Gave Him as Head over All Things

Introduction: The Exceeding Greatness of God's Power in Christ

0:02 Studies in this very profound prayer of the Apostle in Ephesians 1, I do want to just give a little plug about our study tonight. I think there are a few subjects concerning which there is more confusion amongst God's people and even in the world, and the whole subject of what I'm terming God's afflictive dispensations. I've coined a new term because I want to put my own meaning on it. And the passage we shall be studying tonight deals with that very subject.

0:34 How are we to interpret those dealings of God which bring us into the crucible of affliction and opposition and trial? And if you're tottering on the fence as to whether you ought to come tonight, may I try to push you over onto the side of attending because I feel it will be to your profit and ultimately to God's glory that our minds think God's...

0:59 thoughts after him in this very vital subject. Now then, to Ephesians chapter 1.

1:08 And I remind you of the general drift of the Apostle's prayer that the Spirit himself would be given in new measures to the Ephesians to the end that they may have an articulate, experiential knowledge of three great Christian blessings. The hope which comes when they are effectually called. Secondly, that they might know something of the glory of the inheritance upon which the hope is fixed. And thirdly, the exceeding greatness of God's power which is towards them, securing them until that hour when they land safely in the inheritance and hope then turns to fruition and faith to sight. And there is a deep and a very strong relationship between...

2:01 between those three things. If a Christian knows the hope derived from his calling, knows something of the glory of the inheritance upon which the hope focuses and is certain of the power operative in him to preserve him for that hope, he becomes an invincible thing in the midst of tremendous opposition from the ungodly world in which he is called to live and to labor and serve until his Lord calls him home. And since this third commodity, the exceeding greatness of God's power towards his own is treated in greater length than all the other two, we're spending much more time and seeking to open it up in these morning sessions. We've seen that the characteristic of this power towards believers is described as exceedingly or surpassingly great. It is a mighty power. That in its working is characterized by the very strength of God.

3:07 We've seen in the second place that the recipients of this power are all believers. It is the power to us, word, who believe. Plus nothing, no other condition set forth if a person be a believer, weak believer, new believer, old believer, mature believer, all the other adjectives we put before believer, if he be but a true believer, then the power of God is operative towards him. And now for some weeks we've been studying together the measure of this power.

The Giver of the Gift: God the Father in Economic Trinity

3:42 And the measure of this power is that seen in the Lord Jesus in terms of four great things done to him and with him by the Father. It is the exceeding greatness of his power wrought in the Christ when he raised him from the dead, when he placed him in his own right hand, when he put all things beneath his feet, and when he gave him as head over all things to the church. Now we come this morning to begin our study of the fourth of these saving acts of God in Christ which become the measure of the power of God towards believers. And it is found in these words, And he gave him to be head over all things, two, the church. Better translated, as we shall demonstrate later, and he gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. So as we had the power of God to believers, exercised and manifested in the resurrection of Christ, as we had the power of God exercised and manifested in the session of Christ, as we studied together the power of God to believers,

5:06 exercised and manifested when everything was subjugated to Christ, so we have in this fourth category of thought the power of God towards believers as exercised and manifested in the giving of an exalted Christ to the church. As we think our way through these profound statements, we'll consider first of all, the giver of the gift. Who did the giving? He gave him as head over all things.

5:38 Secondly, the gift given. Who was given? And he gave him as head over all things. Thirdly, we shall consider the recipients of this gift.

5:48 To whom was the gift given? He gave him as head over all things to the church, and then God willing next week, the reason for this gift, which is his body, and then the amazing description, of this recipient of the gift, the fullness of him who filleth all in all. So those five lines of thought are forced upon us by the text, and will set the framework for our study. First of all then, who is the giver of this great gift to the church?

6:20 The text says, the latter part of verse 22, and gave him as head. As in all the other acts described in this passage, the father is the subject of the verb. It is he who gives the son as the Christ, to be head over all things to the church. Now immediately, we are forced to state again, the only framework within which such terminology can rightly be understood.

6:55 Whenever we read of the father raising, the father placing his son in his right hand, the father putting all things in subjection to his feet, and the father giving the son to be head to the church, we are within the framework of terminology that must be understood, as we think of the outworking of redemption, and the various relationships within the Trinity, in this mighty work of saving people. We assert again this morning, that in the divine essence, the one God, in three persons, there is perfect equality, dignity, and perfection. If we could behold God as He is in Himself, we would behold Him as one God, Father, Son, and Spirit, each person equal in dignity, in glory, in might, in power. But since God is revealed to us primarily in the context, of redemption, not as He is in Himself, but as He is in Himself, working redemption for lost humanity, most of the pictures, most of the descriptions, most of the delineations of God in the Bible,

8:21 the Godhead is set before us, as the Godhead is at work redeeming a people. So we have the Trinity then, in its economic relationships. That has not to do with money, but in its old sense, in the plan of redemption. Now in this relationship, the Father is the one who always gives.

8:44 John 3.16 It is God who so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. God in that verse, obviously referring to the Father. The Father is donator.

8:59 The Son is donation. The Father gives. The Son is given. The Spirit is poured forth.

9:08 Acts 2.33 He being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promised Spirit, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Hence, all of our response to God is the response not of unfallen angels, who may look upon the divine essence, and perceive Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the mystery of the inter-trinitarian relationship apart from redemption. We don't behold God that way, nor do we approach God that way.

9:42 How do we approach God? We'll just flip the page to chapter 2, verse 18. For through Him, that is through Christ, we both, Jews and Gentiles, have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. You see the relationship?

10:03 It is by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. Why? Because God has moved towards us in redemption from the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit, and our approach is by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. Hence, as in Ephesians 1.3, our praise is to the Father, who has blessed us in Christ, and by the Spirit, who has made it real. Now, someone sits there and says, Ah, but Pastor Martin, what practical implications. I'm just a humble, ordinary believer, and those theological concepts, God in His essence as He is in Himself, and God in the economic trinity, I mean, that's all right for you. You sit there with your books all week.

10:51 But, ah, my friend, listen to me. Listen to me. Listen. The Scripture says, The Father seeks a people to worship Him.

11:00 How? In Spirit and in truth. And the only God who exists in truth is the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons. And if you worship God this morning as any other God than the God who in His divine essence is one God, Father, Son, and Spirit, you're worshiping an idol.

11:27 On the other hand, the only God who is is the God who has moved towards sinners in the economy of redemption, a redemption in which Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me. And no man can call Him Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Do you see how practical this is?

11:53 The only true God who exists is the one God in the three persons. And in the divine essence there is perfect equality and dignity of all persons of the Godhead. Therefore, as we emphasized again and again in our study of the first paragraph, any so-called worship of God that merely worships one God called Jehovah or the Father, who is the only one possessing the full divine essence and Jesus Christ is a little something less and the Holy Spirit an influence, that is not worship that God receives, for that's not the true God. That is not worship according to truth.

12:31 Anyone who says, Oh yes, I confess the one true and living God to be Father, Son, and Spirit, but who does not approach Him with the realization unless the Holy Ghost has given me life, unless the Lord Jesus has given me forgiveness by His blood, I make no approach to the Father. That person is not worshiping according to truth. So there must be, if our worship is to be acceptable, the recognition when we come upon a phrase like this, that He gave Him to be head, it is the Father giving within the framework of His redemptive purposes. Secondly, consider the gift given.

The Gift Given: The Exalted Christ in Person and Position

13:13 Having seen that the giver is the Father, what is the gift that He gives? And there are two thoughts in the text. And this is where there's a richness in the original and why all who expound the word ought to have some access to it, even if they don't have a working knowledge of the language. There are plenty of books available that'll give the insights, and many books available that laymen can read who don't have any working knowledge of the languages.

13:41 We have two thoughts. The gift given is the Christ Himself, and secondly, the Christ as head over all. If we were to give a literal translation from the original, it would go like this. And, small letters, Him, all caps, He gave, small letters, as head over all things to the church.

14:09 The pronoun Him is brought to the front of the phrase for emphasis, so that when Paul was writing this sentence and he came and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and then he pressed down on his quill and it spread out a little bit and the ink was a little thicker, and Him he gave as head over all things, emphasizing the gift given, is the Christ Himself. For remember, that's the subject of this paragraph. It is the strength of His might which He wrought in the Christ. The article is there.

14:44 The anointed, appointed Messiah and Savior of His people, God's designated prophet, priest, and king. He Himself becomes the gift to His church. So we are dealing then with messianic function, not inherent, not the dignity of His person, but the distinct assignment and performance of His duties of Messiah. Now in this position, just as surely as Christ is given to us as the Incarnate One, remember the words of Isaiah, unto us a Son is given, unto us a child is born, just as certainly as He is given as the Incarnate One, He is given as the Dying One. God so loved that He gave, and the context of John 3.16 is not giving Him in a general sense, but giving Him in a sacrificial sense. Just as surely as He is given as the Incarnate One, given as the Dying One, having raised Him, look at the context, having placed Him in His right hand, having put all things under His feet, He is now given to the church, not just in the benefits of His work,

16:09 but in the glory of His exalted person. He is God's gift to the church. It is the Christ Himself who is given, but it is the Christ Himself as highly exalted who is given. So you have the gift, the person, the gift, the position, Christ Himself, Christ as highly exalted.

16:36 Now we go to a little linguistic lesson here. You will notice if you have a King James Version that the two B are in italics. You see it? And it has the authorized version.

16:48 In other words, there's no verb there in the original. I'm a little bit disturbed with the ASV translators. They're pretty close on this. Whenever they have to supply a verb, they usually use the italics too, but they didn't here.

17:00 So that the literal reading is, and Him, He gave head over all to the church. So you see the emphasis is upon the gift given is not only the Christ Himself, but the Christ as highly exalted. He was given as the incarnate one in unspeakable humiliation. Unto us a son is given.

17:34 How was that? How was He given? Given to us amidst the squalor and filth of a cow barn. He is given as the crucified one in indescribable shame and glory.

17:51 Dying as a common criminal outside the city wall of Jerusalem. But now He is given to His people as the exalted one. Given in humiliation to live and die on their behalf. Given back to His people.

18:08 In exaltation to govern, to rule and to protect His own. And that's all bound up in these words. He is given head over all things. He's not given to be head.

Defining 'Head Over All Things': Supreme Authority

18:22 He is given as head over all things. Now, where did Paul get the concept head over all things? Well, the word head is used in the New Testament in three basic ways. Number one, it describes this thing, your noggin.

18:38 The place where your eyeballs are and your brain is supposed to be. And it's used in that very literal sense. Matthew 8, 20. The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.

18:48 The thing you put on your pillow at night. John 14, 8. I mean Matthew 14, 8. Give us the head of John the Baptist on a platter.

18:56 That part of his total organism that was severed here. Give it to us. Now, it's used in a second place. It means the place of chief importance.

19:06 It speaks of the head of the corner. There are about five references in the New Testament to that Old Testament verse. The building, the stone which the builders rejected has been made head. Same Greek word of the corner.

19:19 But now the third sense in which it's used is the sense here. It is used in the Pauline language to mean the position of supreme importance and authority. 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is the most definitive statement on what Paul means when he uses the concept of chief importance. The concept of head.

19:41 1 Corinthians 11. Now, don't get your mind distracted by what Paul's treating here. We're just trying to arrive at the meaning of the word head. And this is a very difficult passage.

19:51 And you could very easily sit there and for the rest of the time wonder what he's talking about. I hope not me, but Paul in this passage. Verse 3. But I would have you to know that the head of every man is Christ.

20:04 That is, the one who has the place of supreme importance and authority over every man is Christ. And the head of the woman is the man. The one who stands in the place of authority over the woman is the man. And the head of Christ, notice, he doesn't say the head of the word.

20:23 That would refer to him in his pre-incarnate existence and he was equal to the Father as to his divine essence. But the head of the Christ, the one functioning as the Messiah, the head of Christ is God. He comes in his humiliation as the obedient servant of Jehovah. And he says, everything I do I attribute to the authority of my Father.

20:50 I speak his words. I do his works. I accomplish his will. Now you have the same sense of the use of this word in later parts in Ephesians.

21:02 Notice in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22. Wives, be in subjection to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the Savior of the body. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10.

21:30 And in him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power. Alright, enough references. You get the concept now? When Paul says in Ephesians 1, I'm praying that God the Father would give you the Spirit, that you may know the measure of the power operative to you, even the power wrought in Christ, when he raised him, sat him in his own right hand, put all things beneath his feet, and gave him as gift to the church, not only gave him in his person, but gave him in this position, head over all.

22:08 That is, supreme ruler and authority over all things. And the little phrase, all things, is exactly the same as the one we encountered in the previous context. Verse 22. And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and when something's been put under you, you are head over it.

The Nature of the Gift: Christ's Present Exalted State

22:34 So that whatever the Father does in giving his Son to the church, he must give him in the position already assigned to him, unless he would take that position away from him. Let me illustrate. Let's take the classic 97-pound weakling. You'd no more want him for a bodyguard than you'd want to flee for your bodyguard.

22:58 You're living in an area where everybody needs a bodyguard. And so this man goes off to a physical culture center, and after two years he comes back 190 pounds of nothing but bone, raw muscle, and sinew. Every time he just reaches out to pick a penny off his dresser, his arms, they just ripple with nothing but well-developed muscle. And he learns karate, and he learns judo, and he learns how to handle small arms, and he's the epitome of strength, and agility, and iron muscle, and all the rest.

23:33 And now you call up an agency and say, I need a bodyguard, and this man is now assigned to you to be your bodyguard. When he is, how is he assigned to you? Is he assigned to be your bodyguard? Is he given to guard you and protect you as he once was, the 97-pound weakling?

23:52 No, the only way that's possible is to start starving him, lock him up in a room, only feed him enough to keep him alive until all of that muscle tissue is eaten away, and he becomes full of disease and all the rest. If he's given to you in the condition to which he has attained by his exercise and discipline and physical culture, he is given to you for all that he presently is, to care for you in the light of all his present capacity. Now every illustration walks on three, two, uh, chair, like a chair standing on three legs. I know there are weaknesses, but the one point I want to press is this.

24:33 How is Christ given to the church? Is he given as he was in the days of his humiliation? In the days of his self-imposed weakness? For the scripture says he was crucified through weakness.

24:51 Not a weakness forced upon him, but a weakness assumed voluntarily. He emptied himself, took upon himself the form of a servant. I lay down my life. No man takes it from me, but involuntary weakness.

25:07 He laid himself down, but what's the Father done? He's raised him. We go back to the context. He has placed him in his right hand. In what position?

25:16 Far above all rule, all authority, all power, all dominion, every name, name. Not only in this world, but in that which is to come. What else has he done? He's put all things in subjection under his feet, and the Christ exalted to that position, and in that position alone.

25:36 He is given. For what purpose? So that the hope will never be frustrated. So that the inheritance will be the portion of every last member of that church.

25:52 This is the gift that God gives. He gives the Christ, the person. He gives him in the position of supreme authority and exaltation. Therefore, we must not think of our Lord as in any other position than that which he actually now possesses.

26:14 Head over all. Now thank God. As head over all, he does everything in terms of compassionate condescension that he ever did when he walked amongst us. That is, does the Lord Jesus still come to leprous sinners and say to them, what wilt thou that I should do unto you?

26:37 Yes, he does. But he does not come as in the days of his humiliation. He comes as the one who's been exalted. Far above all things.

The Recipient of the Gift: The Universal Church

26:49 And all things are wrong. All things are arranged beneath his feet. And so we come to what to me is the heart expanding, if I may use the term without irreverence, mind-blowing concept of this text. Who is the recipient of this great gift?

27:07 The Father gives. He gives the Son in his person, in his position. Well, who is the recipient of this gift? Look at the text.

27:16 And he gave him as head over all things, to the church. He is given to the church. The church is the recipient of this donation of the Father. Now here I face a problem.

27:35 The word church is a prostituted, tortured and abused word. But it is a Bible word. And whenever you face a Bible word, and you're going to be true to the word, no matter how much it's been abused or tortured, you don't invent it. You invent a word of your own.

27:55 Because our view of Scripture forbids that. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, we teach the things of the Spirit in words which the Holy Ghost teaches. Now let me illustrate. Suppose this area began to abound in counterfeit $10 bills.

28:16 What should we do? All take our $10 bills and tear them up and throw them out and make our own? You better not or you'll join the counterfeiters. What do you do?

28:24 The banks call special sessions. They say we're having a public service ministry. Everyone in the community who wants to be sure that you don't get bogus $10 bills, we're going to tell you how to know the real thing from the false. And so what do they do?

28:36 They call a class and they have everybody take out a $10 bill that they don't have when they loan it to them, if they dare to do that, without putting up some kind of security. And it's rare this time of week to have a $10 bill. But I cash next week's check. Yes, on Friday.

28:50 But here's a $10 bill. And what he does is he says, all of you have a $10 bill in your hand. Now look at it. Now look at your $10 bill.

28:57 Now notice over here in this side, certain lines. Yes, they said now. Counterfeit generally will be blurred here and indistinct here. Notice certain things about Alexander Hamilton's face.

29:06 Notice something about his collar. When they want to protect you from accepting bogus bills, they don't give up the idea of $10 bills and make $7 bills or $11 bills. They make people more sensitive in the detection of what a real $10 bill is. Now that's the task of teachers and preachers in the church.

29:28 When there is a counterfeit product being given in the name of a biblical terminology, we don't become wiser than God and throw out the terminology. We call the people of God to a more articulate understanding of what the Bible means, so that when someone comes and says, look, I've got this Bible commodity. You say, uh, wait a minute. Uh-uh, uh-uh.

29:50 Wait a minute now. I see something in the left-hand corner that doesn't match up with the real thing. Is it? Some of you wonder why we're sticklers about the meaning of words.

29:59 That's why our view of Scripture forces this upon us. All right? Who's the recipient of this gift? The church.

30:06 But the word church is prostituted. The word church means anything from a pretty little building where people gather for semi-religious social conversation and activity to a great massive political apostate religious system that sits on the seven hills in Italy. Called the Roman Catholic Church. And everything in between, the word church is used.

Seven Uses of 'Church' in Scripture

30:31 How in the world are we ever going to rescue it from that? Well, that would be a series of sermons in itself. But in about three minutes, I want to give you a quick overview of seven ways in which the word church is used in the Bible. And I hope to do it in three minutes.

30:45 First of all, it may speak of a regularly summoned assembly of a political body. Acts 19, 32, 39, and 41. It was the church, the assembly at Ephesus, that was put into an uproar and to which they said they would refer the case of the Apostle Paul and his associates. Same word used.

31:06 Secondly, it's used in Acts 7, 38 of the congregation of the Israelites, the church in the wilderness. And when they translated certain Hebrew words out of Hebrew into Greek in what's called the Septuagint, the 70 scholars who did this, they often would use the word church to describe the congregation of Israel, either parts of it or the whole of it. So you have, in a political sense, a gathered assembly for the conducting of business. In the broad sense, Israel was the church in the wilderness.

31:42 In the New Testament, you have this third use, the smallest gathering of saints in one place. You have the church which is in the house. Romans 16, 5. 1 Corinthians 16, 19.

31:57 Colossians 4, 15. And Philemon 2. Now it's doubtful that there was a duly organized constituted assembly with elders and deacons and a functioning body of God's people. But when Paul thinks of a few believers in a Roman household, he says, send greetings to brother so and so and the church that is in his house.

32:18 There is, as it were, a mini congregation. There is a gathered body of God's people. Then the word church, and this is its most frequent usage in the New Testament, is the duly gathered body of confessed disciples in any given area. So you have the church at Corinth.

32:37 You have the churches in Galatia. You have the seven churches in Asia Minor. Paul can say in 1 Corinthians 14, 23, when the church is come together. What is the church?

32:49 The gathered body of confessed disciples meeting in a given geographical area. Then there is a possible use, and I only say possible, because I'm not certain and the linguists debate this. One or two times the word church may refer to all the people of God in a given area. Acts 11, 22, Paul persecuted the church.

33:16 I'm sorry, Acts 9, 31 speaks of the churches in Judea and in Samaria, or the church in Judea and Samaria. And the fact that Paul persecuted the church, which would be the people of God, in given areas. And then the sixth use in the New Testament, or in the Scripture, is the total number as visibly present on earth. 1 Corinthians 12, 28, God has given to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

33:49 That would be all the people of God organized, visibly present on the face of the earth. And then you have this seventh usage, the total number of the people of God in all ages. Matthew 16, 18, I will build my church. Hebrews 12 and verse 23, we are come unto the church of the firstborn.

34:11 And here in the book of Ephesians, Christ loved the church and gave himself for the church all the people of God of all the ages. Now, which use is obviously before us in this passage? Who is the recipient of this gift of the exalted Christ? Could it be some political body?

34:36 No. Neither is it the semi-religious political body of Rome who claims to be Christ's body here on earth with two swords in its hands, the civil sword and the ecclesiastical sword. And has let heads roll and blood shed and there's never been public renunciation of her blood baths against the people of God. And until from the so-called papal seat, until from Rome there comes a public declaration of repentance for the blood of the martyrs shed with that sword taken in its hand, I shall never be found flirting with Rome.

35:20 Though I trust I shall love Roman Catholics and be willing to lose my life that they may come to the knowledge of Christ. And all this flirting with Rome, dear ones, is a cursed thing for she has prostituted the concept of church. So it cannot be any regularly summoned assembly of a political or semi-political or religious body. Well, is it referring to the congregation of the Israelites?

35:48 No, because we read this morning with most of them God was not pleased and their carcasses rotted in the wilderness. Well, is it referring to some small little gathering that meets in the house? Christ is given to them? Well, we have little groups who would talk like they were the ones to whom Christ was given and there is no other group.

36:05 Well, that's ridiculous. Could it be the duly gathered body of confessed disciples in a given area at the exclusion of others? Of course not. Could it be just those who are presently visible here upon the earth?

36:18 Of course not. So we're shut up to that last usage of the word church. The recipient of this gift of an exalted Christ is the church conceived of as the totality of the people of God in all of its history. Past, present, and future.

36:39 For remember, one of the things that has to happen both to Abraham and to Noah and all the Old Testament saints if they're to have their inheritance, they've got glorified spirits but they don't have a glorified body. What power is going to be operative to bring those bodies from the graves into which they have gone and within which they've long since turned to dust and been turned over in the passing of civilizations? What power will call them together and land them safe in the presence of the Christ to redeem them? It's the power of the one who has all things beneath his feet and is given to the church as head over all things.

Application: Are You Part of the True Church?

37:24 And so the recipient of this gift is the people of God. And I would note in passing that if he is given to the church as head over all things, he is given to the church as her head as well. And that's not just a logical deduction or inference, it's the explicit statement of Colossians 1 in verse 18, and he is the head of the body, the church. Now let me say by way of application and conclusion, what a gift God has given to his church.

38:00 All who are within the church are recipients of this gift and its consequent blessings. His fullness is theirs, his power is theirs, his wisdom is theirs, his grace is theirs, his protection is theirs. Of his fullness have we all and do we all receive? And I press the question upon the conscience of every listener this morning.

38:26 Are you a part of that church to which Christ as the exalted Lord has been given? I'm not asking do you belong to some ecclesiastical organization. I'm not asking you if you go to church or if you go to some building called a church. But have you been joined to the head of the Lord Jesus Christ?

38:46 For you see there is not only an external structural relationship between the head and the members of the body, thank God there is that. I've got things hanging this part of me to here, but there is an organic living relationship that the thoughts conceived here are then articulated here and expressed not only here but here and here and with all of me. There is a living relationship between head and body. And if you're in that church it's because you have a living relationship with Jesus Christ the exalted Lord.

39:25 Your relationship is not merely that of external attachment. It's not merely you've been found amongst those called such and such a church, such and such a congregation. No, no. There is a living bond between you and this living Lord.

39:42 A bond which the Holy Spirit has created and which he sustains. So that Paul can say, Christ who is our life, Colossians chapter 3, and if any man thus be in Christ, the scripture says, he's a new creation. All things that passed away behold all things have become new. Is that true of you?

40:05 Has almighty God by virtue of uniting you to his Son, made you a new creation? You have a totally new perspective on yourself, on life, on the purpose for which you're here, on your destiny, on how you spend your time, how you expend your energies? Have you been made a new creation? That's the question.

The Nature of God's True People: United and Subject to Christ

40:27 If you're a member of that church, you are a new creation. But the only way you become a member is as the work of God by the Spirit incorporates you into Jesus Christ. Think with me now these three simple lines of thought as we conclude. What an amazing concept of the nature of the true people of God.

40:49 They're vitally united to Christ, the Christ described here, and therefore they are genuinely subject to Christ. If the Father gives him as head over all things to the church, then he gives him as head over everything that's in the church. This is an amazing thing to know. And it's a miracle to me that people can claim to be saved by the virtue of Christ's death who are not obviously submissive to the implications of Christ's crown.

41:26 And it's a moral and spiritual impossibility. Shall the Father strip him of that which he gave to him and then give him to you? No, no, no, my friend. The Father's exalted him.

41:38 The Father's put all things beneath his feet. And then as such he's given to the church to be its living head, to be its ruling head. And everyone whom the Father brings into that church, he brings them in bent and bowed to the kingship of Jesus. And if you've not been bent and bowed and broken, God never incorporated you into the church.

42:02 Now somebody may have run you through a decision and run you through a baptismal tank and run you through a church membership class and you may be in the church, but you're not in that church unless God the Holy Ghost has broken your proud heart and brought you bent in submission to King Jesus. There's old Saul of Tarsus with a bit in his teeth and his neck back and his nostrils flared and his ears laid against his head charging against the people of God. And God says, Enough! And the first cry that comes when God's going to incorporate him into that church is what?

42:44 Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And that's what he does for every sinner that he's going to bring into that church over which Christ is head. Has he broken you? Brought you to that place?

42:59 If not, my friend, you're not in the church. This describes to us the nature of the true people of God vitally drawing to Christ so that they confess without him I can do nothing. Think in the second place of the rich privileges of the true people of God. What is the measure of God's power to us?

The Rich Privileges of God's People: Conquering Enemies and Evangelism

43:21 A bunch of nobodies? Well, that's what God's people are. When God goes out to choose his people, what does he do? Does he look for the great ones?

43:31 No, he says, Now there's some little despised guy over there. I think I'll choose him. There's some little no account over there. I think I'll choose him.

43:38 And there's somebody that'll amount to nothing and I'll choose him. I'm paraphrasing 1 Corinthians. God hath chosen the weak things of the world and the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are that no flesh should glory in. in his presence.

43:57 So what does a bunch of weak nobodies do? Facing the world, the flesh, and the devil, I'll tell you what they do. They fix the gaze of their souls upon him who is their head, who has been given to them as head of all things to do to conquer all of his enemies and their enemies and to bring them home safe to glory. That's what they do.

44:22 I am weak, but thou art mighty. Guide me with thy powerful hand. Think of the rich privilege of the people of God facing their enemies with a Lord who's exalted to guide and defend them. What do they do when they go out to evangelize?

44:40 Our Lord says in Matthew 28, 18 Never forget this. All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and in earth going therefore. What is our hope in evangelism? That we shall by the augmentation and by the perfection of human power be a place of justice, of persuasion, of manipulation, of accommodation that we are going to win some people for Jesus?

45:05 Pity personified. In the confidence that a bunch of weak nobodies go out with the compassion of this exalted Christ beating within our breast and with his word upon our lips and we proclaim to men the message of his salvation in the confidence that he was head over all things, his head over every part of the earth. head over every proud, stubborn sinner's mind. And he can subdue it if he wills.

45:36 Head over every proud, stubborn sinner's refusal to capitulate. And he can bend him when he wills. That's our hope in evangelism. People say, oh, you people believe in the sovereignty of God, don't believe in evangelism.

45:50 That's ridiculous. Anyone who makes that claim legitimately hasn't met a person who really believes in God's sovereignty. If God is sovereign, then he must have his people. He must have his church.

46:01 He must have his disciples. But he'll have them on his terms, not theirs.

The Glorious Destiny of God's People: A Perfected Church

46:09 He's head over all things. And I preach to you this morning a glorious gospel. That if you're prepared to bow to King Jesus and seek pardon from him and him alone, his mighty power is able to cleanse the deepest, deepest sin and bring full and free forgiveness. And then in the last place, not only think of the nature of the true people of God in the light of this text, the rich privileges of the people of God, he's given head over all things.

46:48 And to whom is he given? The church. And what is this church? The children of God is our destiny.

47:20 Because he's given as head over all things to the church for what purpose? To the end that he shall bring the church to that glorious destiny described in chapter 5. It'll be a church when he gets done with it in which there'll be not one, not spot, one wrinkle, but it'll be presented to himself a glorious church.

47:44 No uncertainty, because he died to do that. He gave himself for us that he might present us. Oh, there's an awful lot between his death and the presentation. And every necessity between the death and the presentation is covered by this donation to that church of an exalted Lord.

48:07 That's it.

48:10 Paul says, I want you to see the riches of the glory of your inheritance. That time when the whole aggregate of God's people should be gathered together, perfected after his likeness. But then when you see that to which we are destined and what we are now, you cry out, Lord, there's such an infinite chasm between what we are here and what you've said we shall be. How can the thing ever be bridged?

48:33 Here's the bridge, believer. He hath given him head over all things and his kingdom. It's the gift of an exalted Christ to his people. That is the pledge and the certainty that we shall be brought to our inheritance.

Conclusion: A Call to Flee to Christ

48:54 Who is the giver of the gift? The Father. Who is the gift? The Christ.

49:00 In his person, him he gave. In his position, head over all. Who is the recipient? The true people of God.

49:09 The church. Are you part of that church? Is your life a constant monument of that great donation that the Father has given to his people? With all your imperfections and sins are you forced to acknowledge though I am not what I wish I were, though I am not what I hope I shall be, thank God, I am not what I once was.

49:39 That's a Christian who in the full face of the facts can say that. Can you? If not, my friend, I don't care what ecclesiastical body you belong to. You better up and flee to Christ right now and ask him to have mercy upon you and incorporate you into that true church over which he is head and to which he gives himself and then pray that God will help us to take in that next phrase because I couldn't preach on it this morning if my life depended on it even though I think I know what it means for he begins to describe that church as his very body and then even goes beyond it and says it is the very fullness of Christ though Christ is the head given to it it completes him who is its head.

50:24 Amazing privileges. Ours is the people of God. No wonder Paul prayed Father give them the spirit to take in such lofty things. Let us pray.