And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
God by His mighty power raised Christ from the dead and set Him at His own right hand far above every principality and power and name, putting all things under His feet and giving Him to be head over all things to the church. The church is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all, held in close and sacred union under Christ as its controlling head. Christ alone holds the authority of head, so the church is built on Him and obeys Him rather than depending on or being controlled by man, and no position gives any person right to dictate belief or duty to others. Through living faith-union with Him as glorified Head, believers receive His fullness and nourishment like branches of the living Vine, partaking of the divine nature and being refined, purified and glorified to reflect Him to the world. Because He lives as Head over all, His people are to yield to His guidance, trust His present help and victory in every conflict, and labor together under Him in unity without losing heart.
Exaltation and Context
Ephesians 1:22 belongs to the account of Christ's exaltation after the resurrection, when by the working of God's mighty power toward believers God raised Christ from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. In that exaltation God put all things under Christ's feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
This is stated as one of the privileges of the Christian and as God's purpose for His people. Believers are to know it by the spirit of wisdom and revelation, with enlightened understanding of the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. God's will and methods in this are far above human ideas and methods and will not blend with worldly plans and human inventions, and to work counter to them is at the peril of the soul.
The same power that raised Christ will raise and glorify His church with Him above every power and name. The saints raised at Christ's resurrection were trophies of His victory and a symbol of the final resurrection of the righteous, and the church will be united with Christ as His bride. Christ came to this world to establish Himself as the Center as head over all things to the church, and the working of the Spirit of God must be sensed and understood with strained mental powers so that what Christ is and what God is is seen.
Head Over All Things
God has put all things under Christ's feet and under His authority and has given Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. This belongs to the account of Christ's exaltation after His resurrection and expresses the greatness of God's power working for those who believe. His rule extends over every power and dominion. He possessed this complete authority even during His humiliation.
His headship embraces every line of business, every church, and every human being in God's merciful provision for salvation. Christ is both one with humanity by being born of a woman and one with God in divinity, and the union of humanity with His divinity was the only way human beings could be redeemed, through the sacrifice of the life of God's Son.
His complete power and authority assure believers of help and victory in every conflict with the powers of darkness. They are the reason believers can trust Him as the divine Physician to heal physical and spiritual infirmities.
Church as His Body
The verse teaches that the church is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. God has placed all things under Christ's feet and made Him head over everything for the church, and the church as His body stands in a close and sacred relationship to Him. Christ as head controls the members of His mystical body. The Saviour loves the church with an everlasting love and gave Himself for it that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. All things are theirs, for they are Christ's and Christ is God's, and as many as receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become the sons of God.
The church receives Christ's fullness and sufficiency and is to reflect them to the world by sharing God's gifts and showing His unselfish love. It is to reflect to the world the fullness and sufficiency found in Christ and to work with Him in the work of redemption. Through union with Christ as glorified Head, believers united to Him receive the divine love that rests in Christ and nourishment from Him, like branches joined to the living Vine. Christ works on human hearts bringing spiritual change, and through His grace fallen sinners can partake of His divine nature, reflect His glory, and be refined, purified, and glorified. Those joined to Him as a body is joined to its head and a flock to its shepherd become one with Christ and will overcome and share His throne and joy when He comes for His own.
All who are believers in deed and truth are members of that body. Those united with Him by living faith are members of that body as His mystical body under Him as glorified head, so loved by the Father as members of Christ. Outward membership in the church is not by itself a living connection with Christ: His life must flow through a person and produce the fruits of the Spirit. Without that fruit a person's privileges and God's gifts do not bless the world and may keep others from receiving those privileges. Having a name on the church record is not enough; to belong to Jesus requires a spiritual connection with God shown by bearing fruit and giving evidence of absolute allegiance to Christ. Those who do not belong to Him are like the fruitless branch of the vine and are taken away, while the fruitful branch bears fruit, with faith and love as the gold of character ever working on the Lord's side to unite and harmonize the members of Christ's body.
Unity and Church Order
Christ alone holds the responsibility and authority that belong to head of the church, and church and conference organization does not transfer this responsibility to presidents or ministers, so believers are to look to God for an understanding of present truth and duty rather than look to human leaders. The church is built upon Christ as its foundation and is to obey Christ as its head, and it is not to depend upon man or be controlled by man. No position of trust gives anyone authority to dictate what others shall believe or do, for all are brethren under one Master, and the Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church on whom the weakest may depend.
Christ's headship means human workers are not to be treated as their students' masters or as the final source of counsel, but each person is to seek the Lord's direction for the work God has given them. No human position qualifies a man to rule his brethren or to place on them the robe of Christ's righteousness. God has ordained Christ to be the head of all the working forces of the church, and under His headship His holy angels supervise the work in every department for every disciple, while His work demonstrates the superiority of Christlike, heavenly principles over worldliness and every human agency.
God uses the church, Christ's body, as His appointed channel of light to communicate His purposes and will. No servant receives an experience contrary to the church's experience, and no one is given knowledge of God's will for the whole church while the church remains in darkness. God places His servants in close connection with the church so they rely less on themselves and more on others whom He is leading in His work. To take an independent track away from the church is to leave Christ's body and to follow a device of the enemy to deceive and destroy.
Christ is the one Head over the church and all its laborers work under Him. The different lines of God's work belong together as parts of one whole ordered and guided by Christ rather than operating independently, with the cross central because it provides atonement and influences every part of God's government. The Lord's order with Christ as head requires work in His vineyard as a whole to be done in proportion and balance, with no lessening of zeal, fervor and energy in saving souls ready to perish. It also requires that all time and means not be consumed in one line of work that will not honor God or properly represent the refined, elevated character of the truth while the rest is neglected and swayed into wrong lines.
No worker is to act as an independent whole or use God's work to build a business for individual profit or advantage to the weakening of others. God gives different talents and capabilities to different workers, but all are to labor under Christ with faithfulness and unselfishness, uniting efforts with fellow workers in harmony with strength joined to strength and putting the whole being into God's cause to make it a success. Medical missionary work must not stand aloof from church organization, church discipline, and the gospel ministry as if it were a complete whole by itself. The church is not a separate or optional part of Christ's work, and forming a group apart from it cannot make a lasting union but makes a confederacy that will be broken to pieces.
Students in medical lines must be educated to respect the church of Christ on earth, to keep confidence in God's appointed ministers and not receive insinuations that disparage the church and the ministry. They are to receive line upon line the Bible evidence of truth as it is in Jesus and to work in connection with the church, for instruction that does not educate them to do so is incomplete. Medical missionary work is the right hand that opens doors for the church to carry out its labors and is to be united with the gospel message. Christ Himself is the head, with the gospel ministry of truth for these last days standing in its sacred dignity as the body and medical missionary work serving as the arm and hand to that body, ever to be as the arm to the great work of preparing a people to stand in the soon-coming day of God, kept in its assigned center and carried only so far as can be borne successfully.
God is making His church the continued incarnation of Christ, with Christ as the divine shepherd, gospel ministers as under-shepherds, and church members as His working agencies. With all its working forces the church must become one with its Head and stand out prominently, and among the members there must be unity of action, holding the doctrines of God's word in purity as partakers of the divine nature. Believers with different talents and work are all dependent on Christ as glorious Head of all joined in the church through faith in God's Word, and living by the principles He established produces unity, love, harmony, and peace without quarrelling or striving for supremacy.
When the Holy Spirit controls church members they are refreshed by the water of life and reveal their Master in spirit, in word, and in deed, showing a much higher standard in speech, in ministry, and in spirituality. They encourage one another to press forward in the grand closing work and grow in unity and love that testifies to the world that God sent His Son to die for sinners, while divine truth is exalted and shines forth as a lamp that burneth to be understood more and still more clearly. Connection with Christ involves connection with His church, so loyalty to Christ includes faithfully carrying out church duties, which are part of Christian training and lead to service for the world.
When Christ is recognized as the chief working agency of Christian institutions, He shapes character according to the divine order, and worldly practices give way to methods that honor God and reflect heaven. As head of the church and Prince over His people, Christ calls the church to be united under Him with believers serving as individual parts of His great whole rather than seeking influence through political alliances. As subjects of His kingdom they are to carry the message of God's commandments and the faith of Jesus.
Trust and Obedience in Life
Because He has been made Head over all, believers are to yield themselves to His guidance and walk in obedience to God. As Head with authority over all things, He calls every Christian to surrender soul, body, spirit, and possessions to God and to work daily for the conversion of souls. His power and divine sympathy are joined with angelic help and the efforts of living human agents, so that no Christian should remain idle.
His blessings are not bestowed fully when people fail to copy His life, because they cannot then serve the heavenly agencies in transforming the world to His image. Christ is the living Head of His people and of His ministers, and those who preach the truth are to encourage faith and hope as He did. As His members they must maintain unwavering faith and hope as He did, keeping humble and contrite in heart before God while giving the message of light and warning.
Jesus has risen and is a living Saviour and Head of the church, not buried and inactive. As Head He is the Good Shepherd whose voice His sheep know and follow, and they will not follow a stranger. Because He lives He knows all about entangled and difficult conditions, and His own power sets things straight and guards and saves His people from rebellion and apostasy. Therefore His people are not to lose heart and courage and faith or spread doubt and unbelief, but to trust Him, look to the light, rejoice in hope, hold fast their profession, and run and fight with holy faith and hope in expectation of winning the prize and reaching the end of the journey through Christ.
As Head over the whole church Christ is near to His followers as they carry the gospel throughout the world. His abiding presence is their assurance, and as Head He is the one to whom they can bring every matter and open their hearts with confidence. Every soul in every institution is to keep words and spirit under the sanctifying grace of Jesus Christ, who bought believers with the price of His own blood. All are to be laborers together with God to unify the churches, speaking no word that lessens the importance of individual influence, while each person works out his own salvation with fear and trembling. Those who follow His footsteps and labor for the souls He died to save will overcome and share His throne and joy when He comes for His own.
God by His mighty power raised Christ from the dead and set Him at His own right hand far above every principality and power and name, putting all things under His feet and giving Him to be head over all things to the church. The church is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all, held in close and sacred union under Christ as its controlling head. Christ alone holds the authority of head, so the church is built on Him and obeys Him rather than depending on or being controlled by man, and no position gives any person right to dictate belief or duty to others. Through living faith-union with Him as glorified Head, believers receive His fullness and nourishment like branches of the living Vine, partaking of the divine nature and being refined, purified and glorified to reflect Him to the world. Because He lives as Head over all, His people are to yield to His guidance, trust His present help and victory in every conflict, and labor together under Him in unity without losing heart.
Exaltation and Context
Ephesians 1:22 belongs to the account of Christ's exaltation after the resurrection, when by the working of God's mighty power toward believers God raised Christ from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come. In that exaltation God put all things under Christ's feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
This is stated as one of the privileges of the Christian and as God's purpose for His people. Believers are to know it by the spirit of wisdom and revelation, with enlightened understanding of the hope of His calling, the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. God's will and methods in this are far above human ideas and methods and will not blend with worldly plans and human inventions, and to work counter to them is at the peril of the soul.
The same power that raised Christ will raise and glorify His church with Him above every power and name. The saints raised at Christ's resurrection were trophies of His victory and a symbol of the final resurrection of the righteous, and the church will be united with Christ as His bride. Christ came to this world to establish Himself as the Center as head over all things to the church, and the working of the Spirit of God must be sensed and understood with strained mental powers so that what Christ is and what God is is seen.
Head Over All Things
God has put all things under Christ's feet and under His authority and has given Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. This belongs to the account of Christ's exaltation after His resurrection and expresses the greatness of God's power working for those who believe. His rule extends over every power and dominion. He possessed this complete authority even during His humiliation.
His headship embraces every line of business, every church, and every human being in God's merciful provision for salvation. Christ is both one with humanity by being born of a woman and one with God in divinity, and the union of humanity with His divinity was the only way human beings could be redeemed, through the sacrifice of the life of God's Son.
His complete power and authority assure believers of help and victory in every conflict with the powers of darkness. They are the reason believers can trust Him as the divine Physician to heal physical and spiritual infirmities.
Church as His Body
The verse teaches that the church is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. God has placed all things under Christ's feet and made Him head over everything for the church, and the church as His body stands in a close and sacred relationship to Him. Christ as head controls the members of His mystical body. The Saviour loves the church with an everlasting love and gave Himself for it that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, holy and without blemish, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. All things are theirs, for they are Christ's and Christ is God's, and as many as receive Him and believe on His name are given power to become the sons of God.
The church receives Christ's fullness and sufficiency and is to reflect them to the world by sharing God's gifts and showing His unselfish love. It is to reflect to the world the fullness and sufficiency found in Christ and to work with Him in the work of redemption. Through union with Christ as glorified Head, believers united to Him receive the divine love that rests in Christ and nourishment from Him, like branches joined to the living Vine. Christ works on human hearts bringing spiritual change, and through His grace fallen sinners can partake of His divine nature, reflect His glory, and be refined, purified, and glorified. Those joined to Him as a body is joined to its head and a flock to its shepherd become one with Christ and will overcome and share His throne and joy when He comes for His own.
All who are believers in deed and truth are members of that body. Those united with Him by living faith are members of that body as His mystical body under Him as glorified head, so loved by the Father as members of Christ. Outward membership in the church is not by itself a living connection with Christ: His life must flow through a person and produce the fruits of the Spirit. Without that fruit a person's privileges and God's gifts do not bless the world and may keep others from receiving those privileges. Having a name on the church record is not enough; to belong to Jesus requires a spiritual connection with God shown by bearing fruit and giving evidence of absolute allegiance to Christ. Those who do not belong to Him are like the fruitless branch of the vine and are taken away, while the fruitful branch bears fruit, with faith and love as the gold of character ever working on the Lord's side to unite and harmonize the members of Christ's body.
Unity and Church Order
Christ alone holds the responsibility and authority that belong to head of the church, and church and conference organization does not transfer this responsibility to presidents or ministers, so believers are to look to God for an understanding of present truth and duty rather than look to human leaders. The church is built upon Christ as its foundation and is to obey Christ as its head, and it is not to depend upon man or be controlled by man. No position of trust gives anyone authority to dictate what others shall believe or do, for all are brethren under one Master, and the Rock of faith is the living presence of Christ in the church on whom the weakest may depend.
Christ's headship means human workers are not to be treated as their students' masters or as the final source of counsel, but each person is to seek the Lord's direction for the work God has given them. No human position qualifies a man to rule his brethren or to place on them the robe of Christ's righteousness. God has ordained Christ to be the head of all the working forces of the church, and under His headship His holy angels supervise the work in every department for every disciple, while His work demonstrates the superiority of Christlike, heavenly principles over worldliness and every human agency.
God uses the church, Christ's body, as His appointed channel of light to communicate His purposes and will. No servant receives an experience contrary to the church's experience, and no one is given knowledge of God's will for the whole church while the church remains in darkness. God places His servants in close connection with the church so they rely less on themselves and more on others whom He is leading in His work. To take an independent track away from the church is to leave Christ's body and to follow a device of the enemy to deceive and destroy.
Christ is the one Head over the church and all its laborers work under Him. The different lines of God's work belong together as parts of one whole ordered and guided by Christ rather than operating independently, with the cross central because it provides atonement and influences every part of God's government. The Lord's order with Christ as head requires work in His vineyard as a whole to be done in proportion and balance, with no lessening of zeal, fervor and energy in saving souls ready to perish. It also requires that all time and means not be consumed in one line of work that will not honor God or properly represent the refined, elevated character of the truth while the rest is neglected and swayed into wrong lines.
No worker is to act as an independent whole or use God's work to build a business for individual profit or advantage to the weakening of others. God gives different talents and capabilities to different workers, but all are to labor under Christ with faithfulness and unselfishness, uniting efforts with fellow workers in harmony with strength joined to strength and putting the whole being into God's cause to make it a success. Medical missionary work must not stand aloof from church organization, church discipline, and the gospel ministry as if it were a complete whole by itself. The church is not a separate or optional part of Christ's work, and forming a group apart from it cannot make a lasting union but makes a confederacy that will be broken to pieces.
Students in medical lines must be educated to respect the church of Christ on earth, to keep confidence in God's appointed ministers and not receive insinuations that disparage the church and the ministry. They are to receive line upon line the Bible evidence of truth as it is in Jesus and to work in connection with the church, for instruction that does not educate them to do so is incomplete. Medical missionary work is the right hand that opens doors for the church to carry out its labors and is to be united with the gospel message. Christ Himself is the head, with the gospel ministry of truth for these last days standing in its sacred dignity as the body and medical missionary work serving as the arm and hand to that body, ever to be as the arm to the great work of preparing a people to stand in the soon-coming day of God, kept in its assigned center and carried only so far as can be borne successfully.
God is making His church the continued incarnation of Christ, with Christ as the divine shepherd, gospel ministers as under-shepherds, and church members as His working agencies. With all its working forces the church must become one with its Head and stand out prominently, and among the members there must be unity of action, holding the doctrines of God's word in purity as partakers of the divine nature. Believers with different talents and work are all dependent on Christ as glorious Head of all joined in the church through faith in God's Word, and living by the principles He established produces unity, love, harmony, and peace without quarrelling or striving for supremacy.
When the Holy Spirit controls church members they are refreshed by the water of life and reveal their Master in spirit, in word, and in deed, showing a much higher standard in speech, in ministry, and in spirituality. They encourage one another to press forward in the grand closing work and grow in unity and love that testifies to the world that God sent His Son to die for sinners, while divine truth is exalted and shines forth as a lamp that burneth to be understood more and still more clearly. Connection with Christ involves connection with His church, so loyalty to Christ includes faithfully carrying out church duties, which are part of Christian training and lead to service for the world.
When Christ is recognized as the chief working agency of Christian institutions, He shapes character according to the divine order, and worldly practices give way to methods that honor God and reflect heaven. As head of the church and Prince over His people, Christ calls the church to be united under Him with believers serving as individual parts of His great whole rather than seeking influence through political alliances. As subjects of His kingdom they are to carry the message of God's commandments and the faith of Jesus.
Trust and Obedience in Life
Because He has been made Head over all, believers are to yield themselves to His guidance and walk in obedience to God. As Head with authority over all things, He calls every Christian to surrender soul, body, spirit, and possessions to God and to work daily for the conversion of souls. His power and divine sympathy are joined with angelic help and the efforts of living human agents, so that no Christian should remain idle.
His blessings are not bestowed fully when people fail to copy His life, because they cannot then serve the heavenly agencies in transforming the world to His image. Christ is the living Head of His people and of His ministers, and those who preach the truth are to encourage faith and hope as He did. As His members they must maintain unwavering faith and hope as He did, keeping humble and contrite in heart before God while giving the message of light and warning.
Jesus has risen and is a living Saviour and Head of the church, not buried and inactive. As Head He is the Good Shepherd whose voice His sheep know and follow, and they will not follow a stranger. Because He lives He knows all about entangled and difficult conditions, and His own power sets things straight and guards and saves His people from rebellion and apostasy. Therefore His people are not to lose heart and courage and faith or spread doubt and unbelief, but to trust Him, look to the light, rejoice in hope, hold fast their profession, and run and fight with holy faith and hope in expectation of winning the prize and reaching the end of the journey through Christ.
As Head over the whole church Christ is near to His followers as they carry the gospel throughout the world. His abiding presence is their assurance, and as Head He is the one to whom they can bring every matter and open their hearts with confidence. Every soul in every institution is to keep words and spirit under the sanctifying grace of Jesus Christ, who bought believers with the price of His own blood. All are to be laborers together with God to unify the churches, speaking no word that lessens the importance of individual influence, while each person works out his own salvation with fear and trembling. Those who follow His footsteps and labor for the souls He died to save will overcome and share His throne and joy when He comes for His own.