Hi friends,

I am excited to share with you another excellent, Christ-centered resource.  This one comes served up by author/blogger/speaker Frank Viola and is what he calls a “taste test” of his most recent book, Jesus Now – Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ.

I am currently reading through the full book and, I can tell you, it presents a very rich picture of Christ and of our life together in Him.  Too often the focus of our faith and of the bulk of Christian teaching is either on what Jesus has done, looking back to His earthly life, death and resurrection, or what Jesus will do, looking forward to His Second Coming and Kingdom reign, but not on what Jesus is doing now in His present heavenly and earthly ministry.  This is the focus of this book, and this is what we are called to live in Today!

I am especially excited to share this sampling because of the content Frank has chosen to include in it. In particular, he included Chapter 6 on Christ as “Head of the Church”.  As I read it, I knew I wanted to share it here on the blog.  It is an excellent exposition of the Headship of Christ and complements wonderfully what has already been shared along this line here.  As I read sections such as the following, my spirit rejoiced!

“The eternal purpose of God is centered upon making Jesus the absolute head over all things.  God’s goal is the establishment of the complete sovereignty and supremacy of His Son.  His driving passion is to make His Son preeminent over everything.  All of God’s activities are toward this end.  Hence, the chief work of the Holy Spirit in this age is to establish the headship of Christ in His body, to the uttermost.

Accordingly, the Holy Spirit will break down and devastate everything that opposes, obstructs, and hinders the Lord’s sovereign rule in the hearts of His people.  He will stand against all that gets in the way of God’s ultimate intention of establishing the centrality and supremacy of His Son over all things.  Strikingly, before Christ can be made preeminent over all things, He must first have the preeminence among His own people.  Colossians 1:18 puts it this way:

He is the head of the body, the church … that in all things he might have the preeminence.
(KJV; see also Eph. 5:23)

The great need today in the body of Christ is to reinstate the headship of Christ.”  (pgs. 164-165)

After reading this chapter in Jesus Now, I encourage you to follow it up with the teaching I have offered here, “The Headship of Christ in the Gathering of the Church” .  This lays out six basic principles concerning the functional headship of Christ as the church assembles.  The two complement each other very well!

To access the “The Taste Test”, please go to the “Resources” page for it on this blog here: JESUS NOW (“Taste Test”) – by Frank Viola (free PDF ebook)

I pray that you are encouraged and edified by this resource!

In Him,
David