Headship

 The first one is, "the head of every man is Christ." There is the declaration of Christ's right to lead the whole human race. He is the leader of the race in the mind and thinking of God, and ultimately, as Scripture tells us, there will come a day when all humanity, without exception, shall bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Romans 14:11, Philippians 2:11). So whether men know it or not, Christ is their head, and they are responsible to follow him. That is the whole objective of life for any man who wishes to fulfill his manhood. Of course, that is only seen in practice in the believer, and then only to a limited degree, but it is stated very positively here. In the book of Hebrew sit says that Christ is "the pioneer of our salvation" (Hebrews 5:9, 12:2), the one who goes before; the one who opens the way. This is the sense here of this metaphorical use of the word head. Christ is the leader of the race, the determiner of every man's destiny, the One to be followed.

Now move down to the third level of headship mentioned here, "the head of Christ is God." Here we have a manifestation of headship demonstrated for us in history. Jesus, the Son of God, equal to the Father in his deity, nevertheless, when he assumes humanity, submits himself to the leadership of the Father. Everywhere Jesus went he stated this. "I do always those things which please my Father." On one occasion he said, "My meat is to do my Father's will, and to please him who sent me," John 4:34). On another occasion he said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30), i.e., we work together. He adds on still another occasion, "My Father is greater than I," (John 14:28). That does not challenge the equality of the members of the Godhead, but when Christ became man he voluntarily consented to take a lower position than the Father. It is in that sense he says, "My Father is greater than I."

Those two headships help us to understand the meaning of the central one, "the head of the woman is the man." The RSV says, "the head of the woman is her husband" but that is interpretation. The word used is aner, the male. Though the subsequent passage has in view a married woman, this general statement of the principle of headship has in view men and women in the way they function in society. But it must be remembered that headship never means domination. It is a voluntary commitment, carried out in practice out of a conviction that God's will is best achieved by this means.

It is to be most visible in marriage where it manifests that role of support which a woman undertakes voluntarily when she marries a man. He is to be leader and she assumes a support role to help him fulfill the objectives of their life together as Christ, his head, makes clear. Now if she does not want to do that she is perfectly free not to undertake that role. No woman should get married if she does not want to. This is a role that she is perfectly free to forego if she chooses. If she wants to give herself to the pursuit of a career for her own objectives, she has every right to do so. But then she ought not to get married, because marriage means that she desires to help advance the objectives and goals of her husband. He becomes, therefore, the leader of the two.

Now that is the principle of headship, and the apostle has stated it as clearly and as objectively as it can be stated. It does not involve the idea of origin so much as it does direction. This is the way headship is used in other parts of the Scripture as well. In Ephesians we are told that Christ is the head of the church which is his body, by which it means he is its leader and has the right to set the ultimate direction of the relationship. In Verse 4 and on the apostle applies this principle to the practice of the church, especially as it was lived within the Eastern culture of that 1st century world. So he says in Verse 4:

Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head -- it is the same as if her head were shaven. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil. (1 Corinthians 11:4-6 RSV)

Two things are very important to notice in that paragraph: One: The center of Paul's concern is the public ministry of the Word of God. He is talking here about Christians, about the church, the gathering of believers together in a public assembly. In order to properly function in that capacity, a woman should wear a veil, but a man should not. That is the second thing to note. The veil comes in as the symbol of the acceptance and understanding of the principle of headship which he has just declared. Where public ministry is involved it is just as important that man should not be covered as that a woman should. That was the application of headship in the culture and custom of that day and time.

It is significant to note that both men and women were free to exercise ministry. Both could pray and prophesy. As we have seen from other passages of Scripture, and will come to see most clearly in the fourteenth chapter, prophesying is what today we call preaching. It is expounding the Word of God, taking the Scriptures and making them shine and illuminate life. Either a woman or a man could do that, but it was very important how they did it. That is the emphasis this passage makes. They must do it in two different ways, the male as a man, the woman as a woman. That is the central emphasis of this text.

If the man does not pray or prophesy as a man should in that culture then he dishonors his head. It is very remarkable that Paul would say that a man, ministering in public, should not have anything on his head, for the practice among the Jews was for men to wear a head covering when they ministered. In this neighborhood we often see Jewish people walking around, and the men will have the yarmulke (a beanie, we would call it) on their head. It is the prescribed covering for the head, and no orthodox male Jew would ever think of reading the Scripture or ministering in public without it. But Paul the Apostle, raised in Judaism, says that if a Christian man does that he is dishonoring Christ, his head.

On the other hand, if a woman does not have a covering (in this 1st century Christian setting) she dishonors her head, her husband. The reason for that was dramatically obvious in Corinth. In this city, the most licentious city of the 1st century, the only women who did not wear a veil were the temple prostitutes. Any woman, therefore, who appeared on the public streets without a veil was opening herself up to the suspicion that she was available to any man who wanted to pay the price, that she was nothing more than a temple prostitute. It was indeed disgraceful, shameful, for a woman to appear in public, and especially to minister the Word in a Christian assembly, without that sign of acknowledgment of the principle of headship in her life.

Notice that Paul says, "if it is disgraceful for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her wear a veil." Mark the if. In some cultures it would not be disgraceful for a woman to be uncovered. It is not today. It is no longer shameful that a woman does not wear a hat in church. She is not open to abuse or suspicion of her moral character is she does not. It is only where it is disgraceful, where that is the usual interpretation put upon being uncovered, that this applies. If it is not disgraceful then it is another matter. But where it is disgraceful, as in Corinth, then Paul says that if she does not want to wear the sign of a relationship under headship, then she ought to go the whole way and shave her head like a prostitute because that is what she is proclaiming herself to be by her refusal to wear the veil and submit to custom. Now, immediately, the apostle follows this with an explanation. Here we come to the very heart of the passage. He tells us why all this is true.

For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.) (1 Corinthians 11:7-9 RSV)

That is a very crucial paragraph, and one that we must note carefully and understand fully. You will notice the apostle does not base his reasons on any local custom. He goes back to creation to establish this. The principle of headship is something true from the beginning of mankind. Paul does just as Jesus did on the subject of divorce. He does not bother with the interpretations and amendments that came by the Law of Moses, but he goes back to God's original created order. So does the apostle here. He says that, in the beginning, man was made in the image and glory of God. Image is the full manifestation of something. In this case it is God himself. Man was made in God's image in order that any creature, looking at a man, would see the likeness, the very nature of God. That is the dignity of humanity.

What we must bear clearly in mind is that, when Genesis states the man was made in the image of God, it was made before the two sexes were separated. Adam was first created, and it was of Adam, before Eve was separated from him, that it is said that man is the image and glory of God. This means that after the separation woman shares the image and the glory of God equally with the male. They are both included when it is said that man was made in the image and the glory of God. That is why in Genesis 5 (not Genesis 1 now, but Genesis 5) it says that God created them in the beginning male and female and he named them Adam (Genesis 5:1-2). He did not name them the Adams's, he named them Adam. Therefore, the woman bears equally with the male the image and glory of God. That is very important. The male, however, is called upon to manifest a certain aspect of the glory of God different from that of the woman. We shall understand that better when we understand the meaning of glory.

What is glory? As it is used here, the word refers to something in which one takes delight. We have often sung the hymn, In the Cross of Christ I Glory. What do we mean by that? We mean the cross is something in which we find supreme delight. It is that principle of life by which we see ourselves cut off from the old Adam life and freed from the control of sin and death; thus set free to be the men and women God intended us to be. Understanding that we sing quite properly (along with the Apostle Paul), "In the Cross of Christ I Glory." Paul could write to the Thessalonians and say, "Who is our crown of rejoicing? Are you not our glory and our joy?" 1 Thessalonians 2:19).

So used, this verse tells us that, when man was created, he was made to reflect the nature of God, and, in that, God takes great delight. He delights in mankind and this is what the male is to represent. That glory of God is to be publicly and openly manifested and that is why the man must not wear a veil. He is not to cover God's creative glory. He is to be unveiled so that the glory of God in creation should be visibly manifest to everyone.

You see this beautifully in the life of Jesus. Everywhere he went he demonstrated the love of God for mankind. Even though the race had turned aside and was far from what it ought to be, everywhere in the ministry of Jesus you see him pouring forth the love of God for man. That is what drew people by great multitudes to hear his words. In him they caught a glimpse of the glory and delight that God takes in humanity and they longed to find the way back to the enjoyment of that delight. Thus in the opening words of John's gospel it says, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," and "we beheld his glory," (John 1:14). This is the glory that a man, a male, is called upon to manifest in the ministry of the Word. He is not to be veiled because he is proclaiming that open delight which God takes in the creation of mankind.

But woman is the glory of the man. It is in the woman that the man finds his delight, and, if you do not believe that, just watch a couple of teenagers in love. Woman is the delight of man. The apostle is now dealing with the woman as having been separated from the man. The distinction which obtained when God took Adam's rib and made of it a woman and brought her to man now comes into focus. It involves a private, intimate glory, that intimacy which a man finds in his wife, the intimacy of sexual relationship and of shared love. It is something hidden and private, therefore it is to be symbolized by a veil. It marks something protected, something marked out for a single individual's use. Thus the veil is not a mark of subjection, as many of the commentators say of this passage, it is a mark of intimacy, of privacy, voluntarily assumed by the woman. She is not forced to give herself to the man, she deliberately chooses to do so, but from then on she is marked out as belonging to him.

The nearest equivalent of this in our day is the wedding ring. A wedding ring marks a woman as belonging to another, already claimed. She has given herself freely and voluntarily to a man and she is his, not in a mechanical or merely legal sense, but because she has already surrendered her right to herself to him. That is always the meaning of the veil in the Eastern World. It still is today. A veiled woman walks down a street of an Oriental city today and she is telling the whole world "I am not for sale; I do not belong to anyone but my husband; I am his."

In wearing a veil a woman also gives testimony to the existence of another aspect of the glory of God, the intimacy of delight that is achieved only through redemption. When we enter, by faith in Jesus Christ, into the new birth we discover a glory of God beyond creation. It is redemptive glory. We all have experienced it, if we are Christians. We know the ecstasy of fellowship with God, of worship, of experiencing the beautiful and intimate love relationship of a bride with her bridegroom, described in that marvelous passage in the fifth chapter of Ephesians. That is what a woman manifests in her public ministry when she wears a veil. She is symbolizing that intimate delight which God has in a redeemed mankind. I cannot now dwell on that, though I think it very important, but this is surely why Paul goes on to point out the unique purpose for the creation of woman. "For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man."

Woman was taken from man in order that she might share fully his nature. Man and woman are not two different kinds of beings. They do not represent two species of human life. They have differences, but they are of the same basic nature. This is what is meant by 'woman being taken from man.' But, in addition, she is brought to man. She was brought to him that she might be 'for' him. This, I think, is the key thought involved in headship. She is forher husband; she is behind him, backing him up; she is supportive of him; she wants him to succeed and she is deeply involved in the process. She is undergirding him in every way she can, and finding delight in doing so, that together they might achieve the objectives which his head, Christ, has set before them. Now, that is God's ideal of marriage.

In turn, the male is to discover the secrets God has put into his wife, and seek to develop her, so that she will be all that she is capable of being. In doing so he is but advancing his own objectives. This is the argument of Ephesians 5. They are one and no man hates his own flesh. If he hurts his wife he hurts himself; if he ignores her, he is ignoring half of his own life. There is no way that he can achieve the fullness of his manhood in marriage apart from working at developing and encouraging his wife to utilize all the gifts and abilities God has put in her. Thus, the reciprocal relationship so frequently appearing in Scripture on marriage. It is this that creates the beauty of every wedding. When a man and a woman stand together to be married, the marriage ceremony has for centuries recognized that she is giving herself to him, and he promises to treat that gift with kindness, tenderness and loving care. He is not giving himself to her; she is giving herself to him: That is the point. He is responsible to cherish that gift as the most valuable gift that any human has ever given him, and to protect it and guard it. She is basically saying to him those beautiful words in the book of Ruth, "Where you go I will go. Where you live I will live. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God," Ruth 1:16). Now, if you do not want to do that, then do not get married -- because that is what marriage means. If man or a woman is not willing to assume his or her proper role in marriage, then, by all means, stay single, but when marriage occurs that is what is meant. Paul goes on to add two more important words here from the argument of creation, first:

That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11:10 RSV)

What does he mean by that? Unfortunately the RSV editors have obscured this by translating the word Paul uses as veil. But here he changes the word. He does not say "veil on her head" -- literally it is the word "authority." "That is why a woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels." Authority to do what? Surely it is what he has already mentioned, what the whole passage is about: A woman ministering the Word in public. The authority for her to do so is her recognition of the principle of headship. She is to declare that she does not pray or preach apart from her husband, and thus she is to wear a veil which, in that culture, was the sign of such a voluntary partnership.

She is to do so, Paul says, "because of the angels." Now that is somewhat obscure and difficult to interpret, but, in a culture where unveiled women were regarded as idolators and prostitutes, it would be an offense to the angels present in a Christian service for a woman to openly flaunt custom and deny the principle of headship. Angels, we are told, are "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are heirs of salvation," Hebrews 1:14 KJV). They were present at creation, and thus understand the principle of headship. Isaiah 6 indicates that they veil their faces when they worship before the throne of God Isaiah 6:2), and so are concerned to preserve the worship of humans from any practice that would deny the distinctives which the sexes are to manifest. In the next two verses Paul balances all this with a strong statement of the equality of men and women in marriage.

(Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.) (1 Corinthians 11:11-12 RSV)

Here is a very positive statement of the full equality (as persons) of men and women. There is no inferiority involved. No matter what distortions may have crept in to reduce woman to an inferior status, nevertheless, in the Lord, the original intent of God is restored. Paul carefully declares that man and woman cannot exist without each other. They are equal as persons, distinct as sexes, functioning in a divinely given order which is to be freely accepted by the woman, in order to demonstrate to all the delight of God in his creation and redemption of mankind. If we will carefully think that through we shall find it is a very powerful argument for equality of persons and distinctives of role. Now let me quickly handle the problem of hair.

Judge for yourselves; is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that for a man to wear long hair is degrading to him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her pride? For her hair is given to her for a covering. (1 Corinthians 11:13-15 RSV)

This is really a second argument the apostle gives to support the matter of wearing a veil. He argues now from nature. Not only does God's intent in creation sustain the principle of headship, but nature also illustrates it. Many have struggled over this passage. I have myself, for many years. What is there about nature that indicates that a man with long hair dishonors himself while a woman with long hair is honored? It is not mere intuition, as some suggest, for such an intuition is not universal. But there is a principle that science has come to recognize as true, and it has been true from the very beginning of the race, as far as we can tell. That is the factor of baldness. Geneticists tell us that it takes two genes in a woman to produce baldness, but only one in a man. Some women do get bald, but it is very rare.

Here is a natural factor that has been functioning since the race began which does, indeed, display the very thing that Paul declares. Did you ever see a bald old man with long hair? It is a disgrace! Long hair is usually stringy when it is sparse and with his shining dome sticking up above it makes him look ridiculous. Almost all men, as they grow older, tend to show some degree of baldness, and the older they grow the more ridiculous long hair looks. A young man can get away with long hair, but an older man cannot. Thus there is a factor in nature which demonstrates what Paul claims. Tradition tells us that Paul himself was bald and perhaps this statement comes out of his own experience.

But a woman is a different story. Many of you know that my wife's mother lives with us. She turned 91 last August, and like anyone of that age her skin has lost its tone and its beauty. Many wrinkles have lined her face and she displays all the signs of aging, yet her hair (which she usually wears in a bun), when let down, falls well below her waist. It is a beautiful thing and is her pride and glory. At 91 her hair is as beautiful as it was when she was a young girl. In fact it has only a few streaks of gray in it. This is exactly what the apostle claims here. Nature demonstrates that a woman has been given more beautiful hair than men in order that she might more easily manifest the principle of headship. It is remarkable that this was written after all Paul's insistence about wearing a veil in Corinth. Now Paul says that her hair was given to her for a covering. Here is the beauty of the Scripture. This was not written just for Corinth, or even for the 1st century, but for any and every age. This is what the apostle means. In a culture where the wearing of veils is not a custom, then a woman's long hair (longer than her husband's), is an adequate expression of the principle of headship. Surely this will help us today when the wearing of veils has lost all its original significance. But, because in the Roman world veil-wearing was still the custom, he concludes the passage with these words.

If any one is disposed to be contentious, we recognize no other practice, nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:16 RSV)

There is no need to argue the point, he says. The universal custom in the Roman world was for the woman to declare this principle of headship by wearing a veil, therefore there is no point in arguing about it. It was such a widespread custom among the churches that anybody not doing so was immediately opening themselves up to disapprobation, yet where that was not the case then the woman's hair, longer than her husband's, was adequate testimony to the principle of headship. Now what does this passage say to us? Let me gather it up very quickly. It says: First, men, by all means take your responsibility as spiritual leaders in the home. You have a responsibility to your head to know the Word of God and to see that it shapes and molds the atmosphere, the climate of your home. That is your responsibility. Women, your responsibility is to follow your husband in these matters, and to support him and encourage him. If you are unwilling to do that, do not get married, but if you marry, support your husband's efforts toward a godly family. Back him up when he moves in those directions. Let him know you are behind him, for him, and supportive of him. That is the way you will find fulfillment in marriage. Consider this remarkable testimony from a well-known authoress. In a recent interview of Taylor Caldwell by Family Weekly, the authoress was asked if the nine-hour TV production of her book, Captains and Kings, would bring her solid satisfaction. Her answer was,

There is no solid satisfaction in any career for a woman like myself. There is no home, no true freedom, no hope, no joy, no expectation for tomorrow, no contentment. I would rather cook a meal for a man and bring him his slippers and feel myself in the protection of his arms than have all the citations and awards and honors I have received worldwide, including the Ribbon of Legion of Honor and my property and my bank accounts. They mean nothing to me. And I am only one among the millions of sad women like myself.

Third, when women minister the Word in a public place let them do so with humility and respect for the leadership of the church. That is what is involved in the principle of headship.

Prayer

Lord, we thank you for the faithful teaching of your Word. We pray that we may remember that our views of life are often shallow, superficial and inadequate, but whenever we conform to the divinely given order we find ourselves opening a door into joy and love and peace such as we never dreamed of; that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. We pray that we may indeed discover this and as men and women together fulfill the demands of the headship given to us. Let us remember that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is her husband. In Jesus' name, Amen.

  Doctrinal: The Person and Work of Christ (1:1-23)

B. The Supremacy of the Person of Christ (1:15-18)

1. His Relation to God (1:15)

2. His Relation to Creation (1:16-17)

3. His Relation to the Church (1:18)

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. 18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead so that he himself may become first in all things.

Introduction

From his prayerful concern that the Colossians might walk in a manner fitting to their new life in Christ, the apostle moves quickly into the main focus of this epistle—the exaltation and preeminence of Christ in His person and work. Part of the reason was the false teaching confronting the Colossians, but another reason is because nothing is more vital for experiencing the power of Christ and fruitfulness than an accurate understanding of both the person and work of Jesus Christ. Without truly understanding who Jesus really is and what He alone could and did accomplish through the cross, people become sitting ducks for cultic systems or false religious beliefs that seek to come to God other than exclusively through the Lord Jesus Christ. Always, all false belief systems either reject what the Bible teaches about the person of Christ (deny His deity or true humanity), or they seek to add something to the work of Christ (add some system of religious or ascetic works), or they will do both—subtract from His person and add to His work. In other words, what Christ accomplished on the cross is not sufficient, so some system of works is added as a means of true spirituality and access to God. This is precisely what the false teachers at Colossae were doing. As mentioned in the introductory material to this commentary, these false teachers apparently represented an early system of Gnosticism that would eventually take two forms, one ascetic (some type of religious self-denial) and the other licentious (lacking moral restraint). This philosophy included a Greek form of dualism that believed all matter was evil and that only pure spirit was good. The ascetics taught that the way to overcome the body, which is evil, was by self-abasement and severe treatment of the body. Compare Paul’s warning about "touch not, taste not" in Colossians 2:20-23. The licentiousgroup taught just the opposite—that since the body was evil and only matter, it didn't make any difference what you did with it, or they would advocate that unbridled licentiousness was the only way to rid the body of its evil. 

From the standpoint of Christology, or the doctrine of the person of Christ, there were also two schools of Gnosticism that later developed. First, there was docetism, a form that derived its name from the Greek word dokeo, which means, "to seem to be." Those who belonged to this school claimed that the human Jesus was only a phantom, that He had no body. In other words, He only seemed to be as far as His body was concerned, and this meant He only seemed to die on the cross. He was an angelic spirit who appeared in apparitional form or with an apparent body, but in reality He was not truly human or God come in the flesh who literally died for man’s sin. This form clearly denied both the person and work of Christ.

The second school can be called Cerinthianism from it founder, Cerinthus. 

…Cerinthian Gnosticism, named after Cerinthus, a late contemporary of John at Ephesus, held that the man Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary, was preeminent in righteousness and wisdom, that “the Christ” came on Him at His baptism and empowered His ministry, but left Him before His crucifixion; it was only a man who died and rose again. Either view eliminated the Incarnation and nullified Christ’s atoning work.¹²⁴

So both systems ultimately denied that it was the God-man, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins. As John teaches us, this is nothing less than the spirit of Antichrist.

Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:22-23).

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus as the Christ who has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, that you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world (1 John 4:2-3).

The plain teaching of Scripture, a truth backed up by the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus, is that without the incarnation there is no salvation and Christianity is just another religion. “Think of it this way: God needed a ransom so that man might be forgiven, but only he could meet his own demands.”¹²⁵ The ransom required a sinless substitute. We could not die for ourselves or for anyone else because of our own sin, which is the case for all humanity with Jesus as the one exception. Thus, in the person of Jesus Christ and by means of the incarnation, Jesus Christ, the God-man Savior and our sinless substitute could and did die for mankind. As man He could die as our representative, and as God He could give us both eternal life and perfect righteousness.

As church historian, Reinhold Seeberg wrote that Athanasius realized that ‘only if Christ is God without qualification, has God entered humanity, and only then have fellowship with God, the forgiveness of sins, the truth of God, and imortality been certainly brought to men.’¹²⁶

The truth of who Jesus Christ is according to the Bible has never been more important than it is today. There are those today who claim they believe in the Christ and that He is the way of salvation, but their concept of who Christ is falls into the category of Antichrist and is a modern day form of Gnosticism. Operating on the delusion that all people can reach godhood, many today believe that Christ exists in every person and that He is simply waiting to be discovered. Christ has become a generic term for whatever god one wants to believe in.

Interest in Christ is on the rise. A recent article in U.S. News & World Reportsays that “the quest for the historical Jesus is getting a new surge of scholarly energy.” Every day—in churches, in self-help groups, in discussions at home and in the office—Christ is discussed. In fact, interest in Him seems to be increasing right along with the proliferation of new species of privatized religion. Christ is being redefined to suit the syncretism of our times…

I’ve discovered that the less some people know about Christ the more they like Him. The baby in the manger touches even the most cynical soul who has long since given up on religion. The secularist who is bent on reforming society quotes selected verses from the Sermon on the Mount with reverence. And the religious types use Him as their example of humility, sacrifice, and basic goodness. He is worthy to be spoken about in hushed tones. He is, say some, the first among equals. Yet in all this He is often dammed by faint praise.

Since Christ said that the world would hate Him, we can be quite sure that when the world loves Him it is because they have made Him into something He is not. The biblical Christ cannot be dismissed; He stands in our path forcing us to make a decision, either to the right or to the left. In His presence neutrality is impossible. The babe in the manger quickly grows to become God, the King.¹²⁷

Colossians 1:15-18 has been called “The Great Christology” because it sets forth Paul’s inspired conviction and understanding of just who Jesus Christ is. S. Lewis Johnson introduces his comments on this portion of Colossians with the following comments, which are very fitting to the focus of these verses. 

One evening near the Sea of Galilee Jesus spoke to His disciples after a busy day of ministry and said, “Let us cross over to the other side.” When the multitude of people was dismissed, the disciples took their weary Leader into a boat and began to make their way across the lake. But there arose a lashing storm which churned the little sea into wet fury, and soon the boat and its occupants were in danger of being swamped. Anxiously and somewhat peevishly they turned to their sleeping Companion and brusquely aroused Him with, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” being quite unaware of the fact that there is no sinking with the Savior aboard. Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush! Be still!” The wind died, and a dead calm ensued. After He had rebuked them for their fear and faithlessness, they, awestruck, murmured to one another, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (cf. Mark 4:35–41).

If the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews had been present, knowing what he knew when he wrote his letter, he would have replied confidently, “Why, He is the effulgence of God’s glory and the stamp of God’s very being, and sustains the universe by His word of power” (cf. Heb 1:3). Paul the Apostle might have replied, “He is the image of the invisible God; He has primacy over all created things” (Col 1:15).

This line from Paul introduces the section of Colossians which has often been called, “The Great Christology.” We owe the section to the heresy of Gnostic Judaism, which was on the verge of infecting the little church in Colosse. Thus, in one respect at least we may be thankful for heresy, because the church of Jesus Christ would be impoverished substantially if it did not possess this significant testimony to the pre-eminence of its Redeeemer.¹²⁸

In verses 15-18, Paul highlights several unique characteristics that qualify Jesus Christ to be the preeminent one who has supremacy over all things (cf. vs. 18). He is: (1) the image or likeness and manifestation of the invisible God, (2) the Firstborn or Sovereign over the first creation, (3) the Creator (architect, builder, and goal) of the universe, (4) the Sustainer of creation, (5) the Sovereign or Head of the new creation, the church, (6) the Firstborn from the dead, and thus (7) the Preeminent One of all things. Salvation, of course, is dependent on both the person and work of Christ, thus, in verses 19-20, Paul highlights the work of Christ as the Reconciler of all things, the one who makes peace. There is no one passage in the New Testament that lists so many characteristics that point to Christ’s deity as are found in this short, but powerful passage. It presents the supremacy of the person of Christ in relation to God (vs. 15), in relation to Creation (vss. 16-17), and in relation to the Church (vs. 18).

Exposition

The Son’s Relation to God the Father (1:15)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation

He is the Exact Likeness and Manifestation of God

From the accounts that have been preserved of the teachings of Cerinthus and other Gnostics, it seems clear that the Gnostics taught that the world was created not by the Supreme God, but by an inferior power. This was because, 

…Gnosticism was a religious philosophy of metaphysical and radical dualism which taught that God was spirit and good, and that matter and the world were hopelessly evil. Therefore, God could not have created the physical world, because good cannot create evil. A lesser divinity, called by the platonic term Demiurge, committed the mistake of forming the world, in which souls as divine sparks are imprisoned and asleep…¹²⁹

While Paul was not writing against full-blown Gnosticism as it would later develop, it seems clear that he was dealing with an insipient form that was mixed with certain Judaistic elements. Thus, the apostle asserts that Christ is nothing less than the exact and unique image of the invisible God. “Image” is eikon, a term that expresses the concepts of (1) representation and (2) manifestation. As Lightfoot shows, an image can be two things that come together in each image. An image can be a representation; but a representation, if it is perfect enough, can also become a manifestation.¹³⁰By the use of this word, Paul is stressing that Jesus is the perfect manifestation of God. To see what God is like, we must look at Jesus (cf. John 14:7-10; 1:14-18; 12:45; Heb. 1:3). And the description of God as invisible (the emphatic adjective aoratou), clearly shows both aspects of representation and manifestation apply here. Then, with the words, “image of God,” Paul uses the present tense of eimi (is), which stresses that Christ is always and everywhere the manifestation of God. 

The very nature and character of God have been perfectly revealed in him; in him the invisible has become visible. Both Old and New Testaments make it plain that “no one has ever seen God.” The Fourth Evangelist, however, adds that “the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). A similar statement is made elsewhere by Paul who, probably with the Damascus road experience in mind, asserts that “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (eijkwVn tou' qeou')” had dawned upon him. The God whose creative Word in the beginning called light to shine forth from the darkness had now shone in his heart “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:4, 6; cf. 3:18). The same point is made in another way by the writer to the Hebrews that Christ is the “radiance (ajpauvgasma) of God’s glory and the very impress of his being” (Heb 1:3).¹³¹

He is the Sovereign of the First Creation

The words “the firstborn over all creation” have been a source of great debate, especially with certain cultic groups, because they first appear to make Christ a part of creation. They would say that He is only the first created being, but this is totally erroneous for a number of reasons. Johnson has an excellent summary of the reasons such a view is false.

First, it is inconsistent with the context (cf. vv. 16–17). He existed before all things; in fact, He is the creator Himself. Jesus of Nazareth was not a newcomer at Bethlehem.

Second, it is inconsistent with the rest of the New Testament, which often affirms His uniqueness and responsibility for creation (cf. John 1:3; 3:16 , “only begotten”).

Third, the word prototokos has two connotations (perhaps derived from the fact that protos may mean first in time, or first in rank; cf. the English first): (1) priority, and (2) sovereignty. In view of the statement of verse eighteen, that He has become pre-eminent in all things, it seems probable that Paul has the thought of sovereignty primarily in view. The use of the word in the Old Testament confirms this, for in Psalm 89, which is strongly Messianic, the Psalmist says of Christ, “Also I will make Him my firstborn (prototokon), higher than the kings of the earth” (Ps 89:27, LXX). Paul, then, effectively counters any claim of the heretics that Christ was only an angelic emanation from God and part of the creation. He is creation’s Lord.¹³²

To this, Geisler adds the following cogent arguments.

Though it is grammatically possible to translate this as “Firstborn in Creation,” the context makes this impossible for five reasons: (1) The whole point of the passage (and the book) is to show Christ’s superiority over all things. (2) Other statements about Christ in this passage (such as Creator of all [1:16], upholder of Creation [v. 17], etc.) clearly indicate His priority and superiority over Creation. (3) The “Firstborn” cannot be part of Creation if He created “all things.” One cannot create himself. (Jehovah’s Witnesses wrongly add the word “other” six times in this passage in their New World Translation. Thus they suggest that Christ created all other things after He was created! But the word “other” is not in the Gr.) (4) The “Firstborn” received worship of all the angels (Heb. 1:6), but creatures should not be worshiped (Ex. 20:4-5). (5) The Greek word for “Firstborn” is protokotos. If Christ were the “first-created,” the Greek word would have been protoktisis.

“Firstborn” denotes two things of Christ: He preceded the whole Creation, and He is Sovereign over all Creation. In the Old Testament a firstborn child had not only priority of birth but also the dignity and superiority that went with it (cf. Ex. 13:2-15; Deut. 21:17). When Jesus declared Himself “the First” (ho protos;Rev. 1:17), He used a word that means “absolutely first.” “Firstborn” also implies sovereignty. The description “firstborn” was not a fairly common Old Testament designation of the Messiah-God. “I will also appoint Him My Firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27). While this regal psalm refers to David, it also designates the Messiah, as seen in Revelation 1:5, where Christ is called “the Firstborn from the dead (cf. Col. 1:18) and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.” So “Firstborn” implies both Christ’s priority to all Creation (in time) and His sovereignty over all Creation (in rank).¹³³

The Son’s Relation to Creation (1:16-17)

for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

With the word “for,” the apostle begins his explanation and proof why Jesus Christ is the Sovereign over all creation. “For” is hoti, a causal conjunction, “because, since.” It points the reader to the reason Christ is in the image of God, i.e., because He is the Creator by virtue of His work as the Architect, Builder, Goal, and Sustainer of the Universe.

He is the Architect, Builder, and Goal of the Universe (1:16)

The apostle exclaims that Christ, the Father’s beloved Son (1:13), is sovereign because of His relation to creation. Three prepositional phrases are used to describe this relationship. These are: (1) en auto, “by him,” or “in him.” (2) di autou, “through him,” or “by means of him.” And (3) eis auton, “unto him.” Most translations render the first phrase with “by him,” which is a possible translation, but doubtful because the next phrase, “through him,” again declares that He is the agent of Creation. If we take the en in the local sense and not the instrumental sense, this tells us that the Son is the place where the eternal plans and ideas of creation have their abode. As Johnson explains,

…we have an illuminating contribution to Pauline thought, which may be set forth most clearly by means of an illustration. Several steps are involved in the construction of a substantial building. First, an architect is obtained to design the building and prepare plans and specifications in accordance with the expressed desires of the owner. Then the plans are submitted for bids by builders or contractors, and a builder secured. After the completion of the edifice, it is occupied by the owner and devoted to its intended use. Our Lord is not only the builder of the universe; He is also its architect and owner. All things have been created in Him (the eternal plans for the creation abode in Him), by Him (He acted as builder) and for Him (the creation belongs to Him and is to reflect His glory). Before the indescribable majesty of the eternal Christ we are constrained to respond reverently,

“Then sings my soul, My Savior God to Thee: How great Thou art! How great Thou art!”¹³⁴

The all-encompassing scope of the Son’s creation is described in the words, “all things” (repeated twice for emphasis, once at the beginning and once at the end of this verse), but even this is expanded by a chiasm seen in the words, “the things in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and invisible.” “Heaven” corresponds to the invisible and “on earth” to things visible. The relationship can be shown as follows:

in heaven,

and upon the earth

things visible

and invisible

Then, the all-encompassing scope of Christ’s authority is expanded even further by the inclusion of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers, which are references to the invisible world of angels, both good and evil. With the Colossian heresy in mind, the apostle lays stress on the hierarchy of angelic powers to stress “…even the cosmic powers and principalities, which apparently received some prominence in that heresy, were created in Christ. Good or bad, all are subject to him as Creator.”¹³⁵ The terms thrones(thronoi), powers (kuriotetes), rulers(archai), and authorities (exousiai) show that in the angelic or spirit world there is a highly organized dominion. As seen later in this epistle, the false teachers were attempting to influence some of the Colossians to engage in the worship of angels (Col. 2:18), but the apostle declares that Christ reigns supreme over all of them (cf. Eph. 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Phil. 2:9-10; Col. 2:10, 15).

His Temporal Priority to the First Creation (1:17a)

He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

Paul has described Christ as the architect, builder, and goal of the created universe, but what is His place in relation to the present? Verse 17 describes this in two ways. First, He has temporal priority to all things created (vs. 17a), and He is the Sustainer of the universe (vs. 17b). 

The pronoun “he” is best understood as the emphatic use of autos. This is suggested by the wider context, which lays stress on Christ’s unique position and preeminence above all things. It means, “he himself, he and no other.” “Among supernatural potentates Jesus has no rival for the lordship of the universe (v. 17a) and the church (v. 18).¹³⁶

“He is” describes Christ’s absolute existence as the eternal “I Am.” Paul does not say, “he came to be (ginomai) before all things,” but that “he is (autos estin, the intensive autos with the present tense of eimi, “I exist, I am”) before all things.” This is Paul’s way of saying what Jesus said Himself in John 8:58.

8:57 when the Jewish people who had been listening to him replied, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” 8:58 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!” (ego eimi)

The Jews then picked up stones to stone Jesus, which was the normal punishment for blasphemy in the Old Testament. This attempt to stone Christ shows they believed He was committing blasphemy and understood He was claiming to be God. Jesus Christ is not some lesser created being who later created the universe or matter, but the eternal God Himself who existed as the I Am before anything was created.

“Before,” in “before all things,” is the preposition pro, which may refer to time or to priority, status. Though the primary use is that of time, due to the context (He is the sovereign over all creation [vs. 15], and has first place [vs. 18], both elements are surely included here.

His Work as the Sustainer of the First Creation (1:17b)

Paul summarizes the Son’s relation to creation with the words, “and all things are held together in Him.” “Held together” is the Greek sunistemi, “to bring together, unite, collect,” and then, “continue, endure, exist, hold together.”¹³⁷ Christ is not only the one who brought all things into being as their efficient cause, but He now holds them together as their conserving power. 

This means that not only is the Son the agent of creation in the beginning, and the goal of creation in the end, but between the beginning and the end, during time as we know it, it is he who holds the world together. That is to say, all the laws by which this world is order and not chaos are an expression of the mind of the Son. The law of gravity and the rest, the laws by which the universe hangs together, are not only scientific laws but also divine.

So, then, the Son is the beginning of creation, and the end of creation, and the power who holds creation together, the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Final Goal of the world.¹³⁸

The Son’s Relation to the Church (1:18)

In verse 18 Paul affirms Christ’s superiority and supremacy over a new creation, the church. Here the apostle moves from the cosmological to the soteriological because the Colossians must also recognize that the Creator of the cosmos is also supreme head of the church as their Savior. There are three key elements that stand out here.

First, He is the Sovereign Head of the New Creation (1:18a)

He is the head of the body, the church

To demonstrate the unity and caring function of believers for one another, Paul had previously used the figure of the human body as a metaphor of the church (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Rom. 12:4-8). In 1 Corinthians, the head was presented as just another of the members of the body (1 Cor. 12:21), but here in Colossians, undoubtedly because of the heresy at Colossae that was threatening Christ’s supremacy, the apostle changes and broadens the metaphor, and Christ is presented as the head of the body, which is the church. The personal pronoun “he” is again autos, and as in verse 17, it represents the intensive use and should be understood to mean, “he himself, he and no other.” The intensive use of autos sets the individual off from everything else as a means of emphasis and to set forth a contrast.¹³⁹Christ is superior, and this superiority is declared in contrast to the above principalities and powers of evil (Col. 2:10; cf. Eph. 6:12), and to angels (cf. Col. 2:18 with Heb. 1:4-13).

He is here described as “the head of the body, the church.” The obvious meaning of “head” (kephale), especially in this context and in Paul’s use of this term as a description of Christ, is that of authority, supremacy, director, control. This use is clearly established in the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament where kephale is used to render rosh, which carried the double meaning of “head” and “ruler” (cf. Jdg. 10:18; 11:8 with 11:9, 11; 2 Sam. 22:44). This is further supported by Paul’s emphasis in Ephesians 1:22-23, “And God put all things under Christ’s feet and he gave him to the church as head over all things. Now the church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

That He is the head of the body stresses several things as to Christ’s Headship: The first is Christ’s supremacy, authority, and right to direct His body, the church. The second, and closely related, is that the church is a spiritual organism connected to Christ and through which He acts and manifests Himself. As the body is powerless and dead without the head, so the church is powerless and dead without Christ. The body receives its direction and impulses from the head. Thus, every word and action of the church is to be governed and directed by the Lord Jesus as its head. Jesus must, therefore, be the one who directs and empowers the church.

…Without him the Church cannot think the truth, cannot act correctly, cannot decide its direction. There are two things combined here. There is the idea of privilege. It is the privilege of the Church to be the instrument through which Christ works. There is the idea of warning. If a man neglects or abuses his body, he can make it unfit to be the servant of the great purposes of his mind; so by undisciplined and careless living the Church can unfit herself to be the instrument of Christ, who is her head.¹⁴⁰

Johnson points to another important truth seen in Christ’s headship.

Finally, the use of the word head, as Vincent Taylor has indicated, asserts His inseparability from the church, but it also excludes His identity with it. The Lord of glory has bound Himself to His body in indissoluble union, but He is still its Lord, the first-born, although “the firstborn (among many brethren” (cf. Rom 8:29). We glory in the wonder of this oneness, but we still sing our grateful hymns of thanksgiving to Him; we carry on no dialogue with ourselves.¹⁴¹

The figure of the church as the body reminds us of a number of elements: (1) Subimission—the church is always to submit to its head. (2) Union—every member of the body is in vital union with Christ who is its source of life. (3) Unity—the church is one body of mutually adapted parts that are to be working together as a team, as one. (4) Diversity—the church is a diversity of abilities and gifts varying in function, in strength, and in honor, yet all are vital to the body. (5) Mutuality—each member is dependent on one another as are the members of our body. No man is an island. (6) Necessity—the growth, care, function, and submission of each member of the body to its Head is vital for the effective function of the body.

Is it necessary to point out that Paul knows of no earthly head of the church? The Head is not in New York, London, Paris or Rome; the Head is in heaven.¹⁴²

Second, He is the Creator of the New Creation (1:18b)

as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead

Paul then adds, “as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” Literally, “who is the beginning…” “Who” is the Greek hos, a relative pronoun that refers back to the “he” (autos) of verse 18a, but it has a causal sense and points to the reason Christ is the supreme head.¹⁴³ “Beginning” is arche, “beginning, origin,” but it 

…may be interpreted in any one of three ways: as referring to (1) supremacy in rank, (2) precedence in time, or (3) creative initiative. There is, of course, truth in each of these, but it seems best to see in Paul’s word the idea of creative initiative. The meaning then is that Christ is the origin and source of the life of the church, the fount of its being (cf. NEB).¹⁴⁴

Headship belongs to Him because He is the source, power, and originating cause of the life of the church. 

The statement, “the firstborn from the dead” is appositional and explains why Christ is the origin and life of the church; it further supports the truth of Christ as the source and originating cause. “Firstborn” is again prototokos(see vs. 15), but here the emphasis by context is on Christ’s supremacy in time. He is the first one to break the hold of death in a glorified body by virtue of the resurrection. As such, He is the beginning of a new creation of God, 

…At Genesis 49:3 the two terms “firstborn” and “beginning” appear together to describe the firstborn as the founder of a people (cf. LXX Deut 21:17 and Rom 8:29). The resurrection age has burst forth and as the first who has risen from among those who had fallen asleep (ejk tw`n nekrw`n) he is the first-fruits who guarantees the future resurrection of others (1 Cor 15:20, 23).¹⁴⁵

Third, He is the Preeminent Sovereign in all Things (1:18c) 

so that he himself may become first in all things.

“He” is again the intensive autos, and should be understood to mean “he himself, he and no other.” The idea is “he alone has become preeminent.” Grammatically, “so that he may become,” can be understood as expressing the result of the preceding, specifically, the resurrection, or these words may be taken as pointing to the divine purpose through the resurrection. The Greek text has hinawith the subjunctive mood of the verb ginomai, “become, be,” which normally expresses purpose, but sometimes it may express result. If “result,” it still expresses God’s intended result. 

“So that in everything he might have the supremacy” in one sense is a summary of all that Paul has affirmed from v. 15 to this point, but syntactically it must be seen as expressing the purpose of the immediately preceding statement about Christ’s being the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. He rose from the dead in order that his preeminence might become universal, extending both to the old creation and to the new. He had always been first, but by his resurrection he entered upon an even wider and more significant sovereignty (cf. Acts 2:26; Rom 1:4).¹⁴⁶

The purpose of it all is that He might become pre-eminent in all things. The Apostle appears to contrast the use of genetai (AV construes with proteuonand renders, “might have the pre-eminence”) with the estin (AV, “is”) of verse seventeen. He is supreme over the first creation by virtue of His work of creation. By virtue of His incarnation, cross and resurrection He has taken the supreme place in the new creation, the church, and by this spiritual work He has now become preeminent in all things.¹⁴⁷

Also, the use of “became” (ginomai), is probably designed to show a contrast between the “is” (estin) of verse 17a and the “became” (ginomai) of verse 18c. In relation to the universe, Christ is the “I Am,” the one who always is, but in relation to the church, He became the supreme head by His glorious resurrection.

According to the teaching of the false teachers confronting the Colossians, Jesus did not have first place; He was only one of many emanations from God, but not the supreme Son of God and the preeminent one. So, many people today reject Christ as the only way, and assert He is only one of many ways to God, or just a part of the way to God. But the Bible emphatically states that Jesus Christ is the only way, and the one and only name by which anyone can be saved. This is because of Who He is and What He accomplished by virtue of His death and resurrection. “The same eternal Logos (John 1:1) who ‘became flesh’ (John 1:14) and ‘humbled Himself’ (Phil. 2:8) is now ‘exalted’ by God the Father ‘to the highest place’ and has been given ‘the name that is above every name’ (Phil. 2:9).”¹⁴⁸

Conclusion

Summing up the great facts of these verses, we have seen that Christ is: 

(1) The Sovereign of the First Creation: He is the very manifestation of God by virtue of the fact He is the sovereign Creator God and the Sustainer of the universe (vss. 15-17). All creation, visible and invisible, all the angelic beings, have their source in Him.

(2) He is the Head of the Second Creation, the Church, which is His body: He is the very origin and source of the church by virtue of His resurrection as the first born to break the hold of death. As the resurrected Lord, He has conquered every enemy (death, sin, and Satan), or every power that stands to oppose God’s purpose for the human race. As the Head, He is to direct and empower the church to fulfill its purpose in the world, so the church must learn to live in submission to Him (vss. 18a). 

(3) He is the Preeminent One: By virtue of Who He is (the Sovereign Lord, Creator, Sustainer, and Head of the Church), and by virtue of What He accomplished through the resurrection, God’s overall purpose is that Jesus Christ and no other might have preeminence and be Lord of all (vs. 18b). 

There are undoubtedly many points of application that might be made from these verses, but four things stand out, especially in the context of the false teachers at Colossae. 

1. Christ alone is to be the object of our worship, the sole means of deliverance from the power of darkness, and the means of transference into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, the only one in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12), or religious system that can bring us to God (John 14:6). 

2. No Christian leader, like Diotrephes of 3 John 1:9, should ever seek to have the place of preeminence, nor should Christians seek to put their leaders, no matter how skilled or dynamic, on a pedestal (cf. 1 Cor. 1:11-17; 3:4-9). Such actions not only usurp Christ’s place of preeminence, but they cause pride in people and cause them to get their eyes off the true source of blessing and fruitfulness in ministry (again cf. 1 Cor. 3:6-9). 

3. The same also applies to the worship of angels. Angels, at least the good angels, are ministering spirits, sent out by the Lord to render service to the body of Christ (Heb. 1:14), but they are never to be made preeminent or worshipped in any way as in prayer or in seeking guidance from angels (cf. Rev. 19:10; 22:8). Our prayers are to be directed to the Father, in the name of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. Finally, the figure of Christ as the head of the body, which is the church, is one of seven major figures that teach us a number of important truths regarding Christ’s relationship with the church, and ours to Him (for an overview of these seven, see the addendum at the end of this study). Weirsbe has some excellent and practical points on this figure: 

There are many images of the church in the New Testament, and the body is one of the most important (Rom. 12:4ff; 1 Cor. 12:14; Eph. 4:8-16). No denomination or local assembly can claim to be “the body of Christ,” for that body is composed of all true believers. When a person trusts Christ, he is immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into this body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). The baptism of the Spirit is not a postconversion experience—for it occurs the instant a person believes in Jesus Christ. 

Each Christian is a member of this spiritual body, and Jesus Christ is the Head. In Greek usage, the word headmeant “source” and “origin” as well as “leader, ruler.” Jesus Christ is the Source of the church, His body, and the Leader. Paul called Him “the Beginning” which tells us that Jesus Christ has priority in time as far as His church is concerned. The term beginning can be translated “originator.” 

No matter which name you select, it will affirm the preeminence of Jesus Christ in the church. The church had its origin in Him, and today it has its operation in Him. As the Head of the church, Jesus Christ supplies it with life through His Spirit. He gives gifts to men, and then places these gifted people in His church that they might serve Him where they are needed. Through His Word, Jesus Christ nourishes and cleanses the church (Eph. 5:25-30). 

No believer on earth is the head of the church. This position is reserved exclusively for Jesus Christ. Various religious leaders may have founded churches, or denominations; but only Jesus Christ is the Founder of the church which is His body. This church is composed of all true believers, and it was born at Pentecost. It was then that the Holy Spirit came and baptized the believers into one spiritual body. 

The fact that there is “one body” in this world (Eph. 4:4) does not eliminate or minimize the need for local bodies of believers. The fact that I belong to the universal church does not release me from my responsibilities to the local church. I cannot minister to the whole church, but I can strengthen and build the church by ministering to God’s people in a local assembly.¹⁴⁹

A family is a small social group of intelligent beings and therefore must be organized with a leader. Policies and rules must be established and decisions must be made daily. These may not be momentous decisions at times but may simply be needed to avoid confusion and keep order.

Now the household codes of duties in the New Testament define the interdependent and complementary roles, obligations, and responsibilities of the members of the family. The husband/father is the sacrificing head who loves and leads his wife and children. Then there is the wife/mother who submits to the leadership of her husband and respects him, then their children who obey parental authority. The parents train their children in the fear of God without exasperating them.

Regarding the marriage relationship, Paul could not have stated more pointedly the divine order or hierarchy of the husband/wife relationship. In complete agreement with Peter's instruction on the wife's marital submission, Paul teaches that the husband is empowered and commanded to lead in the marriage relationship, and that the wife is instructed to submit to her husband as to the Lord. The apostle Paul elaborates on this in Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5:22-23 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

So if there is any question as to what is intended in the phrase "head of the wife," Paul adds the analogy of Christ as the headship over the church. The word “head” is from the Greek kephale.This is used figuratively to mean as is its constant use: authority over; leadership, not source or origin as biblical feminists assert.

Ephesians 5:24-33 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Did you notice there how many more commands there are to the husband than to the wife? This is because God wants to make sure, through Paul, that men—husbands and fathers—understand beyond a shadow of a doubt how much they are to love and care for their wives.

A man, as leader, may be in a superior position, but this does not suggest that he is a superior person. He is merely functioning in an office or calling and the wife honors her husband’s position or authority and gives him the respect deserving of a leader.

This is a matter of law and order, and if we do not learn this as part of a human family, God sees it as an indication of discord and conflict which He will not allow to exist in His Kingdom. So it is better that we learn this principle and lesson now.

The man’s position as leader is not more important than the woman’s supporting role. Both are equally important, yet they are different in position. Man’s position is to lead. Both husband and wife cannot lead at the same time, it has never worked.

Titus 2:1 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: [then Paul gives instructions for it in verse 4]

Titus 2:4-8 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands [not other women’s husbands], that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

The father has the God-given right to establish rules of conduct, expenditure of money, laws of the household, and educational planning. He has the right to make decisions concerning the family and those decisions relate to his role as the guide, protector, and provider.

It is acceptable for the father to delegate some of his authority to his wife, especially in affairs of the household and matters concerning the children because she is closer to them than he is in their day-to-day activities. But he maintains the right to step in when necessary or when important to do so, not as a tyrant or a dictator, but as a loving husband and father.

Often the father will turn to his wife to seek her perspective and viewpoint in matters of family, planning, and decisions. She is his counselor and offers wisdom and valuable advice. Her perspective is an important one in the family and very necessary.

Colossians 3:18-20 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

Notice how it says, "wives submit to your husbands as is fitting to the Lord." That means only as he abides by God's laws and is not telling you to do something against God’s law and God's way of life.

The father may also decide to consult with his children by calling them together in a family meeting and carefully listen to his children regarding their feelings and consider their viewpoint. The responsibility ultimately lies on the father, he stands as the shepherd of the flock.

Ephesians 6:1-4 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise [there is a promise that goes with it and God states it right there]: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Again fathers are told not to be dictators or tyrants and rule with a heavy hand. The father’s decision should be honored and respected by all members of the family, even when they do not agree with him. They are not honoring him in as much as they are honoring his God-given office or authority as the guide.

In this, all the members of the family learn how to function as a family in preparation for living in God's spiritual Family and in the Kingdom of God. Paul teaches that the marriage relationship is a living picture of the relationship between Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The husband/wife relationship mirrors the relationship of Christ and the church. Christ, the bridegroom is the head of the bride; the church, the bride, is subject to Him in everything. In the same way, the husband is head in the marriage relationship and the wife submits herself to him in everything that does not go against God and His way of life.

Therefore headship and submission in the marriage relationship is not culturally conditioned or determined, it is part of the marriage's essence design by God. It is God's pattern for the family.

Paul loves to use the household analogy when speaking in the nature and order of the local church. Just as he teaches male headship in the family, he teaches male headship in the household of God.

In the mainstream churches, more and more women are becoming elders and heads of churches, pastors, and so on, and now it is starting to creep into the greater churches of God. This is part of the reason why I am giving this sermon because feminism is affecting women in this nation, in the world, and even within God's church. So we need to be aware of what God says about these things and not just what is culturally acceptable.

Since the family is the basic social unit and the man is the established family leader, we should not be surprised that men would be elders of the larger church family. It is desirable to have men be the elders of the Christian community because the structure of leadership has to be set up in a way that supports the entire social structure of the community.

Since men are supposed to be the heads of the family, they must also be the heads of the community. It is in the family that they learn their community roles as well, and conversely, what they see in the community reinforces what they learn in the family. So to adopt different principles on the community level weakens the family and vice versa.

Have there been great women leaders of nations? Yes there have. We see that biblically and we see it in the world today, but that is not the ideal that God has established. It is a unique situation when men do not stand up, or when the men are unavailable, that women take that position. And it is sad, because it is the men who have failed and sinned.

The principle of male headship, however, does not diminish in any way the significance and necessity of active female involvement in the home or church. First century Christian women played an indispensable role in Christ's work. Many passages in the Bible give evidence of women working diligently in Christ's service.

Some of Paul’s coworkers in the gospelwere women, yet their active role in advancing the gospel and caring for God's people was accomplished in ways that did not violate male headship or leadership in the home or in the church. The New Testament provides instruction on the dual rules of male headship and female subordination in the household of God.

In the same way that every individual family is governed by certain standards of conduct, so too the local church family is governed by certain principles of conduct and social arrangement. The letter of I Timothy specifically addresses the issue of proper order and behavior of men, women, and elders in the local church family. To his representative in Ephesus Paul writes:

I Timothy 3:14-15 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

A major aspect of the churches social arrangement concerns the behavior of women in the congregation. In the church at Ephesus, as a result of false teaching which may have challenged the validity of traditional gender roles, Christian women were acting contrary to acceptable Christian behavior.

In order to counter improper female conduct in the church, Paul restates Christian principles of Christian conduct and two of those principles are found in I Timothy 2, which are:

1) Modest dress.

I Timothy 2:9-10 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing,but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

2.) God's policy regarding submission in the church.

I Timothy 2:11-12 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

Now I Timothy 2:11-14 should alone settle the question of women elders. God, through Paul, prohibits women from doing things in reference to the men of the church, that is: 1) teaching and 2) exercising authority over them.

This prohibition is evident in both the positive and negative statements that we just read. The positive statement, "let a woman learn," is qualified by the manner in which she is to learn: “in silence with all submission.” Then the negative statement, "do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man," directly forbids women from teaching and leading men in the church.

Paul is not prohibiting women from teaching absolutely. We know from Titus 2:3 that the older women are encouraged to be teachers of good things. But the women are specifically prohibited from teaching men publicly in the household of God.

Paul concluded in I Timothy 2:12, in the same way that he began verse 11, insisting on women being silent and this silence is a concrete expression of the principle of submission. Our Sabbath services are set up on the basis of this principle.

Since I Timothy 5:17 states that elders lead and teach the church and since women are not to teach or lead men, it follows therefore that women cannot be elders in the church.

Paul's restriction on women teaching and leading men certainly caused heated criticism, as you would expect, just as it does today. So as in nearly all other passages on male/female role differences, Paul immediately supports his instruction by reminding his readers of the original creation order. He uses the Old Testament creation account to prove his point.

I Timothy 2:13-15 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

By stating in verse 13 that “Adam was created first,” Paul means that in the creation design of male and female, Adam, the male, was first among equals and God uniquely designed the man to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually the head of the relationship and He created woman to complement his headship position.

It is profoundly significant that God did not create Adam and Eve at the same time, instead woman was made after the man, from the man, for the man, brought to the man, and named by the man. This is the design that God chose from the very beginning and it does not make men any better than women.

Now in verse 14, Paul illustrates, from their fall into sin, the necessity of maintaining the creation distinctions between man and woman. Satan shrewdly circumvented Adam, the one God equipped as first among equals to lead in the relationship, and went directly to Eve, whom he rightly perceived to be the weaker in resisting his deceptions. You will find support for that in I Corinthians 11:3; I Peter 3:7; I Timothy 4:7; and II Timothy 3:6

Therefore a major reason that God insists on an all-male eldership is because godly males are more suited, by divine design, than godly females for leadership, particularly in identifying and fighting off satanic and false teaching and subtle doctrinal deceptions.

To my know knowledge God never calls men gullible, but He does say that about women in the New Testament. There is a difference between men and women. Men do not tend to be as gullible, by nature, as women tend to be.

Immediately following his instructions in I Timothy 2:11-15, prohibiting women from teaching and leading men, Paul describes the qualifications for those who oversee the local church in I Timothy 3. Therefore the qualifications of the overseer is to be the husband of one wife and one who manages his own household well.

I Timothy 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach.

I Timothy 3:4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence.

Paul gives no suggestion of women elders in this passage on the qualifications for elders. I Corinthians 11:2-16 is a superb example of how Paul supports his instruction of headship and submission with weighty, theological and biblical reasons, rather than with cultural social patterns or adaptation to a unique circumstances. Paul begins his instruction on the male/female role with an explanation of its source in I Corinthians 11.

I Corinthians 11:3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman isman, and the head of Christ isGod.

Women's submission is part of a series of subordination and headship relationships: God; Christ; Man; Woman; God is head; Christ is head; Man is head; only woman is not referred to as head. These relationships have nothing to do with local, temporal circumstances, but rather follow a divinely constituted hierarchical order.

By stating that the head of Christ is God, Paul emphasizes the hierarchical relationship that exists in the government and Family of God. Although equal in substance, Christ obeys and submits Himself to the Father within the relationship of the Family of God. This submission certainly does not imply inferiority on Jesus Christ's part. In verses 7-9 Paul reminds his readers of the original order of the creation once again.

I Corinthians 11:7-9 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.

Paul states that the woman is the glory of man which means that she was created to directly reflect man's God-created headship authority by submitting to and supporting his leadership.

Now one final text which is very similar to I Timothy 2, but is directed to a different congregation is in I Corinthians 14.

I Corinthians 14:33-35 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

You cannot get much more direct than that. Paul really nails it on the head. It is mind boggling that professing Christians out there in the mainstream ignore such a direct and obvious statement. Is it because they do not have faith and they do not believe that this is the inspired written Word of God?

Here, as in I Timothy 2, Paul prohibits women from taking the lead publicly by speaking in an open, formal church meeting. He again supports his restriction by appealing to the Old Testament scriptures and a command from God Himself. Paul's instructions to churches in Ephesus, Corinth, Colossae, and on the island of Crete, regarding women’s submission remind us that, in a sinful world, even Christians struggle with the idea of submission. Husbands, wives, and children all struggle with submission.

Paul also emphasizes male/female roles, because it is very common for males to abdicate their spiritual headship responsibility and obligations in the home and church and therefore, in one sense, forcing women to take the reins. Woman should resist the urge to take the reins and instead encourage her husband to take the reins and take responsibility.

Male responsibility and passivity is an enormous problem that has frustrated and destroyed many wives, families, and churches. Ultimately the abdication of male headship is a refusal to submit to Christ's word and Lordship. Paul therefore had to reaffirm God's original creation order as revealed in the Old Testament scriptures.

Christianity did not abolish God's original design for men and women, but rather it brought it into better focus. Proper male/female roles is a matter of faith. To this can be added the detail from the requirements for eldership, that an elder must be someone who is,

Titus 1:6 blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of dissipation or insubordination.

It says here the husband of one wife, not the wife of one husband in the qualifications. This is because the woman is not even considered as being in line for eldership.

Now the redeemed family is a picture of care and compassion for family members. In contrast, God warns us, through Paul, of the horrific spiritual condition we are in if we neglect our physical and spiritual families.

I Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

If we are Abraham's children, that is faithful to God, we will obey God's instruction to provide for our families. Once we are alerted to the analogy between the family and the church, it becomes evident that the symbolism is worked out in detail.

First a family had a father; each extended family or household had or has a patriarch which was the oldest living male. Abraham, for example, was the father of Israel. A father was called the head of a clan or family, and this head of the clan was the biological source for the family and had authority over it.

In the New Testament as well, the man is called the head, as we have seen. In each of these passages the social phenomenon of a family head is linked to a spiritual certainty—the headship of Christ over the church. The husband is subservient and submissive to Christ, he has his boss just as the wife has hers. A husband must live according to God's standards, otherwise he will lead his family astray.

The Israelites initially took to heart God's covenant with Abraham. They knew that they were in his family as it was continuing through the generations and that through his family, all peoples of the earth would be blessed. When the blessing came in the form of Jesus, one of His first messages to God's people was that they must look through the earthly family to see the heavenly one.

John 8:39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

So Jesus points the Jews to God who should be their Father and, to Himself, the one who can show the way to that Father.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.

Now He points to the one everlasting family; a spiritual family; the Family of God, and to those who will not see through the physical to the spiritual, Jesus' message seemed radical. When His mother and brothers waited to see Him, He asked, "who is My mother and who are My brothers?” His question implied the existence of a family far more lasting than the physical one He had. Jesus pointed out His disciples as His family.

Matthew 12:48-49 But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!

The heavenly family is eternal whereas the earthly one is temporary, a distinction that Christ made clear. In fact He predicted that He Himself would turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother; that there would be households where conflict arises against those who belong to the Eternal Father and those who do not.

Primary commitment must go to the heavenly Father. He must be of the utmost importance in our lives.

Matthew 10:37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

The coming of Jesus Christ makes the call much more concrete, but in effect this call to love God and to be part of His Family is the same call that came to Abraham, the father who loved God more than he loved his own son Isaac. God made Abraham to be the physical father of many nations and, at the same time, the spiritual father of those who have faith like his in the heavenly Father.

Galatians 3:7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

So the spiritual family of Abraham emerges more distinctly with the coming of Christ, who came from Abraham's line, but who came to extend that line into all the world, starting with the firstfruits of God's Kingdom and Family.

In Hebrews 2, Paul develops Christ's picture of His brotherhood with all the faithful who belong to the same family with the one who had to be made just like His brothers. We will read verse 11.

Hebrews 2:11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

As Christ's followers they were established in God's church, they saw themselves, Jew and Gentile, as members of God's household, the extended Family of God.

Ephesians 2:19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

Now what are we, if we are led by and have the Spirit dwelling in us? We are sons and heirs of the Kingdom of God through Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1.

Ephesians 1:5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.

Before this adoption we were like aliens or slaves, but now, being adopted, we have been taken into the family of God.

Galatians 4:1-7 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

We must be willing to yield to the influence of the Spirit of God's Son. When we submit to Him we are adopted into His Family and we become His children, whether male or female. The name "sons of God" is a name of endearment, meaning that we are His children, His disciples, and His family. We are part of the great family of the redeemed, of whom He is the Father and protector.

Romans 8:9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Now unless you have received the Holy Spirit and this Spirit is dwelling in you, you are not a spiritual member of God's church. You may call yourself a member of the church, but if you do not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you are not a member of God's spiritual and eternal church. Joining a physical organization calling itself a church, does not make you a true Christian. Only receiving and following God's Spirit does. If we have God's Spirit we are heirs, but not yet inheritors.

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

So we are heirs of God and joint heirs as brethren with Christ. He has gone ahead, through a resurrection to glory as the Pioneer. He is the firstborn of many brethren and He has inherited all things in God’s Kingdom.

We are heirs and our Elder Brother and High Priest supervises our spiritual development and prepares us to be kings and priests, reigning with Him. He will have made us kings and priests to our God and we will reign on earth with Christ.

Revelation 5:10 And have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.

Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

In verse 7,"to order it" means to raise up; to confirm it; to cause it to stand. And "to establish it" means to place it on a firm foundation; to make it firm. As imitators of Christ we are given an example here of what we must do as Christians and in our own family and in God's church, to advance God's work.

In learning to be kings and priests who will rule with Christ, we must be working to order and establish God's way of life in our own families. The husband and father must lead in this as his wife submits to his efforts and direction, in working under Christ to produce a Christian household.

God’s Family is characterized by order, unity, and peace and He expects us to learn this in our own Christian families and in our own membership in the household of God—the church.

God is first called Father in Deuteronomy 1:31, as Moses recalls for the Israelites how God carried them into the desert, as a father carries a son. Isaiah 63:16 continues the symbolism and tells God:

Isaiah 63:16 Doubtless You are our Father, though Abraham was ignorant of us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father; our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.

Now in the New Testament Christ reveals that He has come to show God the Father to us which we may see by Christ's own example. God appears as Father throughout many of the pages of the New Testament and Matthew records that Jesus taught His disciples to pray first, "our Father in heaven."

The concept of God as parent communicates not only headship, but also loving care and comfort as well. He is the Father that is faithfully there for His son. God says of His chosen people in Hosea 11,

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.

We are members of God's church and members of spiritual Israel. To be a child of God is to know this kind of support, not just from above, but from fellow brethren as well. Paul tells us in Galatians 6,

Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

God sets the lonely in families, not just in the comfort and care of human families, but ultimately in the care and fellowship of the people of God. John records Jesus' teaching in John 3, that God’s Family will be known by His followers by their love for one another.

Being part of God's Family means also to originate from Him and to take His name. The tribes of Israel were named according to the patriarchal fathers who began each biological line. Abraham's physical offspring came from his physical seed and are called his children, but Paul explains in Galatians 3, that the true seed, to which Abraham's family leads us, is Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3:16-19 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed [that is Christ] should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.

Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The faithful enter Abraham's line of promise through faith in Christ. As members of Christ's body, the church, we receive the promise of inheriting the Kingdom of God and being sons in God's Family. We take on the name of the divine family as well.

Now what do we know of the Family name? Paul tells us that the Family of God is named after God Himself.

Ephesians 3:14-15 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

The Greek word for family is patria,which is from the root pater meaning father; implying the father or patriarch as the originator of the family.

In God's Family, the one and only originator is the heavenly Father, who takes as His children, all who accept His Son, and who thereby take His name, His identity, and His reputation. Verse 15 may also be translated, "from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name." God is the Eternal Father; the ultimate origin.

From this we know that when the writers of the epistles refer to their fellow believers as brothers and sisters in the Lord more than 100 times, they are not simply using an attractive and emotionally compelling illustration, it is much more than that. The physical family is not a concrete picture of an abstract idea, but rather it is one step toward an even greater spiritual reality. These writers are addressing fellow members of an eternal, real, spiritual family, whose origin is the ultimate reality—God Himself.

The family members are united by the seed and blood of Christ, and when Paul says "keep on loving each other as brothers," in Hebrews 13:1, he does not mean that we resemble brothers. He means that we participate in the true Family of God and so must act accordingly.

The Bible is a story of God's Family from beginning to end. His plan is not one that burdens, frustrates, or deprives an individual, but rather is one with abundant blessings attached. It is the most ideal plan for the family to live by in obtaining order, unity, and peace.

Now what do we have to look forward to if we learn how to function according to the pattern of God's Family?

Revelation 3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

Under Christ we will be given the rule over the entire vast universe, literally allthings. That is the power that has been given to Christ, and will be ours as joint inheritors with Him. Eternal life is waiting for those who are submissive to God. A spirit life of wonderful abundance beyond our wildest dreams is waiting for us. That is the gift and desire of our merciful Father and His Son Jesus Christ. It should be our goal and desire to inherit the Kingdom of God and to be valuable members of His eternal family.

As members of the household of God, we are learning and practicing now how to live God's way of life, by imitating Jesus Christ, not only on an individual basis, but as members of a loving family. What an incredible opportunity we have been given!

“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” ()

The church’s status today can often leave us frustrated or disappointed. I can’t speak for the church globally, but I will speak about the church here in America. There are many areas where the church has veered off course, and we need a course correction to get back on track. A good place to begin would be to remember Christ is the head of the church. 

Everything the church does—whether done by you, your local church, or the church universal—should be for Christ and about Christ. Too often, we have made church about personalities, programs, politics, and entertainment… and left Christ, the head of the church, out of the mix. We may mention his name, but we don’t want his influence and leadership to manifest themselves. What if it threatened our position? The problem not only shows in some of the things that happen on Sundays. The problem is also clear in how we, Christ’s followers, behave outside the church sanctuary. The time is now for the church to return to her roots, recognizing Christ is the head of the church. We must recognize his leadership in everything we do, not just pay him lip service. 

But how do we do this?

The word for “head” used in the Colossians 1:18 passage is kephalē. Here is what this word means.

- Superior 

- One with preeminent status 

- Cornerstone (i.e., the important stone for building a proper foundation)

Christ, as the head, holds a position that no one else can occupy. He is the superior figure of the church. He is the essential piece in building and maintaining the church. Without him, we end up with a weak, dysfunctional church void of any power or influence. I know we like to blame the culture for this, but the church must also shoulder some of this blame. We have moved away from Christ as our sure foundation. We have made church about something else other than Jesus.

Four Reasons Why Christ Is the Head of the Church

To say that Christ is the head of the church—not our favorite pastor, not our regional church administrator, not our conscience—is a big statement with big consequences. So how do we know that Christ is the head of the church? Here are four particular reasons we know this to be true.

1. Christ is the head of the church because he purchased it

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,  but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)

To redeem means to buy back. If you are part of the church, Christ purchased you with his blood. Jesus laid down his body and spilled his blood for the church. He didn’t do this grudgingly, but he did it willingly because he wanted to redeem a people all his own. Without Christ and his sacrifice, there is no church. Since he purchased the church, he has rights of ownership over the church, which solidifies his position as head of the church.

2. Christ is the head of the church because he is building it

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus made a definitive and declarative statement. 

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)

There has been considerable debate over the years over what this statement means. Some people have interpreted this verse to mean Peter is the essential figure upon which the church is built. I could debate that with you, but I will save that for another day. There are five critical words Jesus spoke that matter today. “I will build my church.” When you read these words, two things should be crystal clear.

- Jesus is the one building the church

- Jesus is building his church and not someone else’s (this ties back to those rights of ownership)

Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:19-22), and he is also the chief builder of the church. The whole thing falls apart without him as the foundation and the builder. There is no church. When churches leave Jesus out, what kind of building are they making? The church is bought by Christ, built by Christ, and sustained by Christ. Yes, he works through individuals to do the work. That’s where you and I come in, but we are simply servants following the instructions of the chief architect who is building his church the way he wants.

3. Christ is the head of the church because he is Lord 

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

Here is my big request. Can we please stop creating Christian superstars? Even the name alone is ridiculous when you consider who Jesus is. There is only one whose name stands above every other name. It is sad, but we have exalted servants of Christ and made them greater than Christ. We have looked to men and forgotten Christ is the head of the church. He is the one who sits on the throne. The last time I checked, thrones only have one seat, and he is not planning to vacate that seat. The throne is his forever. Christ is the head of the church now and will be the head of the church for all eternity. He alone is the one who is worthy of our worship and adoration. He is the head. He is Lord. He is the only superstar in Christianity, and nothing will change that.

4. Christ as the head of the church levels the ground beneath him

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Because Christ is the head of the church, we must recognize that you and I are not. From our vantage point, the ground is level. There is no one in the body of Christ greater than the next person. We all have an important role to play. Sometimes we confuse responsibility with importance. A particular person may have more responsibility, but everyone holds equal importance in the body. 

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” (1 Corinthians 12:21-22)

When you forget Christ is the head of the church, you can easily go on a major ego trip and inflate your importance. However, when you see Jesus for who he is, it helps bring us all back to reality.

What Does Knowing Christ Is the Head of the Church Mean for Us Today?

As important as it is to recognize Christ as head of the church, you must go one step further. Christ must not only be head of the church universally but also the head of your life personally. With him as the head of your life, everything works together. Without him, it all falls apart. When you think of Christ as the head of the church, ask yourself, “is Christ the head of me?” The answer to that question is key to getting the church back on course.

Jesus said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:18

The Apostle Paul said, “Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.”
Ephesians 5:23

A truth that is regularly missed or only nominally addressed by many authors of church leadership is the fact that Jesus Christ is the Head of the church. He is the Savior who gives believers eternal life and communion with God (1 Cor 15:1-4). Christ has power over heaven and earth, and complete authority over all believers and the church (Matt 7:21-23; 28:18). Christ is the Savior who freely gave himself for the church and is the unquestionable Head of the church (Eph 5:23, 25).

• He determined when the church began (Acts 2:1-47)
• He is the Chief Shepherd of the church (1 Pet 5:4)
• He chose the apostles and appointed them as the church’s first leaders (John 21:17)
• He determined the church leadership structure (1 Tim 3:1-13)
• He grows his church at his pleasure (Matt 16:18)
• He sanctifies the church (Eph 5:26)
• He loves and nourishes his church (Eph 5:29).
• He intercedes for his church at the right hand of the Father (Rom 8:34)
• The church is to follow Christ’s leadership (Eph 5:24)
• He will return for his church (John 14:2-3)

Christ has never abdicated, to finite man, his role as Head of the church. It is not man’s position to “take the reins” and redesign any aspect of Christ’s church, including the form and structure of its leadership. Few understood this better than the sixteenth century reformer, John Calvin. He considered the God-ordained leadership offices of the church as primary, not secondary, or tertiary or negotiable as many believe today. In his Institutes, clarifying the office of deacon, Calvin wrote on this subject, warning believers,

Now seeing that in the sacred assembly all things ought to be done decently and in order (1 Cor 14:40), there is nothing in which this ought to be more carefully observed than in settling government, irregularity in any respect being nowhere more perilous.^[1]

In other words, to mess with Christ’s church leadership structure is dangerous. For instance, in today’s contemporary evangelical church there is a growing trend to abolish the office of deacon. No local church or pastor is allowed to whimsically decide, “We don’t need deacons.” 

Neither the church or its leaders have the authority to change any element of the position or purpose of an elder or deacon. 

Sadly, many churches have done just that. Christ is the Head of his church. He is the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet 5:4). He is the Bridegroom (Eph 5:25-27); He is divine (John 10:27-30). He is infinite and eternal (John 1:1-5; Isa 40:6-31). Man is finite and fallen (Ps 90). Christ gave specific instructions to the apostles on the structure of church leadership. Today it is the job of elders and deacons to properly understand the truth of God’s Word and follow the leadership of Christ as under-shepherds and servants of his bride, the church. Elders and deacons are servants of Christ. They tend to the flock of Christ’s sheep (John 21:17) and will give an account to God the judge for their service (Heb 13:17). Neither the church or its leaders have the authority to change any element of the position or purpose of an elder or deacon. Christ presently rules by the Word of God. Scripture was his defense when tempted by Satan (Matt 4:1-11). The Bible was his weapon when addressing false teachers (Matt 12:1-8). And in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ tells us that all will not be completed until every single letter, and every little jot of God’s Word is accomplished (Matt 5:18). It is abundantly clear that Christ requires the precise application of Scripture.

The precision in which we handle God’s Word, therefore, is enormously important. The last command of the New Testament is witness to this responsibility:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

 and gave him as head over all things to the church, …

Grammar: verb: gave (for the advantage of)

• Aorist, active, indicative (simple statement of fact)
• what did He give: Jesus
• for what purpose: to be head
• head of what: over all
• who did He give Jesus to / whose advantage: the church
• * Literal translation: The Father has given Jesus the position of “head” (which is above all) for the benefit and advantage of His body, the church.

3 ASPECTS OF THE ADVANTAGE

1. Jesus has the Authority, Dominion, and Leadership

• The head is the central control unit for the body – where the source and flow of life is produced
• Psalm 8.6: You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet…
• Psalm 145.13: Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
• Daniel 4.3: How great are His signs, And how mighty His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And His dominion is from generation to generation.
• 1 Peter 4.11: … that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
• Col 2.9-10: For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
• Col 1.18: And He is the head of the body, the church … that in all things He may have the preeminence.
• » Does Jesus has the authority and dominion and leadership in my life?

2. Jesus is to be our provision as we live in perfect union with Him

*The head is the central control unit for the body – where the source and flow of life is produced

Col 2.19: … the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. 

• The head is the provision and provides the nourishment to the rest of the body
• What is going on in the head is identical to what is going on in the body (nature, character, attitude, life flow, substance, etc)

*He is ALL that I need!

3.  Jesus is our source of blessing

• Throughout the Bible one of the symbolisms for the head was blessing (you anointed it, laid hand upon it to bless, etc)
• Jesus is our blessing!
• our favor, reward, portion, glory, joy, protection, support, approval, advantage, benefit

And he put all things 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” (Eph. 1:22-23).

“For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior”(Eph. 5:23).

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Col. 1:17-18).

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority”(Col. 2:9-10).

There is a transcendence and an imminence in these verses.  Clearly, Jesus transcends all things.  He stands over all things.  He has supremacy in everything–over the dead and the living, the earthly and the heavenly, the physical and the spiritual.  Jesus is fully God, so He is first above all.

But there is this closeness, too, an intimacy we ought not mistake.  He is Head to a body, His body, the church.  The exalted, transcendent Christ is inseparably connected to His people, the redeemed, the collected of all nations.  He rules–not from a distance–but with the close-up attention and love pictured by an exemplary husband.  Jesus is head “over every power and authority” and “head of every man” (1 Cor. 11:3), but is uniquely Head to the church in His affection for her.

In other words, the Sovereign Ruler of the universe in whom all the fullness of deity dwells… loves you intimately if you are a part of His church, His bride, His body.  Sovereign power coalesces with infinite love in you, His church.

Some seldom think of the headship of Christ in the church, and what poverty of soul results from that neglect!  Still others may think of Christ the Head of the church and draw wrong conclusions.  Some errors are made by members, others by leaders.

1.  Because Jesus is head of the church, I don’t need to submit to human leadership.  What better Head can there be than Jesus?  Truly, there is no better head.  But does that eliminate the need for submitting to leadership in a local church?  The short answer: No.  Why else would Jesus by His Spirit inspire 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 identifying marks of qualified spiritual leadership in the church?  And why else would the same Spirit inspire the clear word in Heb. 13:17a–“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.”Obviously, the Head of the church intends to lead us by appointed leaders in every congregation.

2.  Because Jesus is head of the church, I don’t need another example to follow. This is a strange perversion of Christ the Exemplar.  The apostle who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit penned these words about the headship of Christ did not think examples unnecessary.  He writes of himself, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).   And he writes to a young pastor, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12).  Apparently, the headship of Christ is modeled by the servants of Christ who lead His people.  The people, then, benefit by the visible, moving example of Christ’s life displayed in believers who faithfully follow Him.

3.  Because Jesus is head of the church, I don’t need to join a local church. Or we could say, “I don’t need accountability or community.”  The spirit of the Lone Ranger is alive and well, imbibed by Christians who only think of the Christian life in “my personal relationship with Christ.”  They’re not joiners.  As DeYoung and Kluck term it in Why We Love the Church, they’re “decorpulated” Christians.  They are cut off from the body.  But Christ is head “of the body, the church.” He stands uniquely related to the whole of himself, not merely to parts of himself.  And this is just as each member of the Trinity has designed it Consider how each Person in the Godhead acts to compose the church in 1 Cor. 12:12-27.

But leaders in the church may wrongly apply the headship of Christ as well.  They may say or think:

4.  Because Jesus is head of the church, I don’t need to work hard at leading. Here is a word of reminder for under-shepherds.  While Christ is the great Head of the church, the sole Head, He makes no room for either a lazy or a lackadaisical approach to pastoral ministry.  He speaks plainly to us: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them… the one who leads, with zeal”(Rom. 12:6, 8b).

5.  Because Jesus is head of the church, I don’t need to worry about the welfare of the church. After all, Jesus is the Great Shepherd.  He is the only One who can care for all the Sheep.  Certainly Christ is the Great Shepherd, and the work ultimately depends upon His grace.  But Paul could write, “And, apart from other things (a litany of hardships and suffering), there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak?  Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?” (2 Cor. 11:28-29)  That Christ is the Head of the Church is no prescription for worry-free labor in the ministry.  We face hardships daily; we suffer, sometimes greatly.  And this must be so.  It is Christ’s afflictions that we are filling up for the sake of His body (Col. 1:24).  But we also look to a reward when the Great Shepherd appears (1 Peter. 5:4).

6.  Because Jesus is Head of the church, I should have an easy time being fruitful and leading the church. How many have concluded that Christ is not with them because there was no apparent fruit?  How many have left plows in fields half-tilled because the soil was hard?  How many have fought the demons of despair and discouragement because they assume that such a great Savior should always desire for us great earthly success?  I feel these things in my own heart sometimes.  If a man never did, he’d barely be human.  But this we have: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  “My grace is sufficient for you.”  “My power is made perfect in weakness.”  “I will boast in my weakness for then I am strong.”  “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The Transcendent Head of all things is near to us in our affliction for His name’s sake.  And we shall be reward if we do not faint.  The Head of all will one day bring an end to all and then we shall share in His glory.

. Christ Ensures the Security of the Church.

This is highlighted in Ephesians 1:20-23which says that the Father has 'raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.'

This passage mentions Christ as the One who exercises His dominion over all things, in favour of His body, which is the Church. This implies that nothing can stand in the way of the church's growth and development. The Lord Jesus Christ ensures that His church will develop in exactly the way that He wants it to develop, and nothing will be able to stand against it or utterly destroy the Church. Jesus Himself has said, 'upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' 

Isn't it encouraging to know that we have a Head over the Church who has all power at His disposal? When He gave the great commission, Jesus said, 'All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations' (Matthew 28:18,19a). Since Christ has everything at His disposal, He can use them all to preserve the church, protect the church and provide for its needs. The headship of Christ therefore ensures the security of the church. Let us look at another function of Christ's headship over the church:

II. Christ Ensures The Salvation of the Church

How does He doe this? As the Head of the Church, Christ becomes the representative of all His people. In Covenant Theology, Christ is called the federal head of the Church, just as Adam was the federal head of the whole human race. God made the Covenant of Works with Adam. That covenant expired when Adam sinned and brought all His descendants under the terrible curse of sin, by the representative principle. Then God instituted another Covenant, the Covenant of Grace. Those who are in this covenant are not represented anymore by Adam, but by Christ. Christ is the 'second Adam' because He was a man like us. And so, by the same representative principle that had brought us into death, we are now brought by Christ into life. 1 Corinthians 15:22 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.'

There are other designations of Christ that bring out this wonderful role of Christ over us: In Hebrews 2:10 He is called the Captain of our salvation, a captain who partakes of the same flesh and blood that we have. In Hebrews 6:20 He is called the Forerunner who has entered within the veil right into to God�s presence, doing it all for us. As our Captain or Forerunner, Jesus, died on our behalf, He was raised from the dead and ascended up to heaven. Like one who leads his people through uncharted territory, He has blazed the path that leads to heaven for us. This means that like our captain, we too will take the same path He took and be raised from the dead and ascend up to heaven.

Having seen how the headship of Christ ensures the security and the salvation of the church, let us go on now to the next function of His headship:

III. Christ Exercises Authority to Rule the Church

As the head of the Church, Christ has every right to rule over the church, and to demand full submission from it. This truth is highlighted in Ephesians 5:23,24, where it is used as an analogy for the husband's headship over the wife: 'For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.'

This authority is quite evident in the letters that Christ sent to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, where he exercises His right to commend them and to condemn them for the things they did. You will notice that each letter begins with a statement describing the authority of Christ over the Church, e.g. 2:1 (to Ephesus) 'These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks' ; 3:7 (to Philadelphia) 'These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth' 

What this means for us is that the Church must always submit herself to the authority of Christ at all times. Christ is like the CEO - the one who issues out orders and expects full compliance from us. Submission to the authority of Christ will result in commendation and reward from the Head. But rebellion against the authority of Christ will result in receiving a stern comdemnation from the Head! So we must serve the Head of the Church with a sense of holy reverence for His great authority and with godly fear, seeking to do what He want at all times. But how do we know what He wants us to do? Through the next function of Headship that Christ has over the Church:

IV. Christ Provides Guidance and Direction for The Church

As the Head of the church, the Lord Jesus guides and directs His Church to accomplish all the goals that He has set for the church. The church must follow His guidance and direction closely, and not go astray from Him. When a church stops following Christ, it will lose its direction and stray away quickly into false doctrines. 

Let us turn our Bibles to Colossians 2:16-19a 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head' Here the Apostle Paul warns the Colossians against following certain teachers who would lead them astray. What we want to notice here is that these false teachers are not holding the Head. This means that they are not connected to Christ. To follow them is to cut oneself off from the Head of the Church.

One example of this is the Roman Church - It started off as a true church of Christ, but when the Bishop of Rome replaced Christ as its head, and the popes and church councils began issuing their own directives and decrees that mixed truth with error, the Roman Church lost its direction and veered away to become an apostate church. It stands today as the most prominent example of what can happen when the headship of Christ is no longer maintained in a church! Let this be a warning to us so that we will keep ourselves constantly under the guidance and directorship of Christ, our Head. How do we do this? We do it by following His Word closely, without adding to it or subtracting from it. We do it by corporate praying, like the apostolic church that sought God�s will and direction together.

V. Christ Provides Life and Power to the Church

Now, the headship of Christ over the church also implies that He is the source of life and power for the church. He is the one who infuses the church with life so that it may grow and multiply, just like the account of the amazing growth of the early church in the Book of Acts. There were some remarkable men that were used of God to bring about the increase. The apostle Paul is a notable example of one who laboured tirelessly to build up the church of God. In the early church there was also a powerful preacher from Alexandria by the name of Apollos, who edified the church with his excellent preaching and teaching. But the perspective we should have on them is the one written by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6,7 'I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.' We must never forget that any increase in the church actually comes from no one but the Head. Christ is the one who provides the sustenance and energy that transforms the church into a dynamic growing movement. 

The same truth is mentioned in Ephesians 4:15,16 'But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.'

Therefore when any church is cut off from Christ, who is the Head, it will not be able to grow nor multiply any more. There is no life and no power to sustain the growth, and the church will eventually die a natural death. It no longer has the vitality and vigour of a movement, but becomes just a lifeless monument. 

What then must we do to avoid ending up like this? We need to maintain a close relationship with Christ, the Head of the Church in order to be a lively, energetic and dynamic movement. We must continue to draw life and sustenance from Christ. We do this through a concerted effort by every member to feed constantly on His life-giving Word, and through communing with Him in prayer. Are you keeping your walk with God? 

One striking example of how the church was thoroughly infused with power from Christ is found in Acts 4. As the church prayed for boldness in the face of persecution, a remarkable change took place: 'And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.' (Acts 4:31-33). May this be the testimony of Life Church as well, as we seek to draw life and power from Christ our Head. 

We have already seen five functions of the headship of Christ: Ensuring the security of the Church, the salvation of the Church, Exercising authority over the church, providing guidance and direction, as well as life and power. We now proceed to look at one more function that Christ exercises as the Head of the Church:

VI. Christ Provides Various Spiritual Gifts To Edify the Church

A. Who Receives These Gifts?

This wonderful provision is described in detail in Ephesians 4:7-16. In order for the church to function efficiently as a body, every member of the body has to play its part. That truth is brought out in v.7 'But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.' Christ, who is the Head, has given special spiritual gifts to every member in the church. He alone decides what gifts each of us receive, and we who receive them must commit ourselves to use them to serve Him in the body of Christ. The Church is meant to function as one body, and every member has been equipped by Christ to play a part in it. These spiritual gifts came into existence only when the Church was born. That took place at Pentecost which was eight days after Jesus ascended up to Heaven. 

Some of the spiritual gifts are listed in v.11: The gift of apostleship, the gift of prophecy, the gift of an evangelist, and the gift of pastoring and of teaching. This list is not a comprehensive one, as there are other passages that provide list with other gifts (Romans 12:6-8,28; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; 1 Peter 4:9-11. There are at least 19 different spiritual gifts that Christ has bestowed on His church, and not all of them apply today. Those like the gifts of apostleship, healing, and miracles were only meant for the early church at a time when the New Testament was not completed yet. It is not our purpose this morning to study these spiritual gifts in detail, but to look at:

B. Who Apportions These Gifts?

This is described in vv.8 'Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.' The expression, 'He led captivity captive' which is quoted from Psalm 68, portrays Christ in His ascension as a mighty Military General returning to His home country in a grand victory procession, leading all his prisoners of war, and the spoils of war which He now distributes freely to all His people. 

And we must be thankful to our ascended Lord for giving these spiritual gifts to us, for without them we would not be able to serve Him or build His kingdom. Like the spoils of war given by a victorious general to His people, these gift are bestowed upon us by Christ so that we can have a share in His victory. The spiritual gifts then can be understood as all the equipment that the church needs now in order to emerge victorious from her mission on earth, as Christ was in His mission on earth. The mission that these gifts are designed to help the church fulfill is stated in v.12 'For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ'. 

C. The Results of Using the Spiritual Gifts

Dearly beloved, if we faithfully seek to discover, cultivate and use our spiritual gifts, then we will have the wonderful satisfaction of seeing the glorious results of it in the body of Christ, which are described in vv. 13-15 of our passage. These verses show what Christ, the Head of our Church ultimately wants us to become - a body of mature believers who are likeminded. Such maturity is marked by two things: Firstly, it will be marked by stability - the mature church will not be easily swayed by false doctrines, but will always remain firm and stedfast in the faith. In contrast to that, immaturity brings instability - the church will be moved easily, tossed to and fro like a piece of driftwood floating on the ocean waves, blown about constantly by every wind of doctrine. 

Besides stability, the mature church will be marked by an effective witness - It will be speaking the truth in love (v.15). It is important that our witness for Christ should be characterised by both truth and love. To have love alone without truth will result in being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, as we have already seen. But to have the truth alone without love will result in a self-righteous ministry that may turn many away from the truth. The lack of love is as much a sign of immaturity in a church as the lack of truth. 

Let us be convinced that through the use of all the spiritual gifts that Christ has bestowed on each member, the church will grow in maturity to speak the truth in love and to have an effective witness that will go forth far and wide, reaching the lost of Christ with God's Word, and making an impact upon the world! Let is be our vision to fulfil the mission of the church to shine as lights in the world. 

Thus we have seen the glorious results of using the spiritual gifts, which Christ has provided for the church so that it may be built up. We should therefore give praise and thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for granting us all these spiritual gifts. We should also thank Him for exercising all the functions of His headship that we have seen earlier on: As our Head, Christ ensures both the security and salvation of the church. As our head, He exercises authority to rule the church and provides guidance and direction, as well as life and power to the church. We therefore end this anniversary message in wonder and praise for the Head of the Church. May the Lord Jesus Christ always have the pre-eminence that He should have here in Life Church!

GodMan

We as believers in Christ are the members of the Body of Christ, and Christ is the unique Head of the Body, the church; He is the Head of the church and the Head of each individual believers, directing every one of us.

Therefore, we as believers in Christ need to take Christ as our Head in all that we are and do, realizing that He is the One who directs us both individually and corporately.

When we were unbelievers, we were directed and governed by Satan, in whom all the world lies; we were without hope in the world, and even though we thought we do what we want, we actually obeyed the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, being under Satan’s rule.

Through regeneration we were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love; in this kingdom there’s only ONE King: Jesus Christ. The church life today is the kingdom of God, and all believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ.

As members, we need to realize that we can’t have any special or preferential fellowship or relationship with any other particular member of the Body, but all our fellowship and relationship should be through Christ as the Head and under Him.

We need to know the Lord experientially – we need to know Him as the Head of the Body and as the life of the Body. Also, we need to know Him as the Savior of the Body; as the Head, the Lord has all authority, and as the Savior, He is full of love.

We need to let the Lord love us, care for us, save us, and cherish us; we are His Body, and just as we care for our own body in love, so He cares and loves His Body.

The Savior of the Body loves the Body, and gave Himself up to gain His Body; even when we were not members of the Body, Jesus died for us.

He despised the shame for the joy set before Him, and died for us to redeem us and regenerate us to be the many members of His Body. May we realize that Christ is the Head of the Body, and may we be under His authority in everything, holding to the Head in love to receive the supply and direction from Him.

Christ is the Unique Head of the Body, the Church, and of All the Believers Individually

In our human body what decides and directs everything is the head; every single member is connected to the head via the nervous system, and when there’s a problem, the head issues orders and the members obey.

Christ is the unique Head of the Body, the church, corporately, and He is the Head of all the believers individually; Christ is the Head directly of each one of us (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3).

We all as members of the Body are directly under the headship of Christ in the Body; He directs us to do something in a particular way, and we move and do things in, through, and by the Body.

Since Christ is the Head of the Body, we need to hold the head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God (Col. 2:19).

Holding Christ the Head is not only us acknowledging that He’s the head, but it is coming under His authority in an absolute way. When we take Christ as the Head, we can be joined and properly related to the brothers and the sisters in the Body.

All the members of the Body are fitted together and are able to live the Body life through holding the Head. When we have a good relationship with the Head, we also have a good relationship with the other members of the Body.

If we have any problems or questions, we need to come to Christ and be under His authority as the unique Head of the Body, and all problems will be solved.

Our common relationship with the brothers and the sisters is determined by our relationship to Him as the Head. The only way we can have proper fellowship with the saints is by holding Christ as the Head, by being absolutely under His authority as the unique Head of the Body.

If we’re not under Christ as the Head, we can’t have fellowship with one another; if we don’t hold to Christ as the Head, our fellowship is invalid, for the basis of our fellowship is our mutual holding of the Head, Christ.

When we all hold Christ as the Head, being under His authority, we also hold to one another, we are joined together, and our relationship with the fellow members in the Body will be proper.

Christ is the unique Head of the Body: He has all the authority in the Body (Col. 1:19; Matt. 28:18). Authority is something that issues from God’s being, and only God has authority.

When Christ passed through death and resurrection and was glorified to be the Son of God in His humanity, God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth.

This means that Christ has authority, but we have no authority at all; we may represent Him with His authority, but all authority is in Christ, the Head.

Being under the headship of Christ is being absolutely under His authority (Eph. 4:15); the authority to direct the Body with all its members rests with the Head – we can’t control anyone or direct anyone.

Lord Jesus, You are the unique Head of the Body, the church, and You are our Head as individual members in the Body. We take You as the Head, and we place ourselves absolutely under Your authority. May we realize that we have no authority but all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Christ, the unique Head of the Body. Lord, we recognize Your authority as the Head, and we want to hold You as the Head so that we may receive the supply and direction from You, and we may be properly related in fellowship with our fellow members in the Body!

Being under the Authority of the Head causes us to Know the Life of the Body

When we are under the authority of the Head, Christ, we can know the life of the Body (see 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:18; 3:4).

If we are not under the authority of the Head but live in our selfish and individualistic life, we become a problem in the Body. All the members of our physical body are under the control and direction of the head, and if any member is disobedient to the head, that member becomes a problem.

If Christ is the Head, we cannot be the Head, and we have no right to disobey Him.

The problem is that too many times there are some people who want to be the head in the church; there are “human heads” of the church, human leaders, human methods, and human ordinances. When man agrees with the Head int he heaven, he obeys God, but when he disagrees, he disobeys God. This is wrong.

There is only one unique Head of the Body, and that is Christ; no one else is the head. We all have to be under Christ’s authority, hold Him as the Head, and walk not according to our will but in the spirit, for He as the Spirit is mingled with our spirit.

We must learn to receive orders from God and not from man; we must take Christ as the Head, and then we will know the life of the Body.

God raised Christ from the dead and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fulness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23); now we as the many members of the Body need to be under His authority, receive His dispensing and transmission of all that He is and has accomplished, and take His orders.

The members of the Body are fitted together and are able to live the Body life through holding the Head; our relationship with the unique Head of the Body determines our relationship with the other members (Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:18, 27).

In the human life, in the family life, and in society, we can have direct relationships with others, and if we don’t like someone, we may not stay with him but hang out with the people we like. But in the Body of Christ there are no direct relationships between the members.

Any direct relationship invalidates the headship of Christ. All relationships in the Body must pass through the unique Head of the Body, Christ.

It is similar to the boards in the tabernacle: wood didn’t touch wood directly, but the acacia wood was overlaid with gold, and the boards were joined in this gold. When we all are related to one another through Christ, the Head, we don’t have any special love or special relationship with anyone.

How strange it would be if our left hand would have a special relationship with our right hand, and they always stay together!

Similarly, it is not appropriate for us to have a direct relationship or fellowship with our fellow members of the Body, no matter how much we like them or desire to be with them; we need to be under the authority of the Head and we will know the life of the Body.

Lord Jesus, You are our Lord; we have no right to make any decision or choose anything. Deliver us from being our own head or from taking anyone else as the head. Lord Jesus, You are the unique Head of the Body, and we want to remain under Your authority in everything. Save us from trying to have any direct relationship with other members without being under You as the Head. Oh Lord, we want to know the life of the Body by being under the authority of the Head in everything, submitting to the Head!

 

1. The basic principle of church government is that Jesus Christ is the Head of His church.

Who is in charge of the church? Jesus Christ is! It is His church; He bought it with His blood. The local church does not belong to the pastor, to the elders, or to the congregation. It belongs to Jesus Christ who alone is the Head (see Eph. 1:20-23). No one dare proclaim, “This is my church!” It doesn’t belong to any of us. It belongs to Christ the Lord. Never in the New Testament are the leaders of the local church referred to as “head” of the church. Neither is the church viewed as a democratic organization, where the members are free to vote their own minds on issues. The key question in church government is not, “What is the mind of the members?” but, “What is the mind of Christ?”

The church is a living organism, with Jesus Christ as the living Head. The church is not to be organized as a corporation, with the pastor and elder board as the directors and the congregation as shareholders! Webster defines an organization as “an administrative and functional structure.” He defines an organism as “an individual constituted to carry on the activities of life by means of organs separate in function but mutually dependent.” The church is the latter. While an organism is organized, it is more: it is living, responsive to the living Head. The church is a living organism in which every member is to be submissive and responsive to the Head and in mutual dependence and interaction with the other members so that the will of the Head may be carried out in a harmonious corporate manner.

So the main function of church government is to allow Christ to exercise His headship over His church. Having that view of church government results in an entirely different way of conducting church business. If you view the church as a democratic organization where every member has a right to vote, you’re into church politics. Shortly after I came here, I had lunch with a denominational executive who advised me, “You’ve got to build your power base as a new pastor in a church.” I didn’t reply, but I thought to myself, “I’m sorry, but I’m not into building a power base.” If you operate that way, you’re simply trying to manage and manipulate a bunch of self-willed people expressing their wishes through majority rule. But if the members are living daily in submission to the living Head and seeking to obey His Word, then when they come together to take care of business, they are denying self and reverently seeking what the Lord is saying to His church corporately. That’s an entirely different thing than church politics!

To implement this principle, Scripture teaches that ...

2. Christ exercises His headship through spiritually mature elders.

There are two main terms used interchangeably in the New Testament to describe church leaders: “elders” and “overseers” (Titus 1:5, 7; Acts 20:17, 28). “Elders” (Greek, presbyteros; see also 1 Pet. 5:1-4) looks at the man himself. It refers to a man of maturity, not necessarily in years, but in spiritual discernment. While the Bible doesn’t put any age requirement on the office, I would say that an elder under 30 should be an exception (Jesus began His ministry around that age). Once in a while you see a Spurgeon come along, who began pastoring at 17 and was a godly example and a superb Bible expositor from the start. But that is rare. “Overseers” (Greek, episkopos; 1 Tim. 3:1-2) looks at the nature of the work. It refers to men who superintend, watch over, or guard the local church. This term points to a man who is spiritually mature enough to discern spiritual dangers and to guard and guide the flock into spiritual growth.

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A third word, “pastor” (= “shepherd”), is used in noun form only once for church leaders (Eph. 4:11), where Paul says that God has gifted some as pastors and teachers, the two concepts being tied together. The verb is used of church leaders in several places (John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2). In 1 Peter 2:24, Jesus is called the Shepherd (Pastor) and Guardian (Overseer) of our souls. Thus human pastors and overseers work under and are accountable to the Lord Jesus, the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:4). The word “pastor” looks at the work from the analogy of a shepherd and his sheep.

A fourth word (Greek, prohistemi, from a compound, “to stand before or first”) means to lead or have charge over (1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:4, 5, 12; 5:17; Rom. 12:8). A fifth word (Greek, hegeomai, we get our “hegemony” from it) means to lead or rule (Heb. 13:7, 17, 24; Luke 22:26). While it involves authority (Heb. 13:17), it also requires servanthood (Luke 22:26).

The point of these various terms is that there is to be a designated body of leaders in the local church. The Bible prescribes several things concerning these leaders:

A. Elders should be men, not women.

As we saw last week (1 Tim. 2:11-15), leadership in the local church is to be male, not female, in order to preserve God’s order instituted in creation, but violated in the fall. Also, every time elders are mentioned in the New Testament, they are men, not women. The qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 5:1-4) also make it plain that this office is for men (“husband of one wife”). This means that the elder who is supported as the teaching pastor (1 Tim. 5:17) must be a man. Women may serve on the staff of a local church as pastors and teachers of other women (Titus 2:2), but not over men.

B. Elders should be spiritually mature men.

This was already indicated in the terms used for the office: elder, overseer, shepherd, and leader. But it’s also spelled out in the list of qualifications. We will examine these more carefully (next time), but for now please note that as a whole the list consists of qualities that reflect spiritual and emotional maturity. “Above reproach” heads both lists (1 Tim. 3:2 & Titus 1:5) as a comprehensive term looking at his integrity and reputation. Of the other qualities listed, only one has to do with ability or giftedness (“able to teach”). The others have to do with his home life and personal ethics, especially qualities that can be readily observed.

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C. Elders should be a plurality.

The term is always used in the plural with regard to a single local church (see Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:5). It may be that one elder had oversight of a single house church. It also may be that one elder, especially the one supported to preach and teach (1 Tim. 5:17-18) will be looked to as the leader among the elders, as Peter was among the apostles and as James was among the elders in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15:2-21; 21:18; Gal. 2:9). But the church in a city was viewed as a unit over which there were several elders.

There is wisdom in many counselors (Prov. 11:14) and there is wisdom in sharing the responsibility and authority in the church, so that no single person will dominate without accountability. The only one-man ruler in the New Testament is Diotrephes, whom the Apostle John castigates because “he loves to be first” and he exercised heavy-handed authority by himself (3 John 9-10). The elders need to be subject to Christ through apostolic authority (now, the New Testament; Diotrephes was not). From that base, they can then relate to one another in harmony as a practical expression of the Body of Christ.

Thus the elders should be spiritually mature men, subject to Christ as Head of His church. How are the elders selected?

D. Elders are selected by God and recognized by the church.

As already mentioned, the church is not a democracy. That may sound un-American, but remember, not everything that is American is biblical. Democracy may be a great way to run our country, but it’s a lousy way to run the church. The church is a living organism under the headship of Jesus Christ, subject to His Word. As such, the church must be living in submission to Christ as it seeks to discern His mind in line with the requirements of His Word. That’s a lot different than just taking a vote and following the majority opinion!

Acts 20:28 states how a man becomes an elder or overseer: “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” How does this happen? Originally, it was by apostolic appointment (see Acts 14:23). Paul didn’t hold elections; he appointed elders. Later he had his delegates, Timothy and Titus, appoint elders (Titus 1:5). In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9, we have the Holy Spirit-inspired qualifications which we must look for in those who are to be elders. It is the responsibility of the church to seek the Lord (Paul fasted and prayed, Acts 14:23) to discern which men meet those qualifications and are willing to devote themselves to that ministry, and to recognize them as elders.

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Thus rather than “voting” for elders at our annual meeting, we should view it as confirming these men as meeting the biblical qualifications. To that end we have elder candidates fill out an extensive personal questionnaire to learn about their walk with God, their home life, etc. The nominating committee interviews each candidate, going over these questions. Also, the committee welcomes any input from the congregation. We want men in office who are examples of godliness.

There are no stipulations in the New Testament as to the number of elders per church. That should be determined by the number of qualified men and the need for shepherding in the church. It is almost impossible for one man to shepherd more than 20 families, so the larger the church, the more elders will be needed.

Although there is no concept in the New Testament of elders serving a set “term” of office, it is not a bad idea to have a fixed term so that an elder can be reviewed by the congregation and so that he can determine whether to continue serving or to take some time off. It’s a demanding ministry, and men who work in an outside job can’t always continue in it year in and year out. Also, family pressures change with the ages of a man’s children, and so it seems wise to allow him to limit his commitment or renew it as his personal circumstances dictate. I understand that our new church constitution will allow for the elders serving terms, as is currently the case for our deacons.

Thus the basic principle of church government is that Christ is the Head of His church. He exercises His headship through spiritually mature elders. What are those elders supposed to do?

3. The elders’ task is to lead by shepherding God’s flock.

The various terms used for church leadership as well as several of the key passages reveal several broad areas in which elders are to serve:

A. Elders should provide leadership by example and servanthood.

(See 1 Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-5.) Elders have charge over the flock and are accountable to the Lord. But they are not to lord it over those allotted to their charge, but to be examples to the flock. Peter reflects the leadership style set forth and modeled by the Lord Jesus, who humbly washed the disciples feet and instructed them, even on that night, that the leader among them should be as the servant (Luke 22:24-27).

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Leaders know from the Word and from experience what healthy spiritual maturity is so that they can guide others in the ways of the Lord. Thus as elders humbly walk with God in their own homes (1 Tim. 3:4-5), they lead the church into maturity by their own example.

There are times, of course, when those who lead by servanthood and example must exercise authority. Paul tells Titus (1:9) that an elder must “be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” There are times when certain practices among God’s people must be prohibited and wrong doctrines must be confronted. There are times when church discipline must be carried out. None of these things are easy or pleasant. But servant leadership is not soft leadership. An elder must never be self-willed and use authority for personal power. But he must be strong in leading God’s people in truth, which means confronting error.

B. Elders should shepherd God’s flock.

(Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2.) The word “shepherd” is the same as “pastor.” The work of pastoring is shared by the elders. It is impossible for one man to adequately pastor a church this large. The ministry of pastoring involves doing what a shepherd does for his sheep: He knows them (John 10:14); he leads them (John 10:3-4); he feeds them and guides them into the rich pastures of God’s Word (John 10:9; 1 Thess. 5:12; Titus 1:9; Heb. 13:7); he guards them from wolves (John 10:12; Acts 20:29-30); he seeks the lost and straying sheep and helps heal their wounds by getting them restored to the Lord (John 10:16; Ezek. 34:4-5); he corrects the erring or rebellious (2 Tim. 4:2); he equips the flock for maturity so that they can serve the Lord as He has gifted them (Eph. 4:11-16).

C. Some elders should concentrate on preaching and teaching.

(1 Tim. 5:17-18.) We will cover this in more detail when we get to these verses. But you will notice that Paul distinguishes some elders who labor in word and teaching. Verse 18 makes it clear that such men should be supported financially in their work. It takes both giftedness and hard work (which means time) to do an adequate job of preaching God’s truth. Those who are so gifted should devote themselves to that ministry. In the early church, the apostles were being pressured by the practical needs of the congregation to get involved in administrative matters. But they told the church to select qualified men who could take care of these matters and added, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer, and to the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4). Sadly, too many pastors in our day allow themselves to get diverted from prayer and the ministry of the Word. The entire church suffers if a few men do not devote themselves to this crucial work.

D. Some elders should concentrate on administration and oversight.

(1 Tim. 5:17.) The deacons, as we will see, can aid the elders in this important task, just as the first deacons in the Jerusalem church relieved the apostles from ministering to the needy. But the elders should lead by overseeing and by equipping those under their oversight for various ministries in the church. Remember, an organism is not the same as an organization, but an organism is highly organized. This means that we can’t just adopt business management principles straight into the church. But we do need proper organization, delegation, equipping, and oversight for the local body of Christ to function effectively.

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Conclusion

Thus the answer to “who is in charge of the church?” is, Jesus Christ is! He exercises His headship in the local church through elders who are spiritually mature men, selected by God and recognized by the church, who through example and servant-hood shepherd His flock.

Note one final thing: In 1 Timothy 3:1Paul says that a man should aspire for and desire the office of overseer. It is a fine work. The word “aspire” means to stretch oneself out or to reach after. This is not ambition for power and status, but a reaching toward spiritual maturity so that you can serve the Chief Shepherd by helping to shepherd His flock. Some of you men should have this desire from God to become elders. To get there, you should be growing in godliness (the qualities of 1 Tim. 3:1-7) by daily time in His Word and in prayer. You should be shepherding your own family, setting an example in your own home. You should be taking advantage of every opportunity to serve God’s people, building caring relationships with others with the goal of seeing them become mature in the faith. In other words, the church should not put a man into the office of elder so that he can serve; it should recognize as elders the men who are already living the life and doing the work. We need men who desire that fine work of oversight in this flock. We cannot grow without it. I pray that some of you will aspire to that work.

Well may the church be called the fairest among women, when her Head thus excelleth all the beauties of earth and heaven.

     Another figure which is used to describe the headship of Christ to the church is the conjugal. As the Lord made Eve out of the flesh of Adam, so hath he taken the church out of the side of Christ Jesus, and she is of him as Eve was of Adam — she is of his flesh and of his bones. A mysterious union has been established between Christ and his church, which is constantly compared to that of marriage: “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” Jesus is the bridegroom; his church is his bride. They are espoused one to another; in bonds of love they are bound for ever to each other; and they are alike with sacred expectation waiting for the marriage-day, when shall be accomplished the eternal purpose of God and the desire of the Redeemer. As the husband exercises a headship in the house, not at all (when the relationship is rightly carried out) tyrannical or magisterial, but a government founded upon the rule of nature and endorsed by the consent of love, even so Jesus Christ ruleth in his church, not as a despotic lord, compelling and constraining his subject bride against her will, but as a husband well beloved, obtaining obedience voluntarily from the heart of the beloved one, being in all things so admired and had in esteem as to win an undisputed pre-eminence. Such conjugal headship is illustrated by the word of God in the old prophecy, “Thou shalt call me Ishi , and shalt call me no more Baali.” Baali and Ishi both mean lord , but the sense differs; the one is a mere ruler, the other a beloved husband. Jesus Christ’s kingdom is no tyranny; his sceptre is not made of iron; he rules not with blows and curses, and threats, but his sceptre is of silver and his rule is love. The only chains he uses are the chains of his constraining grace; his dominion is spiritual, and extends over willing hearts who delight to bow before him and to give him the honour due unto his name. These, I think, are the senses in which this word “headship” is used, but there remains one other, these former all qualifying this last, upon which I intend to dwell at some length this morning.

     Christ is the Head of his church as King in Zion. In the midst of the church of God the supreme government is vested in the person of Christ. “One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.” The church is the kingdom of God among men. It is purely spiritual, comprehending only spiritual men, and existing only for spiritual objects. And who is its King? None but Jesus. We can truly say, as they did of old, who proclaimed the kingship of the Crucified, “We have another King, one Jesus.” To him the assemblies of the saints pay all regal honour, and at his throne the entire church boweth itself, saluting him as Master and Lord. To no other do we render spiritual obeisance. Christ only and solely is King upon Zion's hill, set there by eternal decree, maintained in that position by infinite power, and appointed to remain upon the throne till every enemy shall be made his footstool. I wish I had eloquence this morning, that I might bear worthy witness to the crown-rights of King Jesus in his church, for I know no subject which it is more necessary to insist upon in these eventful times. Let Jesus be owned as the only Head of the church, and the way out of the present political debate which agitates our nation is clear enough. Ignorance of this truth blinds many, and makes them labour with all their heart for a bad cause, under the notion that they are doing God service. To know this truth is to hold a most weighty trust, with which we must not trifle. Martyrs have bled for this truth, Scotland’s heather has been stained in ten thousand places, and her waters have been dyed crimson for the defence of this weighty doctrine. Let us not be slow with unshaken courage to declare yet again that kings and princes and parliaments have no lawful jurisdiction over the church of Jesus Christ, that it beseems not the best of monarchs to claim those royal prerogatives which God has given to his only begotten Son. Jesus alone is the Head of his spiritual kingdom, the church; and all others who come within her pale to exercise power are but usurpers and Antichrist, and not for one moment to be respected in their usurped authority by the true church of the living God. Some churches have not learned this lesson, but are held in leash like dogs by their masters; they crouch down at the feet of the state to eat the crumbs which fall from Mammon’s table; and if they are cuffed and beaten by the powers that be, well do they deserve it; and I would almost pray that the whip may fall upon them yet more heavily, till they learn to appreciate liberty, and are willing to take off the dog collar of the State, and be free from human domination. If they lose a little wealth, they will win the solid gold of God’s own favour, and the abiding power of his Spirit, which they cannot expect to have while they are traitors to King Jesus, and own not the sole and only headship of Immanuel in the church.

     II. We shall now, therefore, in the second place, come to look a little into this headship of Jesus Christ in a regal sense, as to WHAT IT IMPLIES.

     Since Christ is the Head of his body, the church, he alone can determine doctrines for her. Nothing is to be received as divinely warranted except it cometh with his stamp upon it. It is nothing, my brethren, to the faithful servant of Jesus Christ that a certain dogma comes down to him with the grey antiquity of the ages to make it venerable. Like a sensible man, the Christian respects antiquity, but like a loyal subject of his King, he does not so bow before antiquity as to let it become ruler in Zion instead of the living Christ. A multitude of good men may meet together, and they may, in their judgment, propound a dogma, and assert it to be essential and undoubted, and they may even threaten perils most abundant to those who receive not their verdict; but if the dogma was not authorised long before they decided it — if it was not written in the Book, the decision of the learned council amounts to nothing. All the fathers, arid doctors, and divines, and confessors, put together, cannot add a word to the faith once delivered unto the saints: yea, I venture to say, that the unanimous assent of all the saints in heaven and earth would not suffice to make a single doctrine binding upon conscience unless Jesus had so determined. In vain do men say, “So did the early church” — the early church has no supremacy over us. It is to no purpose to quote Origen or Augustine: quote the inspired apostles, and the doctrine is established, but not otherwise. In the church of God it is never sufficient to say, “So thinks Martin Luther.” Who was Martin Luther? A servant of Jesus Christ, and nothing more. It is not sufficient to say, “So teacheth John Calvin,” for who is John Calvin? Hath he shed his blood for you, or is he your master? His opinion is to be respected as the opinion of your fellow servant, but in no respect as a doctor or authoritative teacher in the church — for Christ alone is Rabbi, and we are to call no man Master upon earth. Suppose I have received a truth from the very man who was the means of my conversion; I am bound, in candour and affection, to give all respect to him because of the relationship which exists between us, but I must take heed lest this decline into idolatry, and I myself become nothing more than a receiver of truth as the word of man, instead of accepting it as the word of God. I am, therefore, in the most candid manner, but none the less solicitously, to bring to the test every truth which I have received, whether from my father or mother, or my minister, or from some great man of olden times, whose name I have learned to respect; seeking all the while light from above to direct me aright. Nothing is doctrine to the church of God — nothing which has not been taught in the Scriptures. To Christians it is nothing to say that certain doctrines are taught in books of common prayer, or of conference discipline, or of systematic theology; to us it is of small account that either Presbytery, or the Episcopacy, or Independency, have put their stamp upon a certain form of teaching. Authority is no more to us than the snap of a man’s finger, unless the truth thus commended derives certainty from the testimony of Jesus Christ himself, who is the Head of his body the church.

     So next, since he is the Head, he only can legislate as to the church. In a state, if any knot of persons should profess to make laws for the kingdom, they would be laughed at; and if they should for a moment attempt to enforce their own rules and regulations in defiance of the laws of the country, they would be amenable to punishment. Now the church of God hath no power whatever to make laws for herself, since she is not her own head ; and no one has any right to make laws for her, for no one is her head but Christ. Christ alone is the law-maker of the church, and no rule or regulation in the Christian church standeth for anything unless in its spirit at least it hath the mind of Christ to support and back it up. Such-and-such a thing has been thought to be right in the church, and therefore it has been laid down, and made prescriptive; the tradition of the fathers has established a certain custom the custom. What then? Why this — that if we can distinctly see that the custom and prescription are not according to the tenor of holy Scripture, and the spirit of Christ, neither of them are anything to us. But what if the custom be supported by all the good men of every age? I say that matters nought if the Lord hath not taught it. Our conscience is not to be bound. If a law were backed up by fifty thousand times as many as all the saints, it would have no authority upon the conscience even of the weakest Christian if not laid down by our King himself; and the violation of such a commandment of men would be no sin, but might indeed become a Christian duty in order to let men see that we are not the servants of men , but the servants of Jesus Christ the Lord. In spiritual things it is of the utmost importance to keep this fact clear, that nonconformity is only sinful when it refuses to conform to the will of Christ; and conformity itself is a great sin when it obeys a rule which is not of the Lord’s ordaining. When we meet together in church-meeting we cannot make laws for the Lord’s kingdom; we dare not attempt it. Such necessary regulations as may be made for carrying out our Lord’s commands, to meet for worship, and to proclaim the gospel, are commendable, because they are acts needful to obedience to his highest laws; but even these minor details are not tolerable if they clearly violate the spirit and mind of Jesus Christ. He has rather given us spiritual guidances than legal rubrics and fettering liturgies, and he has left us at liberty to follow the directions of his own free Spirit; but if we make a regulation, thinking it to be very wise, if it be contrary to the Spirit of our Lord, the rule is itself evil, and is not to be borne with; in such a case the church has trenched upon the rights of her Head, and has done what she ought not to have done; she has, in effect, snatched from his hand the sceptre, and set up a schism. Law-making in the church was finished in that day when the curse was pronounced on him who should take from or add to the word of God. Christ alone is the legislator of his church — none but he.

     But I go further, and venture to say that Christ is not only the legislator of the church, and has left to us his Statute-book, sufficient to guide us in every dilemma, but he is also the living administrator in the church. He is not here, it is true, but as monarchs often administrate through lieutenants, so the Lord Jesus administereth through his ever living Spirit, who dwells in the hearts of his people. You are not to think of Christ as of one who is dead and buried. If he were here on earth I suppose nobody would claim to be the head of the church but himself. His presence would at once overawe every pretender; and now, though he is not here in person, yet he is not dead. He liveth, he sitteth on the throne prepared for him at the right hand of the Father. In spirit he is here. “Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” And what must the true Head of the church think when he sees another put up into his throne, and impiously called by his title! What must the living Head moving in the midst of the church feel in regard to such a blasphemous intrusion as that? He, the Holy Ghost, is the Vicegerent of Christ, the representative of the absent Son of Man. But how does this Spirit administrate the laws of God? I answer, through his people, for the Holy Ghost dwells in true believers; and when they meet together as the Lord’s servants, and ask his guidance humbly, they may expect to have it — and opening the Statute-book and seeing plain directions as to their course of action, they may be quite sure that what they do has their Master’s sanction. If they look first of all for the direction in their Lord’s Law-book, and next seek to be instructed as to its meaning by the Holy Spirit, though they be many minds, they shall be led as one man to choose that course of action which shall be after the mind of Christ. Acting humbly and obediently, not on their own authority, but in the authority of Jesus Christ, who by his Spirit still rules in his church, believers practically show Christ still to be the only Head of his church as to actual administration as well as to legislation.

     The sole authority of Jesus Christ in all respects must be maintained rigorously, but churches are very apt to be guided by something else. Some would have us guided by results. We have heard a discussion upon the question whether or no we should continue missionary operations, since there are so few converted! How can the question ever be raised while the Master’s orders run thus — “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”? Spoken by the mouth of Jesus our ruler, that command stands good, and the results of missions can have no effect upon loyal minds either one way or the other as to their prosecution. If from this day for the next ten thousand years not a single soul should be converted to God by foreign missions, if there still remained a church of Christ, it would be her duty with increasing vigour to thrust her sons forward into the mission field; because her duty is not measured by the result, but by the imperial authority of Christ. Equally so the church is not to be regulated by the times. We are told by some that this age requires a different kind of preaching from that of a hundred years ago; and that two hundred years ago, in the Puritanic times, doctrines were suitable which are exploded now; the minister must keep abreast of the age; this is a thoughtful and philosophic period, and the preacher must therefore philosophise, and bring forth his own thinking rather than “mere declamation,” which is the learned name for a plain declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, sirs, it is not so; our King is the same, and the doctrines he has given us have not been changed by his authority, nor the rules he has laid down reversed by his proclamation; he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; let the times be polished or uncouth, let them become philosophical or sink into barbarism, our duty will be still the same, in solemn loyalty to Jesus Christ, to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him crucified. But the discoveries of science, we are told, have materially affected belief, and therefore we should change our ways according as philosophy changes. No, it must not so be. This is a stumbling stone and a rock of offence against which he who stumbleth shall be broken. We have the same King still, the same laws still, the same teaching of the word still, and we are to deliver this teaching after the same sort and in the same spirit. Semper idem must be our motto — always the same, always keeping close to Jesus Christ and glorifying him, for he and not the times, not the philosophy and not the wit of man, must rule and govern the church of God. If we shall do this, if any church shall do this, namely, take its truth from Jesus’ lips, live according to Jesus’ word, and go forward in his name, such a church cannot by any possibility fail, for the failure of such a church would be the failure of the Master’s own authority. Brethren, he has told us if we keep his commandments, we shall abide in his love. He will be with us always, even to the end of the world, and he has given to his church his Holy Spirit according to the fulness of those words which he uttered when he breathed on his apostles, “Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained;” so that a church acting for Christ, with his authority denouncing the judgments of God upon sin, shall find those judgments follow; and opening the treasure-house of God's mercy to those who seek Jesus Christ by faith, those treasures shall be freely given according to the church’s declaration, which she made in her Master’s name. Go in her own name, and she faileth; go in her Lord’s name, and she succeedeth. Take with her his sign manual, walk in obedience to his Statute-book, and deliver herself from the lordship of men, and the church’s history shall be written in some such lines as these, “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.”

     I have in these words, I am afraid, rather confusedly stated what I believe Scripture teacheth with regard to the headship of Christ, namely, that he is the only teacher of doctrine, the only maker of spiritual laws, that he is the living administrator of the laws of his own spiritual kingdom, and therefore that no authority is to be yielded unto the church, but that of Christ; and when we have that authority, and are obedient to it, we need entertain no fear as to the result.

     III. Thirdly, ON WHAT DOES THIS HEADSHIP REST? Very briefly, it rests on the natural supremacy of Christ’s nature. Who could behead but Jesus? For he is perfect man, which we are not. He is the first-born among many brethren, and we are but the younger and weaker. He is God over all, blessed for ever and ever. Surely, none but he should be king in Zion, since there is no part of the church which is divine except its glorious Head. The headship of Christ is the inevitable and necessary result of his work. Hear how his members sing —

“Thou hast redeemed our souls with blood,
Hast set the prisoners free;
Hast made us kings and priests to God,
And we shall reign with thee.”

     Who could be head but he to whom such praise can be awarded? He has washed us in his blood — he must be Head. He has loved us from before the foundation of the world, he must be chief. His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory — let him be crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. That wine-press wherein he trod his enemies alone, till his garments were dyed with blood, was the guarantee to him that he should sit on his Father’s throne and reign for ever and ever.

     Moreover, the decree of God has decided this beyond dispute. Read the second Psalm, and learn that when the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed, the Lord sitting in the heavens laughed at their conspiracy, and scorned the gathering of his foes, “Yet,” saith he, “have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath saith unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” How gloriously the promise reads: “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” It is part of the eternal purpose which constituted the church that Christ should be made its Head; and if there be a church of the living God, it is also inevitable that of that church Christ should be the sole Head. Moreover, brethren, and but once more, is not our Lord the Head of the church by universal acclamation and consent of all the members of that church? We have never set up a rival candidate; no heart renewed by his grace can desire any other king.

“Let him be crowned with majesty
Who bow’d his head to death;
And be his honours sounded high
By all things that have breath.”

     Rivals in his blood-bought dominion? Rivals against the Son of David! Let them be swept away as the smoke; let them be as driven stubble to his bow! King Jesus! All hail! Long live the King! Bring forth the royal diadem! See you not how the angels crown him? Hark ye not to the songs of cherubim and seraphim, “For thou art worthy, thou art worthy to take the book, and loose the seven seals thereof”? Hear ye not the everlasting chant of those who have overcome through his blood, “Thou art worthy, thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood”? while the church on earth joins in the selfsame solemn canticle, “Crown him, crown him, crown him Lord of all, for worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” By the supremacy of his nature, by the necessity of his accomplished work, by the decree of the Father, by the universal assent of all the bloodwashed, he is the only Head of his own church.

     IV. What then, brethren, WHAT THEN DOES THIS CONDEMN?

     What does it condemn? It condemns the villanous pretence of a Papal headship. Forsooth, a priest at Rome is the head of the church of Jesus Christ! Well, if the Pope be head of the church — if he be so — then see what, according to Scripture, he is. This Pio Nono is this — he is the head of the body, the church “ who is the beginning.” There was nothing, then, before this aforesaid Pius IX.? “The first-born from the dead!” does he claim to have risen from the dead? “That in all things he might have the pre-eminence” is this also the old Italian’s right? “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;” blasphemy dares not apply this to the tottering prince whose exchequer needs replenishing with Peter’s pence. Yet this is the description of the person who is the Head of the church, and, if Pius IX. be not all that, he is no head of the church. But perhaps he is the second head? Then Christ’s church is a monstrous being with two heads. They may make it out to be three one day, perhaps, and then we will call the thing Cerberus, and helldog, and we shall not be far off from the true idea of Popery. Nay, but he is the delegated head. What for? Why should Christ delegate authority which he can wield himself? But we need a delegation, for Christ is absent. But the Holy Spirit is that delegation, and is here. Of all the dreams that ever deluded men , and probably of all blasphemies that ever were uttered, there has never been one which is more absurd and which is more fruitful in all manner of mischief than the idea that the Bishop of Rome can be the head of the church of Jesus Christ. No; these popes die, and are not; and how could the church live if its head were dead? The true Head ever liveth, and the church ever liveth in him.

     But it is affirmed that there must needs be a visible headship, and just now we are told every day that we must choose in church matters between the headship of the monarch of England and the headship of the pope at Rome. I beg the gentlemen’s pardon, we have no such choice, for when we are asked which we will have to rule us in spiritual things, we say, “Neither — neither for a single moment.” We make no bones about the matter, kings and queens are no heads of the church to us. We will no more brook spiritual domination from an English premier than from a Romish pope; we are equally opposed to both — all human headship must go down. To our well beloved queen all honour and reverence as to one of the best of rulers in civil affairs, but in spiritual affairs in the church of Christ she has no ruling power; what she may have in the church of England is another question. To us it makes no matter whether it be man or woman, whether it be prince or priest, we will have neither czar, emperor, queen, pope, seraph or angel, to reign in the church of Jesus Christ. The church hath no lawful governor or supreme Lord but Jesus Christ himself. Our Lord, as it seems to me, puts this so plainly in the word, that I marvel men who believe in the Bible should think the state could be at the head of the church. The state-church party have placed a Bible with a crown and a sceptre upon their bills! It is suggestive that the Bible is closed, for if Englishmen were once to read it, it would be fatal to the cause which now claims it, since one of the truths they would read would be this, “My kingdom is not of this world;” and they would hear Christ say, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s” — that is, yield all civil obedience to the civil authority, “but unto God the things that are God’s.” Leave the Lord to rule in the kingdom of mind and spirit, and let Caesar keep his kingdom of civil government; let the state do its work and never interfere with the church, and let the church do her work and never interfere with, or be interfered with, by the state. The two kingdoms are separate and distinct. Broad lines of demarcation are always drawn, throughout the whole of the New Testament, between the spiritual and the temporal power, and the mischief is when men cannot see this. Christ is the head of the church, not any one who represents the state. Brethren, just think for a minute what mischief this doctrine of the headship of the state has done. Time was when men could hardly be parish beadles, without coming to take the Sacrament at the established church. Oh! the multiplied hypocrisies which were perpetrated every day by graceless men who came to qualify themselves for office by taking the emblems of our holy faith when they knew not Christ! Such things are more or less inevitable to the system. Think, again, what persecutions have risen out of this error. You cannot put any sect into a position of ascendancy but it falls into persecution; all sects have persecuted in turn when so tempted. There is not a pin to choose between one and the other, except, as I sometimes say, the Baptists have never persecuted, because they have never had an opportunity; but I will not insist even upon that. It is in human nature to do ill when the civil arm is ready to crush conscience, and therefore Christ has taken the temptation out of the way, and put it out of the possibility of his people, if they keep close to his rule, so much as to touch the carnal weapon. The weapons of their warfare, he tells them, are not carnal but spiritual, and therefore mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

     What a degradation to the church of Christ to think of having any other head but Christ! Ah! brethren, if the monarch were the most holy and godly person that ever lived, I should tremble for him exceedingly that such a person should in any sense be styled the head of the church. How could such a person pray? How could a poor sinner — and such the best man still is— come before Christ and pray to him and say, “Lord, thou knowest I am the head of thy church”? It seems to me to be such an atrocious claim, such a horrible profanity! I would not, for twice ten thousand worlds, touch that title with so much as the tip of my finger, if I hoped to be saved. I dare not expose my friend, or even my enemy, to the awful risk he must run in assuming such a title. I judge no one, God forbid I should; but if I saw in this world a man absolutely perfect, full of divine knowledge and light, and I were asked by him, “Shall I assume that title?” I should go down on my knees and say, “For God’s sake, and for your own soul’s sake, touch it not, for how can you, with your light, and knowledge, and love to Christ, take from him one of his grandest names?” But what shall I say when the monarch is the opposite? And such cases have occurred. I need not take you far back in history. The name of George IV. has no remarkable odour of sanctity about it; and the same may be said of Charles II. — I never heard historians say that he was eminent in godliness. But yet these men were heads of the church! I shudder at being compelled to remember such an infamous fact. Men, whose character is not to be thought of without a blush on the cheek of modesty, were heads of the church of Jesus Christ! God have mercy on this land for having fallen so low as this, for I know not that heathen countries have ever blasphemed God more than we have done in allowing heartless debauchers to take upon themselves the name of “head of the church of Christ.” No, my brethren, this cannot be endured by us in any church with which we commune; we repudiate it; we shake off the abomination as Paul shook off the viper from his hand into the fire. The same rebuke is due to that which has been tolerated in many churches, namely, the headship of great religious teachers. Sometimes great teachers while yet alive have been practically regarded as the supreme arbiters of the church. Their will was law, apart from the Book; their decree stood fast, apart from the Scripture. All this was evil. There are certain churches at this day which reverence extremely the names of dead men. “The Fathers” — are they not by some thought to be as great as the apostles? and the names of John Wesley, and John Calvin, and others, I fear very often occupy the place which belongs to Jesus Christ. Let every church of Jesus Christ now declare that she follows not men but obeys her Master alone.

     Mark you, brethren, the truth which I have brought out somewhat strongly equally applies to the church itself, for the church is not her own head, she has no right to act upon her own judgment, apart from the statutes of her King; she must come to the Book — everything is there for her. She has no right to use her own judgment apart from the Master. She must go to the Master. She is a servant, and the Master is supreme. The church’s power is twofold. It is a power to testify to the world what Christ has revealed. She is set as a witness, and she must act as such. She has, next, a ministerial power, by which she carries out the will of Christ, and doeth his bidding as Christ’s servant and minister. A certain number of servants meet in the servants’ hall; they have an order given to do such work, and they have also orders given them how to do it. They then consult with each other as to the minor details, how they can best observe the master’s rule and do his bidding. They are perfectly right in so doing. But suppose they began to consult about whether the objects proposed by the master were good, or whether the rules which he had laid down might not be altered! They would at once become rebellious, and be in danger of discharge. So a church met together to consult how to carry out the Master’s will, how to enforce his laws, does rightly; but a church meeting to make new laws, or a church meeting to rule according to its own judgment and opinion, imagining that its decision will have weight, has made a mistake, and placed itself in a false position. The one doctrine which I have sought to bring forward is this, that he alone who bought the church, and saved the church, is to rule the church; and surely our hearts, without exception, bow to this.

     V. But if SO, WHAT IS THE LESSON WHICH IT TEACHES TO EACH ONE HERE?   

     Does not it make each of you enquire, “If the entire church is thus to yield obedience to Christ, and to no one else, am I yielding such obedience? I claim to be a Christian, but am I a Christian of that prejudiced sort who follow that which they are brought up to, and so acknowledge the rules of mothers and fathers instead of the rule of Christ? Have I brought what I avow to be truth to the touchstone of Scripture? Did I ever spend a quarter of an hour in weighing my cherished opinions?” I am afraid the great mass of Christians have never done this, but have sucked in their religion with their mother’s milk, and nothing further.

     Again, if I be a Christian, am I in the habit of judging what I ought to do by my own whims and wishes, or do I judge by the Statute-book of the King? Many say they do not like this and do not like that, as if that had anything to do with it! What are your likes and dislikes? You are a servant, and bound to give up your own will to the Master. If Christ gives a command, which you imagine to be hard because it does not chime in with your love of ease — my brother, will you not, as a servant of the Master, put your whims aside and endeavour to follow him? Oh, it is a blessed life to lead, to be no longer the servant of men and of self, but to go to Christ daily in prayer, and say, “What I know not, teach thou me.” Then you may laugh at Satan’s rage, and face a frowning world, for the Master will never leave those who cleave to him. If a man loves the testimonies and commandments of the Most High, Cod shall be his buckler, his shield, and his high tower; but if he turns aside to his own imaginings, his fall shall be certain. The Lord keep the church in this matter, and her day of victory shall soon come. May Christ be her only Head, and her triumph draweth near. I can see the morning breaking; yonder are the first streaks of light upon the sky: the Master is coining because the church begins to own him — and then shall her happy days begin, and the days of her mourning shall be ended for ever and ever.