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THE TWO ADAMS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 11, 1902

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 6.

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THE TWO ADAMS.

By Elder M. G. Huffman

ELDER M. G. HUFFMAN.
(Springfield, Ill.)
In the beginning, God made man in His own image, blessed him, placed him in a beautiful garden, giving him restrictions; not arbitrary restrictions, however, but restrictions of love, that He might prove Adam’s loyalty to his Maker. The Lord gave man power by which it was possible for him to render obedience to the divine law of Jehovah, and thus form an individual character for himself. But alas! Adam failed to do this. He sold out completely— himself, his home, and his dominion— to the great usurper, the enemy of all righteousness. The transgression of Adam was the sin by which death came into our world. The race was in him when he sinned, and because of this, the death which came to Adam as the result of sin, passed upon all men, for all had sinned, broken the law, hence incurred the penalty, that is, in Adam. In him all having eaten of the forbidden fruit, all became partakers with him in the knowledge of good and evil. The race sinned in Adam just as Levi paid tithes in Abraham. Levi was yet in the loins of his father Abraham when Abraham met Melchisedec. Just so, the whole human race was in the loins of Adam when temptation overcame him, and the penalty was passed upon him. Adam represented the race when he sinned and was sentenced. The death which came to Adam passed upon all men, because all sinned in him.
“In Adam” means that he is the generator of those referred to; that is, those who die. When Adam was put on trial, the race was in his loins, and sinned in him, their representative, and so incurred the penalty in him. Hence all die in him.
“Even so [in like manner] in Christ shall all be made alive.” As all die in the first Adam, it must follow that all who are made alive in the second Adam are the “all” who die in the first Adam. The words “even so” must certainly carry that idea. To preach any other gospel of grace than that which brings salvation to all men [The salvation provided for us in Christ is only co-extensive with the death we die in Adam, that is, literal, or temporal, death. The expression “even so in Christ shall all be made alive,” shows that all the dead, good and bad alike, will be raised to literal life; but that life will be eternal only to those who are united to Christ by faith.—Ed.], which salvation is measured to every child of Adam in the gift of Christ, must be a perverted gospel. Dying in our first representative, even so made alive in our second representative. Dying in Adam,— made alive in Christ.
How many were made alive in Christ?— Just as many as died in Adam. Jesus, our Saviour, condescended to clothe His divinity with sinful humanity, and live a life which makes salvation possible for every man that comes into the world.
Christ was clothed with sinful flesh. How sinful?— Just as sinful as it was possible to be made, with Satan working in it for four thousand years; and that flesh represented your flesh and mine, for there is but one flesh of man. Hence Christ was as human as you and I, and yet as divine as His Heavenly Father. Hence as Christ was our representative, it was God in us, in Him reconciling us to himself in Christ. When Christ, our representative, walked this earth and went about doing good, it was we, going about doing good in Him. When He received maltreatment at the hands of His enemies, it was we who were abused and illtreated in Him. When He was baptized in the River Jordan, we were baptized with Him. When Christ came straightway out of the water, we came forth with Him. When the Holy Spirit of God, descending like a dove, rested upon Him, it lighted upon us in Him. When God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” that was said to every child of Adam, as all were represented in Christ. When our Lord was led to Calvary’s cross and died upon the tree, we were crucified with Him, buried, and the third day rose with Him; and when He ascended up to the throne of His Father, we ascended with Him, and now, in Him, we sit with Him in heavenly places. If we desire to see an ideal Christian in God’s mind, all we have to do is to look by faith at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and there behold a true Christian, in Christ.
Christ died for every man; yea, He gave himself and all He had for every son and daughter of Adam. Hence if all could be brought to see, and by God’s Spirit impressed to accept, what has already been accomplished in Christ for the whole world, all would be accepted, and would share in the final reward of the saints. Thus we see that universal salvation was made possible, from the fact that the plan of salvation was made broad enough and deep enough to save all the world. Christ rendered obedience for every man, He overcame for every man, and He tasted death for every man. Hence He exhorts all to be of good cheer; for, He says, “I have overcome the world.” This is our victory that overcomes the world, even the faith that believes Jesus to be the Son of God: whosoever believes on Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Hence the blessed invitation is given to all the ends of the earth, to look to Jesus, and behold what God the Father has wrought for all mankind. O brother, sister, will you look? and by beholding become changed into His image? He will come soon, and then, having been made like Him, we shall see Him as He is.
(Concluded next week.)