By Andrea Garzon
The head’s function is to master the body. Jesus is the head and we are the body (Colossians 1:18). Acknowledging this fact does not make Him the Head, for He is, whether you reckon it or not, just as the law of gravity works whether you believe in it or not. Living by any form of restriction or self-government states: "I am the head" (for the head runs the body). This completely negates my condition of dependence upon Christ as the source of my wisdom and illusory establishes my humanity as such. Satan deceived Adam with the same lie he deceived himself: “You can be like (a) God”. What ‘a god’ is? A god is a source, a creator, a separate self-sufficient being. Obviously Satan's proposition was a bluff, a mere illusion because we were not created to be something of our own, except from expressers, vessels, tabernacles, branches and containers of the one and only true Deity.
I am sure God's desire is that we live a life of adequacy, but that is solely achievable after going through the acknowledging process of “I no longer live”. This is certainly a stage we cannot omit or overleap. Which part of us no longer lives? That which was bound to the obligations and demands of the law. We died to considering ourselves as heads (self-controlled beings), although this is a mere illusion because there is only one Source in the universe.
Walking after the flesh (under the Law) can be defined as living by any source apart from the Head, although this “independence” is nothing but a deception because a body cannot walk without a head. The Spirit takes us through seasons of “trying to run our lives” in order to expose that illusion of separation, and settle us in the reality of Christ living our lives as us, which brings a sense of competence.
Our sufficiency rests entirely on our dependency upon Christ as the Head, but do not approach this dependency as, "I must depend more on God" or "I must consecrate my life more". Forget it! There is no such thing as “I” apart from Christ; this is still part of the deception, as if this union reality with God was something external. This dependency I am talking about here goes beyond the mere concept of reliance; it is a life or death matter, as the tree is to the branch. You can still be deceived believing you are the head (your own source), although this does not diminish a single bit the truth that you are not.
The true ‘denial of self’ is actually renouncing to that illusion of independence (false self). The term ‘flesh’ has nothing to do with ‘wrong doing’, but with wrong ‘seeing’. This detachment, falling away from grace, or alienation from Christ that the Bible often talks about, is of the consciousness (seeing/focus). The Word does not say God was our enemy, Colossians 1:21 says we were enemies of God ‘in our minds’ (consciousness).
Jesus said: “Take up your cross and follow me”. I believe the ‘cross’ he was referring to, is the realization deep down inside our inner consciousness, that we are not running our lives anymore, and this is a process that unquestionably involves agony (no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful). Of course, it is not when you reckon yourself as dead that you die, that is a fact, but the reckoning allows you to experience and enjoy your new resurrected identity. We do not need to 'know what to do' because that is the role of the head. Colossians 2:10 says: "And you are now complete in him, who is the head of all rule and authority..." That is why there is now no condemnation; if the head cannot be condemned, the body cannot be condemned either. Forgiveness and acceptance is a quite inferior description of what the good news are all about. The gospel is about an exchange of owner. We were once containers of the spirit of error (vessels of wrath), now the Spirit of truth indwells us (vessels of mercy).
Although it takes a while to be established in the reality of Christ as the Head, once we are settled in this glorious truth, we are able to experience that peace that surpasses all understanding and enjoy His sufficiency as our own. Now we can shout "I can do all things...".
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