The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 508

~spects _of the resurrect;on. The union of body an<l. soul, by which human nature 1s constituted, belongs in itself to the natural order of the universe, and therefore offors a common platform on which Adam and Christ alike stand the one as causincr death the other as the restorer of life forfeited. St. P,ml never 'loses sight of nature and natural order. EYcrything that he says of Christianity either asserts or implies something back of Cnristianity. If, as often happens, he describes it as a scheme of restoration, there is always an original system, vast in reach and compass, to which it is subordinate. And if, as frequently occurs, he is showincr that "where sin. abounded, grace cl.id much more abound," reference is still had to~ primary or normal condition as having been transcended by substituting a hicrber for a lower form of life. In congruity with this habitual method of thought, funda1~ental to all bis other habits of mind, and without which 'he could not have been the thinker he was, he traces here the resemblance of Adam and Christ in their respective headships of the human family. But has Christ such an identification with our r:ice as to put bis resurrection, time and circumstances considered, on a level with our rising from the dead? No; he stands alone. "Every man in his own order." There is an order, a rank, a succession, and the headship of Christ is attested as before in the figure of the" firstfruits." "After- ward they that are Christ's at his coming;" the long interval between the first and second coming of Christ illustrating his majesty as the risen Lord, and ripening a harvest worthy of him as the "firstfruits." If, then, the ages are to witness the success of his power as "a Prince and a Saviour," and if the final demonstration of his glory as exalted to the right hand of his Father be reserved for the resurrection of his saints an<l its attendant events, this result must be of the nature of a consummation. Viewed as a system within a system, it must be limited by conditions, must have instruments and agencies, must have various adjustments of means to ends, and the ends in turn accommodated to ulterior purposes, all which go forward to an era of grandeur. A perpetnal scheme of this kind is inconceivable. It involves the trial of certain definite and clearly announced principles, the co-working of God and man, the test-operation of peculiar motives and sentiments; in brief, the idea of probation in the most educative and august shape it could assume. Are we the only learners in this school? Worlds have brotherhood as well as men, and the network, too delicate for any eye to see all the filaments even here, is spread over spaces unmeasured by the 1'isible firmament. It is a mcdiatorial economy under which we live, nor can any reader of the New Testament doubt that the universe is affected in some way, though the manner and extent are mysteries, by this mediatorial rule. Inasmuch, then, as it is me<liatorial, this system cannot be permanent, and hence "every man in his own order" presents the conception of a successional development, which must, at some period, reach its crisis and pass away. "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." What is it that shall terminate? The previous verses (20-23) throw some light on this subject. Humanity is_ represented t?erein as to its contrasted forms, and these forms are Adam and Christ. Contrast 1s our chief mode of knowing objects in this world, and we are unceasin~ly dependent _o~ its activity. It is a mark, however, of the weakness of our faculties and the lnmted sphere in which they are confined. Now, these contrasted forms of humanity as embodied in Adam and Christ shall vanish away, because they belong to our knowing "in part" and are only disciplinary for that "which is perfect." All the conflict between our nature in Adam and our nature in Christ having ended, and it_s cou.- nections with preternatural ao-ents havina come to a close, and that close triumphant on the side of the Lord Jesu~, every sig; of this sort of rule, authorily, and power, shall disappear from the universe. We may venture to suggest that some hint of this is given in the forty days. The posthumous life of the risen Christ has dropped off the outward marks of its former rule, authority and power. No discussions am held with scribes and Pharisees; no snares arc laid to entangle him; no repelling on. his part the charges of ~abbath-breaking, confederation with lleelzcbub, and blasphemy in claimincr to be the Son of God; but the LatUe has closed, and the Victor fresh from the grave is victor over Sanhedrim and Herod and Pilate, and henceforth the Holy Spirit orders the struggle between the forces of good and evil. But on a far wider arena, a.nd with an infinitely grander display of majesty, will the Lord Jesus Christ OIL ~v. 1-58.J THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 517