12/26 Spurgeon Today

“The last Adam.” — 1 Corinthians 15:45
Jesus is the federal head of His elect. As in Adam, every heir of flesh and
blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant head and
representative of the race as considered under the law of works; so under
the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven,
since He is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and Substitute of the elect in
the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul declares that Levi was in the
loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met him: it is a certain truth that the
believer was in the loins of Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old
eternity the covenant settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made
sure for ever. Thus, whatever Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the
whole body of His Church. We were crucified in Him and buried with Him
(read Col. 2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with
Him and even ascended with Him to the seats on high (Eph. 2:6). It is thus
that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is “accepted in the beloved.” It is
thus that she is regarded with complacency by the just Jehovah, for He
views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her as separate from her
covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of Israel, Christ Jesus has
nothing distinct from His Church, but all that He has He holds for her.
Adam’s righteousness was ours so long as he maintained it, and his sin was
ours the moment that he committed it; and in the same manner, all that the
Second Adam is or does, is ours as well as His, seeing that He is our
representative. Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This
gracious system of representation and substitution, which moved Justin
Martyr to cry out, “O blessed change, O sweet permutation!” this is the
very groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with
strong faith and rapturous joy.