Ephesians 1:22-23 - Homilies By T. Croskery

Christ's headship.

The Resurrection was the point of conjunction between his crucifixion and his coronation. The headship to which he was exalted had a twofold relationship: he was made "Head over all things to the Church," and he was made Head of the Church itself.

I. HIS HEADSHIP OVER ALL THINGS . It is no new thought that our Lord is at the head of the natural order of things; for" without him was not anything made that was made;" "By him all things consist;" he upholds "all things by the word of his power," for "the government is upon his shoulders." But by virtue of his mediatorship the elements are made subject to him—all kings and nations, all angels in heaven, all fallen angels, all the advances and discoveries of science, are made tributary to the welfare of the Church. Therefore no weapon formed against her shall prosper Christian people ought to derive comfort and aspiration from the thought that he who is the Foundation of their religious hopes holds in his hands all the complicated threads of providence and directs the course of human history. It is the one Divine hand which clasps together the two great books of nature and revelation. This thought ought to give fresh breadth and strength and healthiness to all our thoughts about him. Above all, let us see in this fact the Divine guarantee for the safety of the Church. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Jesus "filleth all in all," and therefore has the inexhaustible resources of the universe at his disposal for the good of the Church.

II. HEADSHIP OF THE CHURCH . There is a double relationship involved in this headship—one representative, the other vital.

1. The representative relation . He was Head as he was Savior ( Ephesians 5:23 ). Believers were in him from eternity, for they were chosen in him ( Ephesians 1:4 ). "The covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ" ( Galatians 3:17 ) was that in the terms of which they are saved; the promise of life is said to be in him ( 2 Timothy 1:1 ), as all the promises are " yea " and "amen" in him ( 2 Corinthians 1:20 ). Thus grace is said to be given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ( 2 Timothy 1:9 ); and believers are said to suffer with him, to be quickened and raised together with him, to sit together in heavenly places in Christ ( Ephesians 2:6 ). Christ, indeed, as Head, stands for the whole body: So also is Christ ( 1 Corinthians 12:12 ). Thus the representative relation extends from eternity to eternity. These passages of Scripture prove the groundlessness of the notion that Christ only became Head after his resurrection with the view of proving that the saints of the Old Testament dispensation do not belong to the body or Church of Christ. He was Head just as he was Savior; for "he is the Head of the Church, and he is the Savior of the body" ( Ephesians 5:23 ). Christ was not and could not be Savior without death, yet he was the Savior of Old Testament saints ages before his death. There is no passage asserting that he became Head through resurrection. The resurrection only declared his headship as it declared his sonship. If Christ was not Head before his incarnation, the Old Testament saints had no Mediator. Christ was the Head of all believers because, as being the last Adam, all believers were in him.

2. The vital relation . Christ is the Head of the body, the Church, holding the same relation as the head does to the natural body.

III. THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST . The Church thus regarded refers not to any one body of Christians; for there is no denomination on earth that contains all the disciples of Christ, nor is there any denomination of which it can be said that all its members are disciples of Christ. It refers to the whole number of God's people, redeemed by the blood of Christ ( Ephesians 5:25 ). The Ephesian Epistle sets forth the doctrine of the Church in this sense. We never read in it of Churches, but of the Church. The idea is that of one organic whole, represented under various images, borrowed at one time from a temple, at another from a house, at another from the head with its different members, but it always signifies a union of those united to Christ by faith, whether they belong to earth or heaven. The Church is here described as at once the body and the fullness of Christ.

1. The body of Christ ; The most impressive illustration of the body is supplied by the same apostle in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 . He shows an analogy between the Church and the human body in important particulars.

2. The Church the fullness of Christ . As the body is not complete without the head, so the head is not complete without the body. The Lord Jesus Christ is not complete without his Church. How can this be? He himself says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness;" but is his power not always perfect? It is declared to be perfect in our weakness. So the Church serves as an empty vessel, into which the Savior pours his mediatorial fullness. Every fresh convert added to the Church adds to his fullness. His fullness is manifested by the variety of gifts and graces he bestows on his members, who are always growing up into him who is the Head ( Ephesians 4:15 ), growing to a stature, to a proportion, till we are filled with the fullness of God. This view of the Church suggests