Spurgeon: December AM
* 12/26/AM
"The last Adam."
--1 Corinthians 15:45
Jesus is the federal head of His elect. As in Adam, every
heir of flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is
the covenant head and representative of the race as considered
under the law of works; so under the law of grace, every
redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since He is the
Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in the new
covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in
the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain
truth that the believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the
Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant settlements of grace
were decreed, ratified, and made sure for ever. Thus, whatever
Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the whole body of His
Church. We were crucified in Him and buried with Him (read Col.
2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with
Him and even ascended with Him to the seats on high ( Eph. 2:6).
It is thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is
"accepted in the beloved ." It is thus that she is regarded
with complacency by the just Jehovah, for He views her in Jesus,
and does not look upon her as separate from her covenant head.
As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing
distinct from His Church, but all that He has He holds for her.
Adam's righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and
his sin was ours the moment that he committed it; and in the
same manner, all that the Second Adam is or does, is ours as
well as His, seeing that He is our representative. Here is the
foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system of
representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to
cry out, "O blessed change, O sweet permutation!" this is the
very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be
received with strong faith and rapturous joy.