THE LAST ADAM
[p. 50] THE LAST ADAM
1 Corinthians 15: 45 - 58; Revelation 3: 14
There is something remarkable in the way in which the Lord speaks of Himself to the church of Laodicea — “These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness”. That looks at Him as the end, the “Amen” is the confirmation of everything. The thought of the “faithful and true witness” is in contrast to every other witness. The Lord said to Israel, “Ye are my witnesses”, but they were not true witnesses. Instead of being witnesses of God against idolatry, they became idolaters. So also has the church failed in its witness; and the Lord had to warn them that He would take their candlestick out of its place except they repented (Chapter 2: 5). And the end of it is, He will spue it out of His mouth because it is an unfaithful witness. Then He comes in as the true Witness; and “the beginning of the creation of God”. It is remarkable to find One who is both the beginning and the end. The roof has relation to the foundation of a house. Christ is the climax, and at the same time He is the beginning of the creation of God. Historically He was not exactly the beginning, for, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15, “But that which is spiritual was not first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual”. But the point is this, that the spiritual is really the first morally.
Now I want to speak a little of Christ as the last Adam. One thing is clear, everything for God and everything for man is bound up with the manifestation of the last Adam. Christ must of necessity be the last Adam on the basis of redemption, and the reason for that is very simple. If He were not the last Adam on that ground He could not be a life-giving Spirit. “The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a quickening spirit”. That means a very great deal, it involves redemption. He could not impart living water except on the ground of redemption. Therefore it is that which led me to remark that everything for the glory of God and the blessing of man is bound up with the manifestation of Christ as the last Adam. We have got the testimony of Him as the last Adam, but all the ways of God really wait for the manifestation of Him as such. Christ has never yet been seen as the last Adam, but we in the light of the Spirit can apprehend that He is the last Adam; everything waits for His manifestation. I have no doubt that while here upon earth the Lord Jesus gave testimony that He was the last Adam, but I do not think it was understood. One testimony of it was in the resurrection of Lazarus. It was on that ground, too, that the Lord spoke to the woman in John 4 — “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that says to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. He spoke there as the last Adam, because the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. The way He is a life-giving Spirit is as the Giver of living water.
In connection with Lazarus in John 11, the Lord Jesus said to Martha, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” The glory of God was all bound up in the last Adam. Again, He said, “I am the resurrection, and the life”, and He proved it as the last Adam. He said further, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die”. In the revelation of Christ as the last Adam, no one will die who believes and is living then.
I only refer to these things to show that while the Lord was here upon earth there was witness borne to Him as the last Adam, though He was not [p. 52] manifested nor apprehended as such; that waited for the gift of the Spirit.
In John 17 He says, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him”. That is a witness to Him as the last Adam, and in John 20 the Lord breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”. He was there acting as a life-giving Spirit. Never had the Lord done such a thing as that in His pathway down here. It was when redemption was accomplished that He did so, and it was the witness to His being the last Adam. Then when He ascended, He said, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father”. The glory of God and the consummation of our blessing depends on the revelation of Christ as the last Adam; that has not yet come to pass, but we have the testimony of it by the Spirit. When He is revealed everything will be changed. There will be the revelation of God’s glory in connection with Him. He comes out as the Beginning of the creation of God, the Root of David. All the universe will be filled with the glory of God, as the tabernacle was filled with God’s glory, and at the same time there will be the consummation of man’s blessing. Then will the power of death be annulled. Those who are living will be changed, and resurrection will take place, as we read in 1 Corinthians 15: 54, “When this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: Death has been swallowed up in victory”. Christ has annulled death; life and incorruptibility are brought to light, though they are not yet established, but in the coming of the Lord, then it will be seen that death is annulled and life and incorruptibility will prevail.
It is a great thing for us to be by the Spirit in the light of the last Adam. Our testimony is bound up [p. 53] with the last Adam; He is the great subject of testimony. Testimony refers to that which is going to be displayed. The last Adam is not always going to be hid where He is now. Christ will appear as the last Adam, that is, as a life-giving spirit. It will be a great day for all upon earth. It will mean the revival of Israel: “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” — He will prove Himself to be the last Adam in regard to them, it will be a resurrection from the dead for them nationally, and even the nations will be revived in the resurrection of Israel.
But Christ is also “the beginning of the creation of God”; the whole creation of God is going to be established on the ground of resurrection, because Christ is in resurrection. We are said to be “risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead”, Colossians 2: 12. That is a remarkable expression. The “operation of God” gives us the thought that God will place everything on that ground, that everything may be in accord with Christ.
Now there is another point that comes out in 1 Corinthians 15: 46 - 49: “Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven [”out of heaven”, New Trans.]. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”.
Here we get another thought in connection with Christ — not exactly the last Adam, but a thought very much akin to it, and that is the second Man. The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second Man is out of heaven. He has got to be displayed [p. 54] from heaven, that is a very important point to remember. Morally He is out of heaven, but also He comes from out of heaven. He is going to be revealed out of heaven, and everything awaits that moment. The apostle goes on to say, “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. We all naturally derive our moral constitution from the earth. No child is beyond his parents. A child may be more or less clever than his parents, but he gets his moral constitution from his parents. His mind and his feelings are all of the same character as those of his parents. “As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy” is true of every one; our moral constitution is gained from our parents. But now we have another point, “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. The second Man is out of heaven, He is heavenly; and the point in regard of us is that we are heavenly, for we are really begotten of the testimony of the heavenly One. Every christian has derived his spiritual condition from the testimony. The apostle said of the Corinthians that he had begotten them in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Our spiritual constitution is according to the heavenly, “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. Of course, things may be very feebly developed in most of us, but if you take the christian who is begotten of the testimony of God he is in apprehension, mind, and sensibilities really according to the heavenly. The christian does not look at things according to the natural man and as man regards them, but his sensibilities, discernment, apprehension, conscience and everything about him partakes of the heavenly.
What do you think is the great witness to Christ here in this world? Some would say, and rightly so, the Holy Spirit; but He is not seen;
Christ’s body is the real witness to Him. His body is what is of Himself. The great point in the epistle to the Colossians is that the christian circle is characterized by Christ. The real power and secret of it is, “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. A christian is a kind of complex being. We have not yet done with the earth. We get aches and pains and all kinds of things which remind us that we have not yet done with the earth. But at the same time it is equally true that “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”, and there are those down here whose spiritual constitution has been begotten of the testimony of Christ, and that constitution really answers to Christ. If you ask me what christianity really is, I should say it is Christ formed in the saints by the Spirit. It is not holding a certain system of doctrine. Christianity is vital, it is Christ living in the saints by the power of the Spirit. The saints are morally in that way according to the heavenly. I cannot conceive of anything more wonderful than to be able to say that the spiritual constitution of the believer is really derived from the heavenly, so that it can really be said, “As is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly”. John says in the third chapter of his epistle, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is”. In other words, to take the expression we get in this chapter, “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”. The heavenly has not yet been brought upon the scene, but what I want to point out is that the heavenly is really the beginning of the creation of God, although there is a long gap between the formation of the earthy and the revelation of the heavenly.
[p. 56] If you look at the worthies in Scripture previous to the coming of Christ you will find that they all bear some trait of Christ. It is not at all difficult to prove it. Read Hebrews 11: 1 - 9 and 17 - 20. I only just touch on these cases to show before Christ came there was a witness of Him. That is a very great point with all these men. They were not all alike, but they each bore some remarkable witness of Christ. Take Abel; he offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. What made it more excellent? Because he was in the mind of God. He had the recognition of what lay upon man by the judgment of God. He came to God with an offering that recognized that man was under death. The result of it was that God bore witness of his offering. We see that in perfection in Christ. All His life here He was speaking of the Son of man suffering. He was ever in the mind of God as to what lay upon man, and He ordered His ways with reference to the mind of God; and we get in Him the other side also, even that God bore witness of the offering. He bore witness of the offering of Christ by raising Him from the dead. In that way Abel comes before us as bearing that particular trait of Christ.
Now the point with Enoch is that he walked with God. There was no moral divergence between himself and God. He believed that God is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That, too, is a trait of Christ. Christ expected no kind of reward from man. Of necessity He walked with God — He fulfilled all righteousness. When He came to John the baptist to be baptised He said, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”. He walked in the sense of God as a Rewarder. You get the idea of it in Psalm 16, “The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance ... I have set the Lord always before me”. (verses 5, 8.) He walked with God, and He says, “because he is at [p. 57] my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope” (verses 8, 9). He was going to get the reward, “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (verses 10, 11). Enoch walked with God and by faith he was translated to the scene above. Christ could not be translated in the same way because He had the work of redemption to accomplish, but at the same time He waited to be taken to the right hand of God; His flesh did not see corruption. He walked with God and in the consciousness that God would reward Him. This psalm is a proof of it.
Then look at Noah. He was a man of testimony, a preacher of righteousness, and one point with him was that “he condemned the world”. He prepared an ark for the saving of his house, and if he did that it was evident that some catastrophe was coming upon the world. In that way, therefore, he condemned the world; but at the same time he was a preacher of righteousness. The fact is we are told it was Christ who preached in Noah. Christ all His life long was preparing an ark to the saving of His house. We are His house. The place of salvation was completely prepared when the Holy Spirit descended. If the Lord was preparing a place of salvation for His people outside the world, of necessity He condemned the world. Continually you get the condemnation of the world in the testimony of the Lord Jesus, not simply by word but by that which He was occupied with down here. He was going back to the Father in virtue of redemption and He was to send the Spirit so that there might be a place of salvation for those who were Christ’s house.
[p. 58] Now I take up the case of Abraham. He left country and kindred and father’s house and went out at the call of God. Do you remember what the Lord Jesus said in Psalm 69: 7 - 9? “Because for thy sake I have borne reproach ...” I think that it is a remarkable utterance on the part of the Lord. Christ left kindred and country and father’s house for the will of God. In John 7 you find His brethren did not believe in Him. He became an alien and a stranger. His friends sought to take Him, but He disowned them in a way. He said, “Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? ... whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother”. He was the true depository of the promises of God, and for the zeal of God’s house He became a stranger to His brethren and an alien to His mother’s children. In this way the course of the Lord was anticipated on the part of Abraham. One thing more in regard to Abraham. He offered up Isaac in the faith of resurrection. We get the same things in Psalm 16, in regard to the Lord. He offered up Himself in the faith of resurrection. All the promises of God were bound up in Christ; He was the true Isaac, but He gives up all, in faith that all would be restored to Him in resurrection.
Then “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come”. So the Lord could bless the disciples in regard of things to come — He told them that the Spirit would show them things to come.
The great point of interest in Hebrews 11 to my mind is that wherever you get a man of faith he bore some trait of Christ; and if any one of those men had been placed in the room of any of the others his faith would have come out in the same way; the principle that governed them all was faith.
Christ said, I am “the beginning of the creation of God”, and it is in that connection that I have shown that every one acting in faith bore some trait of Him. They really got their faith from Christ. Do you know what light is? It is the blending of certain colours. Now in all these men to whom I have alluded there is some colour of Christ, but when you come to Christ Himself there is no colour, there is perfect light, for every one of these traits of faith are in Him.
Christ the last Adam is the Sun of righteousness. Adam was not a sun. Christ is the Sun of righteousness who will arise with healing in His wings. He will bring in the kingdom, and the influences which will affect man down here upon earth will result in fertility and fruit-bearing on the part of man. Do not take your notion of His throne and kingdom from human thrones and kingdoms. Divest your minds of human ideas. The kingdom of God in Scripture means the moral influence of God affecting man down here upon earth, just as the sun by light and warmth so affects the earth that it becomes fertile. We get one very important point in regard to that in 1 Corinthians 15: 50. The kingdom of God comes in with the last Adam. The kingdom of God is wholly and entirely dependent on the Sun of righteousness. The Sun of righteousness will arise with healing in His wings, and the introduction of the last Adam in that light will have the effect of bringing in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God cannot be evolved out of flesh and blood. It has to come in by the Sun of righteousness.
In connection with that we get the dispossession of death. The moral influence of God affecting man must be accompanied with the practical setting aside of death. That is one very great thing connected with the last Adam. He is a life-giving spirit. “By man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead”. I may go further, by man came death,
[p. 60] by man will come the dispossession of death. Death will be swallowed up in victory. That refers to earth, it is a quotation from the prophet Isaiah, and you will see there that it is manifestly connected with earth. He will swallow up death in victory, and He will make a feast of fat things for His people. The reproach of His people will be taken away and a time of blessing will come upon the earth. Sin and death will reign no more, but there will be the result recorded in the end of Romans 5, “as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord”. All that is consequent upon the Sun of righteousness arising with all His healing influences, and the Sun of righteousness is Christ — the last Adam — a life-giving spirit.
It is a very important point to my mind that the saints are going to rule with Christ. And how? By heavenly influence. I firmly believe that the great vessel of influence in the world to come — the vessel by which the influence of Christ will affect the whole universe is the church. Christ is going to reign supreme and He is going to reign by influence, just as the sun reigns by influence. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him”. If you suffer with Him you will have a corresponding influence when He reigns. We are looking now for the revelation of Christ as the last Adam. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly”. It is a great thing to get an idea of Christ as the Beginning of the creation of God, and it is a great thing to look for the advent of the last Adam, the second Man who is out of heaven.