ANDREW GRAY (PERTH)
SERMON II
THE LAST ADAM.
Cor. xv. 45. - " And so it is written, The first man Adam
was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit."
WHEN
Christ is called "the last Adam," a twofold relation between him and Adam is
implied. By giving him the name of "Adam," the text implies one relation
between him and our original progenitor; and, by prefixing to the name the term
"last," it implies another.
I. In the first place, there is the relation
which is implied in the name. Let us consider it.
A name used in this way -
that is, to designate a party whose proper and ordinary name it is not -
expresses, if it is the well-known name of another party, the idea of whom it
naturally suggests, a symbolical or typical relation between the two, the party
to whom it belongs and the party to whom it is ascribed. Thus, in Rev. xi. 8,
the world is called "Sodom and Egypt," by which we understand that Sodom and
Egypt were types of the world. In Rev. xvii. 18, the apostate Church is call
Babylon; and we understand by it that Babylon was a type of the apostate
Church. In Heb. xii. 22, the true Church gets the name of Mount Sion; which, of
course, means that Mount Sion typified the Church. Elsewhere, John the Baptist
is called Elias ; as much as to say that he was typified by that prophet. And
we find our Lord himself called David at one time (Ezek. xxxiv. 23, xxxvii. 24,
25; Jer. xxx. 9), and Solomon at another (Song iii. 7-11) ; the meaning of
which must be, that these famous kings were symbols or types of him.
So
here, the application of the name of Adam to our Lord is to he regarded as
announcing that Adam was typically related to him. It is equivalent to what the
Apostle affirms of Adam in another place, - that he "is the figure of hint that
was to come." (Rom. v. 14).
This, then, is our first great lesson. Adam was
a type of Christ - he prefigured Christ. Certain facts and truths concerning
Christ were portrayed, and in a shadowy manner exhibited, through time
providential assemblage of facts and truths bearing some resemblance to them in
Adam and his history. In the life, circumstances, and position of the father of
mankind, there were things that were put there by the Creator, for this among
other reasons, - to present a similitude of great and essential realities in
connexion with the Saviour, and afford a likeness of things wonderful and
glorious in him that was to come.
1. Adam prefignred him in the holiness of
his nature. Of all the human race there have been two men, and only two, who
were free from every taint of sin when they came into the world. Two men there
have been, who were holy, harmless, undefiled, at the very outset of their
earthly being; and there never will be more. In the word made flesh, the
womans promised seed, we see the one; and, looking across the intervening
ages, back to the day when God made man in his own image, we descry the other,
"a figure of him that was to come."
2. Adam was a type of Christ in his
dominion. That we may perceive this, let us turn to the eighth Psalm: "What is
man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy
hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas." All this dominion is
ascribed to man. And the words bring before us the first man, with the decree
that accompanied his creation, - " Let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." But the first man
is not here alone. A greater than he is in the words. We go to Pauls
exposition of them, in the second chapter of Hebrews, and we learn that Jesus
is here as well as Adam - the Man of Gods right hand, as well as the
first man. "Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet," says the
Apostle, quoting the Psalm; and then, in the way of comment and explanation, -
"For in that he put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not
put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him; but we see
Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honour." All which implies that it will not do to see in
the Psalm only man in general, and Adam as the head representative of the race
- that, while Adam is in it, and Adams rank and ascendancy are described,
the language is, at the same time, descriptive of a wider and more absolute
dominion than that which Adam enjoyed, and that the reason why it is so
expressed as to bring our progenitor into view at all is, that in the dominion
which was given to him, as well as in other things, he was a type and figure of
one more illustrious than himself, whose power and sovereign rule it is the
chief design of the Psalm to celebrate. The grandeur of the position of Adam as
the lord of this world, and the creatures contained in it, symbolised the
grandeur of that King who has on his head many crowns, and in his hands all
power in heaven and on earth, with the keys of hell and of death, and of whom
it is told that God has highly exalted him, and given him a name above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth!
3. Adam was a type of Christ
in his marriage. A careful study of the passage in Ephesians, commencing,
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church," may shew
that we have warrant for saying this.The language of the Apostle, when he says,
in name of the Church, "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones," is evidently borrowed from the language of Adam: "This is now bone of
my bone, and flesh of my flesh ;" and it seems to glance at the fact, that it
was a "member of his body," one of his ribs, where of the woman was made; and
the words which Adam spake when Eve was brought to him, "For this cause shall a
man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife, and they two
shall be one flesh," are affirmed to contain "a great mystery," and be
applicable to Christ and the Church. The union between Christ and the Church is
often described as a marriage. He is the bridegroom; she is the bride. He is
the King, whose garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the
ivory palaces; and she is the Queen, who stands at his right hand in gold of
Ophir. A whole book of Scripture is devoted to the subject, considered in this
aspect alone. It was not unsuitable that the first marriage that ever occurred,
and the only marriage which has the distinction of having been celebrated by
Jehovah himself, should be a special type of the glorious union of Christ and
the Church. The marriage of Adam was preceded by a deep sleep, into which the
Lord God cast him. That was a proclamation that the marriage of the antitype
should be preceded by a similar sleep. The sleep of Christ was deep. It was the
sleep of death; and he was cast into it by the Lord. The sleep of Adam brought
him a helpmeet, who was ready for him when he awoke; and a corresponding
relation between Christs death and the Church is indicated by the words
of the prophet: "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied."
When he sees his Church in her beauty as his spouse, his dove, his undefiled,
he sees of the travail of his soul, the fruit of his death: He began, very
specially so, to see her at the day of Pentecost, soon after his resurrection,
when the Spirit was poured from on high. Fair as the moon stood the daughter of
the King before her Bridegroom then; and the words were strictly true, if we
conceive him saying, in his joy, "This is now bone of my bone, and flesh of my
flesh!" Adams side was opened to provide a wife for him. The symbolic act
was repeated on the body of the Saviour. It was ordered so that his side was
pierced, and blood and water flowed out. And we can say, in a most truthful
figure, that from that side of his the ransomed Church derives her being as
such, - her being, her beauty, her holiness, and every grace with which she is
adorned.
4. Adam was a type of Christ in his trial. The trial of Adam was
twofold, - his trial by God, and his trial by Satan. He was a type of Christ in
each.
1st. As soon as he was created he was put upon his trial. A
course of obedience was prescribed to him, and a reward was promised if he
followed it. God gave him a law, and set life before him as the prize to be
gained by keeping it. Do this and thou shalt live, was the substance of what
God said to Adam. Here is thy work, there is thy recompence: perform the one,
enjoy the other. Prove now thy regard for the will of thy Creator; shew thyself
devotedly and unswervingly loyal to his government: let it. appear that thy
conduct is in all things, and at all times, determined by his command. Do this,
and thou shalt have life; eternal happiness shall be thine.
To the Son of
God also a course of obedience was prescribed: and on this account he took the
form of a servant; and we find him saying, that he came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister. To him, too, it was said, Do this and live; here is thy
work, there is thy recompence: obey the Fathers will, and behold the
everlasting inheritance that awaits Thee. Thus much the type may tell us. But
there is much beyond. The course of obedience which belonged to Adams
trial was easy, compared with thatwhiehwas prescribed to Christ. While the
essential principles of law that were involved were the same in both, they
differed exceedingly as to positive enactments or commands. The difference was
great in the number and in the nature of such commands. By positive commands we
intend such as create the duties, or the sins, which they enjoin or forbid.
Idolatry, blasphemy, theft, slander, and the like, are sins in their own nature
- Divine praise, prayer, justice, charity, and the like, are duties in their
own nature - independently of express command; and no command could make it
warrantable to commit the former, or to neglect the latter. But it is otherwise
with the use of, or abstinence from, certain meats or drinks, the practice of
certain washings, the offering of certain sacrifices, and the like, where the
duty or the sin cannot be in the nature of the thing, and must depend entirely
on the positive command.
Now, in Adams course of obedience, we may
say there was but one positive command. Almost the only command of that
description was what related to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But the
law of God was in a very different state, as to its positive developments, when
Christ appeared. And the course of obedience on which he entered bound him, not
only to that unalterable righteousness which the law must always require, but
to a multitude of ceremonies and ordinances besides, which Peter characterised
as a yoke which neither the fathers nor those of his own generation had been
able to bear. It pertained to Christs appointed trial, that he behoved to
observe and obey them all. For this reason it was that, when he went to be
baptized, he silenced Johns protest by saying, "Suffer it to be so now,
for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." All righteousness. If he
was to come through his trial with success, if he was to win the life, and the
kingdom, and the glory, one jot or one tittle could not pass from the law till
all was fulfilled.
The pre-eminent difficulty of the. trial of Christ, as
compared with that of Adam, appears, however, more in the nature than in the
number of its positive commands. Eat not of the fruit of that tree, said the
Lord to Adam. Eat of all the rest - as to them use thy freedom; but let this
one be untouched. That was all. What said the Father to Christ? Behold that sea
of trouble: that wild tempestuous sea. It is not a sea thou mayest walk upon,
like that of Galilee, nor a sea to be divided, as Red Sea was. My pleasure is,
that thou go down into its depths, so that all my waves may pass over thee, and
thou mayest be a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, as man never was
before. What more did the Father say to him? Behold that fire - that fire of
Almighty wrath, kindled by sin. Thou art sinless, 0 my well-beloved! Yet my
will is, that thou go into the furnace, where my wrath is burning, and give thy
body to its flames. And, at the same time, take this cup - this cup of
trembling, and unexampled bitterness - the very thought of which casts thee
into an agony, so that thy sweat is falling in drops of blood to the ground -
take, take the cup and drink it, for it may not pass from thee; and drink it
thou must! What more did the Father say? The obedience I require of thee, 0
servant of my choice, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth, is obedience to
the uttermost, obedience unto death! Thou must lay down thy life. Thou must go
a willing victim to the cross of shame, and walk through the valley of darkness
alone, forsaken even by me, without staff or rod to comfort thee! When I give
the death-dealing sword its commission, - " Awake, 0 sword, against my
Shepherd, against the Man that is my fellow; smite the Shepherd," - thou must
welcome the stroke, and not refuse to die, for it is an indispensable part of
thy trial; and this commandment thou receivest from thy Father.
When we
find Christs trial involving an obedience so great and arduous, we could
begin to doubt of any typical relation in Adamtrial to it, did we not
remember that the earthly cannot but come short of the heavenly, that the type
is but the shadow and not the very image of the things it represents, and that
the antitype always has a fulness and intensity, which we can only know when we
have itself before us as the object of direct contemplation.
2nd.
Next there is Adams trial by Satan, The devil was allowed to invade the
privacy of the garden, and to make approaches to man in his happy home. He had
liberty to tempt Gods holy creature, to address him in subtle proposals,
and, if he could, to persuade him to swerve from his obedience and embark in
rebellion. Satan went to work accordingly. Using that licence to the full, he
sought, with cunning speech and glozing tongue, to kindle desires which were
contrary to Adams duty, and which he could not gratify unless he broke
the bounds which had been assigned him.
As with Adam, so with the Saviour.
Jesus had a trial by Satan, and was tempted of the devil. For forty days the
bold deceiver had his opportunity, and practised his clever arts, and shot his
poisoned arrows, to debauch the heart and soul of the second man. How the
adversary did strive, what insidious suggestions he threw out, what plausible
requests he made, what crafty applications of Scripture he resorted to, that
Jesus might simply forget, if but for the briefest space of time, that he was a
servant and under the law, and be so filled and engrossed with the idea that he
was the Son of God, as to lose hold of the idea that he was also the Son of
Man! And the trial occurred in the wilderness. That of Adam had been in the
garden. The difference was against the Saviour. The tempter was more at home
among the desolations of the wilderness, than among the fair and happy scenes
of the garden. And Adam, in the abode with which he was familiar, and where
every possible good surrounded him, was in a better position for courageous
resistance oi the foe than Jesus was in the cheerless and inhospitable waste.
It would seem, too, that Satan was under less restraint when he dealt with
Jesus, than in the case of Adam, and that a larger licence was accorded him. He
was permitted to go the length of laying hands on the Saviour. In the desperate
pursuit of his ends, he took Him to the top of a lofty mountain at one time,
and he carried Him from the wilderness to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle
of the temple, at another.
Nor did the trial, to which Satan subjected the
Redeemer, terminate soon. It is recorded that, at the close of the temptation
in the wilderness, the devil departed from Him for a season. But it was only
for a season. When the hour of Jesus arrived, the devil returned to aggravate
its terrors. "The prince of this world cometh," said Jesus. The prince of this
world came like a roaring lion. The treason of Judas, the denials of Peter, the
taunts and calumnies, and buffetings in the high priests hall, the
indignities of the soldiers, the clamours of the people, the tortures of
Calvary, were contrived and instigated by him, one and all, no thanks to him if
it was the heel, and not the head, of our champion, that was bruised!
5.
Adam was a type of Christ in his covenant Head-ship. We say that God made a
covenant with Adam. And, when we say so, the thing signified is, that He
engaged Himself to bestow a specified good upon certain conditions which were
binding upon Adam.
We say also that God made a covenant with His
only-begotten Son. And the meaning is the same. He engaged Himself to bestow a
specified good upon certain conditions which were binding upon Christ. That
these statements are true, and that God did engage Himself both to Adam and to
Christ for the bestowal of a specified good upon certain binding conditions,
the declarations of Scripture make abundantly manifest.
The covenant with
Adam, indeed, was expressed in the form of a threatening (Gen. ii. 16, 17),
while the covenant with Christ was expressed in the form of a promise (Gal.
iii. 16) ; but the fact is unaltered that there was a covenant with each. Every
covenant with conditions has both a promise and a threatening in it; a promise
to be fulfilled, if the conditions are kept, and a threatening to be executed,
if the conditions are broken; and the forms employed respectively were the
forms most suitable - the threatening, for the upright, but fallible man; the
promise, for the glorious Son of God.
The trial, to which Adam was
subjected by God, was the result of the covenant with Adam. And so of the trial
of Christ it was involved, like the other, in the conditions of the covenant.
The interests of many were bound up in Gods covenants. Many were
concerned in the covenant with Adam, and many in the covenant with Christ. This
opened the way for the position of Headship, which was assigned to Adam and to
Christ respectively.
Now Adam, in his Headship, typified Christ. And there
were four points which his Headship involved, and in respect of which he
sustained that typical relation.
I st. There was the representative
character which he bore. The covenant was not made with him as a private
individual Others were concerned in it. For these others he appeared, and on
their behalf he was dealt with. When God made the covenant with Adam, be made
it with us, with you and me, and with the human race to the latest generations.
The first progenitor represented his posterity. Such representation is not
unusual. Sometimes we are represented in important transactions by persons of
our own choice, and sometimes by persons, whose appointment is from the
Providence of God, without our own nomination at all. Parents represent their
children, in the engagements of baptism, and occasionally in obligations of
civil life. Princes represent their subjects, and make covenants or treaties
with foreign states by which unborn generations are bound. But these are cases
of representation on comparatively a small scale. The only case, which for
magnitude and grandeur can be likened to that of Adam, is the case of Christ.
As Adam was the representative of all mankind, so Christ was the representative
of them who are described as "a great multitude, which no one could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues." Adam, the first great
representative of human beings, was, in that capacity, the figure of him that
was to come as another, as the only other, great Representative of human
beings; and the federal comprehension which we see in the former stands forth
as the proper and undoubted symbol of the federal comprehension which we see in
the latter.
2nd. There was the vicarious action of Adam under the
covenant. He did not drop the representative character when the covenant which
bound his posterity in him was made. Having represented them to the extent of
bringing them under the covenant, and subjecting them to all its obligations,
through the dealings of God with himself on their behalf; He continued to
represent them by acting vicariously, by acting for them, and in their stead,
under the covenant, and as regards the fulfilment or non-fulfilment of its
obligations. When the covenant was made with him, there were two ways of it -
either to bring upon those whom he represented, obligations which were to be
personally fulfilled - as the parent does in the baptism of his children; or to
bring upon them obligations which were to be vicariously fulfilled by himself -
which it was to be his duty to fulfil in their stead, and on their behalf. This
last was what was done, and Adam entered on a course of vicarious action
accordingly.
So, then, Adam furnishes a typical illustration of that which
was vicarious in the Saviours career. The chief glory of the covenant,
which was made with the Son, consists in the vicarious proceedings to which it
pledged him. If it had imposed obligations which were to be personally
fulfilled by His people, it would have been an abortive transaction, and the
fulfilments would never have come. But the obligations it imposed, so far as
they were concerned, were to be vicariously fulfilled, and the duty of that
fulfilment was undertaken and executed by our Lord. The obligations amounted
substantially to the work of magnifying the law and making it honourable.
Personally, the believer never could have done it; but he does it by his
substitute, by Christ. Christ did it vicariously in his room and on his behalf.
Vicarious procedure in ordinary life is what one may do through an agent or
counsel, a wife through her husband, an infant through its guardians, a lunatic
through his administrators, a nation through its armies and fleets.
3rd. There is the imputation and legal reckoning of Adams
vicarious procedure. What he did vicariously under the covenant is imputed to
his posterity, and they are legally reckoned with on account of it.
Analogous, in some measure, to this, is the legal reckoning which we see
applied to great trading companies for the doings of their managers. These
doings, in the eye of the law, are the doings of the companies, and of the
individuals of whom they consist.
But here, as elsewhere, the type is
incomplete as a symbol of the antitype. Adams covenant bound him to
vicarious action, and gave his action, whether good or bad, a vicarious
character. He became a vicarious agent, and did what he did as the
representative and substitute of others. He was our federal head; and that
which he did, his posterity did in him; because he did it, it was done by you,
by me, by all. Thus far, he was a type of the Saviour. Vicarious action was
binding on Christ. It was part of his duty as the Fathers servant, by the
provisions of the covenant which had been made with him by the Father. He had
to act, to do, in the name, as the representative and substitute, of others -
in the name, as the representative and substitute, of those who had been the
Fathers gift to him before the foundation of the world. Vicarious action
was binding both on Adam and on Christ. But Adams covenant did not
require vicarious suffering. It made him vicarious as a doer, but not as a
sufferer.
And so it came to pass that the vicarious position of Jesus
was not completely typified by our progenitor. On. him there lay a
covenant-obligation to suffer - to suffer as the substitute of his people. The
antitype went beyond the type. In his position we find the grander and more
awful element of vicarious endurance of misery and wrath. He was to be the
substitute of his people in the reckonings of justice for their sins. They for
whom he appeared were not only under the law; they were also under the curse.
And therefore the covenant, whereof he was the head, had placed him under both
- under the curse, as well as under the law. Hence it is written of him,
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us."
(GaL iii. 13.) And the common feature of imputation in the relation of the two
Adams to those whom they represent is emphatically brought out by the Apostle
Paul, in that passage in the Epistle to the Romans, in which he sums up his
teaching on that subject (Rom. v. 12-19). Thus of Adam he says: "By one man
sin, entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." And then he adds, connecting Christ, as the
second Adam, with the first, in a contrast implying a common character, "But
not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one
many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by
one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the
free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one mans
offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. For as by one mans disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."
4th, There is the transmission of moral qualities and tendencies
from Adam to all his posterity. The first man, by his fall, not only contracted
guilt, but brought upon his nature the taint of corruption; and that taint is
communicated through him to all mankind. In Christ, the Son of God, there is a
holy human nature. And by the power of his Holy Spirit, effecting a real and
vital union between him and his people, they become holy as he is holy. They
are renewed after his image. They are "made partakers of his holiness." In him
they are "made partakers of the Divine nature."
II. The relation which
is implied by prefixing to the name "Adam" the term "last," is now to be
considered. Christ, as has been said, is called "David," and "Solomon." But he
is not called "the last David," or "the last Solomon." John the Baptist is
called "Elias," but not "the last Elias." These were types, and only types:
Elias of John, David and Solomon of Christ. They had no other public relation
to Christ. But Adam was not a mere type. There was, beyond this, a public and
official relation between him and Christ; so that if Adam had not gone before,
or if he had been other than he was, or had acted otherwise than he did, there
would have been no need of Christ. This is more than could be said of a mere
type.
They were successive competitors for the same great prize, namely,
eternal life to man. They were successive workers at the same great task. The
divine glory on earth, and in connection with mankind, was to be provided for;
and eternal life was to be secured. This was the task assigned to the first
Adam. "The last Adam" suggests the idea of one who completed that which his
predecessor began to do - or, who succeeded in that in which his predecessor
failed. A series of more than two may be conceived. Had an angel taken flesh,
after the first Adam had failed, to try what he could do, he would have been
the second Adam. But he too would have failed, and the series must have been
continued. There would then have been, in succession, the first Adam, the
second Adam, the third and last Adam. The common name is suggestive of the
unity of obligation being derived from the first member of the series. The
special term "last" is suggestive of the obligation being at last fulfilled.
Christ is "the last Adam." There is no need for another. The great work is
done. The series may stop now! .
1. Let the two Adams be contrasted. First,
in respect of what they were. "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul; the
last Adam, a quickening spirit." "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the
second man is the Lord from heaven." Secondly, and chiefly, in respect of what
they accomplished. The first point of contrast is suggested by Rom. v. 19: "As
by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous." The first Adam entailed only sin upon his
posterity; the last Adam has for his people righteousness: He is their
righteousness. A second point of contrast is brought out in Rom. v. 18: "As by
the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life." The first Adam condemns all; the last Adam justifies all. In the first
Adam, there is the condemnation of all of whom he is the covenant head ; in the
last Adam, there is the justification of all A third point of contrast is in
the issue, or fruit, which is sin and condemnation on the one hand,
righteousness and justification on the other. In the first Adam, all die, all
are dead (Rom. v. 15-17); in the last Adam, Christ, all are made alive (1 Cor.
xv. 22). They whom the two Adams respectively represent share their respective
characters and destinies. "As is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly," (1 Cor. xv. 18, 19.)
2. Let our Lords success, as the last
Adam, be considered in opposition to the failure of the first Adam. Christ, as
the last Adam, succeeded, first, by fulfilling the obedience to the law in
which the first Adam failed; and secondly, by overcoming the obstacle which the
first Adams failure created. Thus Adam is more than a type of Christ,
especially in his trial, and in his headship, or in the representative capacity
which, in his trial, he maintained. If his trial had had a better issue, and
his headship had not borne the fruit it did, another Adam would have been
unnecessary. This shows him to be more than a type of Christ. It shows Christ
to be more than the mere antitype of Adam. In their position and undertakings,
the relation between them was typical. Therefore Christ is Adam.
In the
fruits of their position and undertakings, in their respective achievements,
there is another relation which is expressed when Christ is called the last
Adam. It is a relation indicating the perfection of Christ. The last Adam is
perfect, as a competitor for the prize, - eternal life to rnan, - which the
first Adam lost; as a worker at the task in which the first Adam broke down. In
particular, he is perfect, in the first place, in respect of his vicarious
action. In that respect, he is emphatically the "last Adam." His vicarious
action was perfect. There was no flaw in it. "Though he were a Son, yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." (Heb. v. 8, 9.)
"For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Rom. v. 19.) Again, secondly,
he is perfect as the last Adam, in respect of the imputation and legal
reckoning of his vicarious action. As there is no flaw in his vicarious action,
in his work of obedience and atonement, as the Covenant-Head, so there is no
flaw in the title with which all the members are invested, as one with him, to
claim an interest in the whole of it - in all its virtue, and efficacy, and
value. "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all
men unto justification of life." (Rom. v. 18.) And, thirdly, as the last Adam,
he is perfect in respect of the actual transmission and communication of all
the life and holiness which his vicarious action involves. As the last Adam, he
has the Holy Spirit to give. And by the gift of the Holy Spirit he effectually
secures the salvation of all who are his. Thus Christ is Adam, and the last
Adam.
Sometimes a name designates an office rather than an individual. Thus
we speak of the kings of Egypt as Pharaohs, and of the Roman Emperors as
Caesars. There may also be, in such cases, the last of a name. There is the
last Caesar. That title indicates decay, degeneracy, death. It is the race
wearing itself out. In a very different sense is Christ the "Last Adam." To his
people he is "the Last Adam," for they need not, nor shall ever need, another.
To those who neglect "the great salvation," he is "the Last Adam," for they
never can have another." "There remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." "There is
none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved."
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