The head of the man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man.

 

The head of the man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man.

 

1 Corinthians 11:1-3: "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. I commend you because in all things you remember me and keep the traditions I handed down to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God."

 

The word "mimetai" (μιμηταί) is translated as "imitate" in English. It says to become imitators of me (Paul), but the translator incorrectly translated it as "I become an imitator of Christ." It means, "Just as I (Paul) have become the possession of Christ, you too must become imitators of me." Therefore, it means that you too must become the possession of Christ.

 

If a saint follows the example of Christ, they will have accomplished everything that Christ did. The saint dies together on the cross in Christ, rises together, and is seated in the heavenly places.

 

"Paradoseis" (παραδόσεις) means "to hand over," signifying the act of passing on what has been received to another. It means that one is praised for conveying to others the principles of Scripture that Paul handed down exactly as they were.

 

Men and women are together within the church, and this is a discussion regarding the order of the church. "Andros" (ἀνδρὸς) does not refer to a man but to a husband, while "Gynaikos" (γυναικὸς) refers to a wife. In the relationship between husband and wife, the husband is the head of the wife. What is emphasized here is the relationship between husband and wife. The man symbolizes Christ, and the woman symbolizes one who has departed from Christ. However, just as a married couple becomes one to form husband and wife, this speaks of the principle that Christ and one who has departed from Christ become one. Ephesians 5:31-33: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (sarka). This mystery is great, as I speak concerning Christ and the church. Yet each of you should love your wife as yourself, and the wife should honor her husband."

 

"Man" refers to one who has departed from God (Christ who came into the world). "Wife" refers to spirits who have departed from God and are confined in the world. These spirits enter into Christ and become spiritually one. The reason God created husband and wife is to tell us that although you are all beings who have departed from God, you are beings who must become one with God again through Christ. Therefore, the family becomes the foundation of the church community. Here, too, "sarka" (σάρκα) does not mean flesh, but rather the flesh (the spiritual body).

 

If it were simply about husband and wife, it would not be a mystery. However, the great mystery is the relationship between Christ and the church (the temple that dwells within the hearts of the saints). It is the fact that those who are in Christ become a temple within their hearts where the Logos dwells. This is the mystery. Realizing this truth, the husband and wife are to look to one another. They become a family church community that they build together. It reveals that the church is a church that dwells within the hearts of the saints, and at the same time, a church that forms a family community.

 

Genesis 2:24-25: "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And both Adam and his wife were naked, yet they were not ashamed."

 

The first part is written as "man," and the second as "Adam." The man represents Christ, while the woman signifies spirits that have departed from God. The man leaves his parents and comes to the woman. Therefore, outside of Christ, they are merely a man and a woman, but upon entering into Christ, the man and woman become one, returning to the Adam (a symbol of Christ) before they were separated. God is telling us to realize this secret through the institution of marriage.

 

To feel no shame is to be unaware of one's nakedness. The fact that the two people are naked implies not only being naked in the world, but also that they are not wearing the garments of the spirit. This is because the spirits of the Kingdom of God did not maintain their positions, so they cast off their own clothes and put on the clothes of this world made of dust. Furthermore, they are unaware that they are beings who have departed from the Kingdom of God.

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:1-3, it says, "For we know that if our earthly tent is destroyed, we have a house made by God—not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For here we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that we may not be found naked."

 

The dwelling from heaven is the spiritual body. When a person dies, the spirit must put on a body, and this means that they earnestly long for the heavenly dwelling. In Colossians 2:11, it states, "In him you were circumcised not with human hands, but with the circumcision of Christ, which is the putting off of the body of the flesh." The circumcision of Christ is the putting off of the body of the flesh. This expression is identical to the words in Romans 6:4: "Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we also might walk in newness of life." This means that through baptism, the physical body dies, but God enables us to walk in newness of life. Newness of life refers to the spiritual body.

 

Regarding the expression for the spiritual body, the Apostle Paul, while explaining the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:44, states, "It is sown in a body of flesh, and raised in a spiritual body. If there is a body of flesh, there is also a body of spirit." He also referred to the body of the flesh as the "old self." In Romans 6:6, it says, "And we know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be slaves to sin." This implies that what dies is the old self (the fleshly body).

 

Those who are not in Christ are naked. However, they do not realize that they are naked. People are clothed in flesh, but they are naked because they lack a spiritual body. Therefore, in order to put on a spiritual body, one must cast off the flesh; however, since the flesh cannot be killed, it is understood as the fleshly body (the old self) dying with Jesus. The fleshly body (the old self) and the spiritual body are not things that can be seen with the eyes, but expressions that carry spiritual meaning.

 

While speaking to the Sadducees about the resurrection, Jesus says in Matthew 22:30 that when one dies, one is "like an angel." Regarding the expression "like an angel," the main point of Jesus' conversation with the Sadducees is a discussion about marriage. While it implies that we marry on this earth but do not marry like angels in heaven, its spiritual meaning represents the relationship between Christ and the Church. Although the question might be "whose wife is the wife of the seven brothers?", the nature of marriage in the Kingdom of God is that all creation resembles the wife of Christ. Therefore, this expression implies that upon living and dying in this world, those who are in Christ become one in God, just like angels. To become one in God, one must put on a spiritual body (the garment of righteousness).