Introduction
Christ is God. And God the Son is omnipresent and omnipotent. Ontologically he shares one divine essence with God. He enjoys God’s aseity. He is eternal.
God the Son, who is of one essence with God, added a human nature. He created mankind, mankind fell, and then Christ vs became incarnate and was born in Bethlehem. He did not possess two natures in eternity past, but is now is now fully God and fully man. We use the term “hypostasis”. His natures are distinct, but they are not divisible. We cannot understand how our our infinite and eternal God is joined to a merely everlasting and finite human body and will.
The New Economy
And Christ has been inserted in the headship concatenation by God as our mediator and king. This economy is new. This is the substance of the New Testament.
“But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head.” 1 Corinthians 11:3-5 NASB1995
It is right for mankind to worship Christ’s authority. He is above us. However he is economically below God. God is Christ’s head. Christ voluntarily submitted his human will to the divinely willed salvation plan of God.
“saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”” Luke 22:42 NASB1995
If God was more powerful than Christ and had forced him to submit, than this would be mere coercion. The Father would be abusive rather than loving. And the person of the Son would be less powerful than the person of the Father. However, this submission was voluntary obedience and he perfectly succeeded where the first Adam miserably failed.
We Have Fogotten God’s Superiority
In some cases, our worship of God has become incorrect. There is no limit to how much we can praise Christ. But if we forget that God is his head, this is an error. We may know the essence, natures, and persons of God, but we may forget the economy of the New Testament.
Jesus taught us to pray like this,
““Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”Matthew 6:9-10 NASB1995
Reciting the Lord’s prayer in worship is good. But he has also commanded us to recognize God’s authority symbolically in worship. God is the apex of the headship concatenation. It is not about mankind. It is about God. Both the principle and the worship custom are revelatory.
“For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.” Ephesians 5:23 NASB1995
Christ is the head of the church. He is our savior and he is God. He is ontologically equal to God. He is God. But he is also economically subordinate to God. It is important to us to understand that someone can be equal and yet voluntarily subordinate. It is not only true of the divine persons. It is also true of mankind.
In 53 AD, Paul wrote the Galatians and he said.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 NASB1995
So in salvation all mankind is equal. Three years later in 56 AD writing to Corinth, he said,
“But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 NASB1995
So men and women created sequentially in method and purposely in function symbolize this new divine economy in worship. But Jewish believers already knew the economy of mankind from reading Genesis. Uncovering and covering was not commanded in the NT to teach that.
“The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” Genesis 2:20-22 NASB1995
God Added A 2nd Nature
And by disobeying God’s worship command to bare your head if you are a man and cover it if you are a woman, we rebel against his teaching custom. This is why God the Son had to add a second nature in the first place. Without a second and human will, he could not submit to God. A person can make a plan and follow it, but he cannot obey himself. It takes two.
Before the New Testament God only had one divine will and essence. Now he has two natures.
Conclusion
Woman was created secondly and from the men’s rib. So she is both of the same substance ontologically and subordinate economically to him.
The new economy is that God has inserted Christ as our mediator. Before the crucifixion and resurrection, Christ was not so placed. The Son is eternal, but Jesus was not born yet. Now both natures are in hypostatic union.
We remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross in the Lord’s supper ceremony. However, we have forgotten God‘s superordinate authority by disobedience to his headship ordinance. All believers should both remember both Jesus’s crucifixion in the NT-infused Passover dinner custom and honor God’s authority in the headship hat removal and head covering ordinance.
The second half of 1 Corinthians 11 worship regulations should be kept and so should the first. The 2-part headship worship tradition indicates our submission to God and recognizes his new authority structure with Christ’s insertion.
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The Ninevite 