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We have seen that one cannot separate Christ from truth or from the doctrines. Nor can He be isolated from the Christian faith. What then is the relationship Christ has with us human beings?
Before we come to look at the relationship Christ has with man, we have to investigate the law of heredity a little. A life which bears a particular trait or feature in its nature may transmit that same feature to the next generation. Looking at it another way, we can find the temperament and idiosyncrasies of the father in a child. But whatever is acquired by learning is not hereditary. For example, a blacksmith may acquire strong and husky arms through his training, but his children's arms may remain small and thin. Whatever is acquired after birth cannot be transmitted to the next generation. This is a fact and phenomenon recognized by biological science.
There is a very important concept in the Bible known as the unity of men. According to the Bible, apart from our individual existence, the whole world, regardless of how many millions of people there are, can be considered as being composed of two men. These two men are corporate, embracing millions of people. The whole of humanity is included in these two men. They are two juristic persons. Due to this reckoning in the Bible, the man Jesus could die for all of us and bear all of our sins. Now all of us can receive life through Him.
A student in biology can tell us that there is an amazing concept in biology which is quite contrary to ours: a son's life is considered to be older than that of the father, and a grandson's life is much older than that of his grandfather. This is perfectly true. The son inherits the father's life and continues it. Hence, the son's life is older than that of his father. Your life and mine are naturally older than that of Adam, for his ended at the age of a little over nine hundred years. But you and I are still living and will go on living.
These are three important concepts we have to consider when we look at the relationship between Christ and man: the heredity of human life, the unity of men, and the continuation of human life.
Man is not only an individual, existing by himself, responsible only for his own conduct and behavior. He also belongs to a corporate man. Every person is a part of a huge life. He is a continuation, and he is continuing this huge life. The first man in this corporate man had a life that embraced all other human life; his conduct became that of everyone that follows, and his traits are transmitted to all successive generations; they all bear the same features as he did.
This is a vast subject to be covered. But we have to understand these concepts before we can see the salvation of God and the relationship of Christ with man.
Now we can turn to chapter seven of the book of Hebrews. Let us first read verses 1 through 10: "For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all; first being interpreted king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace; being without father, without mother, without genealogy; having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened to the Son of God, abides a priest perpetually. And consider how great this one was, to whom the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the choice spoils. And they of the sons of Levi, who received the priestly service, have a commandment to take tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brothers, though they have come forth from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not counted from them has taken tithes from Abraham and has blessed him who has the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. And here men, who die, receive tithes; but there, one of whom it is testified that he lives. And, so to speak, through Abraham, Levi also, he who receives tithes, has been made to pay tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him."
In this passage, the writer of the book told the Hebrews that the priesthood that they depended on came from the lineage of Levi. The Christ that we believe in, however, did not come from the Levites. Rather, He is of the lineage of Melchisedec (who also was a priest).
Which one is greater, Levi or Melchisedec? The answer is, of course, Melchisedec. But why? Here the writer brought in Abraham. Abraham offered up one tenth of what he acquired to Melchisedec as a gift. Not only did Melchisedec accept it, but he blessed Abraham as well. Therefore, beyond dispute, Melchisedec is greater than Abraham.
But what does that have to do with Levi? The link is in the fact that Levi "was still in the loins of his father when Melchisedec met him." Although Levi was born after another hundred or so years, according to the principle of unity, Levi offered up one tenth to Melchisedec when he was inside Abraham. On that same day, he was blessed by Melchisedec within Abraham. For this reason Melchisedec is greater than Levi.
Our faith has a central concept: whatever a man does or however he acts affects his future generations. If our ancestors have done such and such, so have we. It does not matter whether or not we were born yet, because we did the same while we were in them.
This is where the fall of man began. It is also where man's salvation commences. Christ recognizes the nature of unity of the human life. When the first man sinned, all who came after him sinned as well. Therefore, if another man can be established as a source of life and as the head of a new race, whoever succeeds him will be able to share all he is and all he has done in him.
How does the Bible view the fall of mankind? It shows us that due to the unity of men, when the first man Adam sinned, all sinned in him, although none were yet born.
The way we look at it is whether or not we as individuals have sinned. This is not God's way. Even if I had never sinned from the day I was born, God would ask from whom I came. If I came from Adam, then I was there and took part when Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, even if I have not sinned from the day I was born. According to biological law, my life is communicated from Adam. The latest life is the same as the first life. According to God, everyone from Adam on is a sinner. Adam sinned; so every single person became a sinner in Adam.
Suppose a man has never sinned (of course, no such person ever existed). God would still reckon him a sinner because his life is a life that sins; he is the offspring of a sinful life. Even though we do not feel that we have the same experience as Adam, the fact is that his life is in man. Up till today we bear this life with us.
The Bible also shows us another man, Christ. God considers Christ the same way He considers Adam. God counts Adam and everyone from him as one man. In the same way, God considers Christ as the Head and includes everyone who comes out of Him as one man. The life we received from Adam is a life of sin. If we can come out of Christ and receive His life, we can be free from sin in the same manner Jesus was.
For the present, we will not consider how to receive this life that comes out from Him. We will explain this later. We want to see how the life that comes out of Christ is the very life of Jesus Himself. It is a life without sin, a life that is pleasing to God, filled with the Holy Spirit, and absolutely holy and righteous. When we receive such a life, we will be the same as Christ, having the same experiences He had.
Hence, there are only two men in the whole of humanity. Either you have your being in Adam or in Christ. If you are not associated with Adam, you have to be associated with Christ. You cannot find a third man. Once someone asked me, "How many people are there in hell?" I told him that there was only one, and that there was also only one in heaven. The man in Christ is in one place, and the man in Adam is in another. This is extremely simple.
Because the Bible regards the whole of humanity as two men, we will not be surprised if we read 1 Corinthians 15:45 and 47: "So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul'; the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit....The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second man is out of heaven."
The Bible identifies the first man as Adam. It also identifies Christ as another Adam, the last Adam. This means that there will not be a third Adam. There are only two Adams. How does the Bible count? It counts Adam as the first man and Christ as the second. From Adam to Christ millions of men were born. But the Bible does not count them as individuals. Adam was first. Christ is second.
Hence, everyone that came out of Adam is included in him. They are all associated with sin; they are all sinful, and they are all earthy. In the same way, those who receive life from the last Adam are included in Christ, having all of Jesus' experiences. Sin has no power over them. They are of heaven.
Once again we see that every doctrine we have is related to Christ. Every experience that a Christian will encounter is bound up with Christ. All that the Bible asks of us is to believe in Him, listen to Him, obey Him, and follow Him. The solution to all problems hinges on Him and is found in Him. All we need to do is have Christ Jesus as our life. His experiences will become our experiences. He is the center of our faith. As long as we are attached to Him, everything will be set right.
Adam is a corporate man, including you and me and everyone inside him. His experiences in the garden of Eden have become ours. His end has become our fate. In the same manner Christ is a corporate man. Everyone in Christ has the same relationship with Him as they formerly had with Adam. Every experience of Christ becomes the experience of those in Him. The whole of humanity is bound up within these two men and intimately related to them.
Now we want to examine the crucial relationship the two men have with the whole of humanity. Romans 5:12: "Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned." Verse 14: "But death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of Him who was to come."
From Adam to Moses, there were approximately two thousand five hundred years. Countless numbers of persons were born, and innumerable kinds of sins were committed during this period. Yet, according to God's reckoning, sin entered the whole human race through one man, Adam, who was the prefigure of Him who was to come. He was a miniature of the coming Christ. If you see Adam, you will know how Christ is.
Romans 5:15 follows, by saying, "But it is not that as the offense was, so also the gracious gift is; for if by the offense of the one the many died, much more the grace of God and the free gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ have abounded to the many." If, through the sin of Adam, all became dead, then when Jesus Christ was made righteousness, grace abounded much more to everyone! Death is by one man. So is grace.
Romans 5:16 through 18 repeatedly says by one such and such, and by another such and such. Verse 19: "For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be constituted righteous."
The Bible constantly shows us that sin is not committed by us alone. Rather, we are sinners in Adam. In the same way righteousness is not worked up by us. Rather, we are righteous in Christ. Due to the disobedience of one man, Adam, sin entered into him, and the whole humanity was constituted sinners. In the same way, by the righteous act of one man, Jesus Christ, who was not only sinless but was so obedient that He died on the cross, all those in Him receive life and are constituted righteous.
These are the two main sources, the two headsprings, and the two flows of humanity. Everyone comes from one of these two sources. If you are not in the flow of the one life, you are in the flow of the other life. There is no middle course.
Those who believe in Christ are in Him. Paul said that he was in Christ. He addressed other Christians the same way. Moreover, those who are in Christ are not individuals; they have Christ as their life, and they form the Body of Christ with all who have the same life. Christ is the Head. In Him everyone is related together. No one is isolated.
Now we have to mention the word church. The Bible never uses the term Christianity. We are sometimes forced to use it for the sake of easy understanding. But it has long been misunderstood and has lost its original meaning.
The Bible calls the big corporate man that is in Christ the church. The word church in the original language means a group of people called by God out of Adam into Christ. This group of people was once in Adam. They answered the call of God and came out of Adam. Now they are no longer in the sphere of Adam. They have received life in Christ and are joined with Christ to become the church.
When Christ was about to depart from the world, He spoke of His relationship with His disciples. He said, "I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5). "Abide in Me and I in you" (v. 4). He told them that the branches that abide in Him would bear much fruit. Christians are not individuals. They are part of one tree, Christ. The branches and the tree are joined as one. The tree supplies the sap to the branches, and the branches draw life from the tree.
Since we Christians are so utterly identified with Christ, the obedience of Christ becomes our obedience, the death of Christ becomes our death, the living of Christ becomes our living, and the glory of Christ becomes our glory. Everything of Christ is ours. This is the intimacy of the relationship between Christ and us Christians.
A Christian is one who has received life from Christ and who is in Christ. If we want to find a Christian outside of Christ, such a one does not exist. Paul said that he was a person in Christ. He did not say that he was in Christ as a person. When we are in Christ, we are no longer individual persons.
