In important areas of life, we are familiar with the principle of representation. Usually in a democracy citizens entrust decision-making to elected representatives, so that a government acts on behalf of its citizens. What the government does commits the whole nation, as for example in the declaration of war. The decision of their representatives implicates every individual. The principle of representation lies at the heart of God’s dealings with the human race. In The Bible’s Covenant Story, we consider 12. Romans 5:12-21 Adam and Christ.
1. Death in Adam
(i). Representation. Paul makes clear the relationship between Adam and the human race – ‘the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men’ (v18). By God’s decree Adam represented the whole human race. Adam in Eden stood in a covenant relationship with God. In the Covenant of Works Adam was our covenant head. We are ‘in Adam’.
(ii). Disobedience. Paul speaks of ‘the trespass of the one man’ (v15). The nature of Adam’s sin, according to Genesis 3, was refusal to submit to his covenant Lord in his thinking and his acting. Refusing the place assigned him in the Covenant of Works, Adam fell to Satan’s temptation (‘You will be like God’) and became a covenant breaker.
(iii). Consequences. ‘The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation’ (v16). The whole race was implicated in covenant breaking. The result is ‘death through sin’ (v12) and ‘the many were made sinners’ (v19). The result is death of soul and body, leading to eternal death in hell. We are covenant breakers under the holy wrath of God.
2. Life in Christ
(i). Representation. Our relationship to Christ is based on the same principle of representation. Thus ‘through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous’ (v19). Christ acts as the representative of his people, the head of his elect in the Covenant of Grace (see Genesis 3:15 for the foreshadowing of his work). His people are beneficiaries of all he does. By God’s grace, we are ‘in Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:22).
(ii). Obedience. The heart of the work of Christ is obedience – ‘through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous’ (v19). He supplies the obedience that we have not rendered: he keeps the covenant. There are 2 elements in his obedience:
He lived the life of perfect obedience to God’s law that we have not lived.
He died the death on the cross that is the penalty for our covenant breaking.
This is the ‘one act of righteousness’ (v19) that supplies all we need for salvation.
(iii). Consequences. The results of Christ’s work for us can be summed up as ‘life’ (v18). It is a wide-ranging blessing that includes both body and soul, salvation in all its richness. Here Paul focuses on justification – our righteous status before a holy God. It is in this sense that we are ‘made righteous’. The ‘gift’ (v17) we receive is the very righteousness of Christ. Alive in Christ, by the Spirit’s working we may now live as covenant keepers.