The Headship Of Christ
THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST
EPHESIANS 1:15-23
Christ is head of the church, but he is also has sovereign authority over everything, including everything that is important to you.
Paul depended on what others told him for his knowledge of the Christian church in the Lycus Valley—the believers to whom he was writing. For instance Epaphras, who was responsible for bringing Christianity to the Lycus Valley, had told Paul about the church there (see Colossians 1:4,8). The faithfulness of his readers to Jesus Christ and to one another moved Paul to pray that they may have the spiritual insight to perceive the truth that is hidden in God and that can be unlocked only through the experience of life and through fellowship with him.
One by one, the apostle introduces the themes he will develop in the first half of this letter: first, the hope inspired by God’s call (1:18; see also 2:1-10,12-18), secondly, the glory that belongs to the divine inheritance (1:18; see also 2:19-22; 3:1-6) and thirdly the surpassing magnitude of God’s power (1:19; see also 3:7-21). Paul recognized that all that his readers possess in Christ depends on the initiative of God—not their own.
The magnitude of the power that God has made available to Christians was demonstrated by the resurrection of Christ—his victory over death—and by Christ’s exaltation to a place of sovereign authority over everything we think is important. The way in which Christ’s lordship over cosmic and earthly powers is made visible is through the church. In this first reference to the church (1:22), it is evident that Paul is not speaking of local churches but of the universal church seen in an idealized perspective (see also 3:10; 4:16). In the letter to the Colossians Paul develops the concept of the headship of Christ, but in Ephesians the church as the full expression of Jesus Christ is more prominently in view.
In his letters Paul uses the metaphor of the body on three different levels: first, the church is like any human body (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27); secondly, the church is like the body of Christ offered up for us on the cross (1 Corinthians 10:16f.; 11:23-27) and thirdly the church is like the body of Christ risen (1:19-23). Although Paul uses the statement, “the Church is like a body,” in all these instances, the metaphor does not mean the same thing in every case. Only in Ephesians does Paul reflect on the church as the body of Christ, risen and exalted over all things (1:20-23). The exaltation of Christ is described in the highest terms (see 1:4f.,9f.,20-23; 3:11ff.). Christians are assured that God has given to the church a sovereign who is also head over all things. The church has authority to confront the powers that oppose God because its head is the Lord of all.