２
Because we have been bought with the price of the precious blood of Christ, "we are the Lord's" (v. 8), and we should continually exalt Him as Lord, giving Him the first place in our life and in our work; we are those who labor in the Lord for the work of the Lord, which is the work of the ministry to build up the organic Body of Christ—1 Cor. 6:19-20; 15:58; 16:10; Eph. 4:11-12.
C
"We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:5); among the believers, besides Christ there should be no other lord; all should be servants, even slaves (1 Pet. 5:3; Matt. 20:26-27; 23:10-11).
Ⅲ
We must take, experience, and enjoy Christ as our Head:
A
Our being headed up in Christ rescues us from the heap of the universal collapse in death and darkness, which was caused by the rebellion of the angels and the rebellion of man; the believers participate in Christ's heading up by being willing to be headed up in the church life, by growing in life, and by living under Christ's light—Eph. 1:10; John 1:4; Rev. 21:23-25; Eph. 5:8-9.
B
To hold Christ as the Head is not only to take Him as our unique authority but also to stay intimately connected to Him so that His riches and life supply are dispensed into our being to cause us to grow with the growth of God, growing up into Him in all things and functioning out from Him so that all the Body causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love—Col. 2:19; Eph. 4:15-16.
Morning Nourishment
Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the first place in all things.2:19 And…holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.
In the divine economy Christ is the One having the preeminence in all things. The book of Colossians reveals that Christ is preeminent, that He has the first place in everything [Col. 1:18]…. Both in the first creation and in the new creation Christ occupies the first place….We need to see that in the divine economy Christ occupies the first place, the place of preeminence, in both the old creation and the new creation. Both in the universe and in the church Christ is the preeminent One. If we see this as a vision, not as a mere doctrine, our living and our church life will be revolutionized. We shall realize that in all things Christ must be the first. He must be the first in our married life, family life, business life, and school life. He must have the preeminence in the universe, in the church, and in every aspect of our daily living. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 260)
Today’s Reading
God’s eternal intention is to head up all things in Christ, who has been appointed to be the universal Head….One by one, God rescues His people from the heap caused by the universal collapse…and [places] us under the unique Head, Christ. Because of the angelic rebellion and the human rebellion, none of the created beings is under any head. There is simply no headship in the universe. But Ephesians 1:10 says that all things are to be headed up in Christ….God… is working to bring every item in the universal collapse back to the headship of Christ.The first step is for God to bring His chosen ones, His sons, out of the collapse and to place them under the headship of Christ….Thus, the church life must be a life of being headed up. In the church life it is God’s chosen ones, not the world leaders, the unbelievers, or the animals, that are being headed up. God is heading up all His chosen ones to be the Body of Christ with Christ as the Head. Eventually, this Body with Christ as the Head will be the universal Head over all things. Today we in the church are taking the lead to be headed up in Christ. If we are not willing to be headed up in the church life, we shall delay the heading up of all things. In fact, God will not have a way to accomplish the heading up of all things in Christ if we, the chosen ones, are not willing to be headed up. It is important to see that the heading up in the church is a matter in life….To head up all things in the church without the growth in life is simply to have an organization. The proper heading up is the growing of life. The more you grow in life, the more life you will have, the more heading up there will be, and the more you will be rescued from the heap of collapse. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 76-77, 79)
Christ is the Head, and we are the members. Colossians 2:19 reminds us that we must hold the Head, “out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.” To hold the Head means that there is direct communication between us and Him. There is no separation between Him and all the members. The members correspond to whatever the Head ministers. The result of this correspondence is the growth in life. By holding the Head, there is an inward growth, not an outward move. In this close communication between the Head and the members, all His riches are ministered into the members, and all the negative things are swallowed up by the supply of life from the Head. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, “The Heavenly Ministry of Christ,” p. 97)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 24, 31; Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 8, 32, 35, 69; CWWL, 1980, vol. 2, “The Heavenly Ministry of Christ,” chs. 1, 5