The church is an organism, a living body composed of the many people who have been born again by believing in, submitting to, and confessing the Lordship of Jesus, the Christ. The word “church” means the assembly of the called-out ones. This refers to the gathering together of those who have been born of the Spirit and called out of the world unto God.

These born-again, Spirit-filled Christians are all members of the body of Christ. This is one body with many members. This one body of Christ is expressed in every city, town or village where these born-again believers assemble together, holding Christ alone as their head. The Scriptures refer to the church in Corinth, the church in Ephesus, the church in Laodicea, the churches of Judea, the churches of Asia, and the church that is in their house.

These called out ones look to Jesus to guide and direct them both individually, in their daily lives, and corporately, as they assemble together as the church, His living body. These Christians tolerate no person usurping the headship that is reserved only for their Lord, Jesus the Christ.

Colossians 2:18-19 warns us of those who would seek to defraud us of our prize in Christ being fleshly minded “and not holding fast the head, from which the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” It is essential, if the church is to be healthy and grow, that it hold fast to Christ as its head, diligently rejecting any and all who would seek to usurp Christ’s place as the one and only head of the church.

Throughout His time on earth, Jesus continually taught His disciples. One lesson He stressed to them repeatedly was that of His unique place as head of the assembly, the church. He stressed that no one should exalt themselves over any other person in the church.

The day after Jesus and His disciples had come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, an argument started among the disciples as to who would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing the thoughts of their hearts, took a little child to Himself, and told His disciples: “For whoever is least among you – this one is great” (Luke 9:46-48, HCSB).

Then they left that place and made their way through Galilee and came to Capernaum. In the house at Capernaum, in response to another argument that had arisen among His disciples along the way concerning which of them was the greatest. Jesus said to them: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:33-35, HCSB).

Again, while on their way up to Jerusalem, Jesus took His disciples aside privately and said to them; “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles dominate them, and the men of high position exercise power over them. It must not be like that among you” (Matthew 20:25-26, HCSB).

And again, immediately after the “last supper,” just before Jesus was arrested and crucified, He again admonished His disciples, sharing with them the thing that was most heavy upon His heart. Jesus said to them: “The kings of the Gentiles dominate them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving” (Luke 22:25-26, HCSB).

Not only did Jesus stress this matter repeatedly to His disciples, He also confronted the religious leaders of His day concerning their arrogant ungodly behavior. Speaking to the crowds and to His disciples about the religious leaders in Matthew 23:2-13 Jesus said: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

“They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men. But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

“Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”

This is why these Christians, assembling together as the true church, tolerate no person usurping the headship that is reserved only for the Lord, Jesus the Christ. Jesus said in Matthew 18:20: “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.” Christ leads during the assembly, and the believers follow. This body, thus, is living and vibrant, every member ministering one to another, freely giving and receiving from one another, as their Lord, Jesus, has freely given to them.

Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers as gifts to the church for the training, the equipping of the saints. The saints then are to do the work of the ministry, the work of building up the church by being obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He directs each one. Christ, as the indwelling Holy Spirit, tells each one what to say and when to say it. The saints are trained to prophesy, to lift up Jesus, speaking forth Christ, both in the meetings and in their daily lives.

These trainers train the saints to know the indwelling Holy Spirit and to hear His voice. The saints are trained to listen to the Spirit's speaking and to be diligent to obey. This training is to continue until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and maturity in Christ. The saints are to be trained to know and use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to serve one another and to build up the church, the body of Christ.

By this ministering of every member, this prophesying, this speaking the truth to one another in love, the body is built up, edified, made strong in the strength of the Lord by that which every joint supplies (1 Corinthians 14:26-33). Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” This is the church as seen in the Bible.

Paul explains in I Corinthians 3 how the church, the body of Christ, is built up by the work of these gifted members of the body building on the one foundation that has been laid, that is Christ Himself as the foundation stone. Paul plants and Apollos waters, but God makes the seed to grow. “The planter and the waterer are nothing compared to Him who gives life to the seed. The planter and the waterer are alike insignificant, though each shall be rewarded according to his particular work” (I Corinthians 3:7-8, Phillips). Although Paul and Apollos are apostles, neither is anything, but God in Christ is everything. The one who plants is nothing and the one who waters is nothing. But God, who gives life to the seed, is everything.

According to Paul in Ephesians 5:21, all believers are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. In humility, we are to esteem each other as better than ourselves (Philippians 2:4) John the Baptist said in John 3:30 that Christ must increase, and that he, John, must decrease. This needs to be the attitude of every believer. We must never desire to be anything. Rather, our desire must be that Christ would be everything. We must desire that Christ be the preeminent one, that He would be the one and only head of the church.

 “My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices. Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him” (Psalm 81:11-15).

When we usurp the place of Christ as head of the church, we are pretending obedience to Him. In reality, we are refusing to listen to His voice and are walking in our own devices, in the stubbornness of our evil hearts. When we do this, we weaken the church and lay it open to attack from the enemy. If we would repent and obey the Lord, He would subdue the enemy and heal the divisions within the church.

 Whenever we find ourselves desiring to be something, a huge red flag should go up to warn us that we are not walking by the Spirit, but by the flesh. We must immediately repent, humble ourselves, and turn our hearts afresh to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church.

Here in the church, while holding Christ as head, we each have every opportunity and responsibility to minister to, and receive from, one another, as Christ directs. We do this by esteeming each other as better than ourselves, that through every joint of supply, the body might build itself up in love.

When we steadfastly hold Christ as head, He will build His church. This is what Christ is longing for. He desires a body, built up and mature, as a bride prepared for His return, looking to Him alone as its head.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.