«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　Eph. 4:15 But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.

　　1 Cor. 11:3 But I want you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of the woman, and God is the head of Christ.

　　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. (Life-study of Ephesians, p. 74)

　　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.

　　By God’s grace, we all must say, “Lord, we are here to take the lead to be headed up. Lord, head us up in Christ. We do not want to remain in the heap of collapse. We have to be rescued from the collapse by being headed up in You.” After you have been brought out of the collapse, you will be above all things. Until this happens, you will not have the confidence to say that you are above the President. It is possible to be saved but still remain in the heap because you are not headed up.

　　It is important to see that the heading up in the church is a matter in life. If we try to be headed up without growing in life, we shall fall into organization. To head up all things in the church without the growth in life is simply to have an organization. The proper heading up is the growing of life. The more you grow in life, the more life you will have, the more heading up there will be, and the more you will be rescued from the heap of collapse. No human hand or organization can accomplish this. No human effort can help the heading up in the church life….The only thing that avails is the growth in life. Oh, we need to grow and help others to grow! We need to minister the supply of life to one another to help one another grow. The heading up in the church life is altogether dependent upon the growth in life. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 74-75, 78-79)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msg. 8