In 1 Corinthians 11:3 Christ is presented as the Head of every man, who brings man under God’s headship and sets up the order between man and woman: “Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.” In Ephesians 1:22-23 the headship of Christ over all things is to His Body, the church. In 1 Corinthians 11:3 the headship of Christ over every man is related to individuals. Christ is the Head of the Body, the church (Eph. 5:23), corporately, and of the believers individually. He is the Head of every one of us directly.
In 1 Corinthians 11:3 Paul points out that the head of the woman is the man. In the divine governmental ordination, woman is under the headship of man. God created the female in this way (Gen. 2:18-24; 1 Tim. 2:13). According to the nature (1 Cor. 11:14) created by God, woman is subordinate to man.
Paul also says in verse 3 of 1 Corinthians 11 that the head of Christ is God. Christ is God’s anointed One, the One appointed by God. Hence, He is under God, and God as the Originator is His Head. This refers to the relationship between Christ and God in the divine government.
Verse 3 reveals the universal headship. In the universe there is the headship: God is at the top as the head of Christ, Christ is the head of every man, the man is the head of the woman, and human beings are the head of all animals and plants (Gen. 1:26-28). Originally, there was such a headship in the universe, a headship that maintained a proper order in God’s creation. Yet this order was overthrown by man’s rebellion. Among the unbelievers, despite their civilized or cultured appearance, there is disorder in their private life, particularly in their marriage life. The women are not under the headship of men, and since the men do not have Christ, they are not under the headship of Christ and thus are not under the headship of God. Hence, all unbelievers, both men and women, are lawless. They live under the human government by compulsion, and many of them murmur and complain about the government, disliking the human authorities that rule over them. However, when we receive the Lord and become believers, Christ becomes our head. Our enjoyment of Christ as our head brings us under the headship of God and sets up a proper order between man and woman. We should enjoy Christ in His headship in order that we may be under the headship of God and man may be the proper head over woman.
We all need to be under the headship in God’s governmental administration. The headship of Christ is related to the headship in God’s universal governmental administration. The archangel with his subordinates rebelled against God’s headship (Ezek. 28:13-18; Isa. 14:12-15; Matt. 25:41), establishing his kingdom of darkness (12:26; Col. 1:13), and became Satan, God’s adversary. God created man to deal with Satan and his rebellious angels. Nevertheless, Satan seduced man to follow him and rebel against God. God then sent His Son to destroy Satan and rescue man out of Satan’s authority back to God’s kingdom (1 John 3:8; Heb. 2:14; Acts 26:18; Col. 1:13); in redemption God in Christ brought fallen man back to Himself. God’s redeemed people are now the church. As the church, we should declare to the angels, to both the rebellious and submissive ones, that as God’s redeemed people, we are not rebellious against His headship but are under His headship, the divine authority. We enjoy Christ as our Head and thus remain under the headship of God. Not only will we be under God’s headship in the coming kingdom age and in eternity, but we submit to His authority even in the present rebellious age. We need to realize that we must be under the headship of Christ. When we enjoy Christ as our Head, this enjoyment brings us under God’s headship and sets up the order between man and woman. Hence, we must enjoy Christ as our Head in order to live under God’s headship, the divine authority, and to keep God’s ordained order in His administration.
In Revelation we see that Christ, the slain Lamb, is absolutely under the headship of God for the carrying out of God’s administration. Christ is the Administrator who is carrying out God’s administration through His submission to God’s headship. Revelation 4 and 5 show that the slain, resurrected, and ascended Lamb is taking the lead to submit Himself to the headship of God in the heavens. In contrast, the earth is filled with rebellion. Satan is taking the lead to rebel against God. Nevertheless, in the midst of all this rebellion, there is a Body composed of those who have been redeemed and baptized into the Triune God. This is the Body of the One in heaven who submits Himself to God’s headship. The Body of Christ on earth should reflect Christ the Head in submitting Himself to the headship of God. Although the earth is filled with rebellion, we must be a people under God’s headship, who through their submission to Christ reflect Christ’s submission to God.