In the midst of God’s magnificent work of creation, He did one thing, which beyond all others, would alter the destiny of all creation. He made one proclamation that would give Satan the greatest opportunity to slander his Holy name, and yet would bring him the greatest glory possible. God said “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” The all-powerful sovereign of all things thus elevated Adam and his seed to the pinnacle of his created order, and granted him the right to rule as regent over all His works. God purposed to rule his creation through a race of beings bearing his image, led by Adam, the Mediatorial King of creation. This turned out to be a disaster of cosmic proportions. We know the story well from our perspective: the fall, redemption, and eventual glorification. But let us consider the familiar narrative from God’s perspective, and discern the universal ramifications of these well-known events.
When God gave Adam the title deed to creation, he did not attach any conditions. God, who cannot lie, said that mankind would rule over his works, and the veracity of this contract is guaranteed by the character of God himself. Everything is God’s, but everything would be put under Adam’s feet, so says the unchangeable God. What an opportunity for Satan! He cannot stand against God directly, but man is a creature, by every measure weaker than himself. Satan tempted Adam, and Adam, the regent of the Most High, chose to follow Satan, not God. This was a revolution that encompassed all of creation and upset the entire universal order of God’s works. Man was appointed as the regent of God by an unchangeable decree, but now, by birth, by corrupted nature, and by choice, man now acts as the regent of Satan, fulfilling his will throughout creation. Man took the authority that God had given him, and turned it over to Satan. Adam did not merely trade his own soul for sin, he traded the entirety of the Kingdom of God, as do all his decedents to this day. God is left with a terrible dilemma: Does he allow Satan to rule over all his creation, accepting this diabolical revolution and compromising his own sovereignty, or does God revoke mankind’s mediatorial rule by fiat, breaking his word and compromising his verity. If God chooses either of those options, God is not who he says he is. Satan will be proved right: God is not who he says he is, God is not God. Because of this, the god of this world works his will in the world, ruling over the kingdoms of men as their overlord, and God can do nothing about it…or so Satan thought.
Over the millennia, Satan has ruled over creation in this manner, bowing only to the sovereign intervention of God himself. But God was not perplexed. He promised a seed of the woman would come and set all things right, making even more specific promises as time passed. Millennia passed, and Satan ruled over the earth. God, however, still spoke to men. An elect few always stood with God, rejecting Satan and choosing to exercise their faculties toward seeking the will of God. Abraham was raised, up, and the nation of Israel from him. They were a microcosm of the Kingdom of God that Adam’s descendants gave up: they were ruled by God through his appointed regents, and regulated by his revelation. This was also a colossal failure at first glance. Israel just couldn’t do it. They could not keep the law. Their leaders could not rule as God would have them rule. They were not the kingdom of priests God designed them to be. Again, Satan’s kingdom prospers while God’s limps on pathetically. Yet again, God promises that a son of David will come and perfectly rule over Israel as God designed all along. A king would come to rule over Israel, and all creation through Israel, taking the position that both David and Adam failed to live up to, the Mediatorial King of creation.
In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ, the God-Man was born to Mary Here was a true son of Adam and David, but more than a simple decedent, he was free of the sin and corruption of his fathers. He was a second Adam, a true man, free from sin, and able to stand as the representative of the entire race. As God, he is and always was the Divine Sovereign But as a real and complete man, he is able to lay claim to the title of Mediatorial King which was reserved for Adam’s race. Satan was not idle. He tempted the Christ, opposed him, and set his enemies and even his friends against him. Satan failed in every way, for this second Adam did not fall like the first Adam. He retained his perfect obedience and loving submission to God. Satan in the end even conspired to have this would be king murdered, but even death could not defeat the Christ of God. Rather, his death became the means of bringing many sons unto glory. Christ rose from the dead, defeating death, and sealing the sanctification of his chosen people. This second Adam, as the heir of Adam and David, fulfilled all the obligations of that role and claimed “all authority” for himself, as the Mediatorial King and as the Divine Sovereign Nor did he rise for himself, but for all his own people, being born through him unto spiritual life. Adam was the head of all his decedents through physical generation, but Christ, through his union to his people, became the head of a redeemed humanity who live in him. Finally, the created order is restored and the revolution has been crushed. God will rule all creation through his Mediatorial King, Jesus Christ, and a race of beings bearing his own image, the redeemed of the Lord. By the resurrection and ascension of this Man, the King of Glory has been revealed, and creation worships the wisdom of God by such a wonder.
One problem remains, “we see not yet all things put under him.” Christ declared his right to rule as the divine second Adam, but where is he? Where is the kingdom? Why are things still not under his reign? The King has come, the rebellion has been decimated, why do the rebels still rule? God, in his wisdom, has decreed that the time is not yet right for the final fulfillment of his Kingdom. For reasons known only to God, Satan is allowed to continue in the former manner, though his fate is now sealed and his days numbered. Men still claim their mediatorial authority of the first Adam, and still hand it over to Satan consistently, defying the Christ and scorning his rule. God is not disturbed though, in fact, according to Psalm two, he laughs! Let the heathen rage, God has set his King upon his holy hill of Zion, and his day is coming. The day will come when Christ returns, destroys the rebels that lift up their heads against him, and claims exclusive right to the Mediatorial Kingdom. He will fulfill every promise made to Adam and David in the fullest possible sense. All things will be made right, for the King will reign throughout the created universe.
We have a Christ who is King today, and we are translated into his Kingdom (Col 1:13). We live in a world that is under Satan’s dominion, for he still makes a mockery of God’s purpose by subverting men to his will. His are all the kingdoms of this world, though only for a season. But the Church of Jesus Christ is different, for we are united to Christ. We live in this world, and submit to the earthly, adamic authority of men for God’s sake, but our chosen King reigns over us in both body and spirit. We are the vanguard, living a kingdom life as subjects of the one King within a world that scorns his rule. We have no head but Christ, for we accept no mediatorial ruler but him. We have no loyalty but to Christ, for all earthly loyalties are vanity. We have no hope but in Christ, for every terrestrial hope will fail. We fear nothing but the displeasure of Christ, for none of Satan’s dogs can overcome our King. We go about this world proclaiming his gospel and his glory, seeking those who would be joined with Him as well, and exhorting them to repent and believe in Christ. As strangers, we must live in this world, and we share in its peace and distress, but it is not ours, nor does it excite our passions, for our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20—21). We go where he sends, confident that our King really has all authority in heaven and earth, and we act as his ambassadors, unashamed of our Christ and his gospel. We do this imperfectly, for we yet bear the flesh of our father Adam, but we long for the day when our sanctification shall be complete, and we stand blameless in him. We long for the day when we will see our King in his beauty and see all things put under him, and we will not be tempted to forsake this one great dream for any terrestrial replacement. We seek first and only the Kingdom of God, and the Lover of our souls, the Mediatorial King Jesus Christ. Even so come Lord Jesus.
