The Second Adam

The core of our Christian faith can be found in Eph 1: 3 (“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”) We have spiritual blessings as opposed to the material blessings that were promised under the old covenant. This doesn’t mean that the Lord will not supply all our needs (Phil 4: 19, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”) It just means that there is much more to life than just a daily concern for our material circumstances. If we have spiritual blessings in Christ nothing can take them away as Christ is more powerful than any other force in creation. This leads us to another aspect of Christ’s present work: the Lord Jesus Christ is the second Adam.

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.”

Before we can consider the second Adam we should look at the first Adam because he will give us context for this passage. Adam appears on the scene before he is a given a name (Gen 1: 26, 27, “And 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. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”). the Lord God used raw materials that He had already made to make the first man out of the dust of the earth (Gen 2: 7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) When the man was formed the Lord God breathed into his nostrils and he became a living soul. We read about living things before this in the Bible but this is the first time that we read about a soul. Even though the Lord God made many living creatures, He only breathed the breath of life into the creature that he had formed out of the dust of the earth. We also know that the Lord God created man in His own image.

The living things were commanded to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. The Lord made both man and woman and told them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth as well. This tells us that man was like the other living creatures in some ways but he was distinct in other ways. Man had a special role to play, he was to be the custodian of the garden (Gen 2: 15, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”)

Later we read that Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. This confirms the fact that man is different to all the other living creature that the Lord God made.

The second Adam, by comparison was made a quickening spirit. In Psalm 71 (v20, “Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.”) David, writing as an old man, perhaps during Absalom’s rebellion, put his trust in the Lord. He knew that the Lord would be the place where he could be strong and secure. He was afraid that the Lord had forsaken him but he knew that, after an extremely difficult time the Lord would quicken him again and bring him from the depths of the earth. We can learn from this that a quickening spirit is from God and will restore us to the place where we are no longer separated from the Lord.

In Gen 1: 2 we discover that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and the earth moved from being without form and void to the place where God saw everything that He had made and it was very good (Gen 1: 31). The last Adam, the quickening spirit will move us from a place of chaos and confusion to a place where there is perfect rest.

However, the natural must come before the spiritual. This reminds us of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was speaking to Nicodemus. He said, “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” (John 3: 5-7)

Spiritual birth is only available to those who have been born naturally. This means that spiritual birth is not available to angels or demons, it is not available to any of the other creatures that the Lord God made it is only available to man, whom God made in His own image.

Even though Adam was made from the earth, he had a special relationship with the Lord God. We can assume from Gen 3: 7, 8, (“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.”). That is was customary for the Lord God to walk with Adam and Eve in the garden. Otherwise, why did they cover themselves with leaves to hide their nakedness? They were obviously ashamed to be naked and didn’t want the Lord God to see them in that condition. 

This special relationship was marred when Adam and Eve sinned. Satan tempted them to doubt the Lord and they did. Part of the temptation was to be wise (Gen 3: 5, 6, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”) This false wisdom was about having the ability to define what was good and what was evil. After this tension was introduced into the world, the tension between godly wisdom and false wisdom.

The first Adam was made from the dust of the earth but his attitude also came from the earth. Even though Satan tempted Eve, Adam was close by because he was there to have his share of the fruit. After the temptation their attitude came from the earth rather than from the Lord. They wanted to be in control of their own destiny rather than following the Lord’s perfect plan.

Because the Lord is the Creator He is better than everything else that exists so the glory belongs to the Lord. This means that His wisdom is far superior to our wisdom. Earthly wisdom leads me to take the glory for myself while heavenly wisdom leads us to give the glory to God. 

Adam was fixed on the earth that he had marred but the Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven to deal with the problems that Adam caused on the earth. Even though Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world, the Bible makes it clear that every person is a sinner by choice (Rom 3: 23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”) so we can’t blame anyone else for our sin. In fact, one of the big issues related to sin is a desire to blame someone else rather than take the responsibility myself.

Anyone who wants to define good and evil for themselves will always be fixed in their earthly attitude and will follow the destiny of the earth. Anyone who accepts the wisdom that had come down from heaven will have their destiny tied to heaven.

The fruit of Adam’s sin came after he sinned. From that time the whole of creation had groaned and travailed since that time because sin was let loose in God’s perfect creation (Rom 8: 22, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”) Anyone who is born on the earth bears the image of this sin damaged earth. We were made in God’s image but we have chosen to sin so we also bear the image of the earth.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came to the earth, He came full of heavenly wisdom. He was able to glorify the Father’s name in all his actions (John 17: 4, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”)

The Lord Jesus Christ finished the work that the Lord sent Him to do. He was the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1: 29) When the Lord Jesus Christ was finished His work, the penalty demanded of sinners was fully paid and the Righteous Judge was satisfied with that work. (Compare 2 Tim 4: 8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”).

While the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, is finished and there is nothing left for us to do, the effects of His work are still evident to this day. People are being saved, somewhere in the world, every day. People who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are being kept every day (Jude 24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”) Every day, those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have hope (Rom 5: 1, 2, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”)

Exhortation: As long as the Lord Jesus Christ is alive in heaven everyone who believes in Him will enjoy the fruit of His work on the cross. Everyone who believes in Him has everlasting life. Everyone who believes in Him has a hope for the future. The first Adam left a legacy of earthly wisdom and the fruit of that choice for all to experience. The second Adam has left a legacy of heavenly wisdom for all who believe to experience now and forever. We can only inherit the heavenly benefits of heavenly wisdom because the second Adam is alive to guarantee them today.