TREACHERY & LOYALTY

                                                        Treachery & Loyalty

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        The Bible is full of contrasts and even opposites; darkness and light, heaven and hell, life and death etc. Whereas the first man Adam was treacherous unto death, the Last Adam (i.e., Jesus) was loyal unto death. The former’s treachery and subsequent death brought death to all mankind. However, the latter’s loyalty and subsequent death brought life to all who trust in Him. “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” (Rom. 5:18).

To what and toward whom was Adam treacherous and Jesus loyal? For Adam’s treachery to bring death to all humanity, he must have been representing himself, his wife and his posterity. And for Jesus’s loyalty to bring life, He must be representing those who trust in Him for salvation. Therefore, Adam and Jesus are federal representatives, or, in Biblical terms, both are covenant heads. In other words, both represent their own constituents before God. Whereas Adam’s constituents are fallen and are therefore dead, those who belong to Jesus have been raised to life, everlasting life.

As representing the nation, it is the Sovereign or Prime Minster or President who declares war. Adam declared war on God by sinning against Him. The late great theologian RC Sproul provides a sense of gravity and proportion for what Adam did while representing us. 'Sin is cosmic treason. Sin is treason against a perfectly pure Sovereign. It is an act of supreme ingratitude toward the One to whom we owe everything, to the One who has given us life itself.' Without Christ Jesus we remain in our state of cosmic treason against God because Adam is our covenant head. However, having instead Christ Jesus as our Redeemer, i.e., as our covenant head, we will remain forever in a condition of complete loyalty to God. Jesus lived the perfect life that we as sinners cannot live, and He died a substitutionary death to pay to God what we owe for our treachery against Him.

God genuinely offers to forgive the treachery of those who have Jesus to represent them before God. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). In Christ and Him crucified, God’s grace and forgiveness is displayed. Says Jay Adams, “The cross was not merely an act of compassion and mercy directed toward mankind; it was a cosmic event in which God demonstrated who and what He is before all the universe.”

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        The sparkling diamonds of God’s grace, mercy and compassion gloriously stand out against the black velvet backdrop of our treachery, yes, our cosmic treason. We see this illustrated time and time again throughout the Old Testament, even by those who should have known better, 'But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me' (Hos. 6:7). However, we believers now have a better covenant than the one between God and Adam our old covenant head. We even have a better covenant than that between God and Old Testament Israel.

Yet, even as Jesus was inaugurating the promised new covenant (as per Jer. 31:31f., Heb. 8:8-12), there was treachery at the table among the twelve. “He also took the cup after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table' (Luke 22:20-21).

Which is it for you dear reader, treachery or loyalty?