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Honouring our Head

Dear BPCWAians, Last Sunday, we looked at how God has placed Christ to be the Head over all things to the church, and the relation of the church to our Head. This is a lofty topic that deserves our special attention. It is something that we should spend time to dwell on, and to let that thought thrill our minds and hearts time and time again.

The Supremacy of our Head. “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Eph 1:21). In schools, we study history and read of the great empires of the past. In Australia, we remember that we are a Commonwealth nation, a legacy of the British Empire that spanned across many countries. What influence the British Empire held, that changed the fabric of so many societies and nations that continues to pervade our lives today. We read of the Babylonian Empire, that stretched across much of the known earth during their time. So powerful in their time, that perhaps some thought that their domination over these lands would never end. No matter how great they were in their day, the days of those empires are now past. What power they had, ultimately, was only but an insignificant fraction of the power which Christ holds. The power Christ holds, He dispenses as and when, and to whom He wills, to fulfil His purposes in the history of mankind. We often only picture Christ as the lamb that was “was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer” (Acts 8:32) at His first coming. But let us remember that when He comes again to receive the Church, His bride, to Himself, He will come as the Victorious King, in His power and His majesty. When we read of Armageddon in the Book of Revelation, let us not miss out that amidst all the battles, it will be Christ that will overcome all the armies of the world that come out against Him. If that is in the future, why does God tell that to us now? Simply so that we can know now by faith before we see with our eyes, the power of our Head. In His Hands, He holds the reigns of the powers of the whole world – past, present and future. This knowledge must rest firmly in our minds. When troubles arise in the church that may seem insurmountable, let His church cry out to Him. As Head of the church, we must always remember that He is in control of everything and everyone. Nothing happens without His permission, and even when that permission is given, He still remains very much in control. While the world trusts in “being in the right crowd”, “pulling strings” and business “guanxi”, the Head of the Church is He who manoeuvres the strings and the crowds. So great must be the confidence that we have in Christ. Without this sight of faith of who He is, we will not be able to honour Him as we ought. Our view, our reverence, our esteem of Him must be so high, so that we will know how we ought to rightly respond to Him. Let it be so real that it may be as sight before our eyes.

The Honour we must give to our Head. Why does God give us this clear vision of Christ’s Supremacy?

1) It means that we all must think of the church as His.We must keep in mind that neither the Session nor the members own the church. So that we will act rightly as His church. As we serve in the church, let us ask our Head “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6), seeking God’s will in His word, and in prayer, that we may please Him. It is not what we like personally, but in everything, the question is always “how will this affect the fullness of the body of Christ?” Does it build up Christ’s body at BPCWA toward the glory of the Head? When God puts the Session in place, it is with the charter to execute what He desires for BPCWA. This is the biblical model. With the privilege of service also comes an accountability before God for that privilege (Heb 13:17). Hence, to everyone serving in any capacity in the church, we must fulfil God’s purpose with carefulness.

2) No man must take glory for anything that he does. We must give all glory to Christ, attributing to Him the highest honour. This is regardless how much a person may contribute to the church in giving time, resources, substance or labour. Even when he seems to be uniquely able to fill a critical need in God’s work that none other is able to do at that point of time, it is not of himself. All these things that we have are only but what we have received from Him, so that we can do His work. When the company funds a project that the company wants accomplished and we have the power to sign off the funds for that project, we don’t boast that we paid for it. We must simply thank God for putting in our hands the power to be able to contribute to His work. We must give glory to God that He has provided the time, resources, substance and labour that enables His work. It must fill our hearts with faith and with praise that the Head of the church always accomplishes what He wills, because He can always provide by putting in our hands to contribute accomplishing His will. And finally, we honour Him when we worship Him a right. We must have the highest view of Worship Service. It is a time when collectively, as a church, we come together and pledge our allegiance and our praise that He is altogether glorious, He is altogether worthy. Our attitude toward the Worship Service speaks a thousand words of our honour for Him as a church. When we come before Him in worship, let us come with rejoicing, with anticipation, with praise from our hearts, and with a prayer in our hearts that He will speak to us through His Word that we may know, as a church, how to honour Him more in our midst.

Colossians 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”

Yours in our Lord’s service

Pastor