Many people forget that Jesus and His disciples were Jews. They spoke Aramaic. Jesus said in Aramaic, you are "Kepha" and on this "Kepha" I will build my Church. In Aramaic, "kepha" means a massive stone, and "evna" means little pebble. Using 'Petros' to translate 'Kepha' into the Greek, was done simply to reflect the masculine noun of Peter.
Why would Christ, the Almighty, the Perfect One, come and establish a kingdom “that shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44), and establish and put Peter as the head?
In 2 Sam. 7:16; Psalm 89:3-4; 1 Chron.17:12,14 - God promises to establish the Davidic kingdom forever on earth. Matt. 1:1 clearly establishes this tie of David to Jesus. Jesus is the new King of the new House of David, and the King will assign a chief steward to rule over the house while the King is in heaven. In Luke 1:32, the archangel Gabriel announces to Mary that her Son would be given "the throne of His father David." Reflectinb back on Ezek. 37:24-25, we learn that David shall be king over them forever and they will have one shepherd. Jer. 33:17 Jeremiah prophesies that David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the earthly House of Israel. Either this is a false prophecy, or David has a successor of representatives throughout history. Jesus is our King, and Peter is our earthly shepherd.
1. Christ is the Head of the Church. (Ephesians 5:23)
That is correct and Peter's successor is our earthly shepherd. Col. 1:18, Christ is the Head of the one body, the Church. He is not the Head of many bodies or many sects.
2. Peter denied the Christ.
As Jesus predicted. He is a fallible man. However, the Resurrected Christ asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him. Obviously, as God, He knows the answer to that question. In John 21:15-17, Jesus selects Peter to be the chief shepherd of the apostles when He says to Peter, "feed my lambs," "tend my sheep," "feed my sheep." Peter will shepherd the Church as Jesus’ representative. Luke 22:31-32 reminds us that Jesus also prays that Peter's faith may not fail and charges Peter to be the one to strengthen the other apostles - "Simon, satan demanded to have you (plural, referring to all the apostles) to sift you (plural) like wheat, but I prayed for you (singular) that your (singular) faith may not fail, and when you (singular) have turned again, strengthen your brethren. We see in Acts 1,2,3,4,5,8,15 that no one questions Peter's authority to speak for the Church, declare anathemas, and resolve doctrinal debates. Peter is the rock on which the Church is built who feeds Jesus’ sheep and whose faith will not fail.
3. Peter held, in error, the Old Law and tried to bind it on the Gentiles. (Galations 2:11-21)
In this verse, Paul does not oppose Peter's teaching, but his failure to live by it. Infallibility (teaching without error) does not mean impeccability (living without sinning). Peter was the one who taught infallibly on the Gentile's salvation in Acts 10,11. With this rebuke, Paul is really saying "Peter, you are our leader, you teach infallibly, and yet your conduct is inconsistent with these facts. You of all people!" The verse really underscores, and not diminishes, the importance of Peter's leadership in the Church.
5. Even more interestingly, in Acts 10, Peter is seen to have poor understanding of what the Lord wanted of him.
Can you be more specific?
Your assertion that Peter was the first Pope flies in the face of scripture and logic.
Matt. 16:18-19 - Blessed are “you” Simon, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to “you,” and I tell “you,” “you” are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. I will give “you” the keys to the kingdom, and whatever “you” bind and loose on earth will be bound and loosed in heaven. Luke bolsters this in 6:48, when he says that the house (the Church) built upon the rock (Peter) cannot be shaken by floods (which represent the heresies, schisms, and scandals that the Church has faced over the last 2,000 years). Floods have occurred, but the Church still remains on its solid rock foundation.
“King will assign a chief steward to rule over the house while the King is in heaven”.
Would you mind telling me where you find that?
Seems that Peter missed a GOLDEN opportunity to proclaim his chief Shepherdship here in 1 Peter 5:1-5
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as being lords over [God’s] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Peter gae no indication that he was anything other than a fellow elder in the church.