FEET, HEAD & BODY
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 16, 2022 under 2022 |
Bethany Bible Church Sermon Message; October 16, 2022 from Ephesians 1:22-23
Theme: With a Savior like Jesus Christ, how could His church not be victorious?
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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A very famous preacher named D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said, “Do not waste too much of your time in worrying about the future of the Christian church.”1 He didn’t mean that the church was somehow doomed, and wasn’t worth the time thinking about. Rather, he meant that because of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, His church cannot ultimately fail to experience everything that He gave His life on the cross to make happen.
This morning, I’d like to call your attention to just two verses in Scripture that assure us that this is true. In Ephesians 1:22-23 the apostle Paul wrote;
And He [that is, God the Father] put all things under His [that is, Jesus'] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23).
These words assure us, dear brothers and sisters, of the certain, ultimate victory of Jesus’ church—that His church will never be abolished or destroyed—and that everything that God has promised about it will absolutely happen—and that, no matter what else may occur on this earth, it will prevail in glory throughout eternity.
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Now; it would be good for us to understand what Paul meant by “the church”. The Greek word that Paul used simply means, “a called-out assembly”. And there would be several ways to understand this word “church”.
One way—which is a very common way, but that I believe is ultimately an incorrect way—is to think of a building. We have a very wonderful church building. It looks exactly like what a church building ought to look like. And often when I walk out the front door from home, I tell my wife, “Goodbye, Honey. I’m going over to the church.” But that idea of the word “church” isn’t found anywhere in the Bible. That’s just a traditional, cultural way of talking about this kind of building. It’s really only the building that the actual “church” meets in.
And so, that leads us to a biblically correct way to understand the word “church”; and that is as the group of people who meet here regularly to hear the preaching of God’s word, to observe the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s supper, and to eat together and have fellowship together in Jesus’ name. In our case, this is a church that has existed in our community for 127 years. It has many folks in the congregation who are born-again believers, and a few folks in it who have not yet trusted in Jesus—but that I pray one day will. Paul wrote many of his New Testament letters to “churches” in that sense. Let’s call this “the local church”.
Another biblically correct way to understand the word “church” is as a group of all believers in all of the local churches that exist on earth presently—the church in the world. All the genuine, born-again believers in all of their meeting places in all of the nations around the globe would constitute “the church” in the world in our time. Let’s call this “the global church”.
But a third and biblically correct way to understand the word “church” is in a way that would speak of the whole assembly of God’s elect people from every nation, throughout all the centuries, who have been purchased by the blood of Jesus, redeemed by Him, and who are destined to spend eternity with Christ in heavenly glory. Only a few of the believers that constitute that Church are walking around on the earth right now. The vast majority of the believers that constitute that Church are in the presence of Jesus in heavenly glory—victorious—awaiting the resurrection of their bodies. Let’s call this “the Bride of Christ”; because that’s what the Bible calls it.
Now; I’m glad that this local church—meeting today in this wonderful building—is here and is going strong. And I believe that as long as we are faithful to preach God’s word, to tell people about Jesus, and to live holy lives before Him, He will keep this local church going. And even though the global church is suffering hard times—and is, in many cases persecuted; the Lord will preserve it as His witness on earth until the day of His return. But we can be especially assured that the Church as ‘the Bride of Christ’ will never fail. He will do everything for her and through her that He has promised to do; and she will fully receive all the glorious eternal blessings that Jesus gave Himself to purchase for her. So; as Dr. Lloyd-Jones said, “Do not waste too much of your time in worrying about the future of the Christian church.”
If the church were a mere human institution—depended upon its own efforts to exist—then we might look around ourselves and find lots of reasons to worry about its future. But the mighty, glorious Lord Jesus has connected Himself inseparably and in a life-giving, life-preserving way to His church. Its future is as secure as He is. As Paul told us in Ephesians 1:18-21, he prayed that we would know
… what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (vv. 18-21).
That’s who our Lord Jesus is. And as Paul goes on to tell us in our two verses this morning; God the Father …
put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (vv. 22-23).
So then; I ask today that we consider carefully what these two verses tell us about the Lord Jesus. They were placed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit for our encouragement. They show us that, with a Savior like Jesus as the church’s Lord, it cannot help but ultimately be victorious.
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Now; a good way for us to consider the things that this passage tells us is by thinking about the three figures of speech that we find in it. In relation to our Lord, Paul speaks of “Jesus’ feet”, and of Jesus as “Head”, and finally of Jesus’ “body”. Feet, head and body.
So then; the first of these figures of speech that we see is that of “feet”. We’re told that …
1. ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN PLACED UNDER HIS FEET.
In verse 22, Paul says, “And He [that is, God the Father] put all things under His feet …” This is a picture to us of how all things have been subjected to the Lord Jesus. He is supreme above all things; and all things are put under His feet.
In the Bible, when we read of someone bowing down to someone else, we read of them bowing down at their feet. And that, of course, is a picture of someone submitting themselves and subjecting themselves willingly to the lower position before that person. But what if they are unwilling to do so? In the Book of Joshua, we’re told about how Joshua led God’s people in conquering their enemies; and the kings of those enemy people would be brought to Joshua; and Joshua would command the leaders of the people to come near and put their feet on those king’s necks.
Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight” (Joshua 10:25).
It’s a picture of how God brought about the complete subjection of those enemy kings to the people of Israel. He placed them under their feet. And we’re told here, in Ephesians 1:22, that God the Father has put all things—not just our Lord’s enemies, but indeed “all things”—under our Lord’s feet. This means that all things have been brought under subjection to King Jesus—willingly or unwillingly—and He is over all.
When did this happen? When did God place all things under Jesus’ feet? We’re not told exactly. I’m sure that it was in the divine plan of the heavenly Father to do so from before time. But I believe it began to happen in actual fact—and began to be realized in experience—after our incarnate Lord died for us on the cross, was raised from the dead, ascended to the Father in glory, and took His place at the Father’s right hand. Psalm 110:1 speaks of Jesus prophetically and says;
The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Psalm 110:1).
And since that time, all things have been placed under our Lord’s feet in principle, and are progressively being brought under subjection to Him in actual fact. All things will continue to be brought under His feet until all of this created universe—all that is in heaven and on earth—is made to bow to Him and declare Him Lord.
Let me read to you what we’re told in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28. Paul wrote about the resurrection of our Lord and said;
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).
And I want to remind you, my dear brothers and sisters, that that’s who is our Lord—the Lord of the church. When we’re told that “all things” are put under His feet, it truly means “all things”. All human powers. All human authorities. All human governments. All empires and kingdoms. All individual human beings. All Christians. All practitioners of religions that do not honor Him. All atheists. All of human history. All of science. All of philosophy. All knowledge and understanding. All circumstances of life. All living creatures on earth. All natural systems of this created world. And what’s more, all of the principalities and powers and authorities of the spiritual realms. All the angels of heaven. All the devils of hell. There is not one thing in all of the created universe—from before time until time comes to an end, and into all eternity—and not one square inch in all of the heavens above, or earth below, or the waters below the earth—that has not already been placed under His feet. All of it is put under Him; and all of it will—in due time—be made to bow to Him and declare Him Lord to the glory of God the Father.
And this very same Jesus is the Lord of His church. This local church, the whole church in the world, and His Bride throughout the ages. How, then, could anything ultimately stand against His church? How, then, could His church not be victorious? How, then, could even the devil thwart the Father’s plan to glorify His church through King Jesus?
Dear brothers and sisters; don’t ever worry yourself about the future of Jesus’ church on earth. There may be ups and downs. There may be problems in the church to correct. There may be struggles and failures to be concerned about. There may be challenges we have to face and sins to repent of. But He—under Whose feet God the Father has placed all things—is her Lord! If you have believed on Him and have become a part of His church, He is your Lord too!
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Now; that’s what we learn about the figure of speech that speaks of His “feet”. All things have been put under the feet of Him who is the sovereign Lord of His church. But then, we see another figure of speech. And this refers to our Lord as “the Head”. We’re told that …
2. HE IS GIVEN AS HEAD OF ALL THINGS TO THE CHURCH.
Verse 22 tells us that God the Father “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church”.
A literal “head” is an easy thing to understand. It’s that which sits on the top of the body. It’s that body part that is the chief director of the whole rest of the body’s operations. It’s that part of the body that the rest of the body serves. And so, when used as a figure of speech, a “head” is that which is prominent—that which is in the lead role. We often speak of the chief executive officer of a corporation as “the head” of the company.
Now; Jesus is the Head of His church. That is declared to us very clearly in the Scriptures. Ephesians 4:15 tells us that we—together as the church—are to “grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ”. But do you notice that verse 22 isn’t talking about how God the Father gave Jesus to us as the Head of the church? It tells us very specifically that God gave Him to be “Head over all things to the church”. In other words, the same Lord Jesus, under whose feet God the Father has placed all things, is given as Head over all things to His church! The Head over the church is not Head over the church only; but He is also Head over all things … given to the church as such!
Many years ago, I was walking around in a Portland landmark retail store—City Liquidators. Have you ever been there? It’s a big, vast store that has almost everything you can imagine in it. It’s a fun place to visit. As I was strolling around, I found a pile of tabletop photo books that had pictures of other Portland area historical landmarks. And as I was thumbing my way through a copy, I was surprised to find a picture of our church—Bethany Bible Church. I thought to myself, “Well! I’ve got to buy this book!”
Right then, the owner of the store walked by—Mr. Walt Pellett. He’s a familiar face here in Portland, because he is often on the television commercials for the store. He’s a very friendly man; and he enjoys talking with the customers. And so he asked me about myself. I told him that I’m a pastor. And when he asked what church I served, I remembered the book. I simply picked up a copy, opened up the page, pointed to the picture, and said, “That’s the one.” And he very kindly said, “Well then, you should have this book.” He signed the front page of the book, told me to show his signature to the cashier, and the book will be mine—no charge. I was very grateful and thanked him very much. I showed the signature to the cashier; and she said, “You’re lucky. Walt doesn’t do that for just anyone.” I was able to walk out with a free copy of that book. And that was because Walt is the head over all that is in that company; and whatever he says is what happens. He can do anything he wants for anyone who walks into his store; because he’s the head of City Liquidators.
Now; in a very, very small way, that illustrates what Paul is telling us. Our Lord Jesus Christ—the Lord of His church—is the Head over all things. Whatever He says in this world is what happens. And God the Father has given Him as “Head of all things” to His church. He is able to exercise His sovereign authority and infinite power in whatever way He wishes to the care, nurture, benefit, and advancement of His church. And all things must cooperate with His wishes for His church—whether willingly or unwillingly.
Do you remember the time when Jesus was walking along with His disciples, and suddenly asked who people said that He was? They answered that some were saying that He was this; and others were saying that He was that. Then He asked Peter who he said that He was. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:17-19 tells us;
Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:17-19).
Jesus promised that He would build His church on that profession of faith: on the profession that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And He promised that the gates of hell would not prevail in its effort to either destroy the church, or imprison it, or prevent its spread in the world. And why? It’s because Jesus Christ has been given as “Head of all things” to His church; and what He says goes.
Dear brothers and sisters; don’t ever worry about the future of Jesus’ church on earth! With a Savior like ours, how could the church help but be victorious?
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And there’s one more figure of speech to consider. Not only have all things been put under His feet; and not only is He given as Head over all things to the church, but we’re also told that He has a “body.” This teaches us that we don’t ever have to worry about the church; because …
3. THE CHURCH IS FULLY UNITED TO HIM AS HIS BODY.
God the Father has put all things under our Lord’s feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church; “which” as Paul tells us in verse 23, “is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
You already know what a body is, because you have one. It is a group of various parts connected together—working together in union under the direction of your head. And the church is described as our Lord’s body. His earthly body was crucified, and was buried, and was raised from the dead. He ascended physically to the right hand of God the Father. And that is where His physical body is today—at the right hand of the Father in glory. But He has another body—a body on earth—a body of many believers over which He serves as the single Head. The church is His body on earth. And this means that He, under whose feet the Father has placed all things, and who the Father gave as Head of all things to His church, is connected to His church in an inseparable and vital bond forever!
Consider the things that Paul is telling us in reverse order. At the end of verse 23, Paul tells us that our Lord Jesus—the Lord of the church—is He “who fills all in all”. The Lord Jesus is the one—as it’s translated in the New International Version—“who fills everything in every way”. As Head of all things, He fills all things in such a way as to hold supremacy over all things. Nothing is outside of His sovereign rule. Nothing is able to exist independently from Him. Nothing and no one—not even those who seek to live in rebellion against Him. Even the most hard-hearted, rebellious unbeliever is dependent upon Jesus Christ as the very basis of his or her existence as a created being.
But then, look at what we’re told about the church. It is “the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” In other words, He—who fills all in all—has so united Himself to His church that He does not consider Himself to be complete without the whole assembly of His redeemed people. This doesn’t mean, of course, that there is any inadequacy in Jesus Himself. There would not be any deficiency in Himself if we didn’t exist. But He shows us the unspeakably great honor of being so united to us that, if He didn’t have us, He would consider Himself a Head without a body. It is through us that He does His work in this world; and He loves us so much that He considers Himself incomplete without us. He plans to glorify us with Himself and join us to Himself forever.
Just think of what Paul wrote in Ephesians 5. He wrote;
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:25-32).
The apostle Paul said that marital love is a picture of something greater—that is, the deep union Jesus shares with us. And do you realize what this means, dear brothers and sisters? It means that we—as the church—are as united as we could possibly be to Him under whose feet all things have been placed, and who is the Head of all things to His church. Certainly, this would mean that—since we are the body of Christ on earth—we should live as good and faithful representatives of our divine Head. But it also means that we should never worry about the future of the church on earth—not any more than (if I may say this reverently) we would worry about the future of our Lord.
With a Savior like our Lord Jesus Christ—who has so completely united Himself to us—how could the church not be victorious?
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Now obviously, as Jesus’ church on earth, we ought to strive to be faithful. We should diligently fight to preserve the truths of our faith and resist all forms of apostasy and error. We ought to repent of all sin, and fight against any tendency in the church to drift into compromise with unbelief. We ought to labor hard to obey God’s word; and make sure that we faithfully preach the gospel of salvation. The honor that He has bestowed upon us deserves our fullest faithfulness to live like what He has made us to be.
But let’s do so without any sense of worry or fear or desperation that—somehow, without our efforts—the church on earth might come to a terrible end; or that any of God’s promises to His church will ever be made to fail. Just keep your eyes on Jesus; for God the Father has “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”
As another great theologian named William Hendriksen put it, “With such a Christ as the Eternal Foundation of its salvation the church has nothing to fear. Its hope will be realized, it’s inheritance fully enjoyed”2.
1Cited in Iain Murray, The Life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: 1899 – 1981 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2013), p. v.
2William Hendriksen, Exposition of Ephesians, NTC (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1967), p. 106.
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