This refers to the direction, the control, and the supply of Christ in various spheres over which He is Head. W. Scott said that there are at least four such headships of Christ (The Young Christian, vol. 5, p. 1; The Book of Revelation, p. 111). The following references state them in the order in which Christ took them on:
1) Headship Of Creation—(Col. 1:15-17; 1 Cor. 11:3).
The Lord took this Headship at His incarnation—when He became a Man (Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:7-8). Being who He was, in stepping into His own creation, He couldn’t take any other place in it than that of “Firstborn of all creation” (Col. 1:15). Being the Son, He must of necessity have preeminence in position and dignity, of which “Firstborn” indicates. The vast creation was not only created by Him (John 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2; Rev. 4:11), but He also sustains it by His power. Men speak of the creation being ordered by the laws of nature, but Scripture says that it “subsists” by the power of the Son of God (Col. 1:17).
Not only is Christ the Head of the inanimate objects in the creation, but Christ is also “the Head of every man” in the creation (1 Cor. 11:3). This refers to all men—saved and lost. W. Scott said, “Christ is the Head of every man. It is not a question of a man being saved or not. It is not that Christ is the Head of every Christian man merely” (The Young Christian, vol. 5, p. 41). In creation, God has established an order in connection with the roles of men and women, and it is to be observed in ordinary life and in the assembly. In this connection, the Apostle Paul says, “The man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man” (1 Cor. 11:8-9).
2) Headship Of The New Creation Race—(Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22, 45-49; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 3:14).
The Lord became Head of the new creation race of men when He rose from the dead (Col. 1:18b).
God has purposed that “the world to come” (the Millennium) would be under the rule of man. Psalm 8 indicates this. It is something that was never said of angels. God made angels to serve, but not to rule (Heb. 1:13-14; 2:5). The only creature that He ever made to rule was man. However, the fall of man has rendered him quite incapable of ruling for God in any proper sense (Eccl. 7:29). In his fallen state, he is no longer fit for this purpose. God cannot use man in his present state to rule the world to come; he would only make a mess out of it, as he has done in this world since his fall. Thus, the entrance of sin has seemingly frustrated God’s purpose for man. However, God has met this dilemma in Christ’s coming and taking up manhood for the glory of God. He became a Man and assumed the liabilities that man had incurred by going into death and making expiation for sin (Heb. 2:9). In rising from the dead, Christ became the Head of a new race of men (Col. 1:18; Rev. 3:14), which is well able to rule the world to come as God has purposed (1 Cor. 6:2).
Colossians 1:18b states that the Lord Jesus Christ is "the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead." When Christ rose from the dead, He became the "beginning" and thus the Head of this new creation race (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:10; Rev. 3:14). Hebrews 2:10 refers to this, stating that if God was going to bring "many sons" (the new race) to "glory" (glorification), the "the Captain [Author] of their salvation" (the Lord Jesus Christ) would first have to be made "perfect." This refers to Christ's resurrection and glorification (Luke 13:32; Heb. 5:9). This shows that there had to be a glorified Head in heaven first before there could be a race under Him which He would bring to glorification. Thus, the Son of God became the Son of Man that He might make believing sons of men to be sons of God. In resurrection, the Lord signified His authority as Head of the new race by breathing on the disciples (John 20:22), which is what He did with the first race (Gen. 2:7). (See New Creation.)
3) Headship Of The Body—(Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2:19).
The Lord became the Head of the body by ascending to heaven and sending the Holy Spirit to baptize the believers into one body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). As a person’s head is the seat of his intelligence, giving directions to his body, so Christ as Head of His (mystical) body is the controlling and guiding authority of the Church. Thus, we are to look to Him for everything in connection with the assembly. The Colossian believers were getting distracted and were looking to others things in the spirit world, and Paul told them that they were “not holding the Head” practically, which is a collective responsibility of the body.
Ephesians 5:23 states that “Christ is the Head of the Church,” but Ephesians 1:22-23 says that He is also “the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body.” These things are slightly different. Being Head “over all things to” the Church refers to the fact that He controls everything that touches the Church, for He is the controller of all circumstances. Therefore, nothing touches the members of His body that He doesn’t know and care about (Acts 9:4).
Christ’s Headship of the body is frequently confounded with His Headship of the new creation race. Our connection with Christ as Head of the new creation is said to be “in” Him; it is individual (2 Cor. 5:17 – “if any one be in Christ...”). Whereas our connection with Christ as the Head of the body is “to” Him, which is union—a collective thing (Eph. 4:15). Hence, Scripture does not speak of the Church as being “in Christ,” but as individual brethren in the new creation race we are. Both are true of believers, but they are different lines of truth in connection with our relationship with the Lord. W. Scott said, “When membership in the body is predicated of any, it is not said they are ‘in Christ.’ We [as members] are not in the Head. The union of the various parts and members of the human body is not in the head; united to the head they are, but not in it. ‘In Christ’ conveys a different order and character of truth from union to Him. United to Him is the body; in Him is the [new creation] race. Both, of course, are true of believers” (The Young Christian, vol. 5, p. 14). The epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians are the only epistles which mention Christ’s Headship of the body.
4) Headship Of Principalities & Powers—(Col. 2:10).
Having ascended to heaven, Scripture states that Christ is “the Head of all principality and power.” These are angelic beings. He created them before the foundation of the world (Psa. 104:4; Heb. 1:7), and thus, being their Creator, He is infinitely superior to them in intelligence, power, dignity, etc. In fact, they worship Him (Heb. 1:6). They have been accountable to Him since they were created (Job 1:6-7). But what the Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2:10 is that they are now accountable to Him as a Man—a glorified Man! Christians down through the centuries have been fascinated with angels, but Paul shows in this passage that since Christ is Head over all these angelic beings, it would be ridiculous for us to be occupied with them when we have the Creator of them Himself to be occupied with! God has set Him before us as the one Object for our hearts, and He has granted us the high privilege of having intelligent communion with Him! What need would we have then of “intruding into those things” concerning angels which we have “not seen?” (Col. 2:18)