God's New Creation

For as in Adam all die,  even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

 1 Corinthians 15:22-23

The purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God into this world was to reverse the results of the Fall of Adam and produce a new creation. No other earthly man could accomplish this purpose but "a Man from heaven" - the very Son of God in whom the Godhead was pleased to dwell. This was not a divine after thought but God's eternal purpose as the Apostle Paul writes: "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:10)

In Romans 5:12, the Apostle Paul describes the human dilemma. He writes that by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. Since that fateful Fall, everyone thereafter would be born "in Adam." All of humanity are the products of Adam's seed. Because we are born "in Adam," we are designated sinners. Because we are designated sinners, we sin. I am not a sinner because I sin; I sin because I am a sinner.

What does it mean to be born "in Adam?"

Think of it in this way. If your great-great grandfather was run over by a horse and buggy and killed at the age of ten, what would have happened to you.  Obviously you would not be here. You would have died "in him." In Back to the Future, Marty McFly looked with horror of his picture being erased from a photograph because he was unable, in the past, to make a connection between his father and mother. What happened in the past, effects the future. The sixteenth century German hymn writer Lazarus Spengler wrote, "All mankind fell in Adam's fall, one common sin infects them all."

This objective reality becomes subjectively true at birth since everyone born into this world is not only born in Adam but the "old Adam," has infected their human nature. I believe the so-called "terrible two's" are a good example of the effect of original or inherited sin. Parents look on with dismay and wonder where their former "bundle of joy" learned to stomp his little foot and shout "No!" This objective and subjective reality is an important distinction since as in Adam so also in Christ. As Adam is the head of the old creation, so Christ is the head of the new creation as the Apostle Paul expresses in Romans 5:

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

In order to reverse the results of the Fall, God included the entire world of sinners in Christ Jesus.  Paul writes in ! Corinthians 1:30:

"But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

In 2 Corinthians 5:17:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."

As we participated in the sin of Adam, we also participated in the redemptive work of Christ. Because God included us "in Christ Jesus," we died with Him to sin and the Law and were raised with Him to a new life. Paul writes, "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20) and in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 

As the sin of Adam in which we participated was an historical event taking place outside of us, so it is with Christ. Our participation in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in which we were declared forgiven, redeemed and justified occurred outside of us, at the Cross and the open tomb, or as it said in Latin extra nos.. This not only applies to us, but to the entire world of sinners. This is called "objective justification." As judgment came to all men through the sin of Adam, so all men are declared righteous because of the obedience and faithfulness of the one Man, Jesus Christ.

While these redemptive acts occurred nearly two thousand years ago, the application of the benefits of God's grace and mercy are delivered to us through the means of grace that God has graciously provided, primarily the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Paul refers to the Gospel as "the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16)." He declares in 1 Corinthians 1:21:

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

The truth of our being joined to Christ in His death and resurrection is applied and confirmed in Baptism. In my personal experience, this truth of my participation in the death and resurrection of Christ was delivered and applied to me in my Baptism, often referred to as the "visible Gospel." But for one who comes to faith through the preaching of the Gospel, this truth is personally affirmed, confirmed and faith is strengthened in Baptism. Therefore, Paul writes in Romans 6:3:

"Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.":

So while we were all born in Adam and the old Adam resides in us, God in His grace included us in Christ Jesus and by faith Christ now dwells within us.. We died with Him to sin and the Law and raised with Him to a new life. As we were in Adam and Adam is in us, so we are now in Christ, and Christ is in us. We are a part of a new creation. Therefore Paul writes in Romans 6:11-14:

"Likewise you also, reckon (consider) yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." 

So we proclaim this glorious Gospel of a new creation in Christ Jesus to unbelievers still living under the old dominion of Adam, destined for death, both temporal and eternal. We proclaim God's immutable Law and His judgment upon the children of Adam and His grace, mercy, forgiveness and righteousness found in Christ so that they might become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus..

But how we proclaim this glorious Gospel is vitally important. The objective and subjective reality of being in Adam and Adam in us is also true in Christ Jesus. We do not tell unbelievers they have to "get saved" or give the impression that faith causes salvation to occur. The Scripture is abundantly clear that God included the entire world of sinners, not merely the elect or chosen, in Christ Jesus. The entire old creation participated in the death and resurrection of Christ. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:19:

God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

So we declare the objective truth of what God accomplished for the world of sinners in Christ Jesus so that as the Holy Spirit creates faith, the unbeliever enters subjectively into this new creation. Christ, the head of this new creation, now dwells within them.The children of Adam are born anew in Christ and receive the benefits of the forgiveness of sins, life and eternal salvation, confirming and personally affirming the same in their Baptism..

Of course, according to the practice of the first century church and the witness of the early church fathers, we apply this death and resurrection of Jesus to infants through Baptism since it is the only means we know of whereby infants are included in God's new creation. But this is not a "one and done" experience since the baptism of an infant assumes instruction so that child begins to grasp the greater significance of having participated in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Martin Luther put it so well when he defined the significance of Baptism: "The old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts and a new man daily come forth and arise." Such a significance of Baptism is only applicable to those who have been taught that God included them in Christ; that they died with Christ to sin and the Law; and have been raised with Christ to a new life. They are a part of a new creation. So Christian parents can admonish their children with the words, "How can you behave like that? Don't you know that you are baptized?"

One of the wonderful mysteries of our being in Christ Jesus is not only that we participated in His death and resurrection, but we were also joined to Him in His ascension.The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 2:4-7:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  

And in Colossians 3:1-5:

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

What a glorious truth! While our feet still walk upon this earth, our real identity is found in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We get a taste of this reality as we gather around the Lord's Table and receive our Lord Jesus in, with and under the physical elements of bread and wine. Our fellowship at the Lord's Table is not only with our fellow saints on earth, but with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. For it is there that we find our true identity and rejoice in the culmination of God's new creation.