What happens to one happens to All
by Ken Eckerty
And he (Adam)
said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself. (Gen 3:10)
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats
of skins, and clothed
them. (Gen. 3:21)
For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:22)
If you look at the above scriptures very carefully, you
will see both the beginning and the end of the plan of God for man. Most
of us can see the beginning of this plan, but we do not have the “eyes to see”
the end. While I have no doubt that Adam was a unique individual created
for God’s glory, I also believe that he is the “type” (or representative) for
all humanity.
Wherefore, as by one
man, sin entered into the world, and death
by sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Nevertheless death reigned
from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of
Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. (Rom.
5:12, 14)
According
to the Word of God, it was through Adam that sin and death entered the
world. To help us see this, Paul tells us something very important in the
first part of 1 Cor. 15:22, and that is that all men are “IN” Adam.
Consequently, because we are “IN” him, we are in a state of dying—not just the
one man, but ALL men. Adam’s sin not only affected himself, but also
mankind in general. The Bible is clear:
what happened to Adam, happens to us; Adam sinned, we sin; Adam dies, we die.
No Christian will argue this fact. As a result of the disobedience of one
individual (Adam), all of humanity has suffered a curse of death and sin ever
since. (Rom. 5:18a)
What does being “IN” someone really mean? As simply as I can put it, it means that what happens to one person MUST happen to another. Let me try to give you both a practical and biblical example of this.
My
last name is “Eckerty.” When my wife and I were married almost 22 years
ago, she also changed her name to “Eckerty.” In this respect, she came
INTO my name—good or bad. When good things happen to me, they happen to
her; when bad things happen to me, they do to her as well. When I was
struggling with the death of my best friend and thought I had lost my faith in
God, my wife suffered right alongside me, and when the “joy of my salvation”
returned over a year later, she also rejoiced with me. You cannot
separate what happens to me and what happens to my wife. We are
one. When I die, any unpaid bills will be the responsibility of my
wife. Why?—because she is “IN” my name.
The biblical example can be found in the seventh chapter of Hebrews.
Here, the writer is trying to prove that the Melchisedec priesthood (Christ) is
greater than the Levitical priesthood (Moses).
And verily they that are of
the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have
a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of
their brethren,
though they come out of the loins of
Abraham:
For he was
yet in the loins of his father, when
Melchisedec met him. (Heb. 7:5, 10)
In
order to prove the point that the priesthood of Christ is greater than that of
Levi, the writer tells us that because the sons of Levi were in the loins of
Abraham, everything he did, they had to do as well. In other words,
just as Abraham bowed to Melchisedec, so the Levitical priesthood had to also
bow to the greater (Christ) because it was “IN” Abraham even though it came
later. What he (Abraham) did, they (Levi) also must do. Just as Abraham became subordinate to
Melchisedec, so the Levitical priesthood must also be subordinate to
Christ. This is confirmed for us in
chapter 10, verses 11-12:
And indeed every priest stands day by day ministering,
and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
But He, offering but one sacrifice for sins, “sat down” in perpetuity “at the right hand” of God,
The writer of Hebrews is telling us of the inferiority of the Levitical priesthood and how the ministry of Christ is much more glorious in that it can (and does) take away sins. So even though the reality could not be seen until after Christ, the type and shadow of this truth was actually presented to us thousands of years earlier with the story of Abraham bowing to Melchisedec.
Paul speaks of the same general principle in Gal. 3:17 when he says:
And this I say, that the covenant,
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law,
which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should
make
the promise of none effect.
In essence, Paul is telling us that because the promise came first, the law
must be subservient to grace. In other words, because the law was—in
essence—“in the loins” of the promise, the law (judgment) could never disannul
the promise of God (the gospel).
And so just as Levi had to bow to Christ because it was in the loins of
Abraham, and the Mosaic code had to bow to the promise because grace came
first, so also Adam’s sin was passed onto us because we were in his loins at
the time of his disobedience. As a matter of fact, none of us had any
choice in the matter. All of us were born with a mortal body that sins
which consequently brings forth death. We didn't have to be in the garden
in order to receive the same penalty as Adam because we were “IN” his very
loins when he sinned. He was the representative for all of mankind.
Yes, he had to personally suffer the consequences of his own sin. Immediately, his fellowship with God
suffered and eventually, he died. However,
the “mystery of iniquity” is not that Adam sinned and then died, but the
mystery lies in the fact that what was “IN” Adam is now “IN” us. Paul reiterates this in Rom. 5:14 when he
says that even those who didn't sin in the same manner of Adam are still
cursed.
Just like Adam, the sinner’s response to his own sin is
exactly identical to that of the “first” man. Adam sinned and so he
immediately tried to cover his own nakedness and hide from God. (Gen. 3:7,
10) Throughout the centuries, man has been running from God trying
to cover his nakedness with his own good works. This is just as true in
you and I as it is in others. This is
why in order for us to be accepted by the Father, we must be clothed with the
righteousness of Christ. This is the only basis of our acceptance with
God.
Thus
far, no one reading this short essay will disagree with what I’ve said, but as
I stated earlier, most of us can see the beginning of God’s plan (“in Adam”),
but we cannot see the end of God’s plan (“in Christ”)—at least not in its
fullest and grandest sense.
Now comes the exciting part! Notice what God does
to Adam after he sins.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make
coats of skins, and clothed
them. (Gen. 3:21)
Prior to God clothing Adam, he tried to do it himself with
leaves. This, of course, would never do, and so the Lord Himself made
skins (no doubt from a blood sacrifice) to cover Adam. (Notice that it
was God who clothed Adam with the appropriate attire—Adam had nothing to do
with it.) Since everything in the Old Testament was written in types and
was for our example (1 Cor. 10:11), this covering was a type of “Christ” and
was God’s promise to all those who were “in Adam” that they would be clothed
with the righteousness of Christ.
While Christians have no problem seeing themselves “in
Adam” when he sinned, many cannot receive the wonderful truth that we were also
“in Adam” when he was clothed. But this is exactly what Paul tells us in
1 Cor. 15:22 when he says,
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
The first part of Paul’s statement, (For as in Adam all
die....), is almost universally agreed
to by Christians. To deny the scriptures on this point is to deny the
darkness that is clearly evident all around us. However, when it comes to the second part of Paul’s statement, (...so
in Christ shall all be made alive), we refuse to see Adam as man’s
representative, but instead see him only as an individual who could have either
chosen or rejected God’s loving provision. In the former case (his sin),
we see Adam as the representative for all of humanity, and yet in the latter
case (his clothing), we see him as a lone man, solely responsible for his
“eternal” destiny. This, my dear brothers and sisters, is a great
travesty and has caused us to weaken the finality of God’s great plan.
When
Jesus Christ took upon Himself the “sin of the world,” this was not just a
cliché. Christ once and for all struck
a deathblow to the sin that was passed onto humanity because of Adam’s
disobedience. This is what the Bible
terms as “the sin of the world.” Paul
defines this sin in Romans, chapter five.
Therefore as by
the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation… (Rom. 5:18a)
Adam’s
sin cursed all of humanity. However,
Paul completes the thought by adding,
…even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life.
(Rom. 5:18b)
What
exactly does this mean? It means that
the sin (and the subsequent death) that has caused mankind to be alienated from
God has been rendered ineffective. This
is so wonderfully stated by Paul when he declares to us, “Jesus is the
Savior of all men.” (1 Tim. 4:10)
Notice the present tense (“is”) that Paul uses here. Even though most men are not yet
experiencing the benefits of that salvation, nevertheless, “Jesus is the
Savior of all men.”
God calleth
those things that are not as though they were. (Rom. 4:17)
God does
not see things as we see them. Even
though man continues to sin and reject his or her Savior, God has considered
(and declared) the “sin of the world” to be completely and finally dealt with
FOR ALL MEN. The sin (singular) was
taken away so that the power of faith in Christ would result in the forgiveness
of sins (plural). Unrepentant sins must
be dealt with (and will) in the “ages to come” through God’s judgment. (See http://www.savior-of-all.com/perfect.html
for more information on this.)
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly. (Rom. 5:6)
The good
news of the gospel is that even when Adam hid himself from God, it was God who
went after Adam, and when He found him, He clothed him with clothing only
acceptable to Himself. This
act by God was not only a prophecy foretelling the coming of One who would
bruise the serpent’s head, but a guarantee to all those of Adam’s race that
they, too, would experience this bruising of sin in their own lives—“to be
testified in due season.” (1 Tim. 2:4, 6)
All of mankind was in Adam when he sinned; all of mankind was also in
Adam when God clothed him.
Why is
it so easy for us to accept the first part of Paul’s statement but not the
second? It’s because the first part (in Adam all die) is past and
present, and the second part (in Christ shall all be made alive) is
future and has yet to be fulfilled. The first part is something we can
see with our eyes and have experienced firsthand; the second part is something
that can only be seen with the eyes of faith, and only has been experienced by
a few. It is easy to see that all men
are sinners, but it much more difficult to see all men “in Christ.” No, it is not something that we see right
now, but nevertheless, it is finished as far as God is concerned, and one day
the glorious plan of God’s salvation will be fulfilled so that God can truly be
“all in all.” (1 Cor. 15:28)
Thus we have both the beginning and the ending of God’s
plan for mankind. Genesis 3:21, seen through the eyes of faith, is God’s
guarantee that one day all men will realize and rejoice in the truth of being
“IN” Christ—for “every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord….” (Phil. 2:10-11)
Because we are in the loins of Adam, we receive the same curse AND the
same blessing that he also received. Adam’s curse was death, but his
blessing was the skins of a dead animal (Christ in the flesh). None of us
had any choice to be “in Adam,” therefore, none of us will have a choice to be
“in Christ!” This is the “glad tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people.”
So we have both the Alpha and the Omega in God’s plan. The beginning is “as in Adam all die,” the ending is “so in Christ shall all be made alive,” and everything in between is God’s record of how that is to be accomplished. The fact that this salvation MUST be received by each man, through faith, in no way affects the final result of God’s purpose to “fill all things with Christ.” (Eph. 4:10) Faith is a gift of God and will be given to all men exactly when God deems it to be given—no sooner, no later. For some it is given now; for others, in the ages to come. Nevertheless, God’s promise to humanity can never be revoked. The Alpha tells us what is in the past, the Omega is the prophetic and tells us what is future, and everything in between is how God is presently working it out.
...who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: (Eph. 3:11)
God has a definitive plan that He is working out and
neither the “will of man” or the schemes of the “evil one” can prevent Him from
carrying it out precisely as He planned it out “before the foundation of the
world.” Just as Adam had nothing to do with being clothed with the skins
of an animal, so all of humanity will have nothing to do with being clothed
with the righteous covering of Christ. This is God’s great work. All of God’s judgments, though severe, are
for the purpose of bringing about His glorious and unfathomable plan. (Rom.
11:33) Salvation is God’s work all the way, and He will not fail! Will you have the faith to believe it?