THE HEAD - THE BODY - ALL THINGS
[p. 248] THE HEAD — THE BODY — ALL THINGS
There is really only one idea in headship. Christ is “head over all things to the church, which is his body”. The only thing standing in direct relation to the Head at the present time is the church. But Colossians shows that the reconciliation of all things is dependent upon the Head. We want to get at the idea of the Head in the full sense; not only is Christ Head of the body, but He is Head over all things. Even at the present time He is Head of all principality and power, and He is the Head, too, of every man, though every man has not been brought into relation with the Head. These are the two things — what is in the mind of God and what is made good in men. We want to look at the divine side and see what God has ordained. The divine thought in connection with the Head is to establish a system: the system is derived from and maintained in the Head. There is a vast system of blessing which is established in the Head; we need diligence to enter, by the Spirit of God, into this vast system of which Christ is the beginning and Head. God will set aside the present system, begun in a man, but who was only a figure of Him that was to come, and bring in that system of which Christ, the Sun of righteousness, is the Centre.
The fathers had the promises, but they all died; Israel had the tabernacle and brought it into the land, but the people were carried away beyond Babylon; dominion was established over the gentiles in Nebuchadnezzar, but he made a golden image and lost his dominion. In all these things you see divine appointment, and all will be gathered up in Christ the Centre and Head of every family. All are named of the [p. 249] Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that no divine appointment ever falls to the ground. God will “head up all things in the Christ”. Christ is both King and Head; He holds the dominion and the kingdom; but at the same time He is Head, and everything takes character from Him. Headship is thus wider than “the body”. Christ said, “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”. There will be bread (satisfaction) for the world — for every circle connected with Christ. He is the bread of life for the whole universe. People little know what the effect will be of everything being set in relation to the Head. Goodness will prevail universally; there will be no self-seeking then; everybody will be bent on benefiting another; everything will take its character from Christ. Christ did not come into the world to acquire anything; He took the lowest place to dispense divine bounty. To get free of the world system we must have the divine system in view, and we can only get that in view by holding the Head. The divine idea is that the body takes its character from Christ the Head; and if it derives its character from Christ, it will be the expression of Christ down here. Holding the Head is holding Him as the universal Head — Head of the great system in which God will display His glory. Our thought of the Head is often too limited. Christ is spoken of as Head to the body, as being made Head over all things. “Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power”. The point in coming into the holiest is that we enter into the secret of God — all that which God intends to display in Christ — the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of that system in which God will be glorified. Every one of us ought to be set with purpose of heart to enter into this; it would have a very profound effect upon us if we did enter into it — wisdom would have entered into our hearts and understanding would be pleasant to [p. 250] our taste. God will bring about a true commonwealth, and the Head of that is Christ. We need to get into the thought of the divine commonwealth. If man could bring about a commonwealth by philosophy, how long would it last? Its defect would be that it would lack a head. In a certain way antichrist will be the head of a system, but it will not last long. Christ’s headship over all things is in abeyance now, but His headship over the body is really in exercise. The church alone recognises that He is Head.
The most perfect type of the church is Eve. Adam was set over all things before she was brought to him; she was really of Adam’s body, taken from Adam and then united to him. The moment you get the body in relation to the Head you have two thoughts — derivation and union. In the system of which we have been speaking everything is out of death, and on the ground of resurrection. The church is out of death, Israel will be out of death, so with the nations — it will be life from the dead. When everything is put in relation to Christ, it must needs be on the ground of resurrection. The divine system is opened out in the beginning of Colossians 3, and what comes out in that chapter is the practical result of holding the Head, namely that the sensibilities and graces of Christ pervade everybody. Adam got the knowledge of good and evil, but had no standard by which to determine what was good and what was evil; it is a point of profound moment that Christ is the absolute standard. God’s command to Adam in the garden was not a mere arbitrary prohibition — man was not competent to take up the question of good and evil. The goodness of God sought to deter him from touching it because he was not competent. Now that we have in Christ a perfect standard, we need to have our senses exercised to discern everything according to Christ. When you get to the establishment of the divine system, good will be dominant and all evil will be held in abeyance;
[p. 251] that will be the effect of the coming in of real power and authority; all good will be connected with the Head — He will be the standard. There is no third system; if we are not under the influence of divine things, we must be under that of the world. We have received the Christ, and we want to walk in the light of that system of which He is the Head, and in which everything must take its character from Him who is Head. It would give people a very different thought in passing through this world if they got hold of the fact that God created it to be the sphere for the display of Christ. The system of things around us is that which began with Nebuchadnezzar; it is marked by the ascendancy and glory of man. In Ephesians 3 the apostle prays that we might be “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith”, that we might apprehend the whole expanse of the vast system of which Christ is Head. The heart of the saint should desire to take in, not simply what Christ is personally, but all that is identified with Him in the wisdom and goodness of God. The more we appreciate Christ personally, the more we appreciate the things that belong to Him and in which God will be glorified. God created all in Christ for the glory of that blessed Man, and all is taken upon the ground of reconciliation, that others might have part in it. We want a truer conception of the greatness of Christ. Christ in us, the hope of glory; the church is now in view of all that will come out by-and-by; it is because the church is so marked by defection that we do not see Christ, the hope of glory, in it. As a matter of fact, the glory of man is so before people that it hinders them from seeing the glory of Christ; they will have a man by-and-by, antichrist. No one, if he considers the gospels, can help being struck at the absolute contrast between every thought of Christ and every thought of man. Every thought which came out from [p. 252] Christ was a contrast to what man thought: man’s thought is to exalt himself; Christ was content to take the lowest place to dispense divine bounty to men. Now He is dispensing it from on high in the way of gifts; they are the expression of divine bounty.