Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church
Colossians 1v18-20
30th October 2026
We continue our study of Paul's description of Jesus Christ in Colossians 1v18-23.
Colossians1v18-20
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth
or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Having written in verses 15-17 about Jesus being the image of God the Father and the firstborn over all creation, Paul now turns to His relationship with the church.
Colossians1v18a
And he is the head of the body, the church.
Jesus is the beginning not only of the universe but also of the church. He's the head of the church both in terms of leadership and in terms of origin. He is head in the sense of leader – as a headteacher is the leader of a school – and head in the sense of source, as the head of a river is the source of that river. The church exists because of His sacrifice, and it exists for Him, and it's governed by Him, no matter what some denominational leaders might tell you.
Colossians1v18b
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead
We who are Christians are born again. Our old lives have died. A new life has begun. Jesus was the first. He died and was buried, and rose again on the third day. The new life that we live, we live because Jesus rose from the dead. Without the Resurrection of Christ there would be no church, there would be no Christians. All of us would be lost.
Colossians1v18c
that in everything he might be pre-eminent.
It's only right that Jesus Christ has pre-eminence in all things. He even has pre-eminence in being the first to rise from the dead in newness of life. He wasn't the first to rise from the dead; He raised Lazarus and others from the dead. He was the first to rise with a new quality of life, a new kind of life, so that He is pre-eminent, and so that we might be spiritually alive, in relationship with God the Father. Let us be eternally grateful!
Colossians 1v19
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
All God's power, all His knowledge, all His wisdom, all His mercy, grace, love and other qualities, live fully in Jesus Christ. This idea is so important, and so amazing, that Paul repeats it in:
Colossians 2v9
… in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…
As Philippians 2v7 says, Jesus took the form of a servant, and was born in the likeness of men. His frail human body, which would be destroyed by Roman soldiers when He was just 33 years old, contained all the fullness of God. This fills me with awe. Jesus was persecuted. He was hungry and thirsty. He got tired. Sometimes He had no room to go to, and had to sleep in the open air. He was misunderstood, lied about, abandoned by most of His followers, and nailed to a cross until He was dead.
Isaiah 53v3
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not.
Yet all the fullness of God was – and is – in Jesus. Hallelujah! How sad, how tragic, it is that most people today still despise Jesus, hide their faces from Him, and don't give Him the esteem He so richly deserves! If only our neighbours knew who Jesus really is!
Colossians 1v20
[God was pleased] … through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Again, we have to be careful. God has been pleased to reconcile all things on earth and in heaven to Himself. He's been pleased to do this by making peace through Jesus's blood sacrifice on the cross. This doesn't mean that everybody will be saved. We know from many scriptures that some people will be saved and others will not. For example, the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 explicitly says that, on the Day of Judgement, some people will be told, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." And others will be told, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
The Gospel is a matter of life and death – eternal life and eternal death.
Nevertheless, it's true that God has made peace through the cross, and is reconciling all things to Himself. Peace can be achieved in two different ways. It can be willingly embraced or it can be enforced. A just ruler can motivate people to accept His rule gladly. A strong ruler can compel people to accept his rule. God is both just and strong. At the cross, Jesus opened the way for us to be reconciled to God. We who love Him and joyfully embrace the Good News of Jesus willingly, gratefully, accept His rule over us. At the cross, Jesus also defeated His enemies, as Chapter 2 verse 15 says. We Christians have gladly repented of our rebellion against God, and embraced the peace that He offers. Other people continue in rebellion but they're defeated and one day they will acknowledge Him.
Philippians 2v9-11
… God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is
above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on
earth and under the earth [in hell],
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…
"Should" here doesn't mean "ought to"; it means "will". Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. As William Hendricksen says in his commentary on that passage, "At his return in glory, Jesus will be worshipped by the whole body of created intelligent beings in all the departments of the universe… Angels and redeemed human beings will do this joyfully; the damned will do it ruefully, remorsefully (not penitently)… But so great will be his glory that all will feel impelled to render homage to him".
Revelation 6v15-17
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the
rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in
the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,
calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the
face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
On the Day of Judgement, the damned will be banished for ever and God's peace in heaven and earth will be universal.
Revelation 21v1-5
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling
place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his
people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,
neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the
former things have passed away."
And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things
new."…
What a Saviour! Hallelujah!