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Christ is the Head
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It is quite a common usage to call someone in authority the 'head'. An organisation will have its head, whether it be a commonwealth or a business firm. A school will have its head, a country has the head of its government. A father will normally be the head of his family. It is the head who has authority and makes the final decisions. The head controls the policy and the movements of his (or her) organisation. In ordinary speech it makes sense to ask who is the head of any organised group of people, including churches and denominations. When the apostle Paul spoke of Christ being the head of the church which is his body, he had in mind a truth deeper and more significant. In another context, it would not be usual for the head of a school to describe the teachers and the secretary and the caretaker as his arms or his legs or his fingers. If he did it would raise a smile, and people might think he was saying it to be clever, or perhaps to make a point by saying something that was not literally true so as to make them think. Paul, speaking of Christ and the church, is speaking at a deeper level. He uses the metaphor to express not just the function of different 'parts of the body' but also the organic connection of each part with the head. The scriptures which follow deal with this subject. Let them speak for themselves. Read each one. Meditate on it, think around it, what it means. Then it might be a good exercise for you to write down what the verses mean to you concerning the relationship between Christ and believers, between Him and you. Colossians 1.13-20
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