The Christian life is a life of faith. Faith is based upon and lays hold of spiritual truths (Rom. 10:17). No one can live the victorious Christian life without the word of God and its truths being central in his walk. Therefore, it is important that we see certain key truths and meditate upon them. We will talk about our experience, but proper Christian experience must flow out of faith, which is the act of trusting in God’s Word and God Himself. To help our experience, we must begin with learning key spiritual facts.
"In Adam" or "in Christ" are terms which show the "position" of people relative to these two men. In other words, every person is located either "in Adam" or "in Christ." Adam and Christ were representative men, representing all those people that are included within them. They are federal heads of two "races" of men, if you will. Romans chapter five shows that the actions of each of these two men were done in a representative way so that the one person’s actions (Adam or Christ) affected all of those persons either "in Adam" or "in Christ."
Adam’s disobedience brought in sin and God’s judicial condemnation of death to all persons in Adam. We were all affected when he sinned. We are sinners because we were in him when he sinned. (Just as Levi was "in Abraham" when Abraham gave his tithe to Melchizadek. Heb. 7:4-10) Watchman Nee makes these comments in the classic book, The Normal Christian Life:
Do you see the oneness of human life? Our life comes from Adam. If your great-grandfather had died at the age of three, where would you be? You would have died in him! Your experience would be bound up in his. And in just the same way, the experience of every one of us is bound up with that of Adam. None can say, "I have not been in Eden," for potentially we all were there when Adam yielded to the serpent’s words. So we are all involved in Adam’s sin, and by being born "in Adam" we receive from him all that he became as a result of his sin – that is to say, the Adam-nature which is the nature of a sinner. We derive our existence from him, and because his life became a sinful life, a sinful nature, therefore the nature which we derive from him is also sinful.1
Man’s constitution is that of a sinner, one who acts in rebellion against God. "For by one man’s disobedience many were made [constituted] sinners . . ." (Rom. 5:19) No matter how refined, nice or good some men may seem to be, all men are sinners. So, man’s problem is not just that he has sinned in disobedience to God, and thus has a record of sins against God. The problem is deeper. Men in Adam are sinners, and thus they themselves, not just their actions, are condemned by God. But, in Christ, (as seen in the accompanying chart) we have justification, righteousness, and life! We are made righteous, just as we were made sinners!
Meditate on the verses in the chart comparing "in Adam" to "in Christ." Which man do you like? With which one do you wish to be joined? Which one do you wish to live in and experience? Today man has two sources from which to live – Adam or Christ (these are also reflected in the terms "the flesh" or "the spirit"). In our next lesson we will see how God transfers us out of Adam and into Christ. Then, we will begin to see how to live our lives in Christ.
IN ADAM
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IN CHRIST |
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"the first man Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45, KJV) |
"the last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45, KJV) |
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"in Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22, KJV) |
"in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22, KJV) |
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"by the one man’s offense the many died" (Rom. 5:15, NKJV) |
"much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many" (Rom. 5:15, NKJV)
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"the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation" (Rom. 5:16, NKJV) |
"but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification" (Rom. 5:16, NKJV) |
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"For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one" (Rom. 5:17, NKJV) |
"much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17, NKJV) |
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"Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation" (Rom. 5:18, NKJV) |
"even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life" (Rom. 5:18, NKJV) |
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"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners" (Rom. 5:19, KJV) |
"so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom. 5:19, KJV) |
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1
Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1977), p. 39. © 1957 by Angus I. Kinnear. First published by Gospel Literature Service, India. American edition published in 1977 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Used by permission of Kingsway Publications, Ltd., Sussex, England. All rights reserved.