ESSAY ¶74. 173 representative. This has some difference in it from the former character, though in made respects they agree and coincide. Adam was the head of all his offspring, a common person and representative for them, but not so properly their surety in every sense. Christ is what Adam was; Rom. v. 14. 1 Cori xv. 47. Christ is not a common person or representative in his intercession or his advocateship, though he is properly a surety therein, for he has undertaken as a surety for us, to plead in the court of hea- ven, and to bring us off with safety and honour : But in his obe- dience, in his death, and his appearance for us_ in heaven, he is our common head and representative. Our salvation in this sense, may be called the gloryofGod; Rom. v. 2. We rejoice in. hope gf the glory of God: And it may be called eternal life. Both these describe the happiness which was promised to man upon his perfect obedience to the law at first ; Rom. ii. 10. and iii. 23. By sin, we are fallen short of the glory gf God; but we obtain by Jesus Christ salvation with eternal glory." In this sense Christ is our forerunner into hea- ven, and he, as our public representative, appears therefor us, and has taken up places or mansions in our name; Heb. vi. 20. We shall sit on his throne ; Rev. iii. 21. It is also called an in- heritance, and we are heirs of Gad, andjoint-heirs with Chuist; Rom. viii. 17. as we are one with him. Faith accepts of Christ as our common head, or great re- presentative, and gives us an interest in this salvation, by uniting us to Christ, and makingus one with him. Christ is the original Bon of God, and we are also the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus ; Gal. iii. 26. and thus we are co -heirs with Christ, he as the head, and we as the members ; and faith sàves us, as it has been called the bond of union between Christ and us. When we become believers in Christ, whatever was done to Christ as a head or a common person, is then applied to us, either in the right to it, or in the possession of it. Christ was justified from sin, that is, from all imputed `sin, at his resurrection, and when we become the seed of Christ by regeneration through faith, we are justified in him, much in the same manner as we were con- demned in Adam, that is, as soon as we become the sons of Adam by a natural birth : As there is no new actual and parti- cular sentence of condemnation passed upon us at our birth, but we fall under the general condemnation, when we become the sons of Adam ; so there is no new act of justification passed by God upon the creature at his regeneration or believing, but the word of God, which is his sentence, pronounces us justified at our faith, or our new birth ; and our condemnation is taken away as soon as we are in Christ. Rom. viii. 1. There is no condemna- tion now to them that are in Christ Jesus. VII. Another character which Christ sustains, is that of
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