349 - THE KINGDOM AND THE BODY OF CHRIST
February 29, 1977
Henry F. Kulp
Colossians 1: 15 - 19 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 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. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Here we read about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. We read of His work and His hypostatic union, His deity and the humility of Jesus Christ. He is the Creator of the Universe, He is the Sustainer of the Universe, He is the Authority of the Universe.
1/ He is Head of the Body, the Church. Remember, when you say this is the Church Age, you’ve got to say it is the Body Age. There are three churches in the Bible, but this is the Church, the Body, and Paul is the Author of this Body Truth. He is the One who reveals the Church, the Body of Christ.
2/ His program is different from that of Jesus Christ when He was upon earth. Christ was part of the Kingdom program, an early kingdom to the Nation Israel. I wonder if you notice something that is very important—very significant. That the Apostle Paul who wrote about one-half of the books of the so-called New Testament Scriptures—in all of his messages there is a pronounced silence concerning the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
II Corinthians 5:16 is very important. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
We know Him no more after the flesh, and when we realize that in his oral and written ministry, the Apostle Paul said little or nothing about what Christ did on earth during the years He was under the law—the minister of circumcision, sent only to the house of Israel.
Paul never once referred to the Sermon on the Mount, the Golden Rule, and he never referred to the Our Father prayer in Matthew 6, nor did he refer to any of the Kingdom parables spoken by our Lord Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
3/ The difference between the two programs is very easy to see. We are not going to spend a lot of time on it, but we are going to look at it for just a second. When Jesus Christ was on earth, the program He presented had a Kingdom on earth. It had a legalistic setting, while the program that God gave Paul to reveal to us, is a Heavenly program, and it is pure grace plus nothing. Take the expression—the Kingdom of Heaven. It is found more than 30 times in Matthew, and by way of contrast, notice that the word, grace, is not found once in the 28 chapters of Matthew.
4/ Let us compare Matthew 6: 10 Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Here the disciples were taught to pray, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.
But now look at Colossians 1: 13 WHO HATH DELIVERED US FROM THE POWER OF DARKNESS AND HATH TRANSLATED US INTO THE KINGDOM OF HIS DEAR SON.
Members of the Body of Christ are already in the spiritual Kingdom of Colossians 1: 13 where in Matthew 6 they are praying for the Kingdom to come.
5/ Matthew 8: 12 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Here the Lord Jesus Christ referred to Jews, saved and unsaved, as the children of the Kingdom. You cannot get into the Kingdom of the Son of His love by being unsaved—you are not children of it. It is only by faith in Jesus Christ.
6/ Now notice the Kingdom of Heaven which the Lord Jesus Christ referred to in Our Father Prayer, will be established at the close of the Great Tribulation when the Son of Man shall come to deliver Israel. If we pray, Thy Kingdom come, while we remain on earth, that means we say we are going through the Great Tribulation, and, of course, this is not true.
7/ Let us compare, Matthew 5: 5, 9 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called the children of God.
…with Colossians 1: 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Notice the, meek, of Matthew 5: 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. and Matthew 5: 9 Blessed are the peace makers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Men are peace-makers and therefore children of God.
But in Colossians 1: 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Jesus Christ is the peace-maker. And now because we are in Christ, we have identification with the Body of Christ. So the whole program is different and I think you will have to admit this as you see and study the Word of God.
8/ Let us see the dispensational setting of the Sermon on the Mount and the Kingdom teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 5: 5 - 8 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Notice a statement in Matthew 4: 17, 23 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
From that time forth Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. And Jesus went about all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Also notice, Matthew 10: 7, 8 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
What is the setting? The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and it has in it a program of physical healing and miracles.
Then notice Matthew 8: 4 And Jesus put forth His hand and touched him saying, “I will, be thou clean” and immediately the leper was clean and Jesus said unto him, see you tell no man, but go thy way, show thyself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.
How can this be applied or appropriated under this present reign of the Grace of God? It cannot. It is not for us today. It is not in the Book of Colossians.
9/ Matthew 6: 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
Please read this carefully and ask yourself if we obey this anointing our heads with oil, when we fast. If we do not, why not? A very important question. Why select a few of our Lord’s instruction and wholly ignore the others? This hit and miss, snatch-grab method must be very displeasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to ask you a very important question. By whose authority do believers today select a few instructions that may suit them and then let the others go, rejecting others that they consider not important.
10/ Every believer is a member of the Body, and as a member of the Body he is an ambassador of Christ. (Ambassador, not of this world, but in a foreign country)
II Corinthians 5: 17 - 21 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Therefore every believer represents Christ on earth. Therefore every believer is in full-time Christian service, and every believer is living in a foreign land because Heaven is his home.
11/ Then we read, Who is the Beginning, and in the Greek it is He keeps on being the beginning. The beginning is a noun, R-KAY and it means the FIRST CAUSE. That is another title for Him. What does that mean? To the Jew it would be revolutionary. To say He is the beginning, is to transfer to Jesus Christ the glory that for many generations had been given to Abraham. It was not shared by Moses or anyone else.
You see, the church, the kingdom began in the tent of Abraham. If you are of reformed doctrine or covenant theology, you say there is one church in the Bible, and that began in the tent of Abraham, and it is continuing today—the Church the Body is a continuation of the Church, and, of course, this is the Scripture that forever stands against this teaching. Covenant theology, reformed doctrine is not found in the Bible. Abraham is not the beginning of the Church the Body of Christ. Jesus Christ is—He is the first cause, so there are no members of that Body before the Apostle Paul.
12/ Then He is called the First-Born from the dead. First-born, what does that mean? In the Greek it is PRO-DAH-KOUS and this again is a title for the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the Pro-dah-kaus because He has been risen from the dead. From is the Greek word EK meaning out from, or exit, and then it is NECK-CROSS out from among the dead ones—or it could literally be OUT FROM THE SOURCE OF THE DEAD. He is the beginning because He rose again from the dead, and ascended into Heaven. No one else has ever been resurrected from the dead. He is the only one in all of history. Of course, all of this is speaking about His humanity.
So remember, He is the only member of the human race to be resurrected. You say, what about the one who was raised from the dead by Elijah, the one by Elisha, and the three by Jesus Christ? They were not resurrected from the dead—they were brought back to life, not resurrected. Jesus Christ was not resuscitated. They were resuscitated. He is now in a resurrection body. These folks had to die again, but Jesus Christ will never die.
Romans 6: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
13/ Colossians 1: 15 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.
Now notice the last statement here—that in all things, He might have the preeminence. That, of course, introduces the purpose clause. The purpose that He might have preeminence. The word, pre-eminence, in the Greek is PRO-TWO-O and it means TO HAVE THE HIGHEST RANK.
He is to have the highest rank in the Church, and this is important for us to see. Don’t you see, we are to give the Lord Jesus Christ the pre-eminence, the highest rank. There is no man in the assembly who is to be honored for himself. Or, for his position in the assembly. We are to respect authority, there is certain authority in the church that is given into the hands of men, and that is to be respected, but no man is to be honored, no man is to be respected, no man is to be praised for himself. All the honor and praise belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone, and in the church which is the Body, Christ is to be the Theme.
14/ John 16: 13, 14 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
It is even more true today that Christ Jesus is to be the Theme of the Church, the Body of Christ.
AMEN
Ref: 05/29/1977/ 349 - THE KINGDOM AND THE BODY OF CHRIST / 08/24/2020
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