Headship Issues

This afternoon as I begin this article I think of the words of the Apostle Paul who lived some twenty centuries ago. Who in his time stood in defense of the Gospel of God. Which in my view of things is to say that he (Paul) stood in defense of the truth of God as it was revealed to him. In 1st Corinthians 4:1 he spoke of himself (along with others) as “MINISTERS OF CHRIST AND A STWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD.”. Then he went on to say in verse 2, “MOREOVER IT IS REQUIRED IN STEWARDS THAT A MAN BE FOUND FAITHFUL”. I believe that it was this faithfulness to the truth contained in the revelation of the mysteries of God that caused Paul to suffer so much affliction in his life. But because of this man's faithfulness to the truth we have thirteen different books of the Bible handed done to us. In his generation the apostle Paul stood his ground for the truth's sake. I trust that this servant of God will do no less in this article.

In 1st Corinthians 11:7b the apostle speaking of the male person said, “FOR AS MUCH AS HE IS the IMAGE AND GLORY OF GOD, AND the WOMAN IS THE GLORY OF THE MAN”. The whole general context of what he was speaking of in this portion of 1st Corinthians was in reference to headship issues. Establishing the teaching of the basic core truth pertaining to headship, and that being summed up in the statemHeadship Issuesent he himself made in verse 3 of 1st Corinthians 11 which reads as follows. BUT I WOULD HAVE YOU KNOW, THAT HE HEAD OF EVERY MAN IS CHRIST; AND THE HEAD OF WOMAN IS THE MAN; AND THE HEAD OF CHRIST IS GOD. Again, that is the statement that communicates the core truth of headship. I do not believe it was popular with all people then, just like it is not popular with many in this generation. Particularly in western societies. Where we have shallowed the lie that in regards to headship that men and women are equal. It only seems reasonable to me that there were those in his generation that walked in disobedience to this truth, or he would never had to write this portion of the letter to the saint at Corinth. I find the same problem in this generation also.

Let us get back to 1st Corinthians 11:7b, where the male person is referred to by the apostle as the image and glory of God, and the woman the glory of the man. How is it that the apostle could make such a statement. I can promise you one thing, it was not the modern western mindset that influenced him to make that statement. For the modern western mindset is extremely filled with what is called the spirit of feminism that dictates that the woman is the man's equal and that she was never created for the man.....in other words that she does not now, now ever could have belonged to a man, but that she is sovereign unto herself to determine the destiny and affairs of her own life according to her own will. For if one belongs to another then the one who is the possessor, or owner, has the right of control over the other who is the possessed, or owned. I know, I know, I'm talking like a lawyer now! I know it, I know I am, but it is because we are dealing with issues of both reason and law, and they demand intelligent thought, but lets start again,,,and lets start at the beginning. Lets go back to the very creation, even before the garden of Eden, and take a close look at what is said in the Scripture and lets see if there isn't proof that men and women were created by God to the end that a believing man might live out a full and proper reflection of God Himself, and that believing women might live out a full and proper reflection of what the Church is called to be. The mystery spoken of by Paul in Ephesians chapter 5:32, and that this mystery also works in respect to issues of headship.

Obviously if you are reading this article and you are of the persuasion that there is no creator, but that the doctrine of evolution is correct, then you might just as well know right up front that I perceive the doctrine of evolution be the absolute biggest farce that human history has ever come with. That it is nothing sort of a lie from the pit of hell, sown among men to deceive naive souls that refuse to pursue the love of the truth. So, if you do believe in evolution and have not yet turned me off then I welcome you (if you can stomach looking at what the Scripture has to say) to tag along and consider what this man in his view of the Scriptures has to say, not only about our origins, but about the very purpose of mankind.

The very first chapter of the book of Genesis is devoted to a day by day account of God creating the heavens and the earth. The writer of the Biblical book of Hebrews, chapter 11:3, (THROUGH FAITH WE UNDERSTAND THAT HE WORLDS WERE FRAMED BY THE WORD OF GOD, SO THAT THINGS WHICH ARE SEEN WERE NOT MADE OF THINGS WHICH DO APPEAR) tells us that an invisible God created all things visible. The earth, the planets, the stars, everything, and He (God) did this by the spoken word. He spoke it and it was so. The apostle Paul in the book of Colossians 1:15-16 gives further witness that not only things visible, but also all things that are invisible were also created by God, performing it in the person of Jesus Christ before He came to earth and put on the likeness of men. ( St. John 1:14, Philippians 2:1-11) This would include all angels, both those who are good and those who have chosen to taken on evil as their nature. In other words demons. And, any other life form that may exist.

This God, whom I perceive, and the Bible testifies to be the only God, is the source of all things. I contend that He is infinite in intelligence and in power, and along with that He is good and pure in nature, being described as love. I testify to you that this God had only good intentions in mind for all of His creation, and especially mankind, the highest of all of creation, who was, in God's genius and power created to be a natural living illustration of Himself and the chief object of His great love, the Church. I contend that God still has good intention for all men, in so much as men will seek and obey Him. Further I contend that the understanding and the the living out of the truth (that all that pertains to the natural man is to reflect God Himself, and all that pertains to the natural woman is to be a proper reflection of the Church) is the glory and purpose of the husband and the wife, in Christ our Lord. That the noble and wise God lovingly created us to be His children, like unto Himself, that we in our natural selves would live out his laws and promises and in so doing reflect his person and purpose. So any doctrine, whatever it might be called, that promotes in any sense the idea that chance had anything to do with man's creation is totally rejected by me. For I believe that according to the most intelligent and detailed design we were created in all details to fulfill the most awesome and noble of purposes, and that is to reflect God, and His purposes in the Church. Amen!

As it was said earlier God created day by day the various elements of the natural world and heavens. From all appearances it was on the sixth day that He created the first man who was called Adam, and the first woman whom Adam named Eve. The creation of this first man is spoken of in particular terms in Genesis 2:7. AND THE LORD GOD FORMED MAN OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND, AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS the BREATH OF LIFE; AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL. So it is seen that Adam was first created, and then after his creation he was commissioned to be caretaker of the what has come to be known as the Garden of Eden. A garden that God had planted in which he placed Adam. He gave to Adam the commandment that He must not eat of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but that he could eat of any other that he wished to. Further, God brought to Adam every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and Adam gave names unto all of these creatures. It is obvious in this statement that this first man was very highly intelligent to be able to name all the of earth's creatures. And let me remind you that Adam is our natural father, we all sprang forth from him through his wife Eve, who is not yet come into the picture. The Scripture then testified that a “help meet” was not found for Adam. The Scripture does not testify that it was bad or evil for Adam to be found alone, but that God's purposes might progress, our creator caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and He then performed the first surgery. He opened up Adam's side and removed a rib, and then closed up Adam's flesh. God then took the rib and from it created the first woman, whom Adam later named Eve. At first she was only referred to as woman. The reason given for this is that this name, or title was descriptive of what she was. She was a person taken from the flesh of a man. Adam was created from the dust of the earth. Eve was created by God from the flesh of a man who was to be her husband. After she was created she was presented by God to Adam. A gift from God to the man. A gift that was created to be his wife and in that position the highest and greatest treasure and responsibility that he had. After giving her the description of woman, which means, taken from man, Adam by the wisdom that was in him from God made the proclamation of what was to be the way of mankind from that point onward, that a man would leave his father and mother and cleave to a wife, and that they would participate in being one flesh. That in simple terms means that they should exercise sexual union, and thus by the union of their bodies produce by God's power children. Two separate bodies of flesh to produce a third, in the form of a child. All of these statements are supported by the Scriptures found in Genesis 2:8-25.

So we have in these Scriptures that I have explained the elements of the reasoning why the apostle Paul taught in all the churches that man was head over the woman. That in particular terms the husband was head over the wife, but in general terms the man is head over the woman. It is because man was created first by God to reflect His image in a natural state. The woman was created after the man, and coming forth from the man was created to reflect the man's image, and thus the very glory of his heart. She still reflecting God's image, but through the man. For she came forth from the man. Reason dictates that nothing can be greater than that which created it, or than that which it came forth from. In other words. Man can never be equal or greater then God, for God created him. In like manner the woman can not be greater or equal to the man in that she came forth from the man. Not only reason dictates this but we'll soon see that the very commandment of God dictates this also. For God's commandments are never outside of proper reason. In fact the psalmist said in Psalms 119:51 THOU ARE NEAR, O LORD; AND ALL THY COMMANDMENTS ARE TRUTH. Surely it can be said that the truth is reasonable! I believe that in God's eyes truth is the only thing that is reasonable.

Genesis chapter three speaks of the fall of man into sin. In brief terms the devil, Satan, in the form of a serpent speaks to Eve and suggests to her in a half truth type of proposition that she would not die from eating the forbidden fruit, but in fact she would gain wisdom and enlightenment, and that her position would be made higher in that she would be like a god. The Scripture testifies in 1 Tim 2:14 that Eve was deceived, and she took the devil's bait and ate of that which had been forbidden of them to eat, or even to touch. Then she took the fruit to her husband who was not at all ignorant or deceived as to what was going on, but in full knowledge ate the forbidden fruit along with Eve. It is my determination that Adam made the conscious decision to sin against God because after Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit he was afraid of loosing her. He consciously choose rather then to lead the woman, as he was created to do, to follow her, and to follow her into sin. For Adam could have, and I believe should have taken Eve and present her and himself before God and said, “here we are, now what do we do?” My testimony to you is that God always has a way, and even at that time would have had a way for restoration for them if they would have come to Him in humility of heart, willing to confess and forsake their sin. Later the Lord came walking through the garden and did not find the man and the woman so He called out to them. Adam answered that they were hiding because they were naked and were ashamed of being seen that way. The Lord then asked them who had told them they were naked, and had they eaten of the forbidden fruit? Please note, although God asked them these questions that does not mean for a moment that he did not already know the answers. I believe God was asking them these questions to bring them to a place of confession of their sin, for confession can lead to forgiveness and restoration, for this is always God's way. But in stead the first man and the first woman made excuses for themselves and put the blame on someone other then themselves. The serpent was then cursed to crawl on his belly forever, and the first light of the redemption of man kind from sin was at that moment spoken when it was said by God to the devil that One would come forth from the woman whom he (the devil) had deceived and would one day crush his (the devil's) head. This of coarse speaking of our Lord and Savior, Jesus, who was born of a virgin woman many generations later. The woman (Eve) was told that sorrow would be added to conception and child birth, and that her husband would be the ruler over her. To the man (Adam) it was told that the ground would be cursed and that it would bring forth thorns and thistles, and that by the sweat of his face he would work out his existence until his death. He became by God's decree chiefly responsible for provision for himself and his family in a cursed world. Ouch! These truths are spoken of in Genesis chapter three.

So we have it by reason and by the commandment of God that man was given headship over the woman. Not because of sin, (although sin had entered into the picture) for headship was established by design from the very creation, for male headship reflects God's person and purpose. And the person of the woman reflects the attributes of the believing person. Which is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, even as a wife is to be a follower of her husband. Now let us begin to draw some down to earth everyday conclusions from what has been said to this point. As it is said, “where the rubber meets the road.” In this case I suppose we ought to say “where the rubber of the wheel of theology meets the road of practical living”. The which we will see through both the commandments of the law and the exhortations of the New Testament apostles. But before we do that let us again state the basic contention of this article. That a wise and powerful God created all human kind both male and female as living natural pictures of Himself and His purpose in the Church. This was distorted by the introduction of sin into human race. However, through the redemptive work of Jesus, and by the regeneration and power of the Holy Spirit God's original objective of having a full illustration of Himself and His purposes in the Church lived out in mortals through husbands and wives that seek Him to walk out His ways by faith is still very much in place. Why do I state this contention again? Because it is in brief terms the description of the MYSTERY spoken of by the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:32. Therefore it behooves us to seek out this understanding for it is the purpose for which we were created. And the most simple and basic logic in my estimation dictates that anything that is operating within the parameters of its designed purpose will function exceedingly better then something used out of its designed purpose. In other words, unto God's praise, our lives will be greatly exalted if we will seek, and then live out the truth pertaining to why we were created, in stead of living by the wisdom and standards of men.

Here are three bottom line conclusions as to the nature of how that male headship, which is a picture of the headship that Jesus possesses over the Church (Ephesians 1:22), is to be fleshed out in the lives and affairs of men. First of all that men in general rule. Male headship, ruler ship, or government, which ever term you may choose to use, is the pattern of the Scripture and reflects accurately the Lordship of Jesus. The reading of the Scripture by honest hearts shows this to be historically true among godly people, and true as to the commandments of the law, and the exhortation of the apostles. Secondly, in particular terms a husband, or the father of a virgin woman is to be absolute in authority over his wife or daughter as the case may be. This is reflected in the absolute nature of the authority of the Lord Jesus over the Church, and in the future will be seen in all aspects of society when Christ returns in bodily form to rule in the earth. This is why the apostle Paul voiced the statement found in Ephesians 5:22-24.Thirdly, that this authority is given to men, however it must be acted out in the spirit and character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for a man to not govern himself to conduct himself after the manner which is illustrative of how Christ rules over His own is a great sin. For the authority that is found in the very person of a man, in particularly in the person of a husband is not given to serve one's self, but to the well being of his wife and their children. This is shown by pattern in how Jesus gave Himself for the good of the church. He did not give Himself to the Church, that the Church can rule over Him, but rather He gave Himself for the Church to bring her to Himself and bring her along to complete fulfillment. This is the pattern of life that the husband must follow. Yes, by God's law he has total authority in the lives of his own, but it must be used to the benefit in the Lord of those that are his own.

The every day applications of these truths are to many to reasonably attempt to list here in any detail, and I am confident that I do not possess the wisdom to do such a thing. However, I will list a number of fundamental applications and comment briefly on them. As I do please allow me to offer this exhortation. If the truth of this teaching rings in your heart it will bring difficulty into your life. I say this because not only will your own fleshly nature want to revolt against God's truth, but the great flow of western society is very contrary to these truths, therefore you will be as one paddling a canoe up stream. Many times you will find yourself standing all alone. Every inch you'll travel will not be without a price. I say this to any man or any woman endeavoring to answer the call of truth, there is glory and joy in the Lord in pressing into His will, which means living out His truth. Oh yes it is sweet and good! But it is a bittersweet glory and joy, for it will bring with it tribulation in the world. The ungodly are not so. For in the arrogance and blindness of their hearts they are carefree, caring only to do what is pleasant to them at the moment. Yes, yes, by and by it will catch up with them and they will pay the consequences of their sinful actions, but in the meantime, before their sins begin to catch up with them it is tempting for the Christian man or woman to look at the life of the unbeliever and think, “why do strive to walk out the narrow way of truth for it is difficult, while the way of the sinner is wide and easy?” At such times you much remember O Christian, that this world is not your final home, you are just passing through. So glorify God in all your actions, for this will lift you and bring you great reward in due time.

It is ungodly for a woman to exercise a civil vote. This very truth is what our nation's founding fathers realized and lived in their generation. Therefore they by the constitution limited the right to vote, (which is a element of elder ship) to men. For a woman to exercise a civil vote is for her to usurp the place and authority of either her father if she is virgin or her husband if she is a married woman. Both in their maleness stand as a picture of the authority and headship of Christ.

For a woman to adorn herself in short hair like unto a man is ungodly and unwise. The doing of which always speaks of either ignorance pertaining to God's ways, or rebellion, or a combination of both. The hair of a woman is a natural covering given by God for a woman to wear in the expression that she is under the headship of male government. This in particular terms means her father if she is a virgin, and her husband if she is a married woman. A woman of faith should want to have her hair distinct fully longer than what a man would, showing that she in no sense wishes to be thought to be taking on manly attributes.

For a man to wear long hair as a woman would is without exception sponsored by either rebellion or ignorance, or a combination of the two. The man was created by God to be the direct illustration of Himself, and under Christ he is sovereign, and equal to all other men. Being in this position he has right to make his way in the world which ever way he may deem best in so much as he is within the parameters of the laws of God and of man. He needs this to be the illustration of God, and to make the way of those that are His own in the world according to his application of wisdom and diligence. It was the understanding of this truth that caused our (if you are a US citizen) national fathers to coin the statement used in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. “we find these truths to be self evident that all men were created equal....” The hair of the man must be worn short in that hair is a God given symbol of covering, and the man must not show the sign that he has surrendered his personal sovereignty to any anything or any body. He needs this sovereignty to play out God's will in his life. The woman, who is the picture of the Church was never created with this sovereignty, but was created to be under submission. The husband desiring her, calls her to himself, and in love makes her apart of his calling and shares every provision that is his with her. This is a picture of Christ and the Church.

It is ungodly for a woman to be in the place of authority over men in regards to the headship of the local Church. The reasoning for this is the same as the reasoning that stands in regards to women operating a civil vote. To do it she must needs usurp the authority of the male gender which by creation she was made to be in submission to.

It is ungodly and unlawful for a woman to be in the position of the teacher of men in regards to the dictates of life from the Scripture. For her to do this is to act contrary to the illustration of truth embodied in the fact that it is Christ who teaches the Church, it is not the Church which teaches Christ. The principle of this is why the apostle Paul commanded that women keep silence in the Churches. Now some would maintain that this means an absolute silence and others would say that it means that she is not to be the teacher, and others would completely disregard this commandment entirely. I maintain that at the very least she must not be set up as a teacher.

A woman that prays or prophesies in public ought always to wear in addition to the covering of her hair a covering of fabric of one sort or another. It is my contention that the apostle commanded this in that he understood the huge force of wickedness that has been constantly at work from the beginning of time to influence the woman to seek to usurp the man's place of headship. Also that the man in the weakness of his devotion to the truth is so commonly willing to surrender his headship and it's associated responsibility to the woman. Therefore, when by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the woman is moved to pray or to prophesy she is saying by her action of applying a fabric covering that she wishes to continue in alignment with the truth of God and not in any sense promote that she is in authority equal to or above any male headship. The male headship seeing this, says amen to it and faithful men are encouraged to “play the man”, and to fulfill their role as leaders and not to forsake or surrender their headship in any way.

It is ungodly for a woman to sit as a juror of judge over a man! The answer to why this is true is seen very easily when one considers the fact that the woman was created to be the illustration of the Church and the man the illustration of the Lord. Therefore, does the Church, or will the Church ever sit in judgment over the Lord? NO. For a woman to do this to to usurp the male sovereignty and to live out a slanderous picture of Christ and the Church. There can be found many possible scenarios in life in regards to a woman being in the position of usurping the place or sovereignty of a man, such as in the case of a woman police officer, a woman officer in the military, a woman in a ranking government position, etc. These are all answered by this same principle, which sums them up as ungodly actions. This should be to any faithful man and woman clear evidence as to why America has somewhere near a 70% divorce rate for first time marriages, and as I understand it nearly one half of our society refuses to marry at all. Most in America, and the western world live far from these truth.

The idea of what is called no fault divorce is a total abomination to the truth of God! For in the picture of Christ and the Church where is divorce found? Accept that the believer forsakes his faith, throws it away, and thus divorces himself from the Lord. For the Lord is ever faithful to those that abide in Him. He will never throw away (divorce) those that abide in Him.

In the event of divorce the idea or practice of a woman suing her husband for a portion of the estate is ungodly. It is not a complicated thing to answer. For if the woman belongs to the husband, in brief and simple terms his possession, and thus his responsibility, he has no right to put her away and she has not right to leave him and then sue him for property. For can the one who is owned by the other leave the owner and then turn around and sue the owner for whatever other property he may have? For by God's law she is his property and thus his responsibility. She is his property, but not a property like houses and cars, to be brought and sold, but a possession that is dear to him and given by God for him to be steward of, and in such a manner that the man's dealings with his wife reflect God's dealing with the Church.

I ask you, does the believing person not belong to Christ? If you are a Christian, do you not “lock, stock and barrel” belong to Christ your Lord? I suggest to you that you do belong to Him in this way, but if you do not realize it in your own heart and mind it is to your lose and shame, and one day you will be held in account for your lack of surrender to God. Now I will speak to the other side of the coin. To you O man who might put away your wife from yourself for any reason not supported by the testimony of the Scripture, in which there are exceedingly few. If you do not love and support that one whom you share marriage vows with but put her away and from your self, then I would be afraid if I were you that Christ our Lord may reject you one day just like you reject your wife. For you to divorce your wife for any reason that is not Scripturally supported is to mock the truth and to live in a manner that is slanderous to the truth. For all men were created by God to live in a manner that the actions of our lives reflect the truth. Remember the human relationships mirror the heavenly ones, and the heavenly relationships mirror the earthly, human ones. Thus the lives of all of us say something. So, do our lives speak the truth, or do they speak a lie. For a wife to leave her husband is a picture of a believer leaving the Lord Jesus, such a picture is slanderous in nature and must not be lived out. If a wife leaves her husband, which she should not do, but if she does, she should not seek to sue him for what is his but return to her father's home, or her brother's home, or create her own her own, but she must not sue the one who is her head. For that is the picture of the believer leaving the Lord Jesus, forsaking Him and His ways, and taking as much of what belongs to Jesus with him as he can when he goes.

In the event of a wife wrongfully (unscripturally) divorcing a husband she must not use the power of the government to sue the husband for his children, stealing them away from him. First of all God hates divorce and by the Scripture exceedingly little of the divorce seen in modern America is in line with the truth, but is in itself sin before God. ( If feel I must take a moment and add this note. Woe to you many religious leaders who in this generation who do not call the wickedness of divorce for what it is, but wink at it continually, thus allowing its promotion. If a man is viewed as a minister of Christ then he must bring forth God's judgment and not that of man's. This is in regards to divorce and all other issues for the teacher will be judged in a stricter manner. James 3:1) For a woman to use the power of government to wrongfully leave her husband and then sue him for his children is to live the picture of a believer leaving the Lord and taking some of God's children with him when he goes from the Lord. Yes, this does happen. There are those in the wickedness of their hearts who abandon faith and take men and women with them in their rebellion. If a husband in sin puts away his wife from himself then my judgment is simply summed up in this statement, “the crop of the field goes with the field”. In other words, if the wife is not good enough for the husband, then neither is the crop (the children) that she produced for him. For it is true that he owns the “field”, but if the field does not please him so that he wickedly throws it away, then the crop of that field goes with the field. So in that case let the children remain with their mother, for the father did not love them anyway. For if a man will not love the mother, then how can it be said that he loves the children?

There are many situations of life that can be rightly answered in regards to the male female relationship in regards to headship with understanding and faith to apply these principles. In short any action of either man or woman, husband or wife that does not mirror its heavenly counterpart is sin, and must be turned from. Using this as a guide along with the direct written commandments of the Lord and the exhortation of the apostles it is entirely possible to possess understanding of how to to live out these elements of wisdom and righteousness before God, the which will bring God's blessing and approval upon any man, upon any woman, upon any family and its posterity, or any nation. Amen!Blessed is the nation (or family ) whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He has chosen for his own inheritance. Psalms 33:12