Christ is the Unique Head of the Body, the Church, and of every Believer Individually

We as believers in Christ are the members of the Body of Christ, and Christ is the unique Head of the Body, the church; He is the Head of the church and the Head of each individual believers, directing every one of us.

Therefore, we as believers in Christ need to take Christ as our Head in all that we are and do, realizing that He is the One who directs us both individually and corporately.

When we were unbelievers, we were directed and governed by Satan, in whom all the world lies; we were without hope in the world, and even though we thought we do what we want, we actually obeyed the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, being under Satan’s rule.

Through regeneration we were transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the Son of God’s love; in this kingdom there’s only ONE King: Jesus Christ. The church life today is the kingdom of God, and all believers in Christ are members of the Body of Christ.

As members, we need to realize that we can’t have any special or preferential fellowship or relationship with any other particular member of the Body, but all our fellowship and relationship should be through Christ as the Head and under Him.

We need to know the Lord experientially – we need to know Him as the Head of the Body and as the life of the Body. Also, we need to know Him as the Savior of the Body; as the Head, the Lord has all authority, and as the Savior, He is full of love.

We need to let the Lord love us, care for us, save us, and cherish us; we are His Body, and just as we care for our own body in love, so He cares and loves His Body.

The Savior of the Body loves the Body, and gave Himself up to gain His Body; even when we were not members of the Body, Jesus died for us.

He despised the shame for the joy set before Him, and died for us to redeem us and regenerate us to be the many members of His Body. May we realize that Christ is the Head of the Body, and may we be under His authority in everything, holding to the Head in love to receive the supply and direction from Him.

Christ is the Unique Head of the Body, the Church, and of All the Believers Individually

In our human body what decides and directs everything is the head; every single member is connected to the head via the nervous system, and when there’s a problem, the head issues orders and the members obey.

Christ is the unique Head of the Body, the church, corporately, and He is the Head of all the believers individually; Christ is the Head directly of each one of us (Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3).

We all as members of the Body are directly under the headship of Christ in the Body; He directs us to do something in a particular way, and we move and do things in, through, and by the Body.

Since Christ is the Head of the Body, we need to hold the head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God (Col. 2:19).

Holding Christ the Head is not only us acknowledging that He’s the head, but it is coming under His authority in an absolute way. When we take Christ as the Head, we can be joined and properly related to the brothers and the sisters in the Body.

All the members of the Body are fitted together and are able to live the Body life through holding the Head. When we have a good relationship with the Head, we also have a good relationship with the other members of the Body.

If we have any problems or questions, we need to come to Christ and be under His authority as the unique Head of the Body, and all problems will be solved.

Our common relationship with the brothers and the sisters is determined by our relationship to Him as the Head. The only way we can have proper fellowship with the saints is by holding Christ as the Head, by being absolutely under His authority as the unique Head of the Body.

If we’re not under Christ as the Head, we can’t have fellowship with one another; if we don’t hold to Christ as the Head, our fellowship is invalid, for the basis of our fellowship is our mutual holding of the Head, Christ.

When we all hold Christ as the Head, being under His authority, we also hold to one another, we are joined together, and our relationship with the fellow members in the Body will be proper.

Christ is the unique Head of the Body: He has all the authority in the Body (Col. 1:19; Matt. 28:18). Authority is something that issues from God’s being, and only God has authority.

When Christ passed through death and resurrection and was glorified to be the Son of God in His humanity, God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth.

This means that Christ has authority, but we have no authority at all; we may represent Him with His authority, but all authority is in Christ, the Head.

Being under the headship of Christ is being absolutely under His authority (Eph. 4:15); the authority to direct the Body with all its members rests with the Head – we can’t control anyone or direct anyone.

Lord Jesus, You are the unique Head of the Body, the church, and You are our Head as individual members in the Body. We take You as the Head, and we place ourselves absolutely under Your authority. May we realize that we have no authority but all authority in heaven and on earth was given to Christ, the unique Head of the Body. Lord, we recognize Your authority as the Head, and we want to hold You as the Head so that we may receive the supply and direction from You, and we may be properly related in fellowship with our fellow members in the Body!

Being under the Authority of the Head causes us to Know the Life of the Body

When we are under the authority of the Head, Christ, we can know the life of the Body (see 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:18; 3:4).

If we are not under the authority of the Head but live in our selfish and individualistic life, we become a problem in the Body. All the members of our physical body are under the control and direction of the head, and if any member is disobedient to the head, that member becomes a problem.

If Christ is the Head, we cannot be the Head, and we have no right to disobey Him.

The problem is that too many times there are some people who want to be the head in the church; there are “human heads” of the church, human leaders, human methods, and human ordinances. When man agrees with the Head int he heaven, he obeys God, but when he disagrees, he disobeys God. This is wrong.

There is only one unique Head of the Body, and that is Christ; no one else is the head. We all have to be under Christ’s authority, hold Him as the Head, and walk not according to our will but in the spirit, for He as the Spirit is mingled with our spirit.

We must learn to receive orders from God and not from man; we must take Christ as the Head, and then we will know the life of the Body.

God raised Christ from the dead and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, which is His Body, the fulness of the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:22-23); now we as the many members of the Body need to be under His authority, receive His dispensing and transmission of all that He is and has accomplished, and take His orders.

The members of the Body are fitted together and are able to live the Body life through holding the Head; our relationship with the unique Head of the Body determines our relationship with the other members (Eph. 4:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:18, 27).

In the human life, in the family life, and in society, we can have direct relationships with others, and if we don’t like someone, we may not stay with him but hang out with the people we like. But in the Body of Christ there are no direct relationships between the members.

Any direct relationship invalidates the headship of Christ. All relationships in the Body must pass through the unique Head of the Body, Christ.

It is similar to the boards in the tabernacle: wood didn’t touch wood directly, but the acacia wood was overlaid with gold, and the boards were joined in this gold. When we all are related to one another through Christ, the Head, we don’t have any special love or special relationship with anyone.

How strange it would be if our left hand would have a special relationship with our right hand, and they always stay together!

Similarly, it is not appropriate for us to have a direct relationship or fellowship with our fellow members of the Body, no matter how much we like them or desire to be with them; we need to be under the authority of the Head and we will know the life of the Body.

Lord Jesus, You are our Lord; we have no right to make any decision or choose anything. Deliver us from being our own head or from taking anyone else as the head. Lord Jesus, You are the unique Head of the Body, and we want to remain under Your authority in everything. Save us from trying to have any direct relationship with other members without being under You as the Head. Oh Lord, we want to know the life of the Body by being under the authority of the Head in everything, submitting to the Head!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 38, ch. 55; vol. 44, ch. 101, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Knowing Life and the Church, msg. 6 (week 6), Living in the Resurrection Life of Christ under the Unique Headship of Christ and Growing Up into the Head, Christ, in All Things for the Reality and Building Up of the Body of Christ.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # He the great beginning is, / And the Church’s living Head; / He her life and content too, / And the firstborn from the dead. / In God’s Kingdom He’s the King, / All the pow’r to Him is giv’n; / In His glory He shall rule / Over all in earth and heav’n. (Hymns #495)
  # Lord, to know Thee as the Body, / Is my desperate need today, / Oh, to see Thee in Thy members, / ’Tis for this I long and pray. / No more just to know Thy headship / In an individual way, / But to see Thee incarnated, / As the Body-Christ, I pray. (Hymns #1225)
  # Holding fast the Head, and growing / With His increase, in His way, / By the joints and bands supplying, / Knit together day by day. (Hymns #840)