Sufficiency,
Necessity and Authority. Colossians 1:18
Sufficiency, necessity and authority
are three ideas are really inherent throughout this section. The theme of
Colossians is the sufficiency of Christ. That is because the point of challenge
that came from the culture around them—from those who were religious,
whether the influence was from the Greek culture or from the Judaism of the
Jews that were in the area—was the idea that Jesus was great, Jesus is
nice, we are glad you have Jesus, but you really need to have these other
things. Whether the other things were ideas from Greek philosophy or they were
rituals from a Jewish background, the idea was that Jesus just isn’t enough.
Yet what Scripture emphasizes again and again is that Jesus is sufficient. Sufficient for what? We have a problem with that because we
often want to narrow that and restrict it to spiritual things. We talk about
sufficiency and that means that Jesus is all that we need and more to solve
whatever problem it is, what ever the issue it is that
we face in life. Some of those issues are emotional, some are what we call
psychological, some are relational, and some have more to do with the academics
and understanding of the world that God created. Necessity has a little
different idea, the idea of exclusivity. Sufficiency of Jesus is enough;
exclusivity is Jesus is the only way. Put it another way, the Word of God is
enough; the Word of God is the only way. Once those two ideas are combined
together and the idea of necessity is developed, especially as Paul does in the
second chapter, we will see that these two ideas have to go together in
Scripture. It is not just that Jesus is enough because you may be able to get
enough from something else, and if we think that happiness comes from pleasure
we can certainly get enough if we buy enough six-packs, women or men, or
parties or drugs, or whatever it is to make ourselves happy if that is what we
think the ultimate goal is. But Scripture says that is not really sufficient
and it is not going to get us an eternal happiness or stability because that
only comes God’s way, and that is through Jesus Christ.
But both of these ideas are then
connected in this passage under the idea of authority. The only way that we
know truth is through some sort of authority. As we have seen we have basically
four options in terms of authority. Three of them really relate to us. We are
either going to make our authority empiricism, or reason, or some form of the
two combined, or mysticism. Most people merge those three and they have certain
things they believe to be true because they “just know it is true.” The problem
we have in American Christianity is the idea of well that’s good for our
spiritual life but I am studying physics today; or that is good for Sunday but
I’m studying law today; or that is good for Bible class but I am studying
history today. What that is saying is that God may be the creator of everything
in the universe on Sunday but He doesn’t have anything to say about what He
created in the universe on Monday through Saturday. This is Paul’s argument
right at the beginning of this section because Jesus is the creator of
everything, Jesus is God, therefore omniscient, and since He created
everything—including history, English, physics, biology—He can address
all of those subjects; there is nothing in creation that is outside of His
authority. So we make this mistake of separating our spiritual life from other
areas of life and we end up trying to find solutions to all kinds of problems
that are faced in our lives and in culture apart from God’s Word.
What we have to understand is that
our spiritual life is really at the core of everything. It is only as we have
regeneration and have new life, and are informed by the Word of God that that
in turn begins to help us understand all the other details in God’s creation,
put them in their right place and have a right understanding of them. We then
can understand all of these other details, whether they are emotional or
psychological, historical, legal or economic.
Now Paul move from the sufficiency
of Christ because He is the creator of everything to v.18, that He is the
creator and originator and sustainer of a spiritual organism called the church;
and He has placed an authority over the church. Here Paul is suddenly bringing
us down to this dispensation and to something that is specifically related to a
spiritual organism that came into existence on the day of Pentecost. That birth
of the church occurs only because Jesus has been resurrected and ascended and glorified
and seated at the right hand of God the Father. Now Paul is saying that not
only do we understand that Jesus is sufficient for everything because He is the
creator of the entire physical universe but He is the
creator of this organism the church and He is the head of the church.
Colossians 1:18 NASB “He
is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.”
The word “head” is the Greek word kehpale. Its literal meaning is the
physical part of the body that contains the brain. It is the brain that is the
command and control center of the body. That idea of authority, the command and
control center, is what is then used in a symbolic way
to come over for a metaphor for meaning. It describes superiority or authority
but in Greek it never describes source or origin. It is also used in a few
passages in the Scripture to refer to the chief or head cornerstone. In that
sense it is related to something that is the uppermost part or the extremities
of something. Cf. Mark 12:10; Acts 4:11. 1 Corinthians
11:8 NASB “For man does not originate from woman, but woman from
man.” The NASB has inserted the word “origin” which is not in the
original. In the Greek there is only the preposition ek which means “from,” or it can
indicate source as in this case. The text just says the woman is from man. The
word kephale always refers to
authority, and it does in Scripture. So in conclusion in talking about this
word we have to understand that the meaning of the metaphor is related to
authority and leadership. Authority isn’t just tyranny; genuine authority
involves leadership, it is not just being in charge.
The idea of headship teaches ideas of supremacy, control and authority. The
body receives direction from head where the brain is located.
Note the similarities in Ephesians
chapter one with what we are reading in Colossians chapter one. Ephesians 1:19-21
NASB “and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us
who believe. {These are} in accordance with the working of the strength of His
might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and
seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly {places,} far above all rule and
authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in
this age but also in the one to come.” Note that in v. 21 Paul looks to the
future: that after the resurrection and ascension Jesus is placed in authority
over all categories of created life, and specifically over the angelic
dominions. We have seen (Colossians 1:16) that Christ is the one who created
everything in heaven and in earth. In His humanity He becomes lower than those
things but in the ascension and when He is seated by the Father He is back in
authority over the angelic powers, fallen as well as elect. Then Colossians
2:10 NASB “and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the
head over all rule and authority.” Ephesians 1:22 NASB “And He put
all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things
to the church.” The words “under His feet” is an idiom
for putting under authority. The Greek word for “put all things” is hupotasso which
means to submit or to subordinate something to something else. It is the word
that is used in Ephesians 5 where it says women are to submit to the authority
of their husbands. We can’t escape the fact that for Paul headship means
authority. Jesus directs, controls, and is in charge of the church. That is
what headship means.
The core of the discussion in the
first 12 verses of 1 Corinthians 11 has to do with authority. Why did Paul
address head coverings and hair and comportment at all? It is because certain
things that he says here are important because they have a testimony effect to
the angels in the realm of our submission to the authority of God. The issue
there always goes back to the fact that it was Satan who rebelled against the
authority of God, and so whenever the issue is authority it has to do with our
witness as a believer to the angels that authority is the real issue. That is
what was at the core of the first sin, which was Satan’s rebellion against
God.
1 Corinthians 11:1, 2 NASB
“ Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you because you
remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I
delivered them to you.” By traditions he means the teaching of the Word of God,
the traditions of divine viewpoint that go all the way back to creation, not
human traditions. [3] “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of
every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.”
Again he uses this word “head,” kephale,
which is so important in terms of authority. Paul is talking to males and
saying that the authority over them—going back to divine institution #
1—is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the man’s control officer and the man’s
responsibility is to be in obedience to Him, which means that he more than
anybody else needs to know the Word of God so that he knows what his
responsibilities as a man are. Authority roles have nothing to do with a
person’s value or their essential characteristics of who
they are, it simply has to do with a role. Even Christ is under the authority
of God the Father.
1 Corinthians 11:4 NASB
“Every man who has {something} on his head while praying or prophesying
disgraces his head.” If we look at the context here we see that covering is
really integral to understanding this passage. What we read in the Greek is,
“Every man who has on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his
head.” Translators will often try to put something in there, and they relate it
to something like a head covering or hair. So we have to decide if it is
talking about physical covering like a hat or a veil or is it talking about
hair?
There are passages such as Ezekiel
44:18-20, which is talking about the Millennial temple and the rules and
regulations for the priesthood in the Millennial temple, and it states that the
priests were never to either shave their head nor let their hair grow long but
were to have it trimmed. This is making a comment that biblically there is
something that is to be distinct about hair, something that it indicates. In
Leviticus 13:45 lepers were to let their hair grow long
and unkempt as a sign that they were lepers. So there is something negative
there with men especially in long and unkempt hair. In Numbers 5:18 about a
situation where a woman is accused of adultery she was to let her hair down,
loose and unkempt, rather than have it tied up in a bun or somehow kept under
control. So in this 1 Corinthians passage what we have in this passage is that
the suggestion is either the word that is left out is “hair” or the word “veil.”
It is suggested for a number of reasons that it should be hair. There is no
indication from the Old Testament that there is a tradition of having a veil
over the head, which disgraces the head. In fact, within Judaism the men have a
prayer shawl that they put over their head when they pray. So if Paul is saying
in this passage that a man can’t a veil over his head without dishonoring it he
is making a strong assertion that this whole practice in Judaism is wrong, and
the application of that would be that any time that a Jewish convert became a
Christian they would have to quit using a prayer shawl when they prayed. There
is no indication historically that that was ever an issue. It would have been a
major issue: they would have been making an issue out of the prayer shawl, but
they never did.
The principle that Paul is laying
down here is stated as a universal principle. So we have to understand what
this covering describes. It doesn’t appear to be an external covering. 1 Corinthians
11:5 NASB “But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying
or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman
whose head is shaved.” Part of what is going on here has to do with how men and
women are to handle their hair, that hair styles have something to do with
expressing one’s masculinity or femininity. The bottom line on this in terms of
the hair as the head covering is that Paul is saying that men need to dress and
comport themselves as male and women as a female to honor God, because there
are distinct roles between the two. The man dishonors God if he has a feminine
hairdo; he disgraces the authority set over him. In verse 4 he states that
every man who has long hair, and improper hairstyle, dishonors his head, i.e.
his authority, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:6 NASB
“For if a woman does not cover her head [wear her hair in an acceptable
feminine manner], let her also have her hair cut off [like an adulteress]; but
if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved,
let her cover her head [wear her hair in an acceptable manner]. So the bottom
line in all of this is authority.
1 Corinthians 11:10 NASB “Therefore the woman ought to have {a symbol of} authority on her head, because of the angels.” It is an angelic witness that she is authority oriented. [11] “However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.” There are still role distinctions and you have to comport yourself in the proper role distinction. [12] “For as the woman originates from the man”…That is what happened in the garden. “… so also the man {has his birth} through the woman; and all things originate from God.” So there is an interplay between the roles of the sexes and they can’t be used to assert an inappropriate authority, men over women. [13] “Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God {with her head} uncovered?” i.e. without her hair in an appropriate manner. [14] “Does not even nature [God’s intended design] itself teach you that if a man has long hair [an effeminate manner], it is a dishonor to him, [15] but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.” That verse defines what the covering is. It is not just an external veil, it hair.
Colossians 1:18. We
see from all of this that Christ is the head, the authority, and He is the one
who directs that to the church. He is called the arche, the beginning. arche
as we find it here has to do with the source or cause of something. He is the
one who gives origination to the church. Why? Because He is
the firstborn from the dead; that is His resurrection. There,
“firstborn” has to do with first in time rather than first in priority. So as
the one who rose from the dead He gives birth to the church. “…so that He Himself will come to have first
place in everything.”
Headship is more than just authority. Ephesians 5:22 NASB
“Wives, {be subject} to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” Same
authority issue. Christ is the head, so women are to submit to the
husband just as they submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. [23] “For the
husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He
Himself {being} the Savior of the body.” That brings in the second idea. It is not just being the boss, it is true
leadership. The true leadership has to do with how it functioned for
Christ as going to the cross to die for the sins of the world. [24] “But as the
church is subject to [hupotasso]
Christ, so also the wives {ought to be} to their husbands in everything. [25]
Husbands, love your wives…” But the standard is Jesus. “… just
as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her…. [28] So husbands ought also to love
their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.”
The head tells the body what to do; the brain is concerned about the health and
welfare of the body. Part of headship is love and nourishment, care for the
body. [29] “for no one ever hated his own flesh, but
nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also {does} the church.” Part of
that headship responsibility is to nourish and cherish. Authority without love
is tyranny; love without authority is just permissiveness and mushy sentimentality.
You have to have authority but true biblical authority functions with true
biblical love, as exemplified by our salvation.
Revelation 1:5 NASB “and
from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the
ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our
sins by His blood.” Authority is
related to love.