(Col. 1:15-18.)

Continued from page 95.

We have seen something of the significance of our Lord's title as First-born from among the dead, as applied to Himself personally. But His resurrection is also the God-given witness of the acceptability of the work accomplished in His being delivered up for our offences; and His resurrection is our justification. If we are therefore seen as having died with Christ as our Substitute and Sin-bearer, if He who has thus taken our place be raised up, then we are looked at as being raised up with Him. We see at once that we occupy an entirely new place as linked with our raised Substitute. We have newness of life, and this, in the very nature of the case, takes us out from under the Adam headship to which death and judgment attached, but which have now been borne; and we are under the headship of Christ in resurrection life. Christ in this way is not only the First-born from among the dead, the First-born One of the new order of life, but He truly is also the First-born among many brethren, who are even now conformed in spirit to His image, and in glory will be so displayed.

He is thus also the last Adam, "a quickening Spirit." He is the Last, because in Him God's thought, as first expressed in Adam, who "was the figure of Him who was to come," has found its full and perfect expression, so that there can be no other to come after Him. He is the Last, the divine fulfilment of all God's purposes and counsels. He is therefore the Beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14)-a very beautiful expression.' The race, that creation of which we see Him as the beginning, the First-born, is one with which God can with evident delight link His own name as He never could nor did with the old. It had fallen away from its first beauty and perfection in innocency so that He could not own it as His any more. But here is a new creation, which can never fail, but is perfect in the perfection of its blessed Head, of which God says, That is Mine-His own special portion.

Further contrasts, however, come in here. Adam became a living soul, Christ the Last Adam a quickening (making alive) Spirit. But in immediate connection with this, and speaking of resurrection as to the body, we are told "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body; " and " if there is a natural body there is also a spiritual one." The connection here is this:a natural body, and Adam a living soul; a spiritual body, and the last Adam a quickening Spirit. The natural body is therefore that which is characterized by the soul living in it. This is the old order. Now that which connects itself with resurrection is different; the spiritual body and the quickening Spirit-the last Adam. Thus as in the old the life of the body was characterized by the soul in it, making it natural, so that Adam is called a living soul, in the new order the body is spiritual. The apostle says, flesh and blood-the soul-life communicated by Adam-cannot inherit God's kingdom ; only the life derived from Christ making the body a spiritual one-a vehicle suited for the spirit-can enter into this inheritance. The order connected with all this is first the natural, and then the spiritual, and of necessity so, as must be plain:before there can be the spiritual for us, there must be the natural, upon
which death is to pass, so that resurrection may come in and in connection with it the communication of the spiritual.

This brings us to another title in direct connection with that of last Adam, that is the second Man. "The first man out of the earth, made of dust, the second Man out of heaven;" and linked with this the race associated with each. "Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly One, such also the heavenly ones; and as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly One " (i Cor. 15:47-49, J. N. D.). This is carrying out as to the condition the contrast between the first and second Man and those associated with them, and the natural and spiritual bodies connected with the first and last Adam. The condition of the first, as being a natural body, was of the earth and made of dust, but now the second Man is out of heaven; that is, He whom we know as the second Man is He who came out of heaven and became flesh. As a Man living on earth, He was unique. He must needs remain alone if in this life He continue, for none can ever hope for association with Him in the blessing of His perfect obedience; but in passing through death, not in any sense His due but endured by Him as the due of fallen man, He takes their place, linking them in this marvelous way with Himself and carries them on and up into resurrection life. So that we are associated in life with the Man out of heaven, and the result is, as is this heavenly One so also the heavenly ones; that is, those who are associated with Him in the way we have spoken about through death. And here is the beautiful thought, that we have by this
link with Him obtained a heavenly character in this new order, a character which attaches to the life-giving Spirit, and the body thus animated becomes in this way spiritual. Thus we shall have the image of the heavenly as united through death with the heavenly Man.

In all this we see then the new creation, the new race united in one, under its glorious Head and Firstborn. We understand then how being in Christ means new creation (2 Cor. 5:17 and Gal. 6:15); the portion of which is heavenly things; its sphere heaven itself. This is what the apostle brings us to in Ephesians. the sphere of new-creation-life, as he has developed it in Romans and Galatians, which doctrinally connect with Ephesians.

But if we are thus created in Christ Jesus, as we truly are as those in new creation, he shows us many wonderful relationships in this connection, and the glory of Christ associated therewith. Chief of all, the Body, the Church, of which He is the Head. The revelation of this is given in Ephesians, and in Colossians it is put in direct connection with this First-born title of His that we have been considering. "And He is the Head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the First-born from among the dead." As the Head we think of Him being the Governor, and the power directing all activity and life of the Body. "From Him all the Body ministered to and united together by the bands and joints increaseth with the increase of God" (Col. 2:19 and Eph. 4:16, J. N. D.). He orders in this way the function of each member. As Head of the Church He is over all things, for they are all to be gathered together in one, in Him; that He, having subjected all, may be able, as having all under His power, to subject Himself to God, that He may be all in all. The thought implied in this is that God has given to Christ to reign as Son of Man until all enemies be under His feet (i Cor. 15:24-26). Thus having gained absolute rule over all, He subjects Himself to God, while keeping His place with the Father of reigning and rule, as I apprehend it, over all those things which He had subjected. As One who reigns till all is in subjection, and thus brings in the eternal state, He is the "Father of eternity," the One who is the Pro! genitor of that state; and then having brought it in. He subjects Himself to God that He may be all in all. Thus He remains unchangingly, although in a different position relatively, Head over all things.

This Headship, as to the open manifestation of it, He obtains in exercise of the absolute reigning power given by God to Him, and He keeps the Headship for all eternity in subjection to God. Thus, as the heir of all things, in this connection we see Him first of all bringing by His power the inheritance of which He was heir under His blessed control and into subjection to Him, and then keeping it and entering into it in eternity as the Son subject to God the Father; and we have, wonderful to say, obtained an inheritance in Him. J. B. jr.

(Concluded in next number.)