CHRIST AS HEAD
[p. 61] CHRIST AS HEAD
Romans 4: 22 - 25; Romans 5: 1 - 21
DLH Does not the thought of Lord convey the idea of administration and authority?
FER I should think so. Even in the ministry of the Lord here on earth, the devils had to acknowledge that authority, and they came out. Power and authority were identified with Him. He brought the kingdom. There was power and authority in regard to all that was opposed to God. Man shared in the power and authority: they believed in Him as the Christ, not quite as Lord, and then the power and authority became available to them.
DLH Is it that they got the good of it?
FER I think so, they cast out devils in His name; so far from being overcome by the power of evil, they overcame it in His name. In Luke 10, the disciples came to the Lord and said that the devils were subject to them through His name. One essential difference between the “Head” and the “Lord” is this: righteousness is connected with the Head, and salvation with the Lord.
ED Would you explain in what way righteousness is connected with the Head?
FER It is essential to Christ being Head that he should have taken up all that lay upon man as under the judgment of God. If He is to be put in the position of Head of every man, I cannot see how He could be if He had not taken up all that lay upon man.
ED Is that the force of accomplished righteousness?
FER I think so, through one righteousness toward all men to justification of life. He took up man’s liabilities that He might be the Head of every man.
WB How far would you say that went?
FER Everything that lay on man as under the judgment of God, Christ entered into.
Ques Did these things come [p. 62] upon man consequent upon the fall?
FER Yes, all men are under death. Christ entered into all the state of man, hence the reconciliation of the world in connection with it.
HCA Christ having taken up everything is the basis of the gospel.
FER I think so, it is the only way by which He could be set in the position of Head of every man. The point in this chapter is the “one man”.
WB When you say He took up all the liabilities of man you do not mean by that He bore all their sins?
FER No, I do not go quite so far as that, but in the name of that one Man, forgiveness of sins is announced to any man upon earth, not to every man; that is going very far. “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. He died for all, and entered into all that lay on man, on every man, in the eye of God.
ED Is that propitiation?
FER I think it is: He is the righteous One, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the whole world, says John in his epistle. Substitution carries with it the thought of election, but the headship of Christ is not a question of election but of the relation in which He stands to every man, and every man is responsible consequent upon His having been put in that position of Head of every man.
ED You can proclaim the gospel to every man on the ground of the headship of Christ.
DLH Where does the Lord come in, because in the end of chapter 4, you get “Who was delivered for our offences”.
FER Faith claims Him. There is the recognition that He is Lord, but that His rights are in abeyance. You claim him as Lord for salvation; that is the position of things now. The moment you recognise Him as raised [p. 63] from the dead, He is Lord, and you claim Him, but His rights are in abeyance.
ED In Romans 10, you get the Lord connected with salvation?
FER Yes, you confess Him with the mouth and that is salvation.
DLH When it says “Who was delivered for our offences”, would that be in the light of headship?
FER I should think so, it is in resurrection you get Him as Lord, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living”.
WB Do you think that headship in Romans 5, goes quite as far as “head of every man”?
FER I thought so. Adam was the figure of the One to come, he died out of headship, but I think he was the figure of the One to come. Christ has come in, and His headship is as wide as that of the first Adam.
ED Verse 18 shows that.
FER All through the passage the oneness is as wide in its bearing in regard of Christ as of Adam. The bearing of what Christ has brought in is towards all men.
FC Adam accomplished sin before he was head of a race, and the Second Man accomplished righteousness.
FER As a matter of fact; but in either case one or other must be the head. In our chapter Christ is head of the same race as Adam, that is the argument in this passage.
FC In what way is He Head to us?
FER The difference is not in the headship of Christ, it lies in that you live in the Head, and an unconverted man does not.
Ques Do we not derive from the Head?
FER Yes, in living by Him. Every one who accepts Him as Head, lives by Him, because He is a life-giving Spirit. He communicates living water to the believer, and he lives by Him, and derives from Him.
ED And that [p. 64] brings in the body?
FER It brings in the body, but He is Head to the man in the street.
HCA God has produced a new Head for the race.
FER It is the same race, the one man has died out of headship, but he was the figure of the One to come. Christ has come and accomplished righteousness, and the bearing of it is justification of life towards all men. Whatever Adam might have been, he is not head now, he is dead, and he has to stand on the footing of his own responsibility.
DLH The Lord stands as Head somewhat differently from Adam in having taken up the liabilities; that idea could not come in in regard to Adam.
FER No, it is the contrast between sin and righteousness. Adam brought sin, Christ brought righteousness, and that being the case, men are responsible in regard of Christ as Head.
DLH Would you say that everybody has a responsibility to Him as Lord?
FER I think not. Philippians 2: 11 is when He asserts His lordship, then every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
DLH It means that He is our Lord.
FER That is the thought there.
FC Would you not seek to reach the conscience of a person by pressing that on him?
FER No, unless he were a professed christian; I would not in regard to a heathen. A professed christian takes the place of owning Christ as Lord and does not do the things He says.
DLH No one can say Lord to Jesus, but by the Holy Spirit.
FER The Holy Spirit gives the sense of His glory, then you confess Him as Lord by the Holy Spirit. Salvation is connected with Him as Lord, and involves deliverance from the power of evil, therefore the thought of lordship comes in.
Ques How do you connect the thought [p. 65] of administration with the Lord?
FER You get that in the Acts. He takes up Saul and Ananias for a special service in subduing power, but connected with the thought of Lord there is the thought of authority, power and judgment. All that comes in in connection with the Lord. You believe in Him as the Christ, and having believed, you claim and confess Him as Lord, and get the gain of it; practically it means salvation to us. The effect of it is that you have to say to nothing that does not come under His authority. I have no fellowship with what does not come under His authority.
DLH You would apply the authority of the Lord to a person who said he was a christian?
FER I would. I am not called upon to judge a person’s profession; if he takes the ground of being a christian he is responsible to own the Lord. Profession is christianity. No man gets salvation apart from the Lord.
DLH That is important because it is a question of deliverance from opposing forces.
FER I see the disciples here on earth, instead of being overcome by the influences of evil, they overcame them, and they cast out devils. If we were to stand here in the power and authority of the Lord, we would overcome evil. Peter says you grow unto salvation, if so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. He is a gracious Lord to us, but He has power and authority against evil. The thought of Lord brings in the kingdom.
DLH Does the thought of Lord come in here in relation to the Lord’s victory over death?
FER Practically. In this chapter you get salvation, power and authority connected with the Lord spiritually. It is all “our Lord” but the Lord’s authority and power holds in abeyance the force and power of evil in order that you may get the good of all that is in the thought of God for you. Christ being Head is not simply on the ground of creation, because it involves that He is become [p. 66] Man. God could not have been the Head of Christ until He became Man.
DLH You get the order from God downwards. It is man and woman; it is not a question of christians, He is head of every man.
FER Romans 5 is a wonderful chapter, and if we could understand the way the authority and power of the Lord are exercised we should have very much more comfort and stability. It is not in a public way, but there it is. This is the great chapter of salvation, you have peace with God, access by faith into the grace wherein we stand, you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and in tribulations, and you joy in God. At the close of the chapter it says “so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. There are influences of evil here, but there is the power of the Lord who holds these powers of evil in control on behalf of christians, that they might be in the power of the good that is in the heart of God towards them.
Ques Is this chapter the summing up of what Christ has elected?
FER Everything in the mind of the Jew, was connected with the law and covenant, but things are now put on a wider basis, on the ground of headship, which brings in every man.
DLH Does faith come in with the recognition of His headship?
FER Yes, it is not exactly the Lord that is preached, it is Christ.
ED What is “we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus Lord”?
FER The apostle lays out the whole title, but the subject of the preaching was the Christ. Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit and therefore He must stand in relation to every man. The Jew had a very limited idea about the Messiah, and the true thought in regard to Christ is that He is head of every man.
FC [p. 67] Is Christ Jesus, Lord, parenthetical?
FER It is descriptive; we preach Christ Jesus, Lord. The antichrist denies that He is the Christ, that He is head of every man. The unitarian will not object to Jesus but he objects to the Christ. It is to me the expression of infinite wisdom from God. Men were under death and judgment by the word of God, and how could God address man in that state? God brings in a Head who charges Himself with that which lay on man, and who is now set in the position of head of every man. God addresses every man in Christ, who is the wisdom and power of God.
DLH God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
FER Exactly, not simply the Jew. A vast number of people have got a far too limited thought of Christ, He is the Christ, the anointed Man, who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit abides on Him, He baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
Ques Where does the responsibility of man come in?
FER To accept Him as head, because He is head.
WB Why do you not say Saviour?
FER Because scripture does not, and scripture is wiser than we are.
DLH God is a Saviour God.
FER I do not object to Saviour, but at the same time I was thinking of the position in which God has set Christ in regard to men.
HCA What about the Father sent the Son the Saviour of the world?
FER The point in John is that you learn that Christ is the Son of God, the last Adam is the Son of God. You get a wonderful passage in John 17, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him”. John is very interesting in that way, because he gives additional light to Paul and is confirmatory of him, that Christ is the Son of God.
Ques Do you connect that authority with [p. 68] the Son of God?
FER Yes, as the last Adam. It is a most wonderful thing to think that there is One in authority before whom all the powers of evil quake, and if we had the sense of that we would not be in the least afraid. You have to become conscious that in the Lord there is a mighty power and authority, greater than all the authority and power of evil; whatever the world or anything else may be, there is a power and authority superior to it.
DLH You have to learn that for yourself.
FER And then you become strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might, and you take up the whole armour of God. But you must learn it for yourself. I really would like to see a christian who is really in the full gain of the head; conscious that He has got living water from the head, and in full confidence in the Lord on the one hand, while on the other, entirely independent of all that is down here upon earth. It is a very important point in the gospel to see clearly the point where you can fix responsibility upon every man.
Rem If Christ is the head of every man, you can fix responsibility upon every man.
FER You cannot be effective in the gospel unless you can fix responsibility upon every man.
Ques Is it in resurrection He becomes head of every man?
FER He could not take up that position until He was in resurrection, He had to bear what lay on all men first.
DLH The force of His name, I suppose, brings that in?
FER It is the head. It is plain enough in Luke 24, forgiveness of sins is preached in His name. It is plain in Romans 10 that the lordship of Christ is connected with salvation.
Ques What about “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”?
FER The apostle was not putting the gospel to the Philippian jailor, he answered his question.
DLH What was before the jailor’s mind in saying that?
FER Oh, there was an earthquake, and he fully thought that every foundation was gone. The state of the man’s mind was indescribable and he appealed to two men who were not in that state.
Ques Does Paul set forth the head in Acts 13: 38?
FER Yes, it is the Man Christ Jesus, the one Man of Romans 5. The revelation of grace is in the one Man. Mediator is intimately connected with the Head, much more so than with the Lord.
DLH As Mediator He brings in all the good of God to man.
FER The truth is this, that the Mediator is God.
ED He approaches man in the Mediator.
FER Yes, He approaches man in a Man. The wisdom of God raises up a head who is capable of bearing the liabilities of man, and also of imparting living water to him.
ED What is saved by His life?
FER Salvation at the present time is in the life of Christ. You grow up to salvation in the life of the head.
C Do you get the head and lord typified in Joseph?
FER He was head to his brethren, but lord to the Egyptians, his lordship was universal.
C He was saviour for the Egyptians, as well as for his brethren.
FER But you could not say he was head to them.