Eph 1:22 God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body,
23 the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
God's purpose for the church is so vast and so great, that on this side of eternity, we will hardly scratch the surface. I think of the existence of the church in the last two thousand years, and I think of how in so many ways we have missed the great purposes of Christ for it.
Yet is never too late for this “now generations” of believers to catch God's vision for the church and run with it.
Eph 1:22 God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body,
23 the completeness of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.
Ephesians 1;22-23 is one of Paul's loftiest scriptural revelations from the Lord as to most pertinent purposes of the church.
What Paul is trying to exactly say here has been debated by many wonderful Biblical scholars. I believe that what they have to say is correct since there is so much in these scriptures.
I want to take my personal shot at them
The church is the body of Christ. Christ is the head. God gave me concept of the head just a few days ago. The head is what thinks, sees, hears, and plans and pulls the body along. Even after walking thirty years with the Lord I have found myself still being the head in numerous ways. Mind you, the Lord has been breaking me throughout the years. Yet in some issue in my life I have found myself trying to look into the future, carry financial burdens, worrying, planning, scheming, etc. God convicted me a few days ago, that these are all the responsibilities of the head, of which I am not.
As the body of Christ, my job is simply to hear and obey. The head does the figuring out. I do not have to see into the future or plan. I just follow the head, even Christ, who is doing the thinking, worrying, planning and watching out for me. Then I can truly be a son of God when I simply follow the plans of the head,or when I am led by the head..Wow! That revelation really took a lot of burdens of from me when I finally got it.
Ro 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
In Ephesians, it tells us that Christ has risen far above all things that are named in heaven, on earth and below the earth. He has sat at the right of God to rule all of these things and on top of that all things have been placed underneath His feet. By this act, He has claimed the title of The Head. The Father, has given Christ in this position, of The Head, to the church.
Now, a head is not complete without a body?
The body fills and carries out all that the head thinks, plans, sees and hears. Christ, in His position as head over all things in the universe, has been squarely situated and locked over the shoulders of the church which now becomes His body.
Paul then tells us in verse 22-23 that the church becomes the fullness of Christ. The word fullness, “pleroma” is an intricate word which I do not have time to discuss today. Let it suffice to say, that the fullness of Christ is the visible manifestation on this planet of what Christ has accomplished as the Head. If the church was truly functioning as it should, it would be manifesting the victories that Christ has gained over every name that is named in the universe as The Head into this habitable planet. This is why the church is the most powerful institution in the whole universe!
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Eph 1:22 God has put all things under His feet, and has appointed Him universal and supreme Head of the Church, which is His Body,
23 the completeness ( fullness)of Him who everywhere fills the universe with Himself.
Col 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
In Colossians 1:18-19 we see another similar scriptural philosophy by Paul. If the church is functioning as it should, Christ would have preeminence in all thing in this natural world. This is because the church is the fullness of God.
The nature of fulness is to naturally and continually fill all things in the whole universe with what Christ has accomplished as The Head, until everything is totally filled. This can only be accomplished by the body or in a body which has been designed by God to house the processes which “fullness” execute.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
In Ephesians three we see the amazing importance of the church once again as it manifests the counsels and wisdom of God even to all of the angelic and demonic hierarchy.
Now, why do we not see the church being filled and manifesting the fullness of Christ into this habitable world?
I certainly do not have the full answer. I think that I do have a partial answer, because it is something that God is working out in my own life. If my personal spirit, soul and body are not in submitted order to Christ, The Head, how can I expect the greater and more complex body of Christ to come into order as a member of it? How can I fill the world with the fullness of Christ, through the church, His body, if the fullness of Christ is not filling my personal body?
1Co 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
The subjection of Paul's personal human body did not happen by his fleshly efforts but by faith, by the revelation and grace of God in obedience.
There have been things in my personal human body which I have not brought under subjection. My eating habits have been one. I have struggled to diet for many years and have failed for the most part. The Lord has showed me that the key at least for me, has not being dieting, but having God bring to light the issues that I had as a kid which brought pain into my life and caused me to get into the habit of over eating, as a medication or comfort against the pain which I had. This then became a mental stronghold which has become an involuntary habit ..I need the revelation of the Spirit of God, the blood of Christ and the love of the Father to set me free.
As these issues have been brought to the light and I am being washed by the eternally flowing fountain of the blood of Christ my obsession with food is going away. I am bringing my body into subjection. Every place where there has been hidden sin in my life has kept sickness, weakness and bondage in me and impeded the fullness of Christ from filling me. I find the most effective thing for me is to get on my knees and say, “Lord show me the hidden sins in my life that I do not even know about. As God does so, and I confess them and bring them to the blood of Christ, freedom and healing come to my body.
Ro 6:13 neither present ye your members instruments of unrighteousness to the sin, but present yourselves to God as living out of the dead, and your members instruments of righteousness to God;
Ro 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present <3936> your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Ro 6:19 In the manner of men I speak, because of the weakness of your flesh, for even as ye did present your members servants to the uncleanness and to the lawlessness—to the lawlessness, so now present your members servants to the righteousness —to sanctification,
I find myself now with a passion and a hunger to finally get my physical body into order in 2010. I have had enough with sin, sickness, bondage, and idolatry to the lusts of the flesh. I want to bring my body into subjection so that the resurrected Christ in me will no longer be fettered by my sin. I want to be filled with fullness of Christ. There is nothing like walking in freedom, and in the health, wholeness, sanity, integrity and the power of the new man who is Christ in me. I endeavor to say, Lord show me every wicked way in me, search me O Lord, shine a light me in me, expose my sin to myself. This is the year of God's governmental authority; it will happen however in proportion to how much governmental authority I have over my own body.
Only than when my physical body is becoming completely free by the blood of Christ and in subjection to the head, even Christ,can I exercise loving authority in my family. I believe that when my body comes under the total authority of the Lord Jesus Christ will my home come into total authority to Christ. Only then, can I expect that I can fully do my part to bring the church into the loving authority of the headship of Christ. Only when the church is totally submitted to the headship of Christ in all things,can it bring the preeminence of Christ and the loving kingdom authority of the risen Christ who is head above every name into this world. It must begin with you and me. We must pay the price to bring our spirits, souls and bodies individually in every way and in all things under the headship of Christ.
To finish please look with me at these scriptures.
Eph 5:27 that He might present the Church to Himself a glorious bride, without spot or wrinkle or any other defect, but to be holy and unblemished.
Col 1:22 He has now, in His human body, reconciled to God by His death, to bring you, holy and faultless and irreproachable, into His presence;
Col 1:28 Him we preach, admonishing every one and instructing every one, with all possible wisdom, so that we may bring every one into God’s presence, made perfect through Christ.
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present <3936> you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Eph 5:27 That he might present <3936> it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present <3936> you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present <3936> every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
All of these scriptures pertain first to our bodies as individual human beings and then to the body of Christ.
Our bodies must become so free that we are indeed people without spot or wrinkle, holy and unblemished. Now mind you,we live in a fallen world, we are all getting older because of sin, and on this earth we will die. But, the goal, the vision and the concept are real. “Lord I want to become so submitted to you that you will set me so free, that I will become without spot, wrinkle, unblemished, living in power, freedom, vigor and health.”
Take these last scriptures and apply them first to your physical body, your souls and your spirits. When we can begin to accomplish this personally it will automatically radiate to your families, then to the church,and then Christ will become truly influential in this world through the church.
Amen
