Part 5
Our Glorious Representative
When Christ was born into humanity, He took our flesh, and in taking our flesh, He became us.
When Adam was formed, all the members of the human family were created in him, so also when the second man was formed, all the members of the human family were created in Him.
The divine Son of God gave Himself to the human family, not only for the human family, but to the human family. Thus humanity and divinity were forever united in Christ. “That is to say, Jesus Christ joined Himself to humanity and identified Himself with humanity and became humanity; he became we and we were there in Him…. Jesus Christ in Himself, joined humanity and divinity for all eternity.” 22
It was necessary that Christ be manifest in the flesh, as divinity needed a human side for obedience, for suffering, and for death.
- Divinity is righteous of itself, but to be efficacious for humanity, righteousness must be wrought in humanity.
Divinity cannot be tempted, therefore to be a true representative of humanity, there must be a test. James 1:13.
Divinity cannot die and for the “suffering of death”, the divine sufferer must be clothed with a body “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:9.14.
“For verily He (Christ) took not on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham, wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succour those that are tempted.” Hebrews 2:16-18.
Notice that Christ took upon Him the seed of Abraham, not the seed of Adam. The message is two-fold.
Christ took upon Himself human flesh like Adam, but not the seeds of sin, sown by Adam. His mind was pure and free from the taint of evil. 23
Although the flesh of both Adam and Abraham was weakened through sin, the promise came through Abraham, not Adam.
Jesus Christ was not born ‘in Adam’. He is our sinless Saviour, the Lamb without blemish.
It is beyond human comprehension, but it “is the most glorious truth of Christianity.
It is Christianity itself; it is the very core and life and heart of Christianity. He took our flesh, and our family was found in Him. What He did, humanity did in Him.” 24
It is the mystery of godliness, “God was manifest in the flesh…” 1 Timothy 3:16.
“The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God… Christ was a real man; He gave proof of His humility in becoming a man. Yet He was God in the flesh.
When we approach this subject, we would do well to heed the words spoken by Christ to Moses at the burning bush, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where on thou standest is holy ground." We should come to this study with the humility of a learner, with a contrite heart.” 25
Are you willing to acknowledge the core of Christianity – that God, through His beloved Son, willingly entered the human race as your Representative, the father of the human race?
And are you willing to accept Jesus as your brother?
“He who is “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners’, is not ashamed to call us brethren. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love.” 26
Has Christ redeemed you?
Is He your Saviour?
If your answer to these question is in the affirmative, then everything Christ did in humanity belongs to you – righteousness, heaven, eternal life.
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:21.22.23.
God said to Abraham, “‘Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them… So shall thy seed be’.
And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:56. Romans 4:3. Galatians 3:6.
This experience of Abraham was written that we might understand righteousness is the gift of God. “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.” Romans 4:23.24.
“Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour now? You can answer that in one moment, you know that you do. Then this moment thank the Lord that His righteousness is manifested unto you and upon you. He not only says it but He gives you witnesses to the fact – it is witnessed by the law and the prophets. That law which you have transgressed, that law that has shown you guilty before God, that very law ‘now’ in view of the manifestation of the righteousness of God, witnesses that you have a just claim to this righteousness and that you are thereby justified through the faith of Jesus Christ.” 27
The law and the prophets testify to this fact.
The moment the sinner surrenders to Christ, he stands in the sight of God uncondemned; for the righteousness of Christ is his: Christ's perfect obedience is imputed to him.
It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand before the law without shame or remorse.
When we receive righteousness, we receive life, for it is impossible to separate the life of God from His righteousness. As certainly as righteousness is imputed, so is eternal life. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” 1 John 5:11.
It is important at this point to be reminded that when we are speaking of being ‘in Christ’, it is always above the line. It is not literal for us, however, it is ours by faith.
This is a spiritual fact.
You and I were not literally ‘in Christ’ and therefore, the righteousness ‘we did in Him’ was not literally ours. The righteousness He wrought was through His obedience to the Law of God.
But when we accept Christ as our Saviour, God imputes to us the righteousness He saw us doing ‘in Christ’. When He looks at us, He sees us as perfect as His Son.
This is Justification, received by faith.
SPIRITUAL
All humanity obeyed ‘in Christ’
All humanity is righteous ‘in Christ’
All humanity is perfect ‘in Christ’
God sees His children as He sees His Son.
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Are you willing to believe it?
The great principle of Christianity is “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16. Every gift is received by faith, “for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8.9.
If God said it
Believe it
If you have failed God, the Scriptures require you to come before the Lord and confess your sins. If you are willing to do this, with true repentance – with a genuine desire to never repeat the sin – then God’s promise is, “He is faithful and just to forgive your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.
All God asks is that you believe Him.
When you do, God sees you in the same way He sees His Son -- spotless, without a taint of sin.
“The word of God is self-fulfilling. This is the great truth presented everywhere in the Bible. This is the difference between the word of God and the word of men….
When the word is spoken by the Lord, there is at that moment in that word the living power to accomplish what the word expresses. It is not needed that the Lord employ any shadow of any other means than that word itself to accomplish what the words says…...” 28
“For He spake, and it was done.” Psalm 33:9.
“When God made His promise to Abraham, ‘because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself’. This was an oath for the confirmation of the promise, which was in itself immutable. Moreover, the promise was confirmed in Christ….. The oath is really a pledge of His own existence. He swore by Himself. He has thereby declared that His life would be forfeited if His promise should fail. His promises are as enduring as Himself…..
Upon the existence of God depends the existence of the heavens and the earth. But He has pledged His own existence to the fulfilment of His promises. Therefore the existence of the heavens, yea, of the entire universe, depends upon the fulfilment of the promises of God to the believing sinner. If a single sinner, no matter how unworthy, or insignificant, or obscure, should come to the Lord sincerely asking for pardon and holiness, and should fail to receive it, that instant the whole universe would become chaos, and vanish out of existence. But the sun, moon and stars still hold their places in the heavens, as a proof that God has never failed a single soul that put his trust in Him, and as a pledge that His mercies fail not.” 29
When Christ was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken to the high priest, we were ‘in Him’. When He was interrogated through-out the night, we suffered with Him. At the dawn, when He was re-tried and taken to Pilate, you and I were there. When Pilate sent Him to the scourge, all the human race received those stripes ‘in Christ’.
They led Him to the place of the skull, and there they crucified Him. When they drove the nails through His sinless hands, you and I were secured to the tree ‘in Him’.
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities…. The Lord laid upon Him the iniquity of us all…” Isaiah 53:5.
In this spiritual reality of Representation, all humanity died the penalty for sin. Our debt is paid. When we accept Christ as our Saviour, God can justly credit us with having satisfied His justice, and ‘in Christ’ we are spiritually free.
No one can claim that He has literally died sin’s penalty, however, when our faith ascends to God, He is legally able to absolve us of the full penalty, for He saw us ‘in Christ’ on the cross of Calvary. We will never suffer the second death. Revelation 2:11.
Keep your eyes above the line, for that which is above is a declaration of an accomplished fact ‘in Christ’. You can say with confidence, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…” Galatians 2:20.
It is not something that might have happened; nor is it something you hope will take place in the future, but something that has taken place two thousand years ago ‘in Christ’.
“For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.” 2 Corinthians 5:14.
Everything has been met in Christ.
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation (substitute or mercy seat) through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:24-26.
The apostle Paul says, ‘If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Romans 6:8.
This is also a spiritual fact, for when God raised Christ from the dead, we rose with Him. In the resurrection of His Son, the Father saw all humanity ‘in Him’.
But even more than that – when Christ ascended to heaven, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high, we sat down with Him, for “God hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.” Ephesians 2:6. The Syriac version of this verse states, “God hath raised us up together and seated us with Him in Jesus the Messiah”.
From the slopes of the Mount of Olives, Jesus Christ ascended a glorified human being. The flesh, now made immortal, still had the nail prints in His hands and feet. When He sat down at the right hand of His Father, humanity sat down ‘in Him’.
If you are one of God’s sons or daughters, you are seated with Christ upon the throne of the universe.
Life eternal is a gift of incomprehensible love.
“The gift is ours to keep. If anyone has not this blessing, it is because he has not recognized the gift, or has deliberately thrown it away.” 30
If you look by faith above the line, you can claim everything your Representative did. It is all yours, because you were ‘in Him’ when He did it. And through the simple means of genuine faith, God is able to impute or credit the merit of Christ to your account.
It is yours by faith, yet it remains His in fact.
If you continue to look up, all will remain yours by faith. This is why it is called righteousness by faith.
“I am not ashamed of the gospel (good news) of Christ…. for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’.” Romans 1:16.17
“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” Philippians 3:9.
“For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” Galatians 5:5. Hebrews 11:7. Romans 4:3-5.
The righteousness that is received by faith contains the hope of eternal life, and if we continue in simple faith to cling to the promises, they will be fulfilled to us
Therefore, in every situation look above the line – read your Bible, study it, meditate on it. Feed upon its spiritual blessings. Claim the promises, learn them, recite them, make them personal, sing them, pray them.
Enjoy their beauty and value their counsel. Read them again and again. Love God’s law, appreciate its simplicity, its wisdom, and the revelation of its divine Author. Pray without ceasing.
Keep your thoughts upon heavenly things.
“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.
Christ our Representative
The Old Man