Adam is a type of Christ (Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:45, 47; Rom. 5:14). In Romans 5:14 we are told that Adam was a “type of the coming One,” Christ. Adam was the head of the old collective man (mankind). Whatever he did and whatever happened to him is participated in by all mankind. In this respect he is the type of Christ, who is the Head of the new corporate man (the church, Eph. 2:15-16). Whatever He did and whatever happened to Him is also participated in by all the members of His Body, the church (Eph. 1:22-23).
Adam was the first man (1 Cor. 15:47) and also the first Adam (1 Cor. 15:45). Adam was created by God and had nothing of the life and nature of God. He was merely God’s creation, a work of His hand.
Christ is the second Man and the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:47, 45). He is the last man, and after Him there is no third man, for the second Man is the last Adam. Following Him there is not a third Adam. This second Man was not created by God. Rather, He is a man mingled with God. He is God incarnated to be a man. The first man had nothing of the nature and life of God, for He was merely God’s creation. The second Man is the mingling of God with His creature, full of the nature and life of God. He is a man mingled with God, a God-man. The fullness of the Godhead is embodied in Him (Col. 2:9; John 1:16).
As the last Adam Christ is the end of the old race, the end of mankind in the old creation. As the second Man Christ is the beginning of another race, the start of a new man. There is no second Adam, only the last Adam. In the sight of God there is one Adam beginning from Adam and ending with the man Jesus. Therefore, the first Adam is the beginning of mankind, and the last Adam is the ending of mankind.
The time from Christ’s incarnation until His resurrection was a transitory period involving a transition from the old man or race to the new race. The second Man was born through incarnation, but He was reborn through resurrection. In incarnation Christ was born to be the second Man and also took upon Himself the old man. Then the old man was terminated at the cross, and the second Man was reborn in resurrection. It is for this reason that we may speak of Christ first as being the last Adam and then as the second Man.
In the fulfillment of the types and figures of the Old Testament Christ is the sacrifice affording the coats of skins for Adam and Eve. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). In this verse we see an anticipation of the redemption that was to be accomplished thousands of years later. Adam and Eve were in a situation that needed redemption. Knowing that they were fallen and sinful, they tried to cover themselves with garments made of fig leaves (Gen. 3:7). Then God came in to deal with the situation, promising that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (v. 15). Then God made coats of skins and clothed them. The expression “coats of skins” implies that some kind of sacrifice, probably a lamb, was slain for them. That sacrifice was a type of Christ as our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30) to cover us with Himself.
For God to make coats of skins for Adam and Eve and clothe them means that He justified them. To be justified means to be covered with the righteousness of God, which is Christ Himself. For Adam and Eve to be under the coats of skins signified that they were in Christ, for the coat is a clear type of Christ as God’s righteousness (Phil. 3:9) to cover us. Therefore, figuratively speaking, Adam and Eve were in Christ.
The sacrifice that produced the coats of skins to Adam and Eve was slain as their substitute. The putting on of the coats of skins was based on the shedding of the blood of the sacrifice. The sacrificial lamb was their substitute. Then after God covered them with a coat of lamb’s skins, they became one with the lamb. As sinners they became one with the substitute. This is a matter of union, and union brings about the effectiveness of substitution, for without union substitution stands alone. Substitution does not have anything to do with us until we enter into a union with the substitute. Once we participate in such a union, whatever the substitute has accomplished is ours. Christ has done everything for us on the cross, but without union all that He has accomplished is not related to us. But when we become one with Christ through believing in Him, whatever He accomplished on the cross becomes ours. Therefore, union brings in the effectiveness of substitution.
In Galatians 2:17 and 3:27 we have the fulfillment of the type in Genesis 3:21. Galatians 2:17 speaks of “seeking to be justified in Christ.” Galatians 3:27 says, “As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To believe is to believe into Christ (John 3:16), and to be baptized is to be baptized also into Christ. By both faith and baptism we have been immersed into Christ, having thus put on Christ and become identified with Him.
To put on Christ by being baptized into Christ is to clothe ourselves with Christ, to put on Christ as a garment. On the one hand, in baptism we are immersed into Christ; on the other hand, in baptism we put on Christ. When a person is immersed into Christ, he automatically puts on Christ as his clothing. This means that the baptized one has become one with Christ, having been immersed into Him and having become clothed with Him.
To be baptized into Christ is to enter into an organic union with the Triune God. In order to experience this organic union, we need to believe into Christ and to be baptized into Him. Believing and being baptized are two parts of one step. First we believe into Christ, then we are baptized into Him. By believing in Christ we enter into Him. We believe ourselves into Him and thereby experience an organic union with Him, becoming one spirit with Him. In addition to believing into Christ, which is inward and subjective, we also need to be baptized into Him, an act which is outward and objective. Through the inward action of believing and the outward action of being baptized we make one complete step to enter into the Triune God. The step which begins with believing into Christ is completed by being baptized into Him. In this way there takes place in full an organic union between the believers and the Triune God. In this union we are truly clothed with Christ.