I Corinthians 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

We noted in the past two studies that God is the Creator of man. God also established the law regarding marriage and family. We know that since the fall, there have been many versions of this law. We should also know that God only has one law on marriage and the family. The problems we are facing in this area, and many others, is because we reject God’s law and choose to take a political view of things. In politics the only absolutes are the absolutes that a certain party chooses for that particular moment.
In our text we are reminded that God is the only and final authority. Paul was directed to begin with the authority over man, which is Christ. In our text, the word “man” is not being used in the generic sense. God is referring to the male gender here.
Jesus Christ is the One Who created man. He is the One Who provides salvation for man. Jesus Christ is given His authority from His heavenly Father. There is no discontent in the Godhead. There is complete agreement within the Godhead.
In order for a man to be fulfilled in life, he must understand and accept the fact that Jesus Christ must be his head. Since the fall of Adam, every man has been born a lost sinner. In our text God reminds us that the man must understand that Christ is the head over him. God created Adam with the ability to think and to make choices. His will for Adam was that he would choose to submit to His authority and glorify Him. Since the fall, every man must turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, if he wants to know God’s blessing. The Bible warns that most people will refuse this fact because of their pride.
God did not come up with another way because Adam rejected His law. God dealt with Adam according to his rejection of God’s law. God dealt with Eve according to her rejection of God’s law. God promised Adam and Eve, as well as the serpent, that He would send a Saviour to provide the only way for man to be forgiven and saved. This Saviour would have authority over the devil and if any person would trust in Him, he or she would be forgiven and saved. No person ever has a reason for sinning. Adam could not blame anyone but himself for his sin. The same is true for mankind after the fall. Cain had no excuse to sin. He chose to sin, but God told him there was a better way to live. The seed of the woman, Who is Christ, would bruise the head of the serpent. The day is coming when the devil will be cast into the lake of fire. Those who turn to God in repentance and are saved have eternal life and with that, are given the power to say no to sin and yes to God. Born again Christians do not always choose God’s way. They sin when they disobey Christ as their head. They must confess that sin and be forgiven and restored to a right relationship with their God and Saviour.
As we already stated, the man needs to understand and accept the fact that Jesus Christ must be his head. When Jesus Christ is the head of man, he will be the right man in his marriage, and as a father, in the local church, as well as in society. When a man rejects Jesus Christ as his head, he will be a failure in all areas of life.
There are lost men who seem to have a fairly good relationship with their wife and children. The fact that cannot be ignored is that we as people are very short-sighted. We look at this life alone. We often forget about eternity. A good man is the man who is saved. An evil man is the one who ignores the most important aspect of life, and that is eternal life. The devil is happy when a man makes materialism and hedonism his god. Hedonism states that pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life. Hedonism ignores the reality of sin and the need for Biblical salvation.
It is a wicked man who will ignore or reject God’s design and will fill his mind and that of his family with materialistic ideas. As our text tells us, the head of every man is Christ. Whether a man chooses to know Christ and trust in Him or not, he must be told that he will answer to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the judge of all the earth.

II Timothy 4:1  I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

Paul also stated:

Philippians 2:9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Man may think that his word and his ideas are final, but the fact is that God has the final say.
In our text we also see that the head of the woman is the man. Many women reject this fact. Many women and men have the distorted thinking that this means the woman is of less importance than the man, and that he can use her for his own selfish pleasure. That is the teaching of Islam and many other false religions.

Ephesians 5:33  Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

When the man submits to Christ as his head, then he will love his wife as he loves himself. He will respect her as the weaker vessel and he will not seek to belittle her, but will honour her as the weaker vessel. Adam was the leader in belittling his wife. After he chose to sin, and was confronted by God regarding his sin, he chose to blame God and his wife for his sin. He did not take responsibility. He chose to “pass the buck”. We see as well that God did not accept that act of sin. He rebuked Adam and pronounced His judgment upon Adam, and all men.
No man can be blessed of God when he rejects Him as head and when he scoffs at his God-required duty as a husband and father. Having said this, it does not give the woman the right to rebel against God’s role for her. The wife is not the head of the home. She is the help meet for the man. She needs to be saved, just as the man needs to be saved. If the woman is saved, she will walk by faith just as the man needs to walk by faith. She will not take matters into her own hand. She will trust in the Lord to guide her and to protect her.

I Peter 3:1  Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;
2  While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.

God is not a liar. He knows what works and what does not work. There are many “hen-pecked” men in our world. There are many men who have never learned God’s design for the man. There are many domineering women who also have never learned God’s design for the woman. God’s way always works.
God’s word clearly teaches that the man and the woman should not be unequally yoked. They should both be saved before they get married. The saved person should never marry an unsaved person. That is the recipe for disaster. God warns against that. We will look at that another time.
There is a saying: “happy wife, happy life.” That statement is a lie of the devil. That phrase leaves God right out of the picture. Many men try to appease their wives with things. That is not God’s way of doing things. God works in the heart and when the heart is right, then the life will be right. Psalm 1 declares this truth as do many other passages. A woman has far more power when she submits to God’s will first of all, than if she gets in the flesh and tries to “man-handle” her husband. When a woman submits to God’s authority, He works on her behalf. When a woman works in her own strength that is all she has.
Paul further taught that the head of Christ is God. If we want to learn proper submission and proper order, we look at Christ’s relationship with His Father. We see a Father who never bullies His Son. We see a Son Who obeys His Father completely. Jesus Christ never taught anything that His Father did not fully endorse.

Matthew 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Matthew 17:5  While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

We would be wise to listen to the Lord Jesus Christ. If we want success in our families, we need to follow God’s way. We need to look at our lives through His lens, not our own.
Pastor Bartel