Identification with Christ is a great matter. From our point of view, there have been many people who have lived on the earth from the ancient days until now. Even though we know that the world’s current population is a few billion, we do not know how many people have died or how many people are yet to be born. All we know is that there are a few billion people who are alive today. From God’s point of view, however, there are only two men in the whole world.
According to the book of Romans, there are only two men in the world: Adam and Christ (Rom. 5:12, 15, 17). Adam is the first man, and Christ is not only the second man but also the last man (1 Cor. 15:45, 47).
The first man is Adam. The second man, however, is not Cain but Christ, because those who came after Adam came out of Adam. The second man is Christ, and because there is no man after Christ, He is also the last man. Adam is the first man, because there was no man before him; Christ is the second man and the last man, because there is no man after Him. There is no one between Adam and Christ, because Adam is the first and Christ is the second.
There are only two men in the universe. There was no man before Adam, and there is no man after Christ. In God’s eyes every man is in Adam, comes from Adam, and belongs to Adam, which is to say that every man is identified with Adam. Before we were saved, our name was Adam. Whoever is not saved is in Adam. A person should not think that he is not a sinner because he has not committed some specific sin. When Adam committed sin in the garden of Eden, we were in him. Adam’s sin made every man a sinner.
The Chinese people arrived in China by passing through the Pamir Mountains. Although we may not have personally passed through the Pamirs, we passed through the Pamirs when our ancestors passed through the Pamirs. Likewise, when Adam sinned, we also sinned. Consequently, all who are from Adam have sinned. Therefore, we all are sinners.
In God’s eyes every man who has believed into Christ is saved because a saved person enters into Christ and is identified with Him.
Although the Bible speaks of Noah and his family passing safely through the flood (Gen. 8:13-19; 1 Pet. 3:20), strictly speaking, it was the ark that passed through the flood. Noah’s family passed through the flood only because they were in the ark. Hence, eight people did not pass through the flood, but rather one ark with eight people passed through the flood. In God’s eyes there was only the ark. God saw the ark passing through the flood; He did not see eight people passing through the flood.
When God looks at a saved person, He sees only Christ. God does not see Mr. Chang or Mr. Lee; He sees only Christ. Everyone who is saved is in Christ. Apart from Christ, God does not see any other person; He sees only Christ.
One day the Word, who was with God and who was God, became flesh; that is, God put on humanity, and His name was Jesus. Jesus was God, yet He put on the human nature. When the Lord Jesus responded to Philip’s request to see the Father, saying, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me?” (John 14:9), He was speaking of both His divine nature and His human nature. When He went to the cross, He put His human nature on the cross. When He died on the cross, He died as a man. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was split in two from top to bottom. The veil being split signifies the Lord being split, (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20). The cherubim embroidered on the veil were also split. The veil signifies Christ, and the cherubim embroidered on it signify the creatures. The splitting of the veil signifies that all creatures died with Christ.
The Jews think that the death of Jesus was just the death of a rebel, but a saved person knows that Jesus died to bear his sins. Those who have a further understanding of salvation know that Jesus also bore all of the old creation in His death. His death, however, was not an end, because He resurrected after three days to become the Spirit. Therefore, whenever anyone calls on His name today, the Holy Spirit enters into him. Thus, Christ and man are identified.
Before His ascension, Jesus was Emmanuel (Matt. 1:23), meaning “God with us”; after His resurrection, He is with us even more. Now He lives in us until the consummation of the age (28:20). Everyone who is saved has Christ. Once we were in Adam, but now we are in Christ. Once we were in a kingdom of darkness, but now we are in another kingdom. There are only two kingdoms in the universe: the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Today we have been transferred from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God.
Once we were only in Adam, but through the second birth, that is, regeneration, we have entered into Christ and are now in Christ. However, even though we are in Christ, we still bear Adam’s resemblance. Nevertheless, God sees only the ark, not us. When we see ourselves, we see the old creation, but when God sees us, He sees only Christ.
Noah’s family passed through the flood because they were joined to the ark. Redemption is based on union. We must be joined to Christ in order to be saved. In order to be joined to Christ we must be delivered from Adam. From Adam we have inherited sin and death, which must be judged. Therefore, a person must be freed from the sin in Adam in order to be joined to Christ.
For those who are in Adam, sinning is easy and natural. Sinning is as easy and natural as breathing. Those who are not saved do not need to prepare to sin or even make an effort to sin, because sinning is easy and natural. Although it is easy to sin in Adam, it is impossible not to sin in Adam. No matter how much force and effort we exert, we will sin because the law of sin and of death is a part of Adam (Rom. 7:23; 8:2).
There is also a law in Christ, and in this law of the Spirit of life, we have been freed in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death (v. 2). This is because the death of Christ, which dealt with sin, and the resurrection of Christ, which dealt with death, have been given to us through our identification with Him.
It is natural for a person in Adam to sin. It is also natural for a person in Christ to be freed from sin and death. It is also natural for a Christian to obey God’s will in Christ. Whenever we behold Christ, we are freed from sin. Whenever we behold Christ, we become holy. It is natural for us to obey God’s will and to practice the goodness of God in the law of life. This is to be identified with Christ; this also is the way of a Christian.