Headship - Christ - The Church's Head

Days portion for reading Ephesians 1:1-23

Christ the head over all things to the Church – Ephesians 1:22

When reading the letter to the Ephesians one never ceases to be amazed at the unbelievable truths that we are presented with. In chapter one we wallow in the wonder of being accepted with God, of being forgiven, of unlimited divine wisdom being available to the believer, of learning about the good pleasure of God’s purposes and of discovering that God is in control of everything. More exciting and thrilling truths keep overwhelming us with the majesty of the divine dealings of our God. In addition to this we discover that we have an integral part in the things that He is doing.

Then we are confronted with God’s purpose for our lives, the identifying mark of the Holy Spirit upon our lives and the rich future that is ours with Christ. Paul goes on to tell his readers that he is praying for them. In his prayer Paul asks God to open the spiritual eyes of his audience so that they will experience the knowledge of God. One of the things he prays about is that we would “know the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe”. This power Paul tells us is the same power that God used when he raised His Son from the dead. Paul does not stop at the resurrection, he reminds us that the power of God took Christ not only from death to life but from earth to heaven and seated Him at the right of God exalting Him to His rightful place. The final stage of this account of his powerful return to glory tells us that the Lord has had all things put under His feet. This means everything is under His authority. At the highest level to which the Lord is exalted He is described as “head over all things to the church, which is his body”.

The descriptive terms head and body use the analogy of the human body and a human head. One without the other is incomplete. The body cannot function without the head. The head is incomplete without the body. In human terms the head is the means by which the body has the ability to function. Without the direction of the head the systems that we have in our bodies could not function yet without the body the head is incomplete. Despite the fact that we cannot understand why God has arranged it so, the last verse of Ephesians one teaches us that the same is true in the church’s relationship with Christ. The scripture states that Christ is incomplete without the Church and yet He is the one who fills all in all. What a wonderful truth and what a wonderful Saviour.