Daily Radio Program with Charles Stanley - In Touch Ministries - The Head of the Church

Episode Date: August 18, 2026

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Welcome to the In-Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Tuesday, August 18th. Most of the time, we think of the leader of the church as the one standing on the platform each Sunday. But is that really who is in charge? Join us in this series on the church as we discover who truly leads God's people. Would you turn, please, to Ephesians, and we are in our series on the church. And this is the second message, and the title of this one is the head of the church. church. And I want us to read, beginning in Ephesians chapter one, beginning in verse 18 and reading through verse 23. We've talked about the church. And so Paul began by saying in verse 18, I pray

that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 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, 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. And he put or placed all things in certain. objection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Now I want us to look for just a moment at what he says here concerning this matter of the head of the church, because as you and I look at ourselves, when we talk about our part of the church, that is, here we are, branches on the vine, the broad of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are the stones upon which he's building. What we have to ask is this, whoever the head is, that means that you and I are to be submissive

and in subjection to the head, whoever he might be. And he says here that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He states here in this first chapter that God the Father raised him from the dead, seated him in his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and powers and dominions and every name is beneath his name and everything is beneath him. You recall in Colossians chapter one when he spoke of the creation. He says that Jesus Christ has created all things for himself. He's the head of all things. He's above all things. He takes preeminence over everything that is presently in existence. That is including. the church. So what I want us to look at for just a few moments is this, and that is what is

implied in saying that Jesus Christ is the head of the church? What does that really mean? All right? Let's look at several things here. First of all, it means that he is the sovereign authority over the body of Christ. That is all of us who live in this earth, who are indelth of the Holy Spirit, we are a part of the body of Christ. He says that he is the sovereign authority over the entire body. Now, what does that mean when he says he's the sovereign authority over the church? It means that he has absolute and final control and authority over the whole body of Christ. So when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures we find back in Colossians, the Bible says that he created all things and all things were created by him and for him.

that he's above all principalities and thrones and authorities. All things are under him and beneath him, and he is also head of the body of the church. He's the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. That is, God the Father took pleasure in setting Jesus Christ as the head of the church, the authority over the body, over the temple, over the bride, over the branches. Now, with that in mind, when a person joins a fellowship, that is a local body, having been saved by God's grace, baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, they become a part

of the body which is subject to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church, the final authority in the body. So when a person says, well, I want to join the church, but I don't want to make Jesus Christ Lord of my life, my friend, that is a contradiction in terms. When you are baptized into the body of Christ and you become a part of that body, you are baptized into a body, the very nature of which is to be subject to the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says here, speaking of his headship, the first implication is that he is the divine sovereign authority over all that goes on among his barrens.

and in his body. The second thing I want you to notice here is this. That is implied here is the sacrificial love for the church by Jesus Christ, by the head. Now, when we say that Jesus Christ loves the church, what does that mean? That means he loves every single one of us who is a member of the body of Christ. So when he speaks here of being the head, of being Lord, he's speaking of headship that is motivated by what? It is headship motivated not by domineering power to execute everything that goes on,

motivated by a sacrificial love. How does the Lord Jesus Christ treat you and me as members of his body? Doesn't he forgive us over and over and over again? Doesn't he express love toward us and accept us as we are and forgive us? He went to the cross and paid for our sins. He's forgiven us of our sins. He's come to live his life within us to do. within us? Here is a beautiful example of Christ's sacrificial love. What is he saying?

That Jesus Christ, humanly speaking, has earned the right and the privilege to be the sovereign power and the head and the authority of the church because he's been willing to lay down his life for the body. So when you and I receive the Lord Jesus Christ, we come into a relationship of subjection and submission to him. Now I want you to notice another verse here back in Ephesians, Chapter 1. If you'll notice in verse 21 of that passage, he says, speaking of his headship,

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. Then he says, and he has placed all things in subjection. Hupotaso in the Greek, which means it is a military, turn. That means to rank something beneath something else. That means that God, listen,

God has looked over this whole universe and he has evaluated everything and he has ranked every single thing in existence beneath, in position, beneath Jesus Christ. So that Jesus Christ, he says, has the preeminence. He is above everything and has authority over all things. motivated by sacrificial love for you and for me. All right, the third thing I want you notice here is this in headship. And that is that he is the sufficient supplier of his church in Colossians chapter 2. Notice, if you will, in verse 19. He says, and not holding fast to the head from whom the entire body being supplied and held together

by the joints and the ligaments grows with the growth which is from God. Now, let me explain what he means here. That little word supplied is a 15-letter word in the Greek, and it is a word from which we get our word choreography. These folks who are dancing around while they're singing and so forth, and you know what that means. But here's what it means. It is a word that means to equip an army.

Before it goes into battle, the army is equipped. Likewise, it means those who are in war. That means they are continuously being equipped to carry out the war. work that they've been given. So what he's saying here is that Jesus Christ is the head of the church from whom the entire body, not part of the body, not most of the body, but the entire body being supplied, that is continuing the supply of all of our needs and held together. You can go to any continent in the world, you can meet people you have never met before, don't even speak your language, when you let them know that you're a Christian, and they tell you that they're a Christian,

you immediately have a bond between you. What is it that draws two people who live 10,000 miles apart, do not speak the same language, do not have the same color, come from a total cultural background that is absolutely opposite from each other, what is it that binds them together, that gives them a handshake, a smile, a sense of warmth, a sense of oneness among them? What is it that binds them together?

They immediately have fellowship and friendship and accept each other just the way they are. What is it that does that? There is only one thing. It isn't what you learned in school. It isn't something that you picked up here and there. It is the fact that Jesus Christ indwelling your life, and it is Christ endwelling us that holds us together. What is it that holds all of us together? A common denominator, and that denominator is the person of Jesus Christ. And you see, when you meet another believer, we should never meet a stranger when we meet another believer. Why? Because he is the one, listen, that not only holds us. holds through strangers together who suddenly become friends. He is the one who holds the entire body together. If you take all the believers in all the earth and put them in one great group, you have one thing that holds them together. It is Christ living and freed and liberated in the life of every single believer. So that he is not on the head, he is the head, he is the body, he is the total summation because is it not true that he who is the head,

is within every single believer so that He by the Holy Spirit is in dwelling the believer. Christ is above all things, in all things, superior and preeminent above everything. You see, here's the key. Whether you recognize Jesus Christ as Lord or not does not alter one eye over the fact. He is Lord. Now, whether he is Lord of your life in a practical way, in your daily life, depends upon your relationship to him. But he is Lord.

And there is no escaping the fact of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He says that he holds the whole body together. He says likewise, he supplies what the body needs. Now here's what that means. It means not only that he supplies what the whole body needs, the whole church, but he supplies what you individually need because you and I make up the church. Now, sometimes we want to read these verses and we want to say, well, that applies to him or the heard, but it doesn't apply to me.

What does that verse say? The head from whom the entire body being supplied held together by the joints and the ligaments grows with a growth which is of God. So that you and I have the right to expect Almighty God to supply every single need of the big body and of his minoture bodies as well as their own individual life. he has assumed that responsibility as the head of the church. There's the fourth thing I want you to notice here when it comes to what the lordship and the headship of Christ means in the body. And that is, it also implies the supernatural power of God in that body. You'll recall what Jesus said to his apostles before he ascended.

He said, all authority has been given to me from heaven. That is, in heaven and earth, he says, I have all authority. go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all the things that I've commanded you and lo I'm with you all the way even to the end of this age He said I'll be with you and I am giving you divine authority to carry out the work that I have called you to Well when you and I think about what authority means and what power means look if you are in Ephesians chapter 3 because he says here in verse 20

now to him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think and that is Christ God the Father Christ the Holy Spirit unto him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask

or think according to the power that worketh in us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever listen what power is at work in the life of every single believer. It is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is not only available to, it already is within the body. God has indwelt within his body supernatural authority and power in order that the body may carry out the function God gave it to fulfill, which is to evangelize, to missionize this whole world. So that when he says he's Lord, the Bible says he has a right to be Lord.

God the Father arranged that he would be Lord. His sacrificial death gives him the right to be Lord, that he will supply all that we need, living within us. But not only that, he says that his supernatural power is released. Listen, when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He said to those apostles, he says, I will come back to be with you. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, releasing in the church in the body, what?

Releasing the same supernatural power that Jesus had, having been raised from the dead. So that the body of Jesus Christ, the church today, has one head. His name is Jesus Christ. That head, listen, has delegated his divine supernatural authority. to the body. So that you and I, as we exercise the spiritual gifts that God has given us, as we fulfill the mission that God has given us, we have the right to expect the supernatural power of God

to be exercised through our life on a daily basis. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. He is the head of the body. He is the life of the body. indwelling us. He's the power of the body, the motivation of the body, the love of the body. Jesus Christ is everything the body needs for the body to fulfill God's original purpose for it. So, whatever is true of the body is true of you as an individual, indwelt by, filled by, encompassed by, covered by the presence of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, when we come to look at the head of the church, we say that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, or the other word used 7,300 some times in the Bible, is the word Lord. Headship means lordship. And wherein, listen, wherein a group of people, a local body of people, wherein those people are submissive to, have subjected themselves to the Lord Jesus, Christ and doing that by saying, Lord, what do you want us to do as a church? We want to follow the principles of Scripture. We want to be obedient to you, Lord. Whatever the Bible says, that's what we want to do. We want to make our decisions in this body based on the Word of God. We want to follow the pathway that this book is given. We want to live in submission and in subjection to Jesus Christ. His word is the final authority in our life. The local body that has submitted itself

to the final authority of the Word of God, which is the Word of Christ. He's the Word of Christ. that body is in subjection to Jesus Christ is Lord over that body. The only way for that to happen is for a large number of people in that fellowship to personally acknowledge and live in subjection to Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of their life. And you see, one of the problems today, there's lots of confusion in the church. One of the reasons for that confusion is that oftentimes they make decisions based on other things than the Word of God. You'll recall what Jesus said. He said, why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not what I tell you? Listen, Jesus Christ is Lord in your life when you know what God tells you to do and you don't hesitate to him all around the bat and argue with them about it and debate with him.

You just go ahead and do what He tells you to do. Then Christ is Lord in your life. Listen, if he is the head, and if I recognize and acknowledge him as the head, what am I going to do? I'm going to submit to him as the head of my life personally. I want to be a member of a group of people who are in the process of growing as we all are growing in submission to Jesus Christ and one another. Now, I cannot tell you whether Jesus Christ is Lord of your life. Now, but I can tell you this. If you're one of those persons who's never given your life to Jesus Christ, he's not Lord in your life personally. He's Lord over your life, but he's not Lord in your life.

If you are saved and you know that you're saved, but you never share your faith, you never give God a dime. You live a way that is rather loose, and you sort of do what is convenient for you to do. And when you want to sin a little bit, you just chalked it off. After all, everybody can't be perfect. And God knows you're not perfect. and so you don't claim to be, you don't insist on trying to be. In fact, you have already allowed yourself to drift in the areas of your life that you know that wrong because you can't be perfect, so why be perfect?

I want to tell you something, friend. If that's your attitude, Jesus Christ isn't Lord of your life. When your life style is submission to Jesus Christ at every turn of your life, and lack of submission is an exception, not the rule, then you can say Jesus Christ, is Lord of my life. But if you are saved, my friend, listen, you need to get involved in the body of Christ, submissive to him and the authorities

that God has placed in that church in order that you may do exactly what he says, that you may be supplied and that you may be growing in your Christian life. A rebellious heart is not a growing heart. And I want to ask you to give your life, your soul, your spirit, and all that you are, to Jesus Christ, not only as your Savior, but Lord and Master of your life.

Thank you for listening to today's podcast titled The Head of the Church. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station. And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.