[Listen to full article here.]

I recently added a teaching to the “Other Writings” section of the blog that discusses six fundamental principles of the Headship of Christ as the church gathers.  This was written for a seminar that I taught a few years back.  I am including the introduction to it here, along with a link to the full page.

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The Headship of Christ in the Gathering of the Church

“And He is the head of the body, the church…

that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Colossians 1:18

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As the church assembles, it is the Father’s supreme desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would have the preeminence in all things. Central to this desire is the establishing of the Lord Jesus as the functioning Head of the Body in the gathered assembly. He is the One the church is to assemble under and be led by as it gathers in His name and in the power of His Spirit. The church must meet according to the principle of the Body, so that Christ may have a corporate expression of Himself in this world. Every member is, therefore, called to submit to Christ as Head, and through Him to serve the Body according to their unique giftings and callings by the leading of the Spirit. This is what a Biblical gathering of the church is to embody.

This reality of the Headship of Christ in the church is something that needs to be diligently sought, cultivated and grown into. It is not something that will naturally develop unless there is a collective vision for it and a persistent pursuit of it by a committed body of believers. It will require spiritual men and women who have God’s ultimate objective as their sole passion, and have forsaken lesser things to pursue an expression of the church that is according to God’s central desire. It will require a breaking with long-held traditions and religious pre-conditionings as to what the church is and how it is to meet, and necessitate a radical and enduring commitment to a new way of gathering where Christ is given His rightful place as the functioning Head of His Body.

Because Christ’s Headship has not been generally sought or made room for in the midst of His people, the Church at large is not accustomed to its reality, nor expectant of its outworking. We, therefore. need to learn the first principles of what it means for Jesus to personally lead His church and to harmoniously work through His many-membered Body as it meets. It is the purpose of this teaching, therefore, to discuss some of the primary characteristics and principles of the gathering of the church when it meets under the Headship of Christ.

Continue reading…

– Many thanks also to Sandor Abonyi for translating this teaching into Hungarian and posting it on his blog, “keskenyut.”  That post can be found here.

Blessings!

Related:
Holding Fast to the Head
The Headship of Christ and the “Heartship of Christ” (part 1) and (part 2)
Affirmations (5) – Christ the Uncontested Head of the Church
The Church Gathering Simply in the Name of Christ and Under His Headship – A Historical Account by C.H. Mackintosh