In Adam and in Christ

There are two special phrases in the Bible that speak of a basic truth concerning God’s salvation: in Adam and in Christ. If we want to know God’s salvation, we must know the matters related to being in Adam and in Christ.

1. In God’s eyes there being only two men

   1. Adam being the first man, the first Adam

      1. “The first man, Adam”; “The first man is out of the earth” (1 Cor. 15:45, 47).

         1. Although there are millions of people in the world, in God’s eyes there are only two men. The first man is Adam. The Bible calls him the first man and the first Adam. He is out of the earth, so he is earthy. He is the beginning of man. He is the first man and the first Adam because before him there was no man. All the people in the world are his descendants, and everyone is out of him; thus, everyone is in him. Although his descendants number in the millions, in God’s view Adam and we, as his descendants, are just one man because we are out of him and in him.

         2. Every person in the world is one with Adam. Everyone has come out of Adam and is a part of Adam. When a watermelon is cut into many slices, the slices are still a part of the watermelon, and the slices equal only one watermelon. Every person in the world is a “slice” of Adam, a part of Adam. Everyone together equals Adam. Although every person is an individual, every person is Adam because everyone is a part of Adam. Strictly speaking, our name is Adam because we are out of Adam and in Adam. Therefore, in God’s eyes Adam and his descendants are one man, Adam. As the first man, Adam is the first Adam.

   2. Christ being the second man, the last Adam

      1. “The second man is out of heaven”; “The last Adam” (45, 1 Cor. 15:47).

         1. The Bible speaks of Christ as the second man. This may seem a little peculiar because, according to our thought, Cain was the second man. However, the Bible says that the second man is Christ. This is God’s view. In God’s eyes the only man after Adam is Christ because there was only one man before Christ. Apart from Adam, there was no other man before Christ. Thus, in God’s eyes Adam is the first man, and Christ is the second man.

         2. In 1 Corinthians 15 Christ is called not only the second man but also the last Adam, or the last man. This tells us that in God’s eyes, Christ is not only the second man but also the last man. After Christ there is no other man. Although there is one man before Christ, there is not another man after Christ. Adam is the first man; Christ is the second man. In God’s eyes, just as there was no man before Adam, there is no man after Christ. Furthermore, there is no man between Adam and Christ. Therefore, in God’s view there are only two men in the universe — Adam and Christ.

         3. If we want to thoroughly know and accurately experience God’s way of salvation, we must see that there are only two men in the universe — Adam and Christ. Apart from these two men, there is not another man. In God’s eyes every person in the world is either in Adam or in Christ. If we are not in Adam, we are in Christ because there is not a third man. This is God’s vision. This is God’s point of view. We must have God’s vision and God’s point of view to thoroughly know and to accurately experience His way of salvation. May the Lord open our eyes to see this.

2. In Adam

   1. Man’s being in Adam

      1. “He made from one every nation of men” (Acts 17:26).

Some ancient manuscripts use the phrase one man instead of one in this verse. The one man is Adam. God made myriads of nations out of one man, or out of one. The nations are all out of Adam, and they are all in Adam. The people of the world are all descendants of Adam and out of Adam because they have been born in Adam. Strictly speaking, before we were born, we were in Adam. We are born in Adam because we were in Adam and are people of Adam.

2. 2. Man’s inheritance in Adam

      1. “Through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners” (Rom. 5:19).

         1. The first thing that man has received from Adam is sin. Through Adam sin has come to every man. We are not sinful because we have committed sins; we were constituted sinners in Adam. Before we even committed a sin, we had a sinful nature. Because of the disobedience of Adam, we have sin, and we have been constituted as sinners. Adam became a sinner through disobedience, and since we are in him, we have sin and are sinners. We do not need to commit a sin in order to be a sinner, because we were born as sinners.

         2. After Korea was defeated by Japan, the children who were born in Korea were also defeated because their country was no longer their own. They lost their country because their forefathers lost their country. Before they were even born, they were in a country that their fathers and grandfathers had lost. Thus, they were born as people without their own country. Similarly, we are descendants of Adam, and as his descendants, we are sinners because of his disobedience. It does not matter whether or not we have committed sins ourselves; we are sinners because we are in Adam. As long as we are in Adam and born of Adam, we are sinners.

         3. In Adam we are sinners. We do not become sinners when we sin; that is, we do not become sinners because we have sinned. First, we are sinners, and then we commit sins. We commit sins because we are sinners. We are sinners, so we commit sins. We spontaneously sin because we are sinners; there is no exception to this fact. It would be an exception if we did not sin. An orange tree spontaneously bears oranges. If it did not bear oranges, it would be strange. Furthermore, it does not become an orange tree after it bears oranges; it is an orange tree before it bears fruit. It bears oranges because it is an orange tree. In the same way, we commit sins because we are sinners. We inherited our status as sinners. We commit sins because of what we received from Adam.

      2. “It was through one offense unto condemnation to all men” (Rom. 5:18).

Since we all are sinners in Adam, we also deserve to be condemned because we share in his condemnation. We were included in his one offense in the garden because we were in him. When he sinned in the garden, we also sinned. When he sinned, we were included in him. When Abraham offered a tithe to Melchizedek, his descendant, Levi, also offered a tithe to Melchizedek because he was included in Abraham (Heb. 7:9-10). When the ancestor of the Chinese people, Huang Ti, crossed over the Pamir Plateau toward the east, all Chinese people crossed over the plateau in him. The Chinese people may not feel as if they crossed over the plateau, but when he came, they came in him and with him because they were included in him. Similarly, when Adam sinned in the garden, we were in him. His sinning was our sinning because we were in him. Thus, his one offense was unto condemnation to all men. If we see this, we will understand the Lord’s word in John 3:18: “He who does not believe has been condemned already.” We are in Adam, and when Adam was condemned, we were condemned. So just as we obtained sin in Adam, we also inherited condemnation in Adam. Being in Adam causes us to partake of condemnation.

2. 2. 3. “In Adam all die” (1 Cor. 15:22).

In Adam we first inherit sin, then condemnation, and finally death. This order is automatic. Where there is sin, there is condemnation, and where there is condemnation, there must be death. The result of sin and condemnation is death. Our death in Adam has several aspects. The first aspect involves the deadening of our human spirit, in which fellowship with God was broken, and the human spirit lost this function. The second aspect involves the death of our body, in which our body will lose its life and return to dust. The third aspect involves the death of the soul, in which the soul is tormented in Hades (Luke 16:22-25). The fourth aspect is the second death, in which the spirit, soul, and body of those who do not believe are cast into the lake of fire to suffer (Rev. 20:15; 21:8). The spirit of an unbeliever is dead toward God. One day his body will die, and his soul will go to Hades to suffer. On the day of judgment at the great white throne (20:11-14), he will be raised, and his spirit, soul, and body will be cast into the lake of fire to suffer eternally. This is the final death and the eternal death. These are all aspects of death, and they are our common inheritance in Adam. In Adam we have three terrible things: sin, condemnation, and death.

3. In Christ

   1. The believers being in Christ

      1. “Everyone who believes into Him” (John 3:16).

         1. How can a person be in Christ? This is a mysterious spiritual matter. A person enters into Christ by believing into Him, not by being physically born. We are not physically born into Christ. We believe into Christ. The Greek preposition into in this verse is the same preposition that is used in Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27 in relation to baptism, but here it refers to believing. Just as a person must be baptized into Christ, he also must believe into Christ. We are related to Christ by believing. We believe into Christ. When a person believes into Christ, he enters into Christ and begins a relationship with Christ in spirit. He has a spiritual union with Christ. This is similar to a light bulb that is connected to an electrical power plant by electricity. It is related to the electrical power plant because of the electricity. Once we believe in Christ, His Spirit enters us, joins us to Christ, and causes us to be one with Christ in spirit. From the time of our believing, we are in Christ.

      2. “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27 see also Rom. 6:3).

Both believing and baptism speak of our entrance into Christ, our putting on of Christ. By believing, we enter into Christ in reality in spirit; by being baptized, our entrance into Christ becomes practical in a manifest way by our going into the water. When we believe, we enter into Christ. Then we confess, declare, and manifest this fact through baptism. Through believing and being baptized, we are able to fully enter into Christ. Being in Christ requires these two things.

3. 1. 3. “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:30).

We enter into Christ through believing and being baptized. These are matters that involve our response; however, putting the Spirit of Christ and the life of Christ into us are matters that depend upon God. When we receive Christ and enter into Him through believing and being baptized, God puts the Spirit of Christ and the life of Christ into our spirit, causing us to be joined to Him. This is not something that we can do ourselves; it is completely a matter of God’s doing. Thus, in reality it is of God that we are in Christ. God puts us into Christ. God puts the Spirit and the life of Christ into our spirit, causing us to be one with Christ in spirit. This is God’s response to our believing and being baptized.

3. 2. The believers’ inheritance in Christ

      1. “Through the obedience of the One the many will be constituted righteous” (Rom. 5:19).

In Adam we have sin, but in Christ we have righteousness. Adam gives us sin, but Christ gives us righteousness. Just as Adam’s disobedience resulted in the many being constituted sinners, Christ’s obedience resulted in the many being constituted righteous. Just as we are not sinners because we have sinned, we are not righteous because we have done some righteous works. In Adam we are already sinful, and in Christ we are already righteous. Because we are in Adam, we are sinners, and because we are in Christ, we are righteous. We are sinners because we are in Adam, and we are righteous because we are in Christ. In Adam we inherit sin and are sinners. In Christ we inherit righteousness and are righteous.

3. 2. 2. “It was through one righteous act unto justification of life to all men” (Rom. 5:18).

         1. Just as the sin that we have in Adam causes us to be condemned in him, the righteousness that we have in Christ causes us to be justified in Him. Adam’s one offense in the garden of Eden caused everyone in him to be condemned. In the same way, Christ’s one righteous act at Golgotha caused everyone in Him to be justified. Just as we were condemned before God because of Adam’s one offense, we are justified before God because of Christ’s one righteous act. We do not need to sin in order to be condemned by God; instead, because of Adam’s one offense, we are condemned because we are in him. In the same way, we do not need to do righteous acts in order to be justified by God; instead, because of Christ’s one righteous act, we are justified because we are in Him. Just as our condemnation before God is unrelated to our sinful works, our justification before God is unrelated to any works of righteousness that we have done (Titus 3:5).

         2. Just as the sin and condemnation that we inherited in Adam bring in death, the righteousness and justification that we received in Christ bring in life. Just as we were condemned because of Adam’s sin and inherited death, we were justified because of Christ’s righteousness and inherited life. The death that we received because of Adam’s sin is out of Satan, but the life that we received because of Christ’s righteousness is out of God. Just as death entered into us because of Adam’s sin and defiled our whole being — our spirit, soul, and body — the life of God entered into us because of Christ’s righteousness to enliven our entire being — our spirit, soul, and body — by swallowing up every element of death in us. Just as the death from Adam’s sin deadened our spirit and then spread to our soul and body, the life of God from Christ’s righteousness enlivens our spirit and then spreads to our soul and body. This life enters our deadened spirit through the Holy Spirit because of Christ’s righteousness and enlivens our deadened spirit. Then this life spreads from our spirit to our soul, swallowing up death and the elements of death in our inward parts until life transfigures our body. Even though our body has been attacked and damaged by death, the life of God will make our body the same as the resurrected body of our glorious Lord. The divine life causes every part of our being to be saturated with the life of God and to enter into God’s life of glory.

         3. In summary, we obtain three items in Adam: sin, condemnation, and death; and we obtain three items in Christ: righteousness, justification, and life. The items that we inherited from Adam have been taken care of by the death and resurrection of Christ, which also gave us righteousness, justification, and life. Christ’s death dealt with our sin and condemnation in Adam, and Christ’s resurrection dealt with the death that we received in Adam. Christ’s death and resurrection dealt with our sin, condemnation, and death in Adam on the negative side. On the positive side, Christ’s death caused us to obtain righteousness and justification. His resurrection also caused us to obtain life on the positive side. Christ’s death freed us from sin and condemnation in Adam and gave us righteousness and justification in Christ. Christ’s resurrection freed us from death in Adam and gave us life in Christ. Adam gave us sin and death; Christ died and rose to give us righteousness and life. Christ’s death dealt with Adam’s sin so that we could receive God’s righteousness in Him, and Christ’s resurrection dealt with Adam’s death so that we could receive God’s life in Him. Christ’s death and resurrection solved the problems of sin and death and brought us righteousness and life.

         4. In Adam we have sin, condemnation, and death, and in Christ we have righteousness, justification, and life. As long as we are in Adam, we experience sin, condemnation, and death, and as long as we are in Christ, we experience righteousness, justification, and life. When we partake of Adam, we partake of sin and death. When we partake of Christ, we partake of righteousness and life. When we touch Adam, we touch sin and death. When we touch Christ, we touch righteousness and life. When we contact Adam, we encounter sin and death. When we contact Christ, we encounter righteousness and life. If we remain in Adam, we will surely taste sin and death, but if we abide in Christ, we will surely enjoy righteousness and life. May God show us that sin and death are in Adam, whereas righteousness and life are in Christ.

   3. “Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies” (Eph. 1:3).

In Christ we not only have righteousness, justification, and life, but we also obtain every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Specifically, we obtain the Father’s selection, the Son’s redemption, and the Holy Spirit’s sealing in Christ. We also obtain all the blessings in Christ that are mentioned in the subsequent verses in Ephesians.

3. 4. “He chose us” (Eph. 1:4).

The first blessing that God gives is His selection of us before the foundation of the world. This blessing of selection was given to us in Christ by God because He chose us in Christ.

3. 5. “Predestinating” (Eph. 1:5).

God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestinating us unto sonship to be sons together with His Son (Rom. 8:29) and to be the object of His love and grace in the Son. He has predestinated us in Christ.

3. 6. “Redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14).

God chose us in eternity, predestinated us, and came in time to redeem us, that is, to deal with our sin in order that we could be forgiven. God has given us His forgiveness in Christ.

3. 7. “Sanctified” (1 Cor. 1:2).

To be sanctified is to be separated from everything of the world and to return to God (see chapter 8, “Sanctification”). God has saved us and sanctified us to Himself. God has sanctified us in Christ.

3. 8. “The righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

God accomplished redemption for us according to His righteousness. God also has forgiven and justified us according to His righteousness. God saved us according to His righteousness (see chapter 9, “Justification,” and chapter 35, “The Faithfulness of God and the Righteousness of God”). God worked His righteousness into us in His salvation. Therefore, people can see God’s righteousness in us. The righteousness of God is manifested in us, so we become the righteousness of God. This is something that God perfects in us in Christ.

3. 9. “Wisdom...righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30).

This verse refers to four items. Of these items wisdom can be considered as a summary, whereas the other three — righteousness, sanctification, and redemption — are the details. This can be seen in the structure of the original Greek. Everything that God gives us in Christ is related to wisdom and even is wisdom. Wisdom includes three items: righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Righteousness causes us to be saved by being justified by God. This occurred in the past. Sanctification causes us to live a holy life and to overcome. This occurs in the present. Redemption causes our body to be redeemed and us to be transfigured. This will occur in the future. All these items are given to us by God in Christ, and they are even Christ Himself as wisdom. In Christ God has given us salvation in the past, overcoming today, and transfiguration in the future.

3. 10. “His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).

Being graced by God means that we become the object of God’s grace. It is a great blessing for us to be graced by God. This is something that God gives to us in His beloved Son.

3. 11. “Sonship” (Eph. 1:5).

Sonship includes being a son of God with the life, position, authority, blessing, and glory of a son of God. It is also to be a son of God with His Son, our Lord Jesus. This blessing is truly great, and it will take eternity to be manifested to us. Sonship has been given to us by God in Christ.

3. 12. “In Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

The believers are God’s new creation. In us, everything of the old creation has passed away and become new. This is glorious! Although we have not fully experienced this glorious fact, there will be a day in the future when this glorious fact will be manifested in us. This is something God is doing in us in Christ.

3. 13. “Circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ” (Col. 2:11).

The circumcision of Christ causes people to put off the lusts of the flesh. The circumcision of the Israelites in the Old Testament was a symbol of the real circumcision in the New Testament. The reality of circumcision in the New Testament is Christ’s crucifixion of the flesh through the cross, which enables us to be freed from the lusts of the flesh. We receive the reality of crucifixion because we have been joined to Him.

3. 14. “Raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

In God’s salvation we were raised together with Christ, and we have left everything related to death behind us. Furthermore, we have been seated together with Him in the heavenlies; everything of the earth and everything in the air that belong to Satan are behind us. We have been raised and seated together with Christ because we are in Christ and are one with Him.

3. 15. “Fellow heirs and fellow members of the Body and fellow partakers of the promise” (Eph. 3:6).

We were apart from the nation of Israel and strangers to the promises of God (2:11-12), but in God’s salvation we are fellow heirs with Israel, fellow members of the Body of Christ, and fellow partakers of the promises of God. We receive these blessings because we partake of Christ and are in Him.

3. 16. “Many are one Body” (Rom. 12:5).

The believers have become one in Christ’s universal, mysterious Body. We have become one Body because we have the life of Christ inwardly. Being one Body is a matter in Christ.

3. 17. “Inheritance” (Eph. 1:11).

In His salvation God not only redeems, forgives, enlivens, and causes us to become a new creation by crucifying the old creation with the flesh and by joining us to the Body of Christ, He also gives us a heavenly inheritance, which is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading as our eternal enjoyment (1 Pet. 1:4). The inheritance that God has given us is in Christ.

3. 18. “Made full” (Col. 2:10).

We are made full with the fullness of God Himself. All the fullness of God dwells in Christ bodily. When we partake of Christ, we partake of and obtain all the fullness of God. Therefore, we obtain God’s fullness in Christ.

3. 19. “The love of God” (Rom. 8:39).

The love of God is not only sweet but also strong. Nothing can separate us from the love of God because this love is in Christ, and it has been given to us by God in Christ.

3. 20. “Empowered in the grace which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:1).

The manifestation of God’s love is grace. The love of God causes Him to give Himself and His life in the Son as grace. Therefore, grace is God Himself as life to us. Grace not only saves us but also empowers us because it is God Himself as life. This grace is in Christ, and it is given to us in Christ.

3. 21. “No condemnation” (Rom. 8:1).

No condemnation does not refer merely to being freed from the condemnation related to our sinful condition when we were saved but even more to being freed from condemnation related to our experience of overcoming. God has not only forgiven us and no longer condemns us, but He has also freed us in Christ from the control of sin and from self-condemnation.

3. 22. “Freed...from the law of sin and of death” (Rom. 8:2).

We have been freed from condemnation because we have been freed from the law of sin and of death. We receive this freedom in Christ Jesus according to the law of the Spirit of life.

3. 23. “Freedom” (Gal. 2:4).

God’s salvation grants us complete freedom. We are freed from the law and every form of bondage. This freedom is obtained in Christ.

3. 24. “Faith and love” (1 Tim. 1:14).

Faith causes us to believe in the Lord and to receive His salvation. Love causes us to love the Lord and to live out His salvation. We obtain both faith and love in Christ.

3. 25. “Peace” (John 16:33).

In God’s salvation we obtain peace. This peace cannot be disturbed by anything.

3. 26. “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4).

Rejoicing is a sweet blessing given to us in God’s salvation. Our rejoicing is a matter in Christ.

3. 27. “Hope” (Eph. 2:12).

Before being saved, we were without hope in the world. After being saved, we have hope, especially the hope of the redemption of our bodies and of entering into God’s glory (Rom. 8:23-24; 5:2). This hope is in Christ.

3. 28. “Encouragement” (Phil. 2:1).

As followers of Christ, we need to encourage one another with the encouragement that we have in Christ.

3. 29. “Faithful” (Eph. 1:1).

Our faithfulness toward the Lord is something we obtain in Christ.

3. 30. “Stand firm in the Lord”; “Empowered in the Lord” (Phil. 4:1; Eph. 6:10).

Standing firm and being empowered are needed for our spiritual life. We obtain these matters in Christ.

3. 31. “I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (Phil. 4:13).

The Lord can empower us in all things and even empower us to do all things. We receive this power from the Lord’s life in us. Therefore, we obtain our empowering in Christ.

3. 32. “Triumph” (2 Cor. 2:14).

God’s grace enables us not only to overcome but also to triumph. Our triumph is in Christ.

3. 33. “Made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).

God’s salvation not only enlivens our spirit today; it will also enliven our body in the future, bringing our entire being into resurrection. This is something that we obtain in Christ.

3. 34. “Head up” (Eph. 1:10).

       1. In the fullness of the times God will head up all things in the heavens and on the earth in Christ, including all the believers. This is a great thing that God will accomplish in Christ.

       2. We inherit God’s grace and blessings in Christ. Apart from Christ, we have nothing; in Christ, we obtain everything. We receive redemption, forgiveness, justification, sanctification, life, peace, hope, joy, release, freedom, power, and strength from God in His salvation, which can be experienced and enjoyed by us only in Christ. When we touch Christ, we touch everything of God. May we see this!