Beware- Danger Lurks
Christ our Representative
Part 2
A Representative ‘in Christ’
The Prince of heaven willingly volunteered to become the second Representative of the human race, but He did not come in the physical perfection of Adam before the fall.
Instead, He “accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity.” 3
As the Prince of heaven and Commander of the angels,
Christ set aside His royal robe and crown,
and willingly
stepped
down
_________________________below the line_________________________
into our sinful world.
Christ took on man’s physical human nature in its weakened,
fallen and sinful condition.
“In assuming humanity, Christ took the part of every human being. He was the Head of humanity. A Being divine and human, with His long human arm He could encircle humanity, while with His divine arm He could lay hold of the throne of the infinite.” 4
God had begun a new family ‘in Christ’. It would be a divine-human family in which the Spirit of Christ would again be part of the nature of man. This is a vital part in the plan of redemption – humanity and divinity must be combined for man to be once more a member of God’s household.
Although Christ came into this world of sin (below the line), His mind was lifted up to the spiritual realities. He hated sin with a perfect hatred, for He had seen its deceiving power upon the holy angels. His spotless righteousness was a constant reproach upon sin, angering sinful men to follow the dictates of Satan in eradicating Him from the earth. 5
But Satan was only able to inflict his anger upon the flesh of Christ; he could not touch His mind. “Could Satan in the least particular have tempted Christ to sin, he would have bruised the Saviour’s head…. Had the head of Christ been touched, the hope of the human race would have perished.” 6
Christ, the “last Adam”, and legitimate Representative of the human race, had passed over the same ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15.
When Christ was victorious, we were victorious.
As God had seen all humanity disobedient ‘in Adam’, so He saw every man obedient ‘in Christ’. This was the means by which God could restore the race to its Edenic glory. “All that was lost by the first Adam, was restored by the second”. 7
Notice how beautifully God’s plan is recorded in Ephesians.
God the Father has “blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (Son), in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of His grace wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in Him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will…” Ephesians 1:3-11.
Christ did not yield up His life until He had completed His work of righteousness in humanity. In His last prayer, Jesus prayed, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do”, and with His last breath exclaimed, “It is finished.” John 17:4. 19:30.
The battle had been won.
As our Representative, Jesus was victorious for us, but more than that, we were victorious ‘in Him’.
“What Jesus Christ in the flesh did, we did in Him. And this is the most glorious truth in Christianity. It is Christianity itself, it is the very core and life and heart of Christianity. He took our flesh, and our humanity was found in Him, and what He did, humanity did in Him.” 8
The Scriptures clearly state the principle: “the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ’, ‘abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ’, ‘by the righteousness of one the free gift upon all men unto justification of life’, ‘so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Romans 5:15-19.
The message is very plain. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:21.22.
When Christ died, all died, for “if one died for all, then were all dead.” 2 Corinthians 5:14.
Spiritually, we all obeyed ‘in Christ’.
But this is God’s view of humanity, it is not a literal fact because we were not involved.
When we personally choose Christ, only then do we receive justification as individuals. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus….” Romans 8:1.
Literally, we remain weak human beings with a bent to sin. Of ourselves, we can do nothing. We cannot stop sinning. Our natures are carnal, “sold under sin.” Romans 7:14.
SPIRITUAL
PENALTY PAID RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED
‘In Adam’ ‘In Christ’
All mankind sinned All mankind obeyed
Man has guilt of sin Man has righteousness
Man has death penalty Man has eternal life
Lost Saved
________________________________________________________________________
LITERAL
Adam sinned personally I have also sinned
I have personally repented
I have confessed my sins and am forgiven
Once we make that genuine surrender, God imputes His righteousness through Christ to our account. This cancels the spiritual debt we incurred ‘in Adam’, and the sentence of eternal death is removed. But it is all by faith, and we must look above the line to see this wonderful exchange.
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace….” Romans 5:1.2.