THE FIRST AND SECOND ADAM.
By C. H. Bliss
WHEN God created man He put him upon probation, i. e., trial. This was not a trial of God's power, else man was not in it. To man was delegated the power of doing right or wrong, otherwise he would not have been responsible. Neither was man a machine actuated or moved to act by a higher spiritual power. If so, he was treated unjustly. Man had not then lost, through hereditary weakness or the result of evil habits, the power (by faith, of course) to obey. His body was strong and vigorous. He was perfect in his organization. In this respect he was superior to the second Adam. He was born four thousand years this side of the fall, and had entailed upon his physical nature the weakness of degenerating humanity. The sins of the parents are visited upon the children. The stream does not rise higher than the fountain. Yet Christ, the second Adam, with all the sinful tendencies of the flesh, weakened through heredity by the multiplied sins of his ancestors, successfully contended with the mind of the flesh and with the world without, and with Satan himself. The life of the first Adam was a manifestation of human righteousness, which proved a failure. The life of the second Adam was a manifestation of God's righteousness, which was a success. Through this same divine power in us we may be able to bring our bodies under, and successfully contend with all outside influences, and thus manifest the righteousness of God. This is the only power to save, and this power in Christ is in us when we receive Him. And to "as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." The Spiritual and Physical Birth.
To become like the second Adam we must be born again. This new birth, which begins with a change of heart (mind), is not completed until the body itself is redeemed from corruption. The power that accomplishes this work is from above. It is God's power, the power of the Spirit. John 3:3-7; Rom. 8:11. When the mind is thus changed it delights in the law of God. Rom. 7:22. But this new mind finds another mind to contend with—the mind of the flesh. This physical mind is corrupt, it is not subject to the law, neither can it be until it is redeemed from corruption. In it dwells no good thing. Rom. 7:18. It wars against the law of the mind. "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." Rom. 7:25. But in 1 Cor. 9:27 we read, "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." How could he do this?—"Through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 7:25; 8:13. Now if by the power of the Spirit I keep my body under, I am not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Thus the body becomes dead; that is, loses its ruling power. Rom. 8:7-10. The Redemption of the Body.
In Rom. 8:21-23 we are assured that the deliverance of the whole creation "from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God," includes "the redemption of our body." But when does this deliverance come? "It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption; . . . it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body." 1 Cor. 15:42-44. There is but one way and one time that this natural, corruptible, sinful body can be changed. The way is by a resurrection from the dead, or a translation, which is essentially the same. Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 Cor. 15:42-55. The time is at the second coming of Christ. There is no such thing as a holy or purified body this side of the resurrection, only as it is made so by the constant controlling power of the Holy Spirit. The flesh will forever war against the Spirit until the end, when corruption shall be swallowed up by incorruption, and mortality by immortality at the coming of Christ. As we now sense the evil tendencies of our nature, and are led by the Spirit to hate sin, we "groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." And in response to His promise, "Surely I come quickly," we are led to cry out, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." C. H. BLISS.