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There are many examples of headship. The president of a university is often referred to as its head. It is implied that the students enrolled at the university comprise one body under his headship. Hence, they are called the “student body.” Generally, the head and body of the university are related through a mutually agreed-upon purpose and mission.
The United States of America provides another example of an entity that exists in the form of head and body. The federal government serves in the role of headship. It provides representative leadership. The federated states constitute its body. The head and body of the United States agree to abide by a mutually beneficial system of laws and principles known as a constitution. Constitutional law dictates the nature, function, and limits of the federal government. The real New Testament church also exists in the form of head and body. By eternal design, the heavenly Father appointed the Son, Jesus Christ, to serve in the role of headship. The elect human beings who comprise the ecclesia are His body. It is both a theological truth and a practical reality. |
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Theological Truth
By stipulation of the Renovation Covenant, God designed the human race as one collective entity. He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27) Moses used the Hebrew noun for “man” ('adam) in a collective sense. It provides a clear indication that God made mankind as one collective, covenantal entity. Original Covenantal Headship God originally created the human race in the form of head and body. Within the protective framework of the Renovation Covenant, God appointed Adam, the first man, to serve in the role of headship. Comprising his covenantal body, the rest of the human race was collectively united with Adam and one another (Genesis 1:26-27). Intimately united by covenantal stipulation, the original sin of Adam, the covenantal head, proved consequential for his covenantal body, the human race. The Apostle Paul clarified, “… just as through one man sin entered (verb – eiseélthen) into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread (verb – dieélthen) to all men, because all sinned (verb – heémarton).” (Romans 5:12; cf. Romans 3:23) The Greek indicative aorist tense is used for all three verbs in Romans 5:12. It reflects an action completed in the past with results that continue into the present. Consequently, Paul’s statement indicates that when Adam sinned, all sinned. Adam’s covenantal headship was both representative and representational. Representative headship refers to a relationship that is law-based. In contrast, representational headship is life-based. Representative Headship Headship in the Bible is first representative. Theologically, representative headship is sometimes referred to as “federal” headship. “The word “federal” comes from the Latin word foedus, meaning covenant.”1 It refers to a relationship that is prescribed and protected by covenantal law. Thus, it is law-based. The human race was created as one legal entity in the form of head and body. Adam, the first man and archetype of humanity, was appointed representative head of the human race. By covenantal law his posterity was appointed as his body. Covenantal head and covenantal body legally representative of one another, they shared the legal penalty for Adam’s original sin. The legal penalty for Adam’s sin was directly transmitted to his covenantal body by means of imputation. The New Testament concept of imputation is translated from two related Greek words – ellogeo (el-log-eh'-o) and logizomai (log-id'-zom-ahee). The less common of the two words is ellogeo. It is only used twice in the New Testament. Ellegeo has the specific meaning of “to charge to an account.” (Romans 5:13; Philemon 1:18) In contrast, logizomai is used 40 times in the New Testament. It is broader in scope of meaning than ellogeo. Logizomai fundamentally means to calculate or deliberate.2 It is variously translated in the New Testament “reason”, “consider”, “count”, “think”, “credit” and “reckon.” (Luke 22:37; John 11:50; Acts 19:27; Romans 2:3; 26; 3:28; 4:3; 4; 5; 6; 8; 9; 10; 11; 22; 23; 24; 6:11; 8:18; 36; 9:8; 14:14; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 13:5; 11; 2 Corinthians 3:5; 5:19; 10:2; 7; 11; 11:5; 12:6; Galatians 3:6; Philippians 3:13; 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:16; Hebrews 11:19; James 2:23; 1 Peter 5:12) Relative to the context in which it is used in the New Testament, logizomai can also mean “to charge to an account.” (cf. Romans 4) Through his position of representative headship, the legal consequence of Adam’s original sin was imputed or charged to the account of the entire human race. It was direct, immediate, and binding. As a result, all mankind became burdened by insurmountable legal debt and experienced legal alienation from God. |
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Representational Headship
Secondarily, headship in the Bible is representational. Sometimes referred to as “natural” or “realistic” headship, representational headship refers to a relationship that is “physical” or “seminal.” Therefore, it is life-based. In accord with covenantal stipulation, the entire human race existed in the first man naturally, physically, or seminally. As a result, the human race, the covenantal body of Adam, shares natural life in common with Adam, its covenantal head. Thus, covenantal head and body are organically representational of one another. Consequently, the head and body of the human race shares the organic penalty for Adam’s original sin. The natural or physical penalty for Adam’s sin was separation from divine life (zoe). Positioned under his representational headship, the entire human race also experienced separation from God. Consequently, the human race was demoted to a lower form of life (psuche). It was suitable for existence on the fallen earth apart from God. The natural or physical penalty for Adam’s sin is indirectly transmitted to his covenantal body by means of natural or seminal inheritance. It is evidenced by the progressive physical degeneration of human life from generation to generation. Adam was physically or seminally representational of his covenantal body, the human race. Consequently, it naturally shares his fallen life and thus, the pain, suffering, and eventual death associated with its degeneration. |
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Covenantal Consequence
Positioned under the representative and representational headship of Adam, the entire human race became legally unsuitable and organically incompatible with God: |
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Relative to legal unsuitability and organic incompatibility, mankind was relegated to a fallen realm of existence apart from God:
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The fallen realm of existence is characterized by a distinct familial standing, citizenship, security, and style of governance:
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Congruent with the stipulations of the Renovation Covenant, the headship of Adam was legally representative and organically representational of humanity. Consequently, his transgression of covenantal law transformed the human race legally, from law-abiding to law-breaking, righteous to unrighteous. Further, it altered the human race organically, from heavenly to earthly and from the highest possible quality of life, suitable for fellowship with God, to a significantly lower form of life fit to exist on earth apart from God.
New Covenantal Headship Adam’s headship was insufficient to vindicate the nature of God and repopulate His kingdom with willing citizens. It was no surprise to God that the first man, Adam, could not adequately represent the human race. With foreknowledge, God had predetermined to fulfill the stipulations of the redemptive Eternal Covenant. Therefore, in the fullness of time, He sent the mediator of the covenant to earth. Fulfilling covenantal stipulations by His sacrificial death and resurrection, Christ Jesus provided for the redemption of the elect from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” (cf. Daniel 7:14; Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 14:6) Without condition, the Eternal Covenant furnished new law and life. The new law of the covenant ensured legally suitability with God. Its new life provided organic compatibility with Him. The new covenantal law of the Eternal Covenant is the “law of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2) It is also described in the New Testament as the “law of faith,” the “law of the Spirit of life (zoe) in Christ Jesus,” the “perfect law,” and the “law of liberty.” (Romans 3:27; 8:2; James 1:25; 2:12) The law of the Eternal Covenant is often referred to in this book as the “rule of life.” The new covenantal life is life shared with the mediator of the Eternal Covenant, Jesus Christ. It is accomplished by means of divine regeneration and spiritual birth. Concordant with its new law, the New Testament church was legally positioned under the representative headship of Jesus Christ. By its new life the church was organically positioned under His representational headship. With the advent of the Church Age, new life in Christ became a reality. Thus, the New Testament church was no longer represented by the unrighteous headship of Adam. Instead, it was privileged to be legally positioned under the righteous headship of Jesus Christ. In Romans 5:14-21, Paul distinguished between Adam and Jesus Christ as two contrasting figures divinely positioned in the role of covenantal headship: |
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According to Paul, Adam, the first head of humanity, was a “type of Him who was to come.” (Romans 5:14) The immediate context clarifies that Jesus Christ is the One “who was to come.” (Romans 5:15, 17) By principle of headship, Adam, the first man and first head of humanity, was a type, foreshadow or pattern of Jesus Christ. In contrast, Jesus Christ is not the second Adam, but the “last Adam”. He is not just another Adam. Instead, He is the fulfillment of the first Adam and, thus, the fulfillment of the type, foreshadow or pattern.
Paul provided additional emphasis for the contrasting headship of Adam and Christ in 1 Corinthians 15: |
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Adam’s original act of unrighteousness allowed sin and death to enter into the world. (Romans 5:12) Consequently, the human race became legally unsuitable and organically incompatible with God. Thus, Adam’s headship proved insufficient to vindicate the nature of God.
By the redemptive work of Christ, however, the real New Testament church is no longer positioned under the headship of Adam. Instead, it is gloriously and eternally positioned under the representative and representational headship of Jesus Christ. |
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