Part 6

Paul continues his expert exhortation with a needful lesson on the “first Adam“. He focuses his instruction on the awful corporate heritage Adam has won for all of humanity (1 Cor. 15:45). Why was such a lesson so needful? Because the Jews despised our Lord’s willing humiliation. They often saw His descent into human flesh as an excuse to ignore His divine claims, and a reason to refuse His Gospel message. Paul sought to correct such error by explaining the principal reasons for Jesus’ humble earthly trek, and the great fruit born as a result.

First and foremost, it was to reverse the many ails of the first Adam’s folly, and thereby win humanity a superior heritage from which it could spring. Contrary to Jewish assumption, our Lord’s descent into the troubles of humanity was not at all a portrait of His supposed weakness, but rather of His selfless love! Despite the torture that would no-doubt be felt, Jesus embraced His earthen bonds in order to reverse the failure wrought by our human ancestry. Such an act was the only able tool for federal reversal and redemption. And why? Because both Adam and Jesus are said to be federal men: Adam is called the “first Adam” and Jesus is called the “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). These two men are declared federal because both they and their actions are corporate in nature: committed on behalf of all humanity, both born and unborn. Creation was said to be “in Adam” when he sinned and died, and similarly, believers were “in Christ” as He won victory and resurrected (1 Cor. 15:21-22, 45, 48; 1 Jn. 1:8-10; 5:20; Rom. 5:12, 14, 17-19, 21).

As a result, both men are linked to creation’s inward pedigree and outward fruit. In other words, they set the boundaries of mankind’s inward nature and spiritual disposition, whether good or bad. Adam leads humanity toward death and destruction, while Jesus leads those redeemed toward victory and rich harvest. The first Adam was given the influence over federal heritage simply because he was given dominion over all the earth (Ps. 8:4-6; Gen. 1:26-31). Adam forfeited his dominion when he gave-in to sin. Mankind was thereby “delivered unto” Satan as its new authoritative head, and the earth now lies in ruin as a result (Jn. 8:44; 12:31; Lk. 4:6). We have been force-fed Adam’s awful fruits: it’s an altogether-involuntary feast. We’ve been born into his likeness whether we like it or not, for his authoritative “seed” is duly-required for birth’s conception  (Ps. 51:5; 58:3; Prov. 22:15; Eph. 2:3; Job 5:7).

Most thankfully, man’s story does not end there. Paul declares the Lord Jesus to be the last federal Adam, and thus our only hope for a contrary fate! Jesus enables such a different fate because He did not partake of Adam’s fallen seed. He was born by virgin birth, which means the Holy Spirit was the authoritative source of His conception (Lk. 1:35). As such, our Lord could partake of both human and divine nature, and be declared both God and man (Rom. 1:4). He was tempted by sin, yet free from its innate influence (Jn. 14:30; 1 Pet. 1:19, 22). As a result, Jesus now seeks to impart a radical opposition to the first Adam’s dismal failure! He too arrived as a federal and corporate man, and, much like the first Adam, his humanity made him just-as-fitting to alter the human condition. The Jews were sorely mistaking if they saw Jesus’ condescension as a pollution to His deity. His humanity was not a cause for salvific concern, but rather a cause for salvific mediation (1 Tim. 2:5). His humanity was a necessary ingredient for our redemption. Therefore, men should never stumble over the Lord’s earthly demeanor, for He embraced human flesh in order to perfectly “ransom” human flesh (1 Tim. 2:6). Amazingly, Jesus was willing to suffer the reproach that the first Adam initiated, and thought it not robbery to set aside His divine reputation (Phil. 2:5-9). As a man, Jesus redeems men, and, as God, He does so free from human stain or fleshly error. He is the only “Son of Man” and “Son of God” to ever exist (Matt. 18:11; Mk. 1:1). He is both 100% earth and 100% heaven, and therefore His death is the only right mediation to reconcile between both parties (Heb. 9:15). In offering His own body on the cross, Jesus allows creation to feast upon an alternative federal bloodline, one that’s wholly free from the first Adam’s seed (Lk. 1:35), and therefore wholly pure and efficacious. It was well-shed and is thus well-able to repair our innate troubles. As we respond to this gracious offer, our “last Adam” most-powerfully reverses the manner of fruit so well-grown by the first. As we believe and receive Jesus by faith, our initial corporate sway is altered, our first inheritance is dis-annulled, and a glorious exchange is made: We’re now “in Christ” instead of “in Adam” (Rom. 5:15-19, 21; 1 Cor. 1:30; 15:21, 45, 48). And if we’re “in Christ” we’re “in” His triumph and resurrection too: It is the federal fruit birthed by the new federal “Head” (Eph. 1:10, 22; 1 Cor. 11:3; Col. 2:10, 19; Jn. 17:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:17).

Eventually, the men of earth will one-day stand and marvel at the rich bounty of fruit that our Lord’s bloody cross has grown in and among us. Jesus reigns over an altogether different family tree, and feeds His branches from an altogether different vine and holy spring. Reader, it is for this reason that Paul proclaims the superiority of Jesus. He is the more fruitful of earth’s two federal men, and He allows for a far-greater heritage. Jesus doesn’t merely cover over our evil symptoms, but rather, He entirely reverses our innate condition of “madness” (Eccl. 9:3)! He wholly renews our inward nature (2 Pet. 1:4), and He “much more” furnishes a better kind of heart (Ezek. 11:19). Jesus’ fruit proves “much more” abundant, “much more” infiltrating, and “much more” efficacious! Instead of clouds of gray, our Lord’s gift disperses clouds of glory (Rom. 5:1-2). Instead of trials that yield death and torment, we now endure trials that birth goodly fruits (Rom. 5:2). Instead of much shame and constant regret, our Lord furnishes us with the fruit of abounding hope (Rom. 5:4-5). Jesus richly towers over Adam and rebukes his seed’s worldwide reproduction. We no longer have to feast on fallen crops. We can now enjoy God’s freedom, and we can enjoy it “much more” than our sin ever was (Rom. 5:9). God, in His humanity, has rescued creation to a far-greater degree than Adam or Satan were ever able to depress it. He declares “many [to] be made righteous” who before were made well-condemned (Rom. 5:15-21; 8:1-3). Oh reader, what wondrous fruit! What beautiful and flourishing crops we can now eat!

To be continued…