I.　In ascension Christ is the God-exalted One, the One who has received the name which is above every name—Phil. 2:9-11:

A.　The Lord humbled Himself to the uttermost, but God exalted Him to the highest peak—vv. 7-9.

B.　"God exalted Him and ushered Him back as Lord in the Godhead:

1.　This was not just a refilling of what had been emptied but the ushering of a man into the Godhead by the Father.

2.　The Son became Jesus (the man) and was received back into the Godhead.

3.　Now we know the preciousness of the name of Jesus.

4.　In the whole universe there is no one like Him" (Watchman Nee, Authority andSubmission, p. 45).

C.　God has bestowed on the exalted Christ "the name which is above every name"—v. 9:

1.　The highest name in the universe, the greatest name, is the name of Jesus—Eph.1:21.

2.　The name of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended, and exalted Jesus is excellent in all the earth—Psa. 8:1, 9.

3.　In the name of Jesus means in the sphere and element of all that the Lord is; it is in this way that we worship the Lord and pray to Him—Phil. 2:10.

4.　The day is coming when those on every level will bow their knees and openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; on that day the Lord alone will be exalted—vv. 10-11; cf. Isa. 2:11-17.

II.　The Lord Jesus has been made the Lord by God (Acts 2:33, 36), He has been exalted as the Leader over all the rulers (5:31), and He has been made the Ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5):

A.　As God, the Lord was the Lord all the time (Luke 1:43; John 11:21; 20:28), but as man, He was made the Lord in His ascension after He brought His humanity into God in His resurrection; in His ascension He was made the Lord of all to possess all—Acts 2:33, 36;3:15; 10:36.

B.　God exalted the man Jesus, who had been rejected and killed by the Jewish leaders, as the highest Leader, the Prince; He rules sovereignly so that the environment might be f it for God's chosen people to receive His salvation—5:31.

C.　As the Ruler of the kings of the earth, the God-exalted Jesus is the Ruler over all the ones who are in power; He is the chief Ruler in the divine government for the fulfillment of God's eternal plan—Rev. 1:5.

III.　In Christ's ascension God made Him the unique Head of the Body, the church, and inaugurated Him into the headship of the universe; the Head of the whole universe is Jesus—Col. 1:18; Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22-23:

A.　Ephesians 1:20-22 states that when Christ ascended to the heavens, God gave Him to be Head over all things to the church; this indicates that before Christ's ascension the headship of Christ was not complete, not fully established.

B.　In order for Christ to be the Head, He needs to be both God and man; contrary to the human concept, being God alone is not adequate for Christ to be the Head of the universe—1 Chron. 29:10-13:

1.　Christ as the Son of God alone was not fully qualified to be the Head over all things in God's administration—John 5:22, 27.

2.　According to His economy, God will not exercise His judgment in His administration as God alone; He needs a man to exercise His judgment in His administration because His administration is very much related to dealing with Satan—Acts 17:31.

3.　God has a governmental administration in the universe mainly for two reasons— Gen. 1:26:

a.　On the positive side, God needs an administration in order to carry out His eternal purpose—Eph. 1:10-11; 3:11; Matt. 6:9-10.

b.　On the negative side, God needs a government to deal with His enemy and all the evil powers—Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8b.

c.　Without man God's eternal purpose could never be fulfilled, and His enemy could not be dealt with; God needs man, another creature, to deal with Satan— Eph. 3:10; 6:10-13; 1 Cor. 6:2-3; Rev. 11:15.

4.　Because man is needed to carry out God's eternal purpose and to deal with His enemy, before Christ became a man, His headship could not be fully completed, fully established—John 1:14; Rom. 8:3; Heb. 2:14; Eph. 1:22-23:

a.　By dying on the cross, Christ accomplished God's purpose, and He defeated Satan and destroyed the power of death—John 17:4; 19:30; Heb. 2:14.

b.　Because Christ gained the human element in His incarnation and accomplished God's purpose and defeated God's enemy in His crucifixion, He is now fully qualified to be the Head of the universe in God's administration—Phil. 2:5-11; Eph. 1:22-23.

c.　In Christ's ascension God inaugurated Him into the universal headship over all things for God's administration; thus, the headship of Christ is fully established—Heb. 1:3; 2:6-9; 12:2; Rev. 5:6; Eph. 1:22-23.

IV.　Christ is both the Head of the Body, the church, corporately and of all the believers individually; He is the Head directly of every one of us—Col. 1:18; 1 Cor. 11:3:

A.　In order for God to establish Christ as the Head over all things, He must first make Christ the Head of the church—Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:22-23:

1.　The future position of Christ in the universe has much to do with His position in the church today—Col. 1:18; 3:4, 10-11.

2.　God must first secure Christ's headship in the church; this is why it is a crucial matter for Christ to be the Head of the church—Eph. 1:22-23, 10.

3.　The Body comes into existence from the transmission of the Head, and the Body is one with the Head in the divine life and in the divine nature—vv. 22-23; 1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:4; Col. 1:18; 3:4, 10-11.

B.　The whole Body is headed up under the Head; nothing in the Body can exist apart from the Head—Eph. 1:19-23:

1.　We have received the divine life, but this life cannot be separated from the Head—1 John 5:11-12; Col. 3:4; 1:18.

2.　We cannot be independent in anything, because only the Lord is the Head and only He is the source of our life—Eph. 4:15-16; 5:30.

C.　For Christ to be the Head is for Him to have all the authority in the Body—Col. 1:18; Matt. 28:18:

1.　The Body cannot move freely; it can move only at the direction of the Head.

2.　The authority to direct the Body and all its members rests with the Head.

D.　Whether we are under the authority of the Head determines whether we know the life of the Body—1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 4:15-16; Col. 1:18; 3:4:

1.　The Body can have only one Head and can submit only to one Head—1:18.

2.　Only Christ is the unique Head, and we must submit to Him, honoring and testifying to the unique headship of the God-exalted Christ—Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 23:8-12.