In this message we shall see more concerning the church as the counterpart of Christ.
The church as the counterpart of Christ is typified by Eve as the counterpart of Adam (Eph. 5:31-32). Adam in Genesis 2 was a type, a prefigure (Rom. 5:14), of Christ. Speaking figuratively, we may say that Adam was Christ. When we see Adam in Genesis 2, we see Christ. Apparently Eve was only a woman, Adam’s wife, his counterpart. However, if we have the spiritual vision from Ephesians 5, we shall see that Eve in the garden was a type, a prefigure, of the church. If we have this perspective, we shall realize that whatever happened to Adam in Genesis 2 was an experience of Christ and that whatever happened to Eve was related to the church. In figure, Adam was Christ and Eve was the church.
God created the heavens, which are for the earth, and the earth, which is for man. Then He created man, who is for God, with a spirit to receive Him. Adam typifies God in Christ as the real, universal Husband who is seeking a wife for Himself.
After Adam was created, God said of him, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his complement” (Gen. 2:18, Heb.). Although Adam was perfect, he was not complete. The principle was the same with God in Christ as the real Husband. Although God is absolutely and eternally perfect, He is not complete. To say that God is imperfect is to speak blasphemy. Our God is eternally perfect. Nevertheless, without the church, He is incomplete. Therefore, when God said that it was not good for Adam to be alone, it indicated that God Himself was incomplete and that it was not good for Him to be alone. Adam’s need for a wife as his counterpart typifies and portrays Christ’s need to have the church as His counterpart. If we see this, every aspect of Genesis 2 will be clear.
The first couple in the Bible, Adam and Eve, presents a significant and complete picture of Christ and the church. According to the book of Genesis, God did not create man and woman at the same time and in the same way. First, God formed man’s body from the dust of the ground. Then He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). After creating man, God declared that it was not good for the man to be alone and that He would make a counterpart for him. The animals and the fowl were brought to Adam, and Adam named them. But for Adam “there was not found a help meet for him” (Gen. 2:20). Within Adam there was the desire to have a counterpart, to have someone to match him. But among the cattle, the beasts, and the fowl, there was no counterpart to Adam. In order to produce such a counterpart, “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” (Gen. 2:21). While Adam slept, the Lord took one of Adam’s ribs and used it for the building of a woman (Gen. 2:22, Heb.). In life, nature, and form the woman was the same as the man. Therefore, when God brought the woman to Adam, Adam exclaimed, “This time it is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23, Heb.). Adam knew that at last he had found his counterpart.
Because there was no counterpart for Christ in the created universe, God caused Christ to die on the cross. His death was typified by the deep sleep that God caused to fall upon Adam. As the Lord Jesus “slept” on the cross, His side was opened, and blood and water came forth (John 19:34). Because in Genesis 2 the problem of sin had not come in, that chapter mentions only the rib that was taken out of Adam; it says nothing about blood. But John 19 speaks of blood, which solves the problem of sin. The water signifies the flowing life of Christ, the eternal life, which produces the church. This life is also typified by the rib that was taken out of Adam’s side. According to John 19, not one of the Lord’s bones was broken when He was on the cross. The unbroken bone of Christ signifies Christ’s unbreakable eternal life. Hence, Adam’s rib typifies the unbreakable life of Christ. It is with this eternal life that the church is built up as the counterpart prepared for Christ. In this building up of His counterpart, Christ gains the church as a match for Himself. Just as Eve, the counterpart of Adam, was a part of Adam, so the church, the counterpart of Christ, is a part of Christ.
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