Christ the Head and His Body, The Church

I am studying the Book of Galatians, and while reading in my Jimmy Swaggart Commentary, he begins discussing how God sees us. This brought to mind a previous blog post entitled “Our Position in the Cross of Christ.” Knowing and understanding your position In Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3–4) is so very important, and remaining in this position is imperative.

Please excuse the repetition, but I am doing it for a specific purpose.

Jesus is the Head of the Church, and the Church is the “body” of Christ — a Head and a body.

When God looked down upon the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, He saw Jesus, The Head, with a spiritual body. Jesus’ spiritual body consisted of individual members — The Church! So we, who are In Christ Jesus, hung on the Cross with Him. When The Head, Jesus, was taken down, His spiritual body — The Church — was taken down. We died with Him.

On that third and glorious day, The Head, Jesus, with His spiritual body consisting of individual members — The Church — arose into newness of life with Him.

When He, Jesus The Head, ascended into Heaven, His spiritual body consisting of individual members — The Church — ascended with Him. This is how we are seated in heavenly places in Him! Hallelujah!

Ephesians 2:4–7 states:

4 But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment). 6 And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] In Christ Jesus, 7 [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us In Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption].

I am not making this up; go and read it for yourself! But I’m not done yet…

When Jesus, The Head, descends in the clouds, He brings along His spiritual body consisting of the individual members — The Church! The dead “in Christ” will arise first to meet Him in the air and receive incorruptible and immortal spiritual bodies, and then we who are alive In Christ Jesus will be caught up and receive ours.

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 says:

16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the [blast of the] trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord!

I could have jumped 10 feet off the floor!

You have to stay in your position In Christ Jesus. You must continuously look to and have Faith only in this — your position In Christ Jesus (Romans 6:3–4).

This should give us comfort — knowing that He never leaves us nor forsakes us (Hebrews 13:5). We are with Him in spirit in Heaven (1 Corinthians 6:17 — “But the one who is united and joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him”). We have His Spirit in us here on Earth as well (1 John 4:13 — “By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His Holy Spirit”). He is with us on Earth and in Heaven.

When God looks at us now — Believers in our position In Christ Jesus — He sees “Penalty of Sin: Paid in Full!” Stay rooted and grounded in your position — The Cross of Christ — His Finished Work of the Cross, which is His Death, Burial, and Resurrection! This is the place of our Salvation, where His Righteousness is imputed to us, where we received Justification, and where we are continually sanctified in Him. Remaining in our position In Christ Jesus guarantees us the help of The Helper — The Holy Spirit.

It’s all here in the Word of God! Make sure you stay in your position in Christ Jesus, and keep your Faith, at all times, in what He accomplished there!

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