The Body of ChristНамуна

It is in the context of the growth in maturity of the Church that Paul introduces a new element to the body of Christ metaphor by talking about Jesus Christ as the head of the body, from whom the body finds its life and through whom it grows. Whereas the use of the body of Christ to demonstrate unity and diversity was primarily about the way in which members of the Church relate to one another, here Paul is using the image to explore the way in which the Church as a whole community relates to its Lord.

To say that Christ is the head of the Church is not to say that Christ can’t exist without the Church- as the head can’t live without the body. Jesus Christ is eternal; as he said himself in John 8:58, “before Abraham was, I am.” Christ existed before the Church and would continue to exist without it. He is therefore separate and distinct from the Church. Christ is also head over the world outside of and beyond the Church; as Paul states in Colossians 2:10, “Christ is the head of every ruler and authority.”

To understand what Paul meant when he described Christ as the head of the Church, we need to look at the use of the word ‘head’ in the Old Testament, where it describes either the chief of a group or the beginning of something. Christ, therefore, is the ruler and the beginning of the Church; the Church submits to Christ and finds its life in him.

The Church as the body of Christ has no life apart from its head. Its life is imparted to it by Christ, who “joined and knitted it together” (Ephesians 4:16). Christ creates, sustains, and cares for His body, the Church, and is always present in and with its members. As head of the Church, Christ has authority over it, and the Church must walk in obedience to Him. The Church must demonstrate to the world the way of life commanded and shown by Jesus in the gospels.