The Headship of Christ is the key doctrine of divine right Presbyterianism.
Of the figures of speech used in the New Testament to describe the relationship between Christ and His people, Christ’s Headship is the most expounded and most overarching. Just as Jesus is the Head of His body, the church (Col. 1:18), He is also the Chief Cornerstone about which His temple is built (1 Peter 2:4-8; Eph. 2:19-22), the Husband of the bride (Eph 5:23-33), and the True Vine (John 15:1-8). These other figures enlarge upon aspects of the union of Head and body, Christ and the church.
The Headship of Christ is vital or spiritual. Without that vital union of head to body or vine to branch there is no life and no development (Eph. 4:1-16). As the temple is made up of living stones, so every member of the body is indwelt by the Holy Spirit; and as the temple founded upon Christ is the habitation of the Spirit, so the body of Christ has its source of life in its Head and the Spirit is its animating power.
The Headship of Christ is federal or covenantal. The main thrusts of the figure of Christ and the church as Husband and wife are on the one hand that the relationship is one of leadership, love, and care, and on the other, that it is mysterious. Nevertheless, marriage introduces the concept of covenant. Christ is the federal Head of the church. Paul speaks of the headship of Adam and the headship of Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). The Psalmist warns the bride to forget her father’s house so that she would delight her King (Ps. 45:10-11).
The Headship of Christ is internal and external or relates to the invisible church and the visible church. Just as Christ is Head of all those united to him in their effectual calling, he is also Head of all those who profess faith in Him and of their children. The branches which bear fruit are united to the vine both externally and internally. To mix the metaphors, the parables of the sower and the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:1-30) reinforce the fact that not all the branches united visibly to the vine are united vitally. Not all who bear the covenant sign and seal are elect (Rom. 9:13), yet that visible connection places them under the headship of Christ.
The Headship of Christ is governmental. The passages of Scripture which describe the church as the body of Christ speak of the different functions of different members and of the different gifts which are given to different members (Rom 12; 1 Cor. 12). Christ, the absolute monarch of His people, has instituted a civil service to administer His rule. That rule is administered in the visible church by the office-bearers whom Christ has gifted and given (Eph. 2:19-22, 4:1-16).
The Headship of Christ divides the human race and defines the church-world divide. Christ is Head over the church whether it is described in terms of the invisible or the visible. Christ, the Head, has instituted a government in His church, described that government’s structures and the qualifications for its office-bearers, and specified the nature and limits of its power.
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