(ii.) This is borne ont liy the more specific teach- ing in regard to the I'nl! in its relation to the work of Christ in Ko .V- ' ,iimI I Co 1521- -■ «-49. The general and clear liu<' of argument in the former passage brings ovit the following points ;
Adam's act of disobedience involved all men in (a) Sin, and (b) Death. By sin is here meant both actual sinfulness (' for that all sinned,' v.'-), and a condition of liability to penalty e^■en apart from personal transgressitiu (^ ."). 'Phis hitter, however, IS not to be held in any -.n-.^ :i- ]Hi^onal participa- tion in or responsibility for Ailam s ollenee, though it is the transmitted effeet ot it (see below). Death here apparently means pliysical death in the first place (as in v.'^), but most probably includes also spiritu.al death. On the other hand, though the analogy is not fully expressed, it is clearly implied that in tlie -■.[\w- \\ay Christ's act of obedience brings (rO .lii-tilir:ilion and (b) Life; an<l in view of the eiiipii.-itie reiteration, in various forms, of the surpassing fulness of Bedemption in vv.i^-i', we may include under these terms : negatively, de- liverance from guilt, from sin itself, and from death ; and positively, the bcstowment of judicial and actual righteousness, and of spiritual and eternal life.
Another question raised in this connexion is concerned with the ]jrecise moral relationship
FALL
573
between Ada and between Ch Adam and Cliri presented as st.n mankind, forniin versal sin and il tion for belie\er variously held (1) that
eiity on the one hand, ^ people on the other. ■I'ond Adam ') are re- aiialogons relation to in the one ease of uni- I the otlier of restora- d to Adam it has been ielation between him
and his posterity was virtually one of identity; mankind sinned in him and therefore share his
guilt ; (2) that the relation
IS representative or
federal, Adam acting on behalf of his descendants ; and (3) that the relation is nnturril, the evil efl'ects of Adam's f/ill lieing conniiunieated to the race through the ordinary channels of heredity. The third view ]. reserves any elements ot truth in the other two, «liil,. it h,-st' explains the fa.-ts in har- mony with true etl,ir:il prill. ■iple,-^. Tlietnmsmitted
moral halaiiee. :iii inhorii teiideiiry of heart and will towards evil, .a ili.sdhUitii, though not a total inability, for gocjdness. Though men are not per- sonally hnplieated in the guilt of Adam's trans- gression, their eon(lition involves demerit and necessitates redemption.* Turning to the other side, though we are not warranted in carrying the analogy too far, we find on the part of Christ'(l) a relation of identify ivith the race through the In- eani:ilioii ; CJi a representative or covenant relation with His ]ico|i|e (see 2 Co 5-' etc.), based on the one side on CoilV tree grace, and on the other on believers' v,,hnil .iry n,ee"ptaiiep of it (Bo 5") ; and (3) a nlul ,nnni, I'.etwec.n Clirisl and believers by whieli new life is ini|iiirleil .-iiiil the evil effects of the Fail eounteiaeted (.In I.V' et,-. ).
Christ is thus a new beginning for the fallen race, a fountain of life and righteousness, as Adam was of death and sin. Adam was a true ' figure of him that was to come,' a type based not on mere analogy, b>it on deep and real correspondences between his relation as ' psychical ' parent to his natural descendants, and Christ's relation to His people as the 'second Adam,' the 'spiritual' ori- ginator of a regenerated race.f
iii. The Fall in relation to the Person of Christ. — The Fall of Adam, as we have seen, in- troduced into the nature of all descended from him a fatal taint of sin, an insuperable moral dis- ability. The question now before us is, How did Jesus Christ, the new Adam, as a true member of the fallen race, escape this evil influence? That Christ in His nature and Person was absolutely free from sin, is one of the clearest and most gener- ally admitted as well as most vital facts of the gospel. Born into the world in the line of human <leseent, sinning Iniman nature otherwise in its fulness, liow ^\ as .Tesus alone unafi'ected by the conunon lieril;ige of sin ?
The full answer to this question lies hidden in the mystery of the Incarnation ; but an indicaticm ot the line m which the solution lies is jriven in the great fact of the "Virgin Birth of our Lord. The historical reality of this pint of the Gospel narra- tive has been assailed by modern eriticism, but the doctrine still retains its pla. i- in tin- best philosophy of the Incarnation, ami tin- truth has been rather confirmed than otherwise by impartial study of the records. As a fact, the biith of .lesus in a super- natural manner connnends itself as peculiarly in keejiing with the whole sehenie of redemption. (1) It indicates a new departure, a fresh beginning, the introduction into the human race of a new element, and marks a break in the normal and fatal continuity of s))iritual helplessness and decay. (2) It suggests, tlmuuh it does not fully explain, means by whirh 1 In i-i . onld become true man and yet be preserxiil from tin' hereditaiy efl'ects of the Fall. ' The Holy t ihost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee : wherefore also that which is to be born shall he called holy, the Son of God' (Lk l^). Those who deny the Virgin Birth have still to explain the etiually miraculous fact of the appearance of this single exce])tion to the universal sinfulness of mankind. The manner of Christ's birth, as re-