Nearly all the commentators agree that this passage is difficult and complex. To quote one: ‘No passage is more diffi­cult for a modern mind to understand, and no passage of the NT has had such an influence on theology as this.’ You will need to put your thinking caps on; you will need to ‘gird up the loins of your mind.’ If you snooze — you lose. This passage could seriously enhance your understanding. It could change your life. It could alter the way you see yourself as a Christian and change your whole outlook. If it helps you to grasp the significance of justification by faith in Christ, and understand how Jesus is the mediator of our justification, I will have reason to be satisfied.

This Passage is about Two Men: Adam and Christ⤒🔗

They are two very different men, who did very different things, for different reasons, and achieved very different results. (Incidentally, it’s worth noting that Paul’s whole argument is based on the historicity of these two men. He believed that Adam was a real, actual and histori­cal individual — just as Jesus Christ was. He also believed that Adam was the first created individual.)

Let’s try and summarise the passage in this way:

1. These Two Men, Adam and Christ, were appointed by God as Public Representatives←↰⤒🔗

These two men had many differences — but they had at least one thing in com­mon: they were both representative fig­ures. ‘Adam was a pattern (typos) of the one to come.’ (Rom. 5:14c). Both Adam and Christ are representative figures representing between them the whole of mankind. Either Christ is your Head and representative, or Adam is your head and representative. The Larger Catechism Q. 22 refers to Adam as ‘a public person.’ He did not act pri­vately in the Garden, but he was repre­senting ‘his posterity’ — i.e. all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation.

Let me Quote from Three Theologians←↰⤒🔗

‘In God’s sight there are two men — Adam and Jesus Christ — and these two men have all other men hanging at their girdle strings.’ (Thomas Goodwin). (It’s a fascinating though slightly bizarre picture; but very helpful and vivid. Imagine two giants — and between them they have all mankind hanging from their belt! These two giants are Adam and Christ.)

So fully are all individuals represented by that one man, that we may say there have been but two persons in the world, and but two great facts in human his­tory.George Smeaton

‘God has always dealt with mankind through a head and representative. The whole story of the human race can be summed up in terms of what has happened because of Adam, and what has happened and will yet happen be­cause of Christ.’ (Martyn Lloyd Jones). This teaching is what we call, ‘covenant theology’ or ‘federal theol­ogy.’ This is the teaching that God relates with humanity not primarily as isolated individuals but as a body or group, by means of a divinely imposed arrangement called a cove­nant. He made a covenant with es­sentially two individuals — Adam and Christ — and every human being is represented by either one or the other. We call the covenant with Adam the covenant of works; and the covenant with Christ, the covenant of grace. We relate to God either through Adam in the covenant of works, or through Christ in the cove­nant of grace.

Our modern western mindset which tends to think individualistically finds this covenant concept alien. But this has not always been the case. E.g. The ancient Jew never really thought of himself as an individual but always thought of himself as part of a tribe, a family, and a nation. We see this il­lustrated in the family of Achan (Joshua 7). Achan’s sin was not one man’s sin — but the nation’s. The sin of this one man was responsible for the defeat of the whole nation. What the individual did, the nation did. When Achan’s sin was admitted, it was not he alone who was executed but his whole family.

Likewise today, the aboriginal under­stands this corporate concept. Ask an Aboriginal to explain his identity and he will tell you the name of his tribe. He does not think of himself individu­ally, but as a member of a society — a member of a tribe. As John Donne reminds us, ‘No man is an island entire of himself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main’. Actually, we are more aware of this covenant concept than we care to realise. E.g. In politics we have a federal representative in Canberra and a state representative in the State Parliament. He or she is ‘our’ M.P. They represent us in Parliament. In the church Presbyteries and Synod, we have at least one representative elder appointed from each congrega­tion. He is ‘our’ representative elder. In sport, we have our teams which we support. We talk about ‘how we lost the Ashes’ — even though not one of us ever batted a ball! ‘We lost the Rugby.’ We can now boast that we have a Tour de France winner — even if you can’t ride a bike! During the recent Rugby World Cup, many expressed the hope that the Kiwis might win so that they might lift the national spirit in light of all the disasters they had recently suffered. The All Blacks did win — and the whole nation cele­brated. This is covenant or federal thinking whether we realise it or not.

2. These Representatives, Adam and Christ, Achieved Opposite Results for Their People←↰⤒🔗

Adam disobeyed God. He was an ab­solute failure. Genesis 3 tells the story. The serpent came along and caused Adam and Eve to doubt the Word of God: ‘Did God really say?’ Adam swallowed the Devil’s lie hook, line and sinker. He ate the forbidden fruit and disobeyed God. All very bad and very sad for Adam. ‘But, so what? What have the actions of one man who lived thousands of years ago, thou­sands of miles away, got to do with you or me?’ A great deal in every way! Paul informs us in Romans 5 verse 12 that the result of Adam’s disobedience was devastating, horrific and universal: ‘sin entered the world and death through sin.’

See verse 12, ‘through the ONE man ... death came to all men.’ More fol­lows in the next few verses. See verse 15, ‘many died through the trespass of ONE man.’ See verse 16, ‘the judge­ment followed ONE sin and brought condemnation.’ See verse 17, ‘By the trespass of ONE man death reigned through that ONE man.’ See verse 18, ‘the result of ONE trespass was condemnation for all men.’ And verse 19, ‘through the disobedience of ONE man the many were made sinners.’ Do you get the point? How come we are all sinners? Is it a statistical fluke or a mere coincidence? Note the rea­son that Paul gives here. It’s not be­cause Adam was our first parent and we therefore inherit his fallen genes (which may be true — but that’s not Paul’s point here). It is because Adam IS mankind. He was the federal head representing the whole human race. Thus the action of that ONE individual affected all. When Adam sinned, we sinned; and when Adam fell, we fell to death and judgement. Sin is the uni­versal condition because of our solidar­ity with Adam. Adam’s sin is ‘imputed’ to all: i.e. it is counted against us, it is written in our account, so that we are held personally responsible and so suffer the consequences for it.

Perhaps you are thinking, ‘But that’s not fair! Why should I be guilty for something that someone else did thou­sands of years ago? It’s not my fault!’ How do we reply?

Remember that this was the plan that God devised. Whatever He does is good and right whether we understand it or not. He is the potter; we are the clay. ‘Who are you to answer back to God?’

Understand also that if God had tested each of us individually, the re­sult would have been exactly the same. When God gave us Adam as our representative He was giving us someone with extraordinary capacity — so much so that he would make Dr Karl look dull, and Rodger Federer and Michael Phelps look geriatric! Adam was such an outstanding representa­tive that we would not have done any better.

If, however, you still object to the rep­resentation principle, ask yourself this question. How can I be saved? Salva­tion operates on the same principle that condemnation works. Therefore we are condemned by the failure of one man, but we are also saved on the basis of the achievement of one man — the Lord Jesus Christ, our covenant head. When we be­lieve in Him for salvation we are justified — declared righteous. His righteousness is IMPUTED to us.

Note how the point is stressed in this paragraph from Romans. See verse 15, ‘how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the ONE man, Jesus Christ, over­flow to the many!’ See verse 17, ‘how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the ONE man Jesus Christ.’ See verse 18, ‘the re­sult of ONE act of righteous­ness was justification that brings life to all.’ And verse 19, ‘through the obedience of the ONE man the many will be made righteous.’

All that Christ achieved in His life and death, He did for us. He did it in our place as our substitute and proxy. By virtue of our solidarity and identity and faith in Christ, believers now have this perfect righteousness imputed to them. ‘God justifies us because the righteousness of Christ, our surety, is imputed to us.’ (Turretin). The Lord Jesus does not merely restore us from the consequences of Adam’s sin – He does ‘much more.’

3. This Representative Principle is Good News for Some and Bad News for Others←↰⤒🔗

For believers, this is not only good news — its brilliant news! Why? Because through this repre­sentative principle, the believer shares in all the achievements and success of Christ’s victory! What Christ has attained — we have at­tained — by virtue of our justification by faith in Him. What Christ gains — we gain! That is very good news! That’s the reason why Paul has been ploughing through some heavy theol­ogy: not to confuse or confound us, but to confirm and comfort us in all the blessings and privileges we have in Christ. Any other victory like this cheering, shouting and celebrating on the terraces!

We quote from the Heidelberg Cate­chism Q. 60 to make the point. Q.: How are you right with God? Answer:

...without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God credits to me the per­fect satisfaction, righteousness and holi­ness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been per­fectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.

When we believe in Him for salvation His righteousness is imputed to us. This means that God now views us ‘just as-if-I’d never sinned; just as–if–I’d kept the law perfectly!’ Dare we even say that God the Father now looks upon the believer with the same pleas­ure that He looks upon His own Son? Christ’s achievements have become ours! That is excellent news for the Christian! What we could never have achieved in light years — Christ has done for us. William Tyndale was right when he described the Christian gospel as ‘good, merry, glad and joyful tidings, that makes a man’s heart glad and makes him sing, and dance and leap for joy.’

This passage however is not only bad news for the unbeliever — its dev­astating news. If you are not a Chris­tian, your ultimate problem is much deeper than sin. Your fundamental problem is the bad company that you keep and the man who represents you before God. You are still in Adam. All of God’s dealings with you are through Adam. This means that Adam’s failure and punishment is your failure and pun­ishment. This means that you can only expect death, condemnation, hell and everlasting torment. No matter what you do to try to improve your condition before God, it makes no difference. You are like my neighbour’s house. It looks a beautiful house. It’s only a few years old. But there are terrible cracks in the foundation. Nothing he does with the house can solve the basic problem. It has to be demolished. And a new foundation will have to be laid. It’s dras­tic action — but it’s the only remedy. That’s your plight too — if you are not in Christ. You can tinker with your life and try to pull your socks up and improve yourself at the edges all you like. How­ever — your fundamental problem is foundational. You are still in Adam. Nothing that you do will make any difference to your standing before God so long as you remain there. You need to get out of Adam. You need a new leader — a new represen­tative. That’s what voters do when it comes to election time. If they’re not happy with the government of the day, they will vote them out of office. They indicate they want a new government and a new leader. You need to do the same. You need to change parties and follow a new leader. You will always be a failure as long as Adam is your representative. However, if you make the change — and God will help you if you ask Him — you will join a party with a great leader who shares the spoils of victory with every one of His followers and supporters. You need to make Jesus Christ your representative, Head, Saviour and Lord. You need to make the deci­sion that countless men and women have made before you — and have never regretted.

If you do, you will then agree with me that this news is not just good news. It’s brilliant news!