Christ the Head of the Church Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

And he is the head of the body, the church.
Colossians 1:18

As if to show us that this title of “Head of the church” is to be
held in highest esteem, it is here placed in connection with the
loftiest honors of our Lord Jesus. In the same breath, the Son of
God is styled “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15a), “the firstborn of every creature” (Col 1:15b), the Creator of all existence (Col
1:16-17), and then “the head of the body, the church.” We dare not,
therefore, think slightly of this title, nor do we hesitate to assert that
any levity1
regarding it would be as disgraceful as the profane use of
any other name of our divine Lord. For any mortal to assume it to himself, we conceive would be equal in blasphemy to the assumption of the
mediatorial office; and we should be no more shocked to hear a man
claim to be “the creator of all things,” than we are now when a mortal
is designated, “head of the church”…
We understand this headship to be the representation of the church
as a body. We speak of counting heads, meaning thereby persons: the
head represents the whole body. God has been pleased to deal with
mankind as a community, and His great covenant transactions have
been with men in a body and not with separate individuals. That is to
say, at the first creation, God did not so much deal with each person of
the human race, as with the whole race represented in one man,
namely, the first Adam (Rom 5:12-21). It was so ordained that the race
should be bound up in his loins—to stand if he stood, to fall if he fell.
Hence, my brethren, the Fall, hence original sin, hence the sorrows of
this life.
In order to salvation, which, perhaps, was only possible because we
did not fall singly (for the devils, falling singly and separately, are reserved without hope of mercy unto everlasting fire), God instituted a
second federation2
of which Jesus Christ is the Head. The apostle calls
Him the second Adam. He is the Head of that company of mankind
who are His chosen, His redeemed, who are known in this world by
being led to believe in Him and are ultimately gathered into His rest.
1
levity – tendency to make light of serious matters.
2
second federation – New Covenant (Jer 31:31-34; Heb 8:8, 13; 12:24).
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Now, Jesus Christ stands to His church in the same position as Adam
stood to his posterity. They are chosen in Him, accepted in Him, and
preserved in Him: “Saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation”
(Isa 45:17). As His own words declare it, “Because I live, ye shall live
also” (Joh 14:19). In the following chapters of the epistle before us, the
apostle shows that the saints are buried with Jesus, risen with Him, and
quickened with Him. Even more explicit is he in the fifth [chapter] of
Romans, where the headship of Adam and of Jesus are compared and
contrasted.
Our Lord is Head in a mystical sense, explained in Colossians 2:19:
“…the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of
God.” The head is to the body indispensable to life: it is the seat of
mental life, the temple of the soul; even so Jesus Christ is the vitalizing3
Head of all His people. He “is our life” (Col 3:4). “In him was life; and
the life was the light of men” (Joh 1:4). The life of every member of the
mystical body depends upon the life of the mystical Head. Through
Jesus Christ every living child of God derives his spiritual life. Not one
true member of the church lives by a life of his own. “For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). Separation from
Christ is spiritual death: “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as
a branch, and is withered” (Joh 15:6). The head mystically is not merely
the source of life and the seat of sensation, but it is the throne of supreme government. It is from the brain that the mandate is issued that
uplifts the hand or bids it fall by the side. Man walks, speaks, sleeps,
or rises from his couch according to the dictate of that mysterious royal
something that finds a place for itself within the head.
Thus, in the true church of God, Jesus Christ is the great directing
Head. From Him the only binding commands go forth. To Him all the
truly spiritual yield a cheerful homage. His members delight to do the
will of their Head. The whole fabric of the church actuated4
by His life,
being filled with His Spirit, most readily concedes to Him that in all
things He shall have the preeminence.5
In proportion as Christians are
truly united to Jesus are they perfectly governed by Him, and it is only
because of the old nature that abideth in separation from Christ that
believers offend and transgress. As far as they are spiritual men, so far
doth Jesus rule them as the head governeth all the members of the body.
3 vitalizing – life-giving.
4 actuated – enlivened; moved to action.
5 preeminence – first place; highest rank.
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Christ’s Headship: What It Is?
The head is also the glory of the body. There the chief beauty of manhood dwells. The divine image is best seen in the countenance;6
the
face is the distinguishing glory of man. Man holds his head erect; his
countenance is not turned towards the earth like the beast. It glows
with intelligence; it is the index of an immortal mind. Beauty chooses as
her favored seat the features of the countenance. Majesty and tenderness,
wisdom and love, courage and compassion here hang out their ensigns.7
All the graces choose the head as their favored dwelling-place. In this
sense, right well is our Lord saluted as the “Head.” He is “fairer than
the children of men: grace is poured into [His] lips” (Psa 45:2).
In Jesus Christ, all the beauty of the church is summed up. What
[would] all His church [be] without Him? A carcass, a ghastly corpse,
bereft8
of all its glory because divided from its head. What were all the
good, great, and excellent men who have ever lived without Christ? So
many ciphers9
upon a writing table—they count for nothing until their
Lord, as the great unit, is put before them to give them power and
value. Then indeed they swell to a mighty sum, but without Him they
are less than nothing and vanity. An uncomely thing would be the
church of God if she were not comely with the comeliness that Jesus
imparts to her. His head is as the finest gold, His countenance is as
Lebanon, excellent as the cedars; He is the chief among ten thousand,
and the “altogether lovely” (Song 5:10, 16)—glorious is that body of
which He is the crown and excellence. Well may the church be called
the “fairest among women” (Song 1:8) when her Head thus excelleth
all the beauties of earth and heaven.
Another figure that is used to describe the headship of Christ to the
church is the conjugal.
10 As the Lord made Eve out of the flesh of Adam,
so hath He taken the church out of the side of Christ Jesus, and she is
of Him as Eve was of Adam—she is of His flesh and of His bones. A
mysterious union has been established between Christ and His church,
which is constantly compared to that of marriage: “For the husband is
the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is
the saviour of the body” (Eph 5:23). Jesus is the bridegroom; His
church is His bride. They are espoused one to another. In bonds of love,
they are bound forever to each other; and they are alike with sacred
expectation waiting for the marriage day, when shall be accomplished
6 countenance – person’s face or facial expression.
7 ensigns – banners; thus, marks of distinction, rank, or office.
8 bereft – deprived.
9 ciphers – numbers.
10 conjugal – related to marriage.
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the eternal purpose of God and the desire of the Redeemer. As the husband exercises a headship in the house, not at all (when the relationship is rightly carried out) tyrannical or magisterial,11 but a government founded upon the rule of nature and endorsed by the consent of
love, even so Jesus Christ ruleth in His church, not as a despotic lord,12
compelling and constraining His subject bride against her will, but as
a husband well-beloved, obtaining obedience voluntarily from the heart
of the beloved one, being in all things so admired and had in esteem as
to win an undisputed preeminence. Such conjugal headship is illustrated by the Word of God in the old prophecy: “Thou shalt call me
Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali” (Hos 2:16). Baali and Ishi both
mean “lord,” but the sense differs. The one is a mere ruler, the other a
beloved husband. Jesus Christ’s kingdom is no tyranny. His scepter is
not made of iron. He rules not with blows, curses, and threats, but His
scepter is silver, and His rule is love. The only chains He uses are the
chains of His constraining grace. His dominion is spiritual and extends
over willing hearts who delight to bow before Him and to give Him the
honor due to His name. These, I think, are the senses in which this
word headship is used; but there remains one other, these former all
qualifying this last, upon which I intend to dwell at some length this
morning.
Christ is the Head of His church as King in Zion. In the midst of the
church of God, the supreme government is vested13 in the person of
Christ. “One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren” (Mat
23:8). The church is the kingdom of God among men. It is purely spiritual, comprehending only spiritual men, and existing only for spiritual objects. And Who is its King? None but Jesus. We can truly say,
as they did of old, who proclaimed the kingship of the Crucified, “We
have another King, one Jesus” (see Act 17:7). To Him the assemblies of
the saints pay all regal14 honor, and at His throne the entire church
boweth itself, saluting Him as Master and Lord. To no other do we render spiritual obeisance.15 Christ only and solely is King upon Zion’s
hill, set there by eternal decree, maintained in that position by infinite
power, and appointed to remain upon the throne until every enemy
shall be made His footstool. I wish I had eloquence this morning that I
might bear worthy witness to the crown-rights of King Jesus in His
11 magisterial – dictatorial.
12 a despotic lord – an absolute ruler.
13 vested – established in full legal possession.
14 regal – royal.
15 obeisance – obedience; submission.
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church, for I know no subject which it is more necessary to insist upon
in these eventful times. Let Jesus be owned as the only Head of the
church, and the way out of the present political debate that agitates our
nation is clear enough. Ignorance of this truth blinds many and makes
them labor with all their heart for a bad cause, under the notion that
they are doing God service. To know this truth is to hold a most weighty
trust with which we must not trifle.16 Martyrs have bled for this
truth…Let us not be slow with unshaken courage to declare yet again
that kings and princes and parliaments have no lawful jurisdiction17
over the church of Jesus Christ, that it beseems18 not the best of monarchs to claim those royal prerogatives that God has given to His only
begotten Son. Jesus alone is the Head of His spiritual kingdom, the
church; and all others who come within her pale to exercise power are
but usurpers19 and Antichrist, and not for one moment to be respected
in their usurped authority by the true church of the living God. Some
churches have not learned this lesson but are held in leash like dogs by
their masters. They crouch down at the feet of the state to eat the
crumbs which fall from Mammon’s table;20 and if they are cuffed and
beaten by the powers that be, well do they deserve it; and I would almost pray that the whip may fall upon them yet more heavily until they
learn to appreciate liberty and are willing to take off the dog collar of
the state, and be free from human domination. If they lose a little
wealth, they will win the solid gold of God’s own favor and the abiding
power of His Spirit, which they cannot expect to have while they are
traitors to King Jesus and own not the sole and only headship of Immanuel in the church.

From a sermon delivered on Lord’s day morning, November 1, 1868,
at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
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