Reconstituting All in Christ
By Winslow Parker

An amoeba splits. Its double-helix DNA divides into two single strands, each the mirror image of the other. The cell membrane thins along an axis parallel to the divided DNA. Then the Great Schism occurs. The cell membrane snaps shut around the two separated DNA halves and each goes its merry way. We can say that neither of the two new cells is the original, but it is equally true that both are the original. After millions of replications, the "nth" replication, barring mutation, is the same as the first. What was in the first cell is carried forward into all subsequent cells. None are the original but it can be truthfully said that all are the very first cell. In that first cell, all future amoeba were held in potential, awaiting their own brief reality.

In a similar way, Adam contained, in his DNA, the blueprint for all humanity to follow. Within him, therefore, all humanity abode. Eve was a part of Adam so contained his DNA with the one change to one chromosome. What was XY in Adam became XX in Eve which she passed to all her daughters. Nevertheless, all humanity comes from that one original pair, actually, from the one first man, Adam.

The consequence of this is that what happened to Adam, happened to all mankind. If Adam's DNA were damaged then all humanity would bear that same damage. If Adam died before having at least one boy and one girl, none of us would be here. If Adam ate of the Tree of Life, then all would have had immediate eternal life within Adam.

My point is this: What happened to Adam happened to us all. We are mere copies of him. Our DNA is ragged and frayed, our lifespan is shorter by far. We suffer diseases and the results of millennia of wear and tear but we are still, at core, children of Adam.

We were "in Adam" as he woke from dust into physical life, staring up into the face of his, and our, Creator. Then he took and ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That changed everything. Now death reigned. He became a rebel. He broke the covenant between him and God:

1 And, in Adam, we all die, we are all constituted sinners, we are all held within that broken covenant. Adam brought death and Death into humanity by his one act.

2 His act condemned his descendants to both physical death and spiritual Death. It's in our genes.

Then Jesus came. He changed everything. He became Adam Last. Paul says that Adam First was the "type" of Him who was to come:

3 Being a type means to be the shadow of what is to come. Adam First, the repository of all humanity, was to be followed by Adam Last, the true repository of all humanity. What was physical in Adam First was of spirit in Adam Last. What Adam First lost, Adam Last reclaimed and restored.

What did Adam First lose?

He lost life. He lost face-to-face communion with Father. He lost dominion over this earth. He lost his children. He put a wedge between himself and his wife. He lost effortless work.

Adam Last came to restore all that was lost by Adam First. He completely restores that which evaporated at that fatal bite. We live in the unseen reality of that restoration, the spirit is aware though the physical senses cannot perceive it yet. All is restored, waiting only for the consummation of all things to burst into our awareness.

How did Adam Last do this? Very simple. He didn't eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

So often we think of Him as living a perfect life in relation to the Law. The Law to which we are referring is the Mosaic Law. He didn't swear, have false idols, break the Sabbath, dishonor His father or mother, steal, lie or covet. All true, but not the real answer. The real answer is in that phrase, "did not eat of the tree." Not eating of the tree meant that the consequences of that act cannot impact Him. Death cannot hold Him. He died once for all humanity.

4 Since in Adam (first), all die, even so in Christ (Adam Last) all will be made alive. Death attempted to hold Him as a human. Death could not hold Him, since He had not partaken of that rebellious act. Not only could death not hold Him, He took Death into death with Him and destroyed it. Not only did He destroy Death, He took us with Him into His death and freed us from both death and Death. That which was Adam's and our lot was absorbed into Him. It could not withstand that perfect Life. Death itself died in the Life that died and rose again. This is the basis for being "in Christ." We were planted into Christ Jesus at His crucifixion, laid in the tomb for three days and rose again with Him. Death has no more power over us. Dying, as we did, in Him, rising again on the third day, we pass through the just death of Sin and rose to new life on the other side within Him.

5 Now, being in Him, we are new creations, living already in that eternity which is our destiny. We are transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Here is the beauty. Adam First cast a grey-scale rainbow over humanity. Jesus Christ restored the full-color spectrum. We have life. He is Life. Paul says,

"So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.... The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 5: 18, 20)

Note that these verses are a contrast between Adam First and Adam Last.

6 The consequences of Adam First are in the first line of each couplet. What Adam Last did is in the second. So what Adam First did is reversed by Adam Last--completely, entirely, fully. Nothing, no consequence, no scintilla of Adam First's fall is left uncorrected in Adam Last. Nothing in our will can overcome the reality of His gracious acts. No one can resist forever the irresistible love of God, pressing on his heart, revealing itself in the cross. Were this true, then the will of mankind would be god, greater than all the wisdom of Creator-god.

In case I am not clear in what I've said before, let me make it as plain as I can:

Every single human being who has ever lived, no matter how horrible, how evil, how depraved, can fall outside of, escape, this restoration. If even one human being is outside, then the mission of Adam Last failed. I am saying that all will be saved. There, I can't say it any plainer. Leaving aside all the other arguments for this belief, all the interpretations of Greek and Hebrew, all the clear textual evidence, this one fact shines out above it all in a glorious beacon of hope for all of humankind.

Could we truly grasp the reality that Sin, which produces sins, which produces death and Death, is truly, utterly and forever conquered so that our life would be transformed? Our witness would be beautiful music to the ears of the dead. Our view of God and man would be utterly transformed. If it is not true, then would to God that it were so.

But it IS true! He says it throughout scripture. How can we deny its reality?

How wondrous is our god! How clever, wise, purposeful He is. How He has resolved the dilemma of all our ages, undone the evil, restored the health, and renewed the race. We are, indeed, new creations in Christ Jesus. Old things are indeed past; all things are new. We may lay aside our sectarian views of our exclusive claim to eternal life. We may embrace this reality: the bum on the street, the mass murderer, the philandering celebrity, will one day sit at table with us. We will dance and sing and shout as we rejoice in the glorious finished grace of God.

I will not serve a God who is less than that. If He is not able or willing to find a way to bring home the last sheep, the last coin, the last son, then He is not the God He says He is. He is not worth my allegiance or worship.

Oh Adam Last! How great and glorious is Your life, Your death, Your resurrection! How beautiful is that train of ecstatic captives whom you have enslaved in love. How worthy You are of worship, of honor, of glory, of the riches of this earth. Casting ourselves at Your feet, we find nothing to which to rise; here we wish to stay for eternity. We will revel forever in the infinite joy of Your presence; we desire nothing else. We need, we desire, we seek nothing else, no one else. Your plan is perfect, it has already succeeded as You laid it out from eternity past. In it we recognize Your loving hand at work.

In spirit we are already there. We glimpse the festivities, smell the aroma of flower and food. We hear, faintly, the strains of heavenly melody and Your whispered words, "Welcome home, daughter, son. I've waited for all eternity for you."

1 Hosea 6:7
2 Romans 5:12
3 Romans 5:14
4 Romans 6:10
5 Colossians 1:13
6 romans 5:18-21

Much of this article is based on Romans 5:12-21. The same contrasting structure is repeated in every verse; the consequences of Adam's and Jesus' actions are set in opposition in every verse. It's well worth a time of meditation.

These thoughts were inspired by the chapter titled "The Cross of Christ" in Watchman Nee's book, "The Normal Christian Life."