Adam v2.0
Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Universe, became a man and represented all of mankind just as Adam did. Without diminishing the glory of our God and Creator, we will be speaking of Him as a human being and comparing Christ to Adam as necessary. The gospel declares that Christ bore the sin of the world in His body as He died on the cross. By rising from the dead, Christ has become the First and Head of the New Creation! The natural race is doomed because of sin and death; the new creation has begun with Christ. The title, Last Adam, signifies the end of the natural race and the beginning of the new spiritual creation. This characterization embraces the conclusion that Christ fulfills all that Adam failed to achieve. The Apostle Paul compares the first men of their respective creations in this way, “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Just as humanity originally bore similarity to Adam, we now have the opportunity to become part of a new creation! Adam was the first of the natural creation and Christ is the first of the new (spiritual) creation. The problem with the original creation is sin and death; all that remains associated with the natural creation is under divine condemnation. The good news of the gospel is that God sent Christ to pay the full redemption price to free us from sin and death! We will extend this fundamental doctrine with a brief comparison and a close look at the relevant Scripture.
God’s authority has established both Adam and Christ as extraordinary men whose actions affect the entire race (1 Corinthians 15:22). Adam was a pattern of the One to come; Christ came and fulfilled all that Adam failed to achieve and more!
Adam was created. He came from the earth. He disobeyed God. His sin caused a spiritual gap between mankind and God. He transmitted his sin nature to his descendants. His sin resulted in physical death for all men. He lost his dominion over the earth. He returned to the earth from which he was formed, and his tenure as a representative for mankind ended.
Christ was the Creator. He came from heaven. He obeyed God. He paid the penalty for man’s sin. He redeemed mankind from sin and death. He returned to heaven. He will come back and reign over the earth (as was intended for Adam). He will reign as King in The Eternal Kingdom of God.
Let us return to the main text from the Apostle Paul:
“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
“Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:12-19).
In this key passage of Scripture, the Apostle clearly states that all people have sinned. He associates sin with judgment, condemnation, and death. Fortunately the gift comes by grace, which means it is undeserved; therefore, it is accessible to all people! The source of the gift is identified as God and Jesus Christ. The words associated with the gift are righteousness, justification, and life. He states that those who receive the gift will reign in life through Jesus Christ! For this gift to be valid, Christ became obedient to death for the forgiveness of sin and God raised Him to life for justification; the gospel of our salvation! (cf. Philippians 2:6-8; Romans 4:25; Ephesians 1:11-14).
Next Section: The Necessity of the Death of Christ
Table of Contents: The Last Adam
Text for this post has been borrowed from my Kindle eBook The Last Adam (Book 1 of the Grace and Knowledge Series), by Brother Woody Brohm. Copyright 2012.
I’ve included the full text of the book on this blog and you are free to read the book in this format if you please. Just follow the Next Section Link or view the Table of Contents to skip to wherever you prefer.
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.