes obtaining God’s mind through mutual ministry and sharing, obeying the Holy Spirit through the mutual subjection and servanthood, and testifying to Jesus Christ collectively through mutual sharing and corporate witness.”
Jesus is to be Lord of the individual and Head (Master) of the corporate body. When we have those in alignment, then we are truly functioning, as God desires us to be.
Let’s see what God’s Word has to say when we recognize:
- Christ is the Head
- We are the Body
- We have to Submit
I. Christ is the Head
Psalms 118:22
“The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”
Ephesians 2:20
“Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
1 Peter 2:4
“You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.”
Ephesians 1:15-23
- God appointed Him & placed all things under His feet
- The power of God is at work
- We are made full & complete
II. We are the Body
III. We have to Submit
Ephesians 5:21
“And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Reverence defined:
“honor or respect felt or shown : deference especially : profound adoring awed respect”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
OT: Joshua 24:15 – choose who you will serve
NT: Luke 16:13 – cannot serve God and money
Romans 12:1-2
- Not a dead sacrifice, but a living one – alive to serve
- Allowing God to transform us, not the world.
- The results will be called ‘good’ by God. (morally honorable, pleasing to God, beneficial)
That is the ultimate meaning of submission. Surrendering what you want to do by saying “not my will, but YOUR will be done.” Jesus did that for you and me so that we would have a way to have our relationship with God restored. He is also making a way for us to never have to ‘go it alone’, for He is always beside us, in every situation. With Christ as the head, His vision is so much clearer that He can see the bigger picture so we can “count it all joy”, no matter what we are faced with in this life.
So, as I have presented God’s Word to you today I need to ask… How will you respond to it and to Jesus? I know in this world there are some who may not see a need for church or faith or even Jesus. And there are others who may just have a hard time letting go of the control. But maybe you finally have realized your need to let go and let God have control. Whatever your response, that choice is up to you. No one can make that choice for you. But know that you have a church body that will love you and support you as you submit to God and His plan for your life.