Adam & Christ

Question: I do understand that all mankind is included “in Adam”, because all stem from him. But why is mankind also included “in Christ”? Why is this logical? Answer: The logic is that Adam, himself, was created in Christ. In Genesis 1:27 (CLV), we read:

And creating is the Elohim humanity IN HIS IMAGE. In the image of the Elohim He creates it…

Who is the image of God? This is an open question in the Hebrew Bible, but is fully answered in the “New Testament”. So, Paul writes about…

…the evangel of the glory of Christ, Who is the Image of the invisible God… -2Corinthians 4:4 (See also: Col.1:15)-

Christ Jesus is the image of God. In other words, when God created Adam, He did so “in His image”, i.e. in Christ Jesus! That means that Christ, who would not come until thousands of years later, was the model for Adam. Not Christ, but Adam is a “replica”! The original is Christ. With the consequence that, as all mankind was included “in Adam”, it was, even much earlier, included “in Christ”! If Adam already determines the destiny for humanity, Christ Jesus does so, much more. He, after all, is the first, the model. And so, also, He is the last. Paul calls Christ “the last Adam”:

… Thus it is written also, The first man, Adam, “became a living soul:” the last Adam a vivifying Spirit. -1Corinthians 15:45 (CLV)- 

Please note: the last Adam. Not the second Adam. Should He be the second Adam, then that would leave room for the possibility that, as yet, another Adam could come. No, Christ is the last Adam, the final One. It is very noteworthy that Paul, just before this in 1Corinthians 15, used the word “last” when he wrote:

The last enemy is being abolished: death. -1 Corinthians 15:26 (CLV)-

Christ abolishes death by making all alive…

For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified. -1Corinthians 15:22 (CLV)–

As absolute and universal is the first truth, so absolute and universal is the last truth. All men are mortals…”in Adam”. So will “in Christ” all human beings be made alive, beyond the reach of death. Please note: it says, “in Christ all” and not, “all in Christ”. The last “all” are the same ones as the first “all”. And whoever still has any doubts, should also read these statements of Paul:

18 Consequently, then, as it was through one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award for all mankind for life’s justifying. For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just. -Romans 5:18,19 (CLV)–

Christ was the prototype for Adam. Adam, in turn, is a “type of Him that was to come” (Romans 5:14), “the last Adam”. Therefore, both represent the whole of humanity.

Delen: