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No.5.
The Headship of Man (continued).
pp. 170 - 175
It has so far been seen that the headship of man, insofar that it involves him in a
position of precedence, speaks of a certain authority and responsibility which he is to
exercise in relation to the woman, in the purpose of God. The reader is reminded of the
three basic ides which lie behind the Hebrew rosh and the Greek kephale ("head").
(1)
Precedence with respect to time, order or position.
(2)
Origin or source (out of).
(3)
Sum or whole.
All three of these ideas are applied to Christ in Scripture, it being remembered that
man's relationship to woman (expressed in the husband-wife unity) is but a pale
reflection of Christ's relationship to the Church (Eph. 5: 22-33), where the man pictures
Christ.
The aspect of headship which involved man in precedence in time ("Adam was first
formed", I Tim. 2: 13, cp. I Cor. 11: 9) has already been considered with some of its
involvements. Now attention is drawn to a second aspect, represented under the idea of
origin or source:
". . . . . the head of the woman is the man . . . . . the man is not (out) of the woman; but
the woman (out) of the man" (I Cor. 11: 3, 8).
Closely connected in thought with this aspect of headship is a third, that of summation
and completion, which also suggests unity. These last two aspects of headship are seen in
Christ in that He is:
"The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin (arche) of God's creation"
(Moffatt--Rev. 3: 14),
and with respect to the Body of Christ:
". . . . . speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, Who is the
Head, even Christ: from (out of) Whom the whole body . . . . ." (Eph. 4: 15, 16).
Although this last passage is practical truth, it represents a present realization of the
meaning of Christ's headship to the church, which headship will, in the dispensation of
the fullness of the seasons, be effected as far as the whole creation "in Christ" is
concerned (Eph. 1: 10). Then, that whole creation will find its unity and completeness in
Him; it will, in a sense, be summed up in Him.
". . . . . His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to
unite all things in Him" (R.S.V.).
". . . . . His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself for the administration of the
fullness of times; to head up all things in the Christ" (The Englishman's Greek N.T.).