Jesus is the federal head of His elect. As in Adam, every heir of
flesh and blood has a personal interest, because he is the covenant
head and representative of the race as considered under the law of
works; so under the law of grace, every redeemed soul is one with the
Lord from heaven, since He is the Second Adam, the Sponsor and
Substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love. The apostle Paul
declares that Levi was in the loins of Abraham when Melchizedek met
him: it is a certain truth that the believer was in the loins of
Jesus Christ, the Mediator, when in old eternity the covenant
settlements of grace were decreed, ratified, and made sure for ever.
Thus, whatever Christ hath done, He hath wrought for the whole body
of His Church. We were crucified in Him and buried with Him (read
Col. 2:10-13), and to make it still more wonderful, we are risen with
Him and even ascended with Him to the seats on high (Eph. 2:6). It is
thus that the Church has fulfilled the law, and is "accepted in the
beloved." It is thus that she is regarded with complacency by the
just Jehovah, for He views her in Jesus, and does not look upon her
as separate from her covenant head. As the Anointed Redeemer of
Israel, Christ Jesus has nothing distinct from His Church, but all
that He has He holds for her. Adam's righteousness was ours so long
as he maintained it, and his sin was ours the moment that he
committed it; and in the same manner, all that the Second Adam is or
does, is ours as well as His, seeing that He is our representative.
Here is the foundation of the covenant of grace. This gracious system
of representation and substitution, which moved Justin Martyr to cry
out, "O blessed change, O sweet permutation!" this is the very
groundwork of the gospel of our salvation, and is to be received with
strong faith and rapturous joy.
