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Introduction
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February 11th, 2013 was a day
that will go down in history as the day, when after 600 years, a
pope resigned as Head of the Catholic Church. In reviewing the
history of the popes I observed several things: |
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a) |
Pope Benedict was not the first to step down. There were three
others before him who also stepped down. |
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i) |
Pope Benedict IX resigned in 1045 A.D |
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ii) |
Pope Celestine V resigned in 1294 A.D. |
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iii) |
Pope Gregory XII resigned in 1406 A.D. |
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b) |
There is and has been rumored for at least 8 centuries that
there was a woman “Pope”! Her name was Pope Joan. She was
disguised as a man but was discovered to be a woman when
mounting a horse and she went into travail. |
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c) |
In the 1300’s there were
two popes reigning, one in France and the other in Italy. |
What a sad
history this is, popes who resign,
an apparent pope by fraud, and popes
in conflict, yet when they held that
position were known
as
the holy father. Tragically,
despite having the scriptures, they
never saw the reality that there is
only one Holy man, there is only one
Head of the church, and He is Jesus
Christ our Lord. The church
of God has
a Head who will never resign, with
whom there is no fraud, and who
acknowledged God alone as “Holy
Father” (Jn. 17:11). This Head has
no human counterpart or single human
representative, he has no
predecessor and no successor. He is
not only sinless but essentially
holy, never
will have a competitor, and whose
Headship shall never end due to His
decease.
The Varied Headships of Christ
The word “head” is spoken of in
three distinct ways concerning our
Lord:
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1) |
His Physical Head
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a) |
This
is spoken of in four ways: |
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i) |
In rejection (Matt. 8:20; 27:29; 30, 37; Jn. 19:2) |
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ii) |
In honour (Matt. 26:7) |
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iii) |
In death (Jn. 20:7, 12) |
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iv) |
In glorification (Rev. 1:14; 14:14; 19:12) |
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b) |
Considering this, another way His head is spoken of is in: |
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i) |
His poverty: “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head”
(Matt. 8:20) |
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ii) |
His honored head: being “in Bethany, in the house of Simon the
leper, there came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of
precious ointment, (of spikenard very precious) and poured [it]
on his head, as he sat at meat” (Matt. 26:7, 12) |
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iii) |
His shaming when He was crowned with a crown of thorns
(Matt 27:29) |
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iv) |
His affliction and derision: “And they smote him on the head
with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing [their] knees
worshipped him” (Mk. 15:19; Jn: 19:2) |
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v) |
His superscription when they wrote: “And set up over his head
his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS”
(Matt. 27:37) |
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vi) |
The purity of His head in judicial activity: “His head and [his]
hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow” (Rev. 1:14) |
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vii) |
His head in glorification crowned with many crowns (Rev. 19:12;
Heb. 2:9) |
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2) |
His Head In Type |
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a) |
Head of the bull in burnt and sin offering
(Lev. 1:4; 4:4) |
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b) |
His head of gold (Song of Sol. 5:11) the glory of His head and
headship |
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i) |
Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom was pictured as a head of gold
(Dan. 2:32, 38) |
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ii) |
Christ is typified as the Head of gold in His sterling
character, whereas Nebuchadnezzar is seen as such as sovereign
autocrat. |
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3) |
His Position As Head
and that is spoken of in six ways, for He
is: |
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a) |
The Head of the corner (Matt. 21:42), possibly incorporated in
that is all other administrative titles because of Calvary. He
is the Governor (Psa. 22:28). Observe how the title “Stone” is
connected to His Headship. It is not our purpose here but it is
a blessing to consider the Lord as “the chief corner stone
(Eph. 2:20); “the chief corner stone” (1 Pet. 2:6); “a precious
corner stone” (Isa. 28:16).
In
contrast to His belittlement and rejection by man, this is God’s
honoring Him. |
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b) |
“The head of every man” (1 Cor. 11:3) |
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c) |
“The head over all things” (Eph. 1:22) |
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d) |
“The head of the church” (Eph. 5:23) |
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e) |
“The head of the body” (Col. 1:18) |
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f) |
“The Head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:10) |
Due to space
our consideration will be on Christ,
“Head over all things”. (Eph. 1:22)
Christ The Head Over All Things
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In Ephesians 1:3-23, in
this passage two truths are being presented: |
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a) |
The greatness of the blessings of God to
the church. (Eph. 1:3-15;
18, 23) |
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b) |
The glory of the position God has given to
the Lord. (Eph. 1:20-23) |
At times we sing: “Every mark of
dark dishonor heaped upon Thy thorn
crowned brow, told in answering
glory now”. In the world that had
no time for Him and gave to Him a
cross and an accusation; that took
happily from him the blessings of
restored health and life; and hated
Him without a cause; God now crowns
Him with glory and honour and makes
Him to be head over all things.
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The Holy Spirit caused Paul to use a series of expressions in
Ephesians 1:20-23 to describe the glorification of Christ.
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a) |
“He raised Him from the dead” |
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b) |
“Set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places” |
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c) |
“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion,
and every name that is named” |
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d) |
“Not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” |
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e) |
“And hath put all things under His feet” |
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f) |
“And gave Him (to
be)
the head over all (things)
to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that
filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:20-23) |
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The passage presents three stupendous truths: |
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a) |
The ascending glorification of Christ by the power of God |
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b) |
The expansion and
the significance of His being seated on the right hand of God
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c) |
His being given to the Church as its head. |
This is more
than a positional exaltation.
Despite filling all things Christ
was not complete, just as Adam
without Eve. Adam needed Eve to be
complete, she was his fulness for
that which ideally lay ahead. It is
not that Christ was incomplete in
Himself. For instance, to be our
High Priest he had to learn the
pathway of obedience. He would not
have been fully fitted without His
earthly experiences. Perhaps
another way to simplify this wonder
is to think of a couple who are
always together. Then, due to
circumstances, one must go the
hospital for an extended stay. The
other might say: “I just feel
something missing, I am not
complete”. Christ needed the church
to be complete despite His
exaltation. This is what Paul's
prayer was for (Eph. 1:17-18).
He Is The Head of The Church Eph. 5:23
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This is different from Eph. 1:22 where He
is given as head over all to the church for His
completeness. In Ephesians
5:23 He is the Head of the church,
indicating His governmental authority and
intentions being manifested by the church (for the church is to
be subject to Christ Eph. 5:24).
Upon consideration we observe
that the context teaches even
more. Headship in this context is connected with His being the
Saviour of the body (Eph. 5:23), and this is the only verse
where these two matters are brought before us: |
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a) |
He is the Head, that is His position |
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b) |
As the Saviour, that is His work, but what aspect of His work? |
Saviour of the
body, is different from Him as
Saviour of the world (Jn. 4:42; 1 Jn.
4:14). As the Saviour of the world
it relates to eternal destiny and
applies to the individual’s
acceptance of Him as such. As
Saviour of the body He is the
preserver of the saints, as in an
ideal world when the husband is the
head of the wife in her
preservation. Adam failed to be the
saviour of his wife Eve even though
he was with her when tempted (Gen.
3:6).
Abraham
failed to be the husband of Sarah
when he told her to tell a half
truth meant to deceive (Gen.12:13;
20:2).
In such a
figure there is the emphasized truth
of an organic union, the head and
the body, not the head and the
church. In Ephesians the Body is
not the local gathering of saints
but the corporate gathering from
Pentecost to the rapture. This is
NOT a certain denomination, but
every saint of this dispensation.
A husband can
be the head of the body but he
cannot be the saviour of the body
for the woman is a separate entity.
There may be a “one flesh” (Eph.
5:31), but they are not an organic
unity. This is very clear by the
literal wording of Eph. 5:23 as the
wording “He Himself” in ASV,
Webster’s, Young’s literal, and
English Standard version, etc.
Christ alone
is the Saviour of the body in that
he alone can keep the organic unity
which Satan is so opposed to.
Just as the “gates of hell cannot
prevail against the church” (Matt.
16:18),
yet the government of Hell can
and does prevail against the local
churches (Rev. Chs. 2-3). Despite
the outward splits and
denominations, the Body will be seen
as a single unity, one new man (Eph.
2:15); with all distance (Eph. 2:13)
and discord (Eph 2:15) removed; and
will present it to Himself a
glorious church without “spot or
wrinkle” (Eph. 5:27).
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Thank God the church of God (Acts 20:28) has as it’s head a man
who has not been elected behind closed doors by a group of men,
but by the will and power of God, for the glory of God. His
Headship will never be: |
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a) |
Repealed because of lack of abilities |
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b) |
Redundant due to no longer being necessary |
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c) |
Replaced for there can be no successor |
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d) |
Rejected and overcome by a coup |
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e) |
Relinquished due to deficiencies of any sort. |
. . . . Rowan Jennings
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