Scripture Reading: Col. 2:16-19; 1:18a; 2 Cor. 3:17a; 2 Tim. 4:22a; 1 Cor. 6:17
Colossians 2:18 and 19 say, “Let no one purposely defraud you of your prize, in humility and worship of the angels, standing on things which he has seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh, and not holding the Head, out from Whom all the Body, by means of the joints and bands being supplied and knit together, grows with the growth of God.” The phrases “standing on things which he has seen” and “not holding the Head” are related to being defrauded. If we do not hold the Head but stand on things which we have seen, we shall be defrauded of our prize of the enjoyment of Christ. We should not allow ourselves to be defrauded by anyone standing on things which he has seen and not holding the Head. Whenever we ourselves fail to hold the Head, we are defrauded of our prize.
It is important to understand, in an experiential way, what it means to hold the Head and how to hold the Head. We should not take 2:19 for granted, assuming that we know what it is to hold the Head. Instead, we should dig into this verse and inquire of the Lord concerning its meaning. Then we shall be enlightened.
To understand properly what it means to hold the Head, we need to consider 2:16 and 17, where Paul tells us that Christ is the body, the substance, the reality, of all the shadows. Eating, drinking, Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts are all shadows of things to come, whereas Christ is the body, the reality, of these shadows. Based upon this fact, Paul warns us not to allow anyone to purposely defraud us of our prize. His warning in 2:18 and 19 is based upon the fact, revealed in verses 16 and 17, that Christ is the reality of all positive things. Those who seek to defraud us are the ones who stand on things which they have seen and who do not hold the Head. Thus, there is a connection between Christ as the body of the shadows and holding the Head. In other words, the very Christ who is the reality of all positive things is the One who is the Head of the Body. If we would know what it means to hold the Head, we must know what it is to enjoy Christ as the reality of all positive things. Without enjoying Christ in this way, we cannot experientially hold Him as the Head. With this as the background, we can now say that to hold the Head is simply to enjoy Christ as the reality of all positive things.
The genuine Christian life is a life of enjoying Christ. We need to enjoy the Lord all day long. We have seen that in speaking of eating, drinking, Sabbaths, new moons, and feasts Paul refers to matters of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly enjoyment. Actually, we eat and drink several times a day. In Paul’s use of illustrations in 2:16, he covers the whole span from the hourly enjoyment of Christ to the yearly enjoyment of Him. This indicates that we should enjoy Christ continually. When I drink a glass of water, I should remember to drink Christ. When I eat my food, I should enjoy Christ as the real food. Whenever we enjoy Christ in this way, we automatically hold Him as the Head. Thus, the best way to hold Christ as the Head is to enjoy Him. There is no better way to hold Christ than to eat Him. Just as we hold food by taking it into us and eating it, so we hold Christ by eating Him.
In 2:16-19, Paul takes a great leap, from Christ as everything for our enjoyment, which is on the ground floor, to Christ as the Head, which is the top floor of our experience. As we enjoy Christ as food, drink, air, and everything to us, we are uplifted by a divine elevator to the very height, where we hold Christ as the Head. But if we stop enjoying Christ, we immediately stop holding Him as the Head. Only when we enjoy Him do we also hold Him. This is not a doctrine learned from theology books. It is a fact of Christian experience. From my experience throughout the years I have learned that to hold the Head is to enjoy Christ continually. We are vessels made to contain Him, and we hold Him by eating, drinking, and breathing Him. By this we see that holding Christ as the Head is a very subjective matter.
In 2:17 Paul says that the body is of Christ, but in verse 19 he speaks not of Christ, but of holding the Head. The reason for the change in terminology from Christ to the Head is that our enjoyment of the Lord causes us to become conscious of the Body. If we are those who enjoy Christ continually, we shall not continue to be individualistic. The saints who are individualistic are those who do not consistently enjoy the Lord. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we become Body-conscious. We should touch the Lord in the morning, but in the evening we should come to the church meetings. It is not normal to enjoy the Lord during the day and neglect the meetings of the church, which is His Body. Even if your environment does not allow you to attend all the meetings, inwardly you should have the sense that your whole inner being is with the saints in the church meeting. This consciousness of the Body comes from the enjoyment of Christ.
What we enjoy of Christ day by day is actually something of Him as the Head. This is the reason that when we enjoy Christ, He causes us to become conscious of the Body. According to our experience, we know that the more we enjoy Christ, the more intense is our desire for the Body. However, if we fail to contact the Lord for a period of time, we shall automatically neglect the church life or lose interest in the meetings. The less we contact the Lord, the more critical we become of the church or of the saints. We have an eye for the faults and shortcomings of others. This shortage of the enjoyment of Christ opens the door for the enemy, Satan, to come in to make us critical of other members of the Body. But if we begin again to enjoy the Lord, the door will gradually close. Eventually, if we are constant in our enjoyment of Christ, the door will be completely shut. Then, instead of criticizing the church, we shall praise the Lord for the church life, and we shall testify how much we love it. What brings about such a change is not admonition or correction, but the recovery of the enjoyment of Christ.
The dear, precious One whom we enjoy as our food, drink, and breath, is the Head of the Body. Because Paul had a thorough realization of this, he could leap from Christ as the reality of all positive things for our enjoyment to the matter of Christ as the Head. Since the Christ we enjoy as our everything is the Head of the Body, the more we enjoy Him, the more we become Body-conscious. This indicates that the enjoyment of Christ is not an individualistic matter. It is a Body matter. We need to enjoy Christ as members of the Body in a corporate way.
In 2:19 Paul speaks of “all the Body.” The enjoyment of Christ keeps us one as members of the Body. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we love the other members of the Body. The enjoyment of Christ causes us to love everyone in the church life. Even those whom we find it difficult to love become dear and precious to us. However, if we do not keep on enjoying Christ, we shall despise certain ones in the church. Actually, the church and the saints remain the same; it is our attitude that changes. But if the supply of Christ is ministered to us and we begin to enjoy Him again, all the members of the Body will once again become lovable to us. We shall have the pleasant realization that, as members of the Body, we love all the other members.
It is the enjoyment of Christ which causes Him to be the Head in our experience. Christ cannot be our Head subjectively and experientially unless we enjoy Him. You may be told again and again that Christ is the Head of the Body, but you will not have any consciousness of Him as the Head unless you enjoy Him regularly. The more you enjoy Christ, the more you will realize experientially that the very Christ you enjoy is the Head of the Body. This realization will make you conscious of the Body and cause you to love all the members of the Body.
In 1:18 Paul says, “And He is the Head of the Body, the church; Who is the beginning, Firstborn from among the dead.” The fact that Christ is the Firstborn from among the dead indicates that He is the Head of the Body in resurrection. Before His resurrection, Christ was not yet the Head of the Body. Ephesians 1 indicates that after His resurrection and ascension, Christ was made the Head over all things to the church. Hence, Christ’s headship is in resurrection.
Because Christ’s headship is in resurrection, the enjoyment of Christ spontaneously brings us into resurrection and saves us from our natural being. We all are natural. If we are not brought into resurrection through the enjoyment of Christ, we shall remain in our natural person. Praise the Lord that the enjoyment of Christ brings us into resurrection! The more we enjoy Him, the less natural we are. Once again, this is not a mere doctrine, but a fact of Christian experience.
The enjoyment of Christ also brings us into the ascension. The more we enjoy Him, the more we are in the heavenlies experientially. This means that through the enjoyment of Christ, we become heavenly. Not only are we no longer natural, but we are no longer earthly. The enjoyment of Christ causes us to be both in resurrection and in ascension. The more we enjoy Christ, the more we are in the heavens. Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head is to be in the heavens in our experience. It is also true to say that to be in the heavens is to hold the Head. Experientially, holding the Head and being in the heavens are one and the same.
If in our experience we temporarily abandon Christ and do not continue holding Him as the Head, we shall sense that we are earthly. For example, suppose a sister does not hold Christ as the Head in the matter of shopping. Then at least temporarily, during the time she is shopping, she has given up the Head.
The same may be true in our married life. When a husband and wife are exchanging words, they certainly are not in the heavenlies in their experience. To say the least, they are earthly, for when they are arguing, they are not holding Christ as the Head. Whenever we are earthly, we are not holding the Head. But if in our married life we consistently enjoy Christ, we shall hold Him as the Head and be in the heavens in our experience. Then we shall be a heavenly people. Nothing will be able to pull us down from the heavens to the earth. Unfortunately, in our experience we quickly make this descent. Even a single word or unpleasant look can cause us to fall from the heavens to the earth. How quickly in our daily living we may cease from holding the Head!
According to 3:1-4, our living should be in the heavens, where God’s throne is. On the one hand, Christ as our Head is in our spirit; on the other hand He is in the heavens, not on earth. Only when we are in the heavens do we hold Him as the Head. To enjoy Christ is to hold the Head, and to hold the Head is to be in the heavens.
How in our experience can we be in the heavens? We can be experientially in the heavens only by enjoying Christ, the Head, as the life-giving Spirit in our spirit. Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit” (Gk.). If Christ were only the Head and not the Spirit, there would be no way for us to contact Him or hold Him experientially. But although Christ’s position is that of the Head, in our experience He is the life-giving Spirit. According to 2 Timothy 4:22, the Lord, who is the Spirit, is now with our spirit. How wonderful! In the heavens, Christ is the Head, but in our spirit, He is the Spirit. Therefore, to hold Christ as the Head is not only to enjoy Him and to be in the heavens, but it is also to be in our spirit. If we would hold the Head, we must be in spirit.
In 2:18 Paul uses the expression “vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh.” The mind is part of the soul, and the flesh is related to the physical body. Anyone who is puffed up by the mind of the flesh does not hold Christ as the Head, for he is in his fleshly mind, not in the spirit. Whenever we are in the mind or in the flesh, we are not holding the Head. But when we turn from the flesh and from the mind to the spirit, we automatically hold Christ as the Head. If we linger in our fleshly mind, we shall not be able to touch Christ or hold Him. But if we turn to the spirit, we shall hold the Head, who is the life-giving Spirit in our spirit.
We have seen that to hold Christ as the Head involves three things. To hold the Head we must enjoy Christ, we must be in the heavens, and we must be in our spirit. From our experience we know that these three matters go together. When we enjoy Christ, we are in the heavens and in our spirit, not in the mind or in the flesh. To be in the spirit is experientially to be in the third heaven. According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies is both in the third heaven and in our spirit. Whenever we turn to the spirit, we are in the heavens enjoying the Lord. This is the way to hold the Head.
As we enjoy Christ and hold Him as the Head, we absorb His riches. According to 2:19, something proceeds out from the Head which causes the Body to grow with the growth of God. When we enjoy Christ in the heavens and in our spirit, we hold the Head and absorb His riches. Then out from the Head something will proceed to produce the growth of God in us. This means that more of the element of God is added into our being and thereby into the Body. This causes the Body to grow with the growth, the increase, of God.
As we hold the Head, we absorb the riches of the extensive, all-inclusive Christ. These riches are the elements of God, the very elements that proceed out from the Head and become in us the increase of God by which the Body grows. Eventually, the Body will be the one new man in which Christ is all and in all. Because Christ is the unique constituent of the new man, He is every member of the new man and in every member.
To hold Christ as the Head is to enjoy Him continually, to be in the heavens, and to remain in our spirit. Through holding Christ as the Head, we become conscious of the Body. Experiencing the Body life, we absorb the riches out from the Head. These riches are the very elements of God which become in the members of the Body the increase of God by which the whole Body grows. Therefore, the growth of the Body is the product of enjoying Christ, holding Him as the Head, and absorbing His riches.
