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Adam’s headship was insufficient to vindicate the nature of God and repopulate His kingdom with willing citizens. It was no surprise to God that the first man, Adam, could not adequately represent the human race.
    
With foreknowledge, God had predetermined to fulfill the stipulations of the redemptive Eternal Covenant. Therefore, in the fullness of time, He sent the mediator of the covenant to earth. Fulfilling covenantal stipulations by His sacrificial death and resurrection, Christ Jesus provided for the redemption of the elect from “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” (cf. Daniel 7:14; Revelation 5:9; 7:9; 14:6) 
    
Without condition, the Eternal Covenant furnished new law and life. The new law of the covenant ensured legally suitability with God. Its new life provided organic compatibility with Him.
    
The new covenantal law of the Eternal Covenant is the “law of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 9:21; Galatians 6:2) It is also described in the New Testament as the “law of faith,” the “law of the Spirit of life (zoe) in Christ Jesus,” the “perfect law,” and the “law of liberty.” (Romans 3:27; 8:2; James 1:25; 2:12) The law of the Eternal Covenant is often referred to in this book as the “rule of life.”
    
The new covenantal life is life shared with the mediator of the Eternal Covenant, Jesus Christ. It is accomplished by means of divine regeneration and spiritual birth.
    
Concordant with its new law, the New Testament church was legally positioned under the representative headship of Jesus Christ. By its new life the church was organically positioned under His representational headship.
    
With the advent of the Church Age, new life in Christ became a reality. Thus, the New Testament church was no longer represented by the unrighteous headship of Adam. Instead, it was privileged to be legally positioned under the righteous headship of Jesus Christ.
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​In Romans 5:14-21, Paul distinguished between Adam and Jesus Christ as two contrasting figures divinely positioned in the role of covenantal headship:
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Adam
Jesus Christ
Verse
“death reigned from Adam” “who is a type of” (foreshadow or pattern)
“Him who was to come” (fulfillment of the type, foreshadow, or pattern)
14
“For if by the transgression of the one many died,”
“much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.”
15
“The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation,”
“but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.”
16
“For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one,”
“much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”
17
“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.”
18
“For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners,”
“even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”
19
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According to Paul, Adam, the first head of humanity, was a “type of Him who was to come.” (Romans 5:14) The immediate context clarifies that Jesus Christ is the One “who was to come.” (Romans 5:15, 17) By principle of headship, Adam, the first man and first head of humanity, was a type, foreshadow or pattern of Jesus Christ. In contrast, Jesus Christ is not the second Adam, but the “last Adam”. He is not just another Adam. Instead, He is the fulfillment of the first Adam and, thus, the fulfillment of the type, foreshadow or pattern.
    
Paul provided additional emphasis for the contrasting headship of Adam and Christ in 1 Corinthians 15: 
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Adam
Jesus Christ
Verse
“For since by a man came death,”
“by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.”
21
“For as in Adam all die,”
“so also in Christ all will be made alive.”
22
“So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul.”
“The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
45
“….the natural;”
“then the spiritual.”
46
“The first man is from the earth, earthy;”
“the second man is from heaven.”
47
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Adam’s original act of unrighteousness allowed sin and death to enter into the world. (Romans 5:12) Consequently, the human race became legally unsuitable and organically incompatible with God. Thus, Adam’s headship proved insufficient to vindicate the nature of God.
​    
By the redemptive work of Christ, however, the real New Testament church is no longer positioned under the headship of Adam. Instead, it is gloriously and eternally positioned under the representative and representational headship
​of Jesus Christ.
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Representative Headship
Representational Headship
  • The remedy for imputed sin is the legal imputation of Christ’s righteousness.
  • The remedy for inherited sin is the impartation of Christ’s life (zoe).
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The new life of the church positioned under the headship of Christ is vastly different from its old life positioned under the headship of Adam. It is obligated but not indebted; regenerated; intimately joined to God by the union of shared life; enlightened and empowered in accordance with His indwelling life (zoe).
    
By stipulation of the Eternal Covenant, the New Testament church is utterly privileged to be forever positioned under the representative and representational headship of Jesus Christ. As a consequence, it is representative of divine righteousness and representational of divine life (zoe) on earth.                         
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                                 New Testament Church

​In harmony with the gracious benefit of the redemptive Eternal Covenant, the real New Testament church is comprised of people made legally suitable and organically compatible with God. They are joined as one covenantal body under the representative and representational headship of the Mediator of the Eternal Covenant, the “last Adam” and the “second man”, Jesus Christ.
    
Under His covenantal headship human beings are legally suitable and organically compatible with God: 
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Category:
Position in Christ:
Reference:
Legally
Suitable:
  • Justified from all transgression of the rule of law, not guilty.
  • Debt of sin “paid in full” by the blood of the Eternal Covenant.
  • Forgiven of all transgression of the rule of law (past, present, and future).
  • Declared righteous according to measure of the rule of law.
  • “Holy and blameless and beyond reproach.”
  • New law: the "law of the Spirit of life (zoe) in Christ Jesus."
Romans 4:1-5:11; 8:15; Ephesians 1:4-5; 7
Organically
Compatible:
  • New life:
  • Spiritual regeneration:
        made suitable to accommodate divine life.
  • Spiritual birth:
  1. Made alive to God by His shared, spiritual life.
  2. Heavenly.
  3. Controlled by the regenerated nature in willing submission to the indwelling God; “obedient from the heart.”  
Romans 5:18- 6:14; 7:14-25; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 2:12-13; 3:4;
2 Peter 1:4
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Made legally suitable and organically compatible with God, the new man is transferred into a living (zoe), spiritual realm of existence:
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Category:
Position in Christ:
Reference:
Realm of
Existence:
  • The realm of the Spirit of life (zoe) (described by the terms “in the Spirit,” “according to the Spirit,” and “led by the Spirit”).
Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 4:1-6:12
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The realm or sphere of the Spirit is characterized by a distinct familial standing, citizenship, security, and style of governance:
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Category:
Position in Christ:
Reference:
Familial
Standing:
  • Children of God
        (legally by adoption and organically by spiritual birth).
John 1:12; Romans 8:15-17
Citizenship:
  • Heavenly citizenship.
Philippians 3:20; 1 Peter 2:9
Security:
  • Eternally and temporally secure.
  • Ascended and seated with Christ; 
  • Sealed by the Spirit;
  • Secured by divine hope (Romans 8:18-25); divine intercession (Romans 8:26-27); divine purpose (Romans 8:28-30); divine benevolence (Romans 8:31-34); divine love (Romans 8:35-39); and divine choice (Romans 9:1-11:36).
Romans 8:18-11:36; Ephesians 1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 2:22
Style of
Governance:
  • Positioned under the immediate headship of Jesus Christ.
  • No longer enslaved to the indwelling sin nature and therefore, obedient from the heart.
  • New life and nature that allows for internal control by the gracious rule of indwelling life (zoe).
Romans 6:14-7:13; 8:3-4
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Jesus Christ is the “last Adam,” and the perfect fulfillment of the office of headship for the human race. By the unconditional benefit of the Eternal Covenant, the real New Testament church was transformed by law and life. Made legally suitable and organically compatible with God, the real New Testament church is both representative and representational of Christ on earth.

© 2023 James Hiatt                                     
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