on him to life everlasting.' Now this gospel which thus at the first began to be spoken to Adam and Eve is sent to us,-is revealed in the Scriptures, is proclaimed by all those ministers whom God has sent into his vineyard. To what end then is Christ proposed to us-proclaimed among us? Is it not that sinners, feeling themselves to be in a lost and perishing condition, should look to him, by faith, to obtain rest for their disquieted spirits in his glorious person and finished work, to obtain the pardon of their sin and a title to heaven by faith in his name? God help us to make this right use of Christ, believing and feeling ourselves to be, what the Divine word declares we are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.' May we no longer build our hope of salvation on any other foundation than that which God hath laid in Zion, which is Christ.' LECTURE VIII. ADAM, A TYPE OF CHRIST. That the first man was a type of the first born among many brethren, we have the authority of the Apostle for believing. 'Adam,' says he, Rom. v. 14. 'who is the figure of him that was to come.' Not only does the Apostle thus plainly affirm our proposition, but in this chapter he draws a comparison between Adam and Christ, as covenant heads. Moreover the Saviour (1 Cor. xv, 45-47,) is called 'The secoed Adam.' These testimonies precluding the necessity of other proof of the fact to be considered, we may, therefore, proceed to trace the principal points of resemblance between the first man, who, says the Apostle, is 'of the earth, earthly,' and 'the second man, who is the Lord from heaven.' By the way, observe how the Apostle here describes the person of Christ, viz. as man and the Lord from heaven; that is, God and man in one person. On the subject before us we shall endeavour to prove and elucidate the following particulars, viz that Adam was a type I. Of the Saviour's person. II. Of his dominion. III. As a covenant head, and IV. Of his union to his church. I. We say Adam prefigured our Redeemer's person. Many divines, as respectable for their erudition and penetration, as for their piety and care in interpreting the Holy Scriptures, have advocated the opinion that the constitution of the Saviour's person was one of the sacred mysteries shadowed forth in Adam as a type of him. And we think the fo llowing statements on this subject, to say the least, go far towards evincing the correctness of this sentiment.* 1. Then why may we not consider Adam's formation as emblematical of our Lord's miraculous conception? For in both cases the power of God was exercised immediately, and human agency as much dispensed with in one case, as it necessarily *For what if it should be said that this sentiment is not directly affirmed in any part of the Scriptures? Admitting this to be the case, it may be remarked that neither do the Scriptures assert that Enoch's translation was a type of our Lord's ascention; or that the two birds used at the cleansing of the Leper, one of which was slain, and the other, when dipt in its blood, set at liberty, typified the death and resurrection of Christ; or that the blood and water with which the Leper was sprinkled, and the blood and oil with which he was anointed were emblematical of the cleansing of the soul by the blood and Spirit of Christ. We do not recollect that the Scriptures affirm that Isaac was a type of Christ; that his most extraordinary submission to his father, in permitting himself to be bound and laid upon the wood, and willingness to be put to death, were figurative of the Saviour's willingness to suffer and die; or that the wonderful love the Patriarch evinced in not was in the other. And it will readily be admitted, when both his natures are taken into the account, and likewise the wonderful properties and excellencies of each, that Adam's creation displayed in a very extraordinary manner the wisdom, power, and other attributes of the infinite God. Still more gloriously, however, were the excellencies of the divine nature expressed in the formation of his humanity, who did not abhor the virgin's womb.' * 2. Thus formed, Adam was without father and without mother; and we know to whom the Apostle applies this language. But not to dwell here, let us remind you, that thus formed, the progenitor of us all was, in a sense peculiar to himself, the Son of God, as the scriptures call him. But let us remember, that as the Scriptures so frequently apply this title to the Saviour, so are witholding his son, his only son, was a type of 'God's so loviug the world as to give his only begotten son.' Neither do the Scriptures say that Joseph was a type of Jesus; or that the effect of casting Jonah into the sea, viz. the calming of the tempest, was an emblem of God's wrath being assuaged by the death of Christ. And very much besides respecting the types is scarcely, that we are aware of, by any competent judge of such matters, disputed; although unsupported by any distinct inspired testimony. It does not seem, therefore, that the absence of such testimony is a valid objection to Adam's being a type of Christ's person. We have the authority of inspiration for believing that our common parent was a type of the everlasting Father; as to the rest, analogy, together with the light of truth, must be our guide. * Heb. vii. we therein most clearly taught that Jesus is the Son of God, in senses much more peculiar to himself and glorious than was Adam, or are angels, or any creature.* Again-Adam, so to speak, was a new thing in the earth, there being no creature exactly like him in the universe, He was raised above all the other creatures in this lower world by the superiority of his nature-nay, he excelled all his numerous family, for he was created in the image of God, which shone resplendently in him. Even so Jesus, as the Prophet speaks, was 'a new thing in the earth.' But who, in respect of likeness to God, is to be compared to him, who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person.. II. Of the Saviour's dominion, we say, Adam was a type. Adam was lord of all below.† For thou hast made him,' says the Psalmist, 'a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas, Psa. viii. 3, &c., which compared with Heb. ii. 6-9, seem to teach us to apply what is said of the primeval sovereignty of human nature in the person of Adam, to that Psa. ii. 12. John v. 17-23, and x. 30-38. Heb. i. 2-8 |