The Pulpit Commentary — Ephesians — Section 34

the elements a.-e mado subject to him .....all kings and nations, all. angels in heaven, all fallen angels, all the advances and discoveries of science, are made tributary to the welfare of the Church. Therefore no weapon formed against her shall prosper. Chris• tian people ought to derive comfort and aspiratiou from the thought tb11t he who is the Foundation of their religious hopes holds in his hands all the complicated threads of prondence and directs the course of human history.. It is the one Divine hand which clasps together the two great books of nature aud revelation. '.l.'his thought ought to gi,e fresh breadth and strength and healthiness to all our thoughts about him. Above all, let us see in this fact the Di'\"ine guarantee for the safety of the Church. "If God be for us, who CI\Il be against us?" Jesus "filleth all in all," l'nd therefore has the inexhaustible resources of the universe at his disposal for the good of the Church, II. HEADSHIP OF THE CHURCH. There is a double relationship involved ~ thjs beadship--one repres~nrative, the other vital. 1. The representat,;116 relation. He, ~a11 Head as he was Sav10ur (eh. v. 23). Believers were in him from eternity, for they were chosen in him (ver. 4). "The covenant which was confirmed before of God. in Christ" (Gal. iii. 17) was that in the terms of which they are saved; the promise of life is said to be in him (2 Tim. i. 1), as all the promises are« yea" and" amen" in him (2 Cor. i. 20). Thus grace is sa.id to be given us in Christ Jesus befor~ the world began (2 Tim. i. 9) ; and believers are said to suffer with him, to be quickened and rai~ed together with him, to sit together in hea.venly places in Christ (eh. ii. ·6). Christ, indeed, as Head, stands for the whole body : " So also is Christ " ( l Cor. xii, 12). Thus the representative relation extends from eternity to eternity. These passages of Scrip- ture pro¥e the groundlessness of the notion that Christ only became H~d after. his resurrection with the view of proving that the saints of the Old Testament dispensation do not belong to the body or Church of Christ. . He was Head just as he was Saviour; for" he is the Head of the Church, and he is the Saviour of the body "-(eh. v.,23). Christ W"&S not and could not be Saviour without death, ye_t he was the ::laviour of Old Tes.a.rnent saints ages before his death. There is no passage asserting that he became Head through re:.--urrection. The resurrection.11uly declared his headship as it declared his sanship. II Christ was not Head before his ipcarnation, the Old Testament saints had no Mediator. Christ was the Read of all believers because, as being the last Adam, all believers were in him. 2. The vital relation. Christ is the Head of. the body, the Church, holding the same relation as the head does to the natural body. (1) ,A.., to life. His life is the life of the members. " Because I live ye shall live also" (John xiv. 19); "The life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. ii. 20). If the head is severed from the body, lile becomes extinct. The life of the_ Church depends upon its union with Christ; therefore it is a blessed truth," He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. vi. 16, 17). Thus the apostle can say, as if his life were merged in the very life of the Redeemer, "I live; yet no.t I, but Christ liveth in me" the :Mainspring of all my activity, the Source of all my holy desires, the Fountain of :ny blessedness. In a beautifully spiritual sense, believers can say," I~ him we live, and move, and have onr being." (2) .As to motion. It is the head which directs all the movements of the body; so it is Christ who "worketh all in all" (1 Cor. ii. 6) and u fills all in all" (3) .As to strength. 'l'he members of the body have no powe! of self-motion ; they derive their power from the head. So all our power ~ fight against sin is derived frc,m C"nrist. Therefore the apostle prays for the Ephesians that they may be" strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man" (eh. iii. 16); and he savs of himself, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtbeneth me" (Phil. iv. 13). (4) A.a to aympo,thy. The semations of the limbs are telegraphed back to the brain, which shows itself in constant sympathy with every part of the body. A paiu, in the sILallest nerve ie felt in the head. So Jesus Christ knows all our sorrows aad our trials, and "cannot but be touched with a feeling of our infirmities." He says to Saul, "Why persecutest thou me?" and saye to the whole company of the red~med.,; "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye ha.ve,done it unto me" (Matt. xxv. 40). It is out of this close connection that the members themselves ought to realize the power and the blessing of mutual sympathy. (5) .As to subordination. JesUB Christ is not only Head of the Church, but Head over the Church. The apostle says, "The Hearl of every man is Christ, and the head of the wuwau is the wan, and the Ileacl of ChrL~t is God" (l Cor, xi, 3), It_ is implied here OH, L 1-23.] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 81