HEAD NOT KING OF THE CHURCH
“And He put all things
in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the
church.” Eph. 1:22
To avoid misconception, and the charge of lowering Christ's
dignity or position, it may be in place to repeat that we most cordially
receive and hold to what is said concerning Christ in Eph. 1:20-23, and other passages. But with the aid of a comparison
of Scripture, we avoid the conclusion that many arrive at, as e.g. in Eph. 1:20-23, that the authority vested
in Him is now in all respects exercised. We hold, that so far as its actual
exercise and realization is concerned, part of it must be regarded prospectively,
as seen e.g. by vs. 22 compared with
Heb. 2:8, i.e. that part referring
to the Davidic covenanted Kingdom, in the world to come.
The Church and the Kingdom are two separate entities. The Headship of Christ over the church refers not so much,
as is supposed, to Rulership over the church as to His being the Chief or Head
of Rulers, i.e. that the church is in some peculiar and distinctive manner
associated with Him. What this is, will appear under other considerations
relating to the reign and priesthood of the saints. Christ Himself intimates
this distinction when He calls faithful believers "brethren" and not "servants."
The church is represented as Christ's body, simply because that body are "co-heirs," joint inheritors
with Him in the Kingdom, and therefore they are purposely never called "the subjects of the Kingdom,"
a phrase coined by man and contradictory to both the honor and position of the
body, which takes a much higher rank. It is inconsistent, to say the least, to
call "inheritors" of a
Kingdom, the subjects of it. Individual subjection or allegiance does not
constitute a Kingdom, lacking as it does the essentials of a Kingdom, such as
is promised. Jesus is called, and by right, and in the covenanted manner, is, "the King of the Jews," "King
of Nations," "King of the World," but is never called "the King of the Church."
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