Jesus Christ, the Director of the Church

Jesus Christ is the Head and Director of the Church of Heaven, so He is also the Head and Director of every local congregation. The Church is described as a "body" in scripture, but few believe the Church is a literal body, so most transform their concept of a church from a body, which has integrally connected members, into an organization, which has separate members. An organization is not a body. An organization has no integrity. The Bible does not describe the Church as an organization. Those who have transformed their church into an organization have rejected the word of God. The Bible says the Church is a body, and it says the body has a Head. "And [Christ] is the head of the body, the church…” (Col 1:18) There is only one head in any body, so there is only one Director for the Church. Those who have faith in the Word of God believe that the Head and sole Director of the Church is Jesus Christ.

Church organizations are directed by either a board of directors or the pastor of the church, but a body cannot be directed like an organization. A spiritual body cannot be directed by human beings. Organizations are directed through hierarchical structures which pass orders down through a chain of command to the employees of the organization. Such structures are required, because it is almost impossible for a single human being to personally direct all the employees. The president of the company cannot live in each employee to direct the employees from within. However, in the Church of Heaven, Jesus Christ personally directs every member of the Church, because He lives in each member of the Church. The Lord has no difficulty directing all the members, because He is the Spirit dwelling in each member of His body. The Church of Heaven is a living spiritual body directed from within by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every body God has ever created works the same way, and a spiritual body is no different. When God created Adam, God scooped up a handful of mud from the earth, formed the various members of Adam’s body and placed them exactly where they needed to be to form a complete body. Since a body without a spirit is dead, (Jas 2:26) Adam’s body was dead until God placed a spirit into Adam by breathing into his nostrils. The spirit God breathed into Adam gave him life and caused him to become a living soul. The spirit living in Adam controlled every function of Adam’s body, just as the spirit living in your body (that's you) directs every action of your body. The spirit living in you is the essence of who you are. You control all the members of your body, because you are the spirit living in your body. So also is the body of Christ. Christ is the Spirit living in His body, so He directs every action of His body. His body is the Church, (Col 1:18) and He alone has the ability to live in and direct the members of the Church in the same manner that you direct the members of your body. Every member of a body is directed by only one spirit, so every member of the Church of Heaven is directed by Jesus Christ alone.

The Church as a body is more than just an analogy. It is a spiritual reality. The Church is the literal spiritual body God is creating for His Son. The body God is creating for His Son is being created just like your body or my body. In my body I am the sole director of every action of my body. I direct every member individually, because I live in every member of my body. I do not direct my hand through my mouth or my leg through my ear. There is no hierarchical structure in my body. There are no little heads in my body. It is absurd to think that any member might be able to tell another member what to do. Each member has a unique function, so my arm has no concept of what my leg needs to do. My mouth has no idea what my hand has to do. Similarly, each member of a congregation is a unique individual, and each member fulfills a unique function in the body of Christ, so it is equally absurd to think that one member of a congregation might be able to direct another member of the congregation in his or her service to the Lord. There is no hierarchical structure in the body of Christ, just as there is no hierarchical structure in my body or your body. The Lord is the Head and Director of His body. Jesus Christ alone directs His Church.

There is a constant struggle in the Christian community over the correct structure of church government. Churches sometimes divide because they cannot agree. Theologians and church leaders have searched the Bible in vain to find the scriptural government of God for their churches, and they have failed to find it, not because it is not there, but because they have been looking for a church structure which includes human authorities rather than looking for the theocracy of God. They have failed to find it, because there is no human governmental structure in the Church. The Church is a body, not an organization. A spiritual church must have a spiritual government. The government of God is not physical, and it is not external. The government of God provides spiritual direction from within each member of the Church. God rules the Church. (Jas 4:12)The Lord is the Head and Director of the Church. (Col 1:18) The Spirit is the power of the Church to live according to the laws of God and the directions of Jesus Christ. (Rom 15:13)

Although from a physical point of view individual members still live and operate in the world, God has called the collective Church out of the world, and it does not participate in world affairs or in the lifestyle of the world. The Church cannot be arranged according to the structure of worldly governments or organizations. Each member is placed in the Church as it pleases God. (1 Cor 12:18) The Church lives in heaven under the government of God, and Paul described the government of God in all its fullness in his letter to the Corinthian church.

"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." (1 Cor 11:3)

God the Father is sovereign and Head over all. Jesus Christ is the Head of every member of the Church, and every man is the head of his wife. That's all there is to the government of God in the Church. God and Christ are One. Christ and every man are One. A man and his wife are one. All are One in Christ. There is no hierarchical structure in the Church. There is no external government for the Church. The sovereign God rules the Church through Jesus Christ, so the Lord is the Director in every meeting of every local congregation of the churches of God.