Many Christians have never realized that God has chosen us, predestinated us, redeemed us, forgiven us, and graced us for the purpose of heading up all things in Christ. Have you ever realized that you were chosen and predestinated so that God might head up all things? Have you ever considered that God redeemed you and forgave you of your sins in order to head up all things? Christians may know a great deal about God’s selection and predestination without knowing how these are related to the heading up of all things in Christ. We ourselves may not even be clear about this. We are accustomed to saying that God’s goal is neither holiness nor spirituality, but the church. But the ultimate goal is not even the church; it is the heading up of all things in Christ. Yes, the church is the goal, but not the consummate goal, the goal in the last stage. Rather, it is the goal in the first stage. The consummate goal is the heading up of all things in Christ. This concept is found only in Ephesians 1:10, not in any other verse in the Bible.
God has made Christ the Head over all things (v. 22). Through all the dispensations of God in all the ages, all things will be headed up in Christ in the new heaven and new earth. This will be God’s eternal administration and economy.
In order to head up all things in Christ, God firstly heads up His chosen ones. Therefore, the church life is a life of being headed up. Ephesians 1:22 and 23 say, “And He subjected all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fullness of the One Who fills all in all.” Verse 22 says that God gave Christ to be the Head over all things. This indicates that He is not merely the Head of the church, but over all things. God gave Christ to be the Head over all things to the church. The little word “to” implies transmission. It indicates that Christ’s headship is being transmitted to the church. This means that, in a sense, we can share the headship of Christ over all things. Although we are not the head, we can share the headship. To put it another way, we are not the king, but we can share the kingship.
The church can share the headship of Christ because the church is the Body of Christ. The King is not just the Head, but the Head with the Body. Christ is not only the Head, but also the Body (1 Cor. 12:12). Because the church is the Body and because Christ is both the Head and the Body, we may say that, in a sense, we, the Body, are also Christ. Although we are not the Head, we can share Christ’s headship. We are the Body of the Head, and the Head is the head over all things. We are not only head over insects, cats, and dogs, but also over presidents, kings, generals, and industrial leaders. We are over them all. Is the President of the United States under us, or are we under him? In a very real sense, he is under us. In saying this, I am not promoting revolution; I am simply relating the spiritual fact that we, the members of the Body of Christ, are above all things. The church is under nothing but Christ Himself; we are above everything else because we are the Body of the One who is over all things. Do you have the confidence to say that you are above the President of the United States and the Queen of England? Probably you do not have this confidence. However, I can say honestly that if I were brought into the presence of the President of the United States, I would have the sense that I am above him. In saying this I am not proud; rather, I simply am conscious of the spiritual fact.
The reason you may not have the confidence concerning this is that you yourself are not headed up. You have been saved and you have come into the church, but you have not yet been headed up. On the contrary, you are still in the universal heap of collapse, the collapse in the universe caused by rebellion. Due to the two rebellions, the angelic rebellion and the human rebellion, the whole universe is in a state of collapse. In God’s eyes there is no order on earth; instead, there is a heap caused by the collapse. Suppose a tall building suddenly collapses into a heap. In this heap some parts are higher than others. Likewise, in the collapse caused by rebellion certain people, such as the President or other heads of government, are above others. In the collapse the President of the United States is, of course, higher than we are. Nevertheless, all the world leaders are still in the collapse.
I can testify that by the Lord’s grace I am no longer in the collapse; I have been rescued from it. To be rescued from the collapse is to be headed up. Hallelujah, I have been headed up! Because I have been headed up in Christ, I have been brought out of the heap caused by the universal collapse. Hence, I am higher than all those who remain in the collapse. Have you been headed up in Christ? Have you been rescued from the heap of rebellion? We all need to be delivered from the collapse and headed up in Christ.
The entire universe is a heap of collapse caused by rebellion. God created the universe in an excellent order, but an archangel, the head of the age before Adam, rebelled and became Satan. (See Isaiah 14.) Satan’s rebellion caused the first collapse in the universe. In Genesis 1 God came in to restore the creation that had been ruined by this rebellion. Actually, chapter one of Genesis is not primarily a record of creation, but of restoration. In the restored universe God created man and made him the head of creation. But this man, Adam, fell. This was the second rebellion that led to the second collapse. As a result of these two rebellions, the whole universe has become a heap of collapse. Again I say, in this heap some people are higher than others, but all remain in the collapse.