TWO ADAMS, TWO MEN
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.
AGAIN RELATED TO CHRIST
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.
THE RELATIONSHIP THE TWO MEN
HAVE WITH HUMANITY
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.
(The Normal Christian Faith, Chapter 7, by Watchman Nee)
