The New Adam

Truthfully, I think this is where Romans 5 (and 1 Corinthians 15, probably more explicitly) hit the concept of man fully alive more explicitly (we arrived round-about through suffering in our Bible study discussion, but I'd like to put that off for a little while).

We read:

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ... 18 Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

In this passage the relative consequences of Adam's sin and Christ's righteousness are examined. It is somewhat beyond the scope of my writing (and understanding) to discuss this exhaustively, the idea of federalism is important here. Both Adam and Christ represent the race (not as mere examples, contra some expositions of Pelagianism). Adam is a representative of fallen humanity—and his headship results only in death (Ro 5.12). But Jesus Christ, by contrast, is the representative of redeemed humanity, and his headship results in "justification of life." As we read in 1 Corinthians 15:

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

It is impossible to think of ourselves as "men fully alive" without first contemplating the "aliveness" (as it were) of Jesus Christ. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men." It is impossible, too, I think, to really think of our own life as somehow separate from his own. (So Paul writes in Galatians, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.")