Christ our Representative
Christ our Representative
“The word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan embraces humanity.
God spoke to Jesus as our representative.
With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless.
‘He hath made us accepted in the beloved’ The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us.”
In Heavenly Places p26.
Part 1
A Representative ‘in Adam’
In the beginning, Adam was created a perfect human being, formed in the likeness of His Creator.
Christ breathed into his nostrils His own divine life, and it radiated from his body as a garment of light. The first man had the mind of Christ, with no bias toward sin.
“Obedience, perfect and perpetual, was the condition of eternal happiness. On this condition he was to have access to the tree of life.” 1
So long as Adam obeyed the law of God, he would remain united spiritually with his Creator, the union of the human with the divine.
Adam was made the representative of the human race -- if he proved faithful, all his descendants would receive the benefits. If he failed, they would suffer the consequences.
It might seem unfair in our present condition of suffering and death that we are judged by the actions of our first father, but if our representative had chosen to reject the forbidden fruit, not one of us would blame him for the happiness we were experiencing.
Representation is a valid principle. Our modern society chooses representatives for government, clubs, churches, and their job is to speak on behalf of those they represent. Even in families or any group of people, the request is – ‘you go for us’. Whatever the outcome, those who delegated or elected the representative, receive either the benefits or the consequences.
As the legitimate representative of the human race, Adam was tested for us all. Sadly, he failed the test.
When Adam failed, we failed.
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12.
This text is not primarily speaking about the personal sins of every man, for death had come upon us long before we understood the meaning of the word.
But when Adam sinned, we sinned, for we were ‘in Adam’
In his weakness, our first father could only pass on a fallen nature and a death sentence.
We receive these as the consequence of his sin, not as a punishment for it. And having a leaning towards sin as our inheritance, we fail and die like he did.
Death reigned from Adam to Moses, “even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.” Romans 5:14.
No man or woman will ever sin in the same way as Adam, for no human being is a representative of another. We all stand for ourselves alone. Ezekiel 14:20.
The fact that Adam ate from the forbidden tree is a secondary application; the spiritual significance of representation is of vital importance.
The only Person who had any similarity to Adam was Christ, as both represented the human race.
As there are two aspects to Adam’s sin, there are two aspects to the death penalty.
Spiritually, we all sinned ‘in Adam’. But this is God’s view of humanity, it is not a literal fact because we were not involved. When we personally choose to sin, only then do we come under the penalty that relates to the forfeited eternal life, and having chosen to sin, we place ourselves under the penalty of being ‘in Adam’. The punishment is eternal death, for which there will be a judgment.
Literally, we receive the consequences of sin. When our first parents sinned, the Spirit of Christ departed and the robe of light disappeared, leaving our first parents naked in body and soul. The only life they could pass on to their children was mortality, a short probationary time permitted by God; a life of weakened physical strength, mental power and moral worth. Then they would die.
“Fallen man, because of his guilt, could no longer come directly before God with his supplications; for his transgression of the divine law had placed an impassable barrier between the holy God and the transgressor.” 2
The following illustration will appear many times in this study, as it is a continual reminder of the difference between the spiritual and the literal.
These terms have been chosen because they make an obvious distinction between what God sees and does, and what man did and does. God’s activities are spiritual because He is a spiritual Being, however, it does not mean they are not literal to Him. The literal, material world pertains to sinful man without spirituality.
The spiritual involves the legal, heavenly decree, based on what Adam, as the representative of all men, literally did or failed to do. The spiritual is always above the line; the literal below it. It is vital the two are kept distinct and separate.
GOD’S VIEW
SPIRITUAL
All humanity ‘in Adam’
All humanity sinned ‘in Adam’ All humanity condemned ‘in Adam’
All humanity under death sentence ‘in Adam’.
_____________________________________________________________________
MAN’S VIEW
LITERAL
Adam ate the fruit and sinned
Adam lost the indwelling presence of Christ
Adam could only pass on a mortal life subject to death
Adam now had a leaning towards sin; his nature was sinful and fallen.
The Scriptures clearly state the principle of representation, “through the offence of one many be dead”; “the judgment was by one to condemnation”; “by one man’s offence death reigned by one”; “by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation”; “by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”. Romans 5:15-19.
The term ‘in Adam’ in this text is referring to both the spiritual and the literal. The message is that ‘in Adam’ all have died spiritually, for God saw Adam’s sin and spiritual death as representative of all mankind. When Adam lost the divine Spirit, he became spiritually dead. In the literal sense, we are all ‘in Adam’s family’, and subject to mortal death because of that fact.
So ‘in Adam’ all die. 1 Corinthians 15:22.
On another occasion, the term ‘in Abraham’ is used to include certain members of his posterity. You will recall that Abraham rescued Lot from the kings in the vale of Siddim, and later gave Melchisedec “tithes of all.” Genesis 14:18-20.
When this took place, God saw a group of people ‘in Abraham’ who had not been born. “And as I may say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.” Hebrews 7:1.2.5.9.10.
This is a clear example of God seeing a future generation ‘in’ another person. Years after Abraham had given the tithe to Melchisedec he bore Isaac, Isaac bore Jacob, and Jacob bore Levi, the great grandson who was ‘credited’ with having paid tithe ‘in Abraham’. Literally Levi was not in Abraham, but God saw it as so.
This is a spiritual truth.
Instead of bemoaning the unfairness of this principle, let us praise God for the fact of representation. It is by this means that God was able to provide us with a second chance, for He could elect a new representative. He did not choose a created being from another world. He did not choose an angel. He chose His own dear Son, and Christ willingly volunteered to become Head of the human family.
“And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit…. the first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.” 1 Corinthians 15:45.47.
The Son of God was tested far more than Adam, but He was determined not to fail.
Make certain you understand this section before you go to the next one. I have deliberately separated the sections, even though they are small so you could really understand what you have read before you progress. I want it to be a real blessing of understanding.