We have seen in our previous study, that the eighth Psalm is concerned with “The secrets of the Son”, and we therefore compare its teaching with the exposition and development of “the Mystery of Christ” as set forth in the epistles of Paul, THE steward of the mysteries or secrets of the New Testament.
(1) “O LORD our Lord.” Here two Divine titles are used, namely “Jehovah” and “Adonai”. These are employed in Psa. cx. 1 “The LORD said unto my Lord” which fact the Saviour Himself referred to, to substantiate His claim to deity as we see in Matt. xxii. 41-46. Further, just as we have seen Psalms viii. and xlv. are quoted in Heb. i. and ii., so we read in Psa. cx. “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool”, a passage also quoted in Heb. i. concerning “The Son”; and incidentally providing another means of identifying “The enemy and the avenger” of Psa. viii. It is manifest that Psa. viii., not only looks back to the first Adam but forward to the second man, the last Adam, and so provides a basis for the mystery of godliness, namely that God was manifest in the flesh (I Tim. iii. 16), another aspect of “The secret of the Son”.
(2) Another facet of this great mystery is the twofold excellency of His name and glory “in all the earth”, “above the heavens”. This, too, we shall find is enlarged upon by Paul in Eph. iv.
(3) The reference to “babes and sucklings” suggests that we are in the presence of one of the mysteries of the Scriptures, for this passage is quoted in Matt. xxi. 16, the babes and sucklings recognizing the Son of David, the leaders of the people being blind. There is also a particular reference in Matt. xi. 25, where in the consciousness of His rejection by Israel, the Son of God said “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes”. In more than one epistle the Apostle has echoed this truth in reference to the mysteries and secrets of the Scripture.
(4) “What is man that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” Here the stoop from heaven’s highest glory to man’s lowly estate is indicated—a blessed aspect of “The Secrets of the Son”.
(5) The twofold relationship of the Saviour with the Angels, “a little lower” in Heb. ii., “above” in Heb. i., is suggested here in Psa. viii.
(6) “Thou hast put all things under His feet.” This, as we have observed is interpreted by the Apostle in I Cor. xv., Heb. ii. and Eph. i., of the universal sovereignty of the ascended Christ.
As a proof that he had received by revelation THE MYSTERY, the apostle Paul drew attention to his knowledge in the associated “Mystery of Christ” (Eph. iii. 4). This mystery had been the theme of many an O.T passage, but reached its zenith in the revelation made to and through Paul. The double exaltation “in the earth” and “above the heavens” is expounded by Paul in Eph. iv. 9, 10 “Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things”.
We have long seen and taught that the mystery of Rom. xvi. 25-27 looks to the inner teaching of Romans, namely v. 12 - viii. 39 where Adam is introduced, and with Psa. viii. before us we begin to see that the whole mystery of Christ looks back to Adam also. Here are some of the outstanding foreshadowings.
(a) The first man Adam, who was of the earth earthy, set forth in mystery or in type the second man, the last Adam Who was from heaven. Adam was “natural” or “soul-ish”, Christ was a life giving spirit. The name Adam is reflected in the word likeness, which is the Hebrew demuth, the letters DM being common to both words, a feature not so obvious in English as it is in Hebrew. Christ is the image of the invisible God, and Adam was created in that image. In these features, the mystery of Christ most evidently looks back to Adam.
(b) The whole argument of Rom. v. 12-21 revolves around the fact that both Adam and Christ are Representative Heads of a seed. “The offence of ONE” and “ONE man’s disobedience” is a foreshadowing of “the righteousness of ONE” and “the obedience of ONE”, a truth which finds expression also in I Cor. xv., where we read “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”, the image of the earthy being exchanged for the image of the heavenly.
(c) The promised seed of the woman finds its fulfillment in Christ and His seed, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. xvi. 20).
The more therefore we can learn of the true position and purpose of Adam’s creation, the more shall we enter into the “secrets of the Son” and “the mystery of Christ”, and the more we appreciate the mystery of Christ, the better shall we be prepared to understand the mystery of the present dispensation. The fact that Adam sinned and involved all his seed in death, adds to the problem, but redemption, justification and forgiveness, blessed as they are, do not remove the initial disability of “flesh and blood” unfallen though it was at the beginning. Adam by creation, and apart from sin altogether could not inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor. xv. 50), and so the problem still remains—Why were the elect brought into existence “in Adam” even in unfallen Adam? That there must be an all sufficient reason the fact that God is “the only wise God” makes clear, but we must exercise further patience as we search the Scriptures and look to the Divine Author for fuller light.
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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 37, page 115).
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(2) Another facet of this great mystery is the twofold excellency of His name and glory “in all the earth”, “above the heavens”. This, too, we shall find is enlarged upon by Paul in Eph. iv.
(3) The reference to “babes and sucklings” suggests that we are in the presence of one of the mysteries of the Scriptures, for this passage is quoted in Matt. xxi. 16, the babes and sucklings recognizing the Son of David, the leaders of the people being blind. There is also a particular reference in Matt. xi. 25, where in the consciousness of His rejection by Israel, the Son of God said “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes”. In more than one epistle the Apostle has echoed this truth in reference to the mysteries and secrets of the Scripture.
(4) “What is man that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” Here the stoop from heaven’s highest glory to man’s lowly estate is indicated—a blessed aspect of “The Secrets of the Son”.
(5) The twofold relationship of the Saviour with the Angels, “a little lower” in Heb. ii., “above” in Heb. i., is suggested here in Psa. viii.
(6) “Thou hast put all things under His feet.” This, as we have observed is interpreted by the Apostle in I Cor. xv., Heb. ii. and Eph. i., of the universal sovereignty of the ascended Christ.
We have long seen and taught that the mystery of Rom. xvi. 25-27 looks to the inner teaching of Romans, namely v. 12 - viii. 39 where Adam is introduced, and with Psa. viii. before us we begin to see that the whole mystery of Christ looks back to Adam also. Here are some of the outstanding foreshadowings.
(a) The first man Adam, who was of the earth earthy, set forth in mystery or in type the second man, the last Adam Who was from heaven. Adam was “natural” or “soul-ish”, Christ was a life giving spirit. The name Adam is reflected in the word likeness, which is the Hebrew demuth, the letters DM being common to both words, a feature not so obvious in English as it is in Hebrew. Christ is the image of the invisible God, and Adam was created in that image. In these features, the mystery of Christ most evidently looks back to Adam.
(b) The whole argument of Rom. v. 12-21 revolves around the fact that both Adam and Christ are Representative Heads of a seed. “The offence of ONE” and “ONE man’s disobedience” is a foreshadowing of “the righteousness of ONE” and “the obedience of ONE”, a truth which finds expression also in I Cor. xv., where we read “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive”, the image of the earthy being exchanged for the image of the heavenly.
(c) The promised seed of the woman finds its fulfillment in Christ and His seed, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. xvi. 20).
The more therefore we can learn of the true position and purpose of Adam’s creation, the more shall we enter into the “secrets of the Son” and “the mystery of Christ”, and the more we appreciate the mystery of Christ, the better shall we be prepared to understand the mystery of the present dispensation. The fact that Adam sinned and involved all his seed in death, adds to the problem, but redemption, justification and forgiveness, blessed as they are, do not remove the initial disability of “flesh and blood” unfallen though it was at the beginning. Adam by creation, and apart from sin altogether could not inherit the kingdom of God (I Cor. xv. 50), and so the problem still remains—Why were the elect brought into existence “in Adam” even in unfallen Adam? That there must be an all sufficient reason the fact that God is “the only wise God” makes clear, but we must exercise further patience as we search the Scriptures and look to the Divine Author for fuller light.
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(From The Berean Expositor, vol. 37, page 115).
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