The Last Adam

1 Corinthians 15:45 - "So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

When we think of Adam we think of beginnings. Adam was the first man, the beginning of the human race. In 1 Corinthians 15 Christ is introduced to us as the "Last Adam" or the "Second Adam." As Adam was the beginning of the human race so Christ is the beginning of a new race. There are only two races, those who belong to Adam and those who belong to Christ, the Second Adam. Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and back in Romans chapter 5 Adam and Christ are compared and contrasted. There are similarities between the two and there are also vast differences. In comparing the two Adams side by side we gain a greater appreciation and a fuller understanding of Christ and His work on our behalf.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 the apostle Paul is presenting a case for the resurrection and how everything in our Christian belief hinges on this one essential truth. And twice in his argument he mentions Adam. After presenting some proofs of the resurrection and stating the utter futility and hopelessness of the Christian faith apart from the resurrection, we read in verses 20-22 - "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive." Immediately we see a contrast between the first Adam and the Last Adam. Death came through Adam, resurrection came through Christ. In Adam all die, in Christ all will be made alive. A contrast between life and death. Later on in the chapter the two Adams are presented again, only this time it's not concerning life and death but life and life. That is, physical life and spiritual life.1 Corinthians 15:45-49 - "So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly." Adam became a living soul, Christ became a life giving spirit. The natural is first, the spiritual is second. The first man is from earth, the second man is from heaven.
Why is it important that we know the Lord as the Last Adam? The Lord intentionally revealed Himself to us using this name, but why? As Adam is the beginning of the earthly race so Christ is the beginning of the heavenly race. This is vital. If we were going to bear the image of the heavenly than we needed an Adam to go before us and make this possible. Every human being is born into Adam. The progenitor of the human race sinned and therefore plunged the entire race into sin. Romans 5:12 - "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." The wages of sin is death, therefore, in Adam all die. So by default we are subject to death. We are born in Adam and in Adam all die. We cannot go back and be unborn, so we have a problem. Here we are, brought into the world through Adam with no say in the matter, subject to death and with no way of going back remedy our condition. So what are we to do? We need another Adam. We need someone who is not infected with the hereditary cancer of sin to begin a new race and provide a way for us to enter in to that race which is not subject to death. And it's not enough that the Second Adam would simply start all over again with a new sinless race. In other words, suppose that God just decided to wipe out all of mankind and start all over again, forming man from the dust and breathing into his nostrils the breathe of life. That might be well and good for everyone born into that line, but what about us? We've already been infected by sin. It might be fine to start over again, but it wouldn't do us any good. And furthermore, another Adam made in the same way that the first one was could potentially plunge the entire race into the same predicament. We need an Adam, someone who can start a new race, but who is like us, sin apart, and who can enable us to enter into his line. We need someone to be born into Adams line and yet somehow avoid inheriting Adams sin nature. This person would also have to be God because God alone can impart life. How was God going to accomplish this? Through the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The more I learn of Gods plan of salvation the more amazing I realize it is. This is phenomenal. This is ingenious. The plan of salvation is so vast, only the mind of God could conceive it.

Think about the beginning of Adams life and the beginning of our Lords earthly life. Adam had no earthly parents. Genesis 2:7 tells us that "the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Adam had no parents. He was formed from the dust by the hand of God. And yet, there is an interesting verse at the end of Luke chapter 3. In Luke chapter 3 we're given the genealogy of Jesus Christ and this genealogy traces all the way back to Adam. The end of the genealogy reads as follows in Luke 3:38 - "the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God." Adam had no earthly father or mother but he is called the son of God. When we consider the beginning of the earthly life of our Lord Jesus it also had special circumstances surrounding it. The Second Adam did not simply descend to earth from heaven. He was born into this world, but just like the first Adam, Christ had no earthly father. The virgin birth of the Lord Jesus is key in all of this. When the angel appeared to Mary to tell her the news that she was the chosen servant through whom God was going to bring the Messiah, she questioned how she could have a baby since she was a virgin. And Gabriel responded in Luke 1:35 by saying - "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God." Do you see the similarities between these two beginnings? Because of the Lords special involvement in their earthly beginnings, both Adam and Christ are referred to as "the son of God." And yet we know that the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus, is far superior to the first Adam because He is not only the Son of God, but he is also God the Son. And it was only through a virgin birth that the Lord Jesus could be born a descendant of Adam and yet avoid inheriting Adams sin. Sin is past down from father to children from generation to generation. Since Adam had no earthly father he inherited no sin nature. And since He did have a human mother He was able to be like us, to take on flesh and blood like we have and to trace His lineage back to Adam like we can. So God entered into Adams race in order that He might save human beings from the consequences of Adams sin and make them a part of a new race. He entered the old race while at the same time becoming the initiator of a new race. 

"So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

How did the first Adam become the beginning of the human race? By becoming a living soul. How did he become a living soul? God breathed into him the breath of life. He had no life in himself, he needed God to breathe life into him. How did the Last Adam becoming the beginning of a new race? How did the Last Adam become a life-giving spirit? By stepping into Adams shoes and yielding up His breathe. Luke 23:46 - " And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last." Christ was completely sinless. The wages of sin is death, but Christ, being free from sin, was not subject to death. And yet He died anyway. In His death on the cross Christ paid the wages of sin, but since He was sinless death could not hold Him. The Last Adam arose victorious over the grave, He conquered death paying the sin penalty for us, and since He lives He is able now to impart His life to us. The first Adam was made alive, the Last Adam makes alive. We are first physical and second spiritual. So the answer to our sin problem is not to be unborn but to be born again. We have been born into Adam and in Adam all die. The way out is to be born again, to be born into Christ because in Christ all shall be made alive. That was the theme of Christs conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3 - "Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and 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. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”" How are we to be born again? "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." You are either in Adam or you are in Christ. In Adam all die, in Christ all shall be made alive. In Adam means condemnation, in Christ means salvation. In Adam means eternal death, in Christ means eternal life. Christ has taken care of the problem of death. The wages of sin is death, but Christ solved this for us. By being born of a virgin He shared our humanity without being tainted by our sin. The only human being who never sinned was killed. He paid the wages of sin which He didn't owe and therefore death could not hold Him. And since He paid the debt by the sacrifice of Himself all those who come to Him and are born again into Christ can pass from death into life, from Adam into Christ. "The last enemy that will be abolished is death." 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 - "For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Romans 5:14-19 - "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."

Christ Our Passover

1 Corinthians 5:7 - "For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed."

The title of the Lord Jesus given in 1 Corinthians 5:7 is "Christ our Passover." What does it mean that Christ is our Passover? Maybe we should begin with the more basic and foundational question, what is Passover? For anyone familiar with their Old Testament, the word "Passover" will take you back in your thinking to Exodus chapter 12. The Passover is a Jewish feast that the Lord instituted back in Exodus chapter 12 that is still practiced by the Jews to this day.

In the book of Exodus the Lord came to Moses and told him that He was going to deliver His people from their captivity in the land of Egypt, and in His deliverance of His people God was going to demonstrate to the Egyptians His great power through many signs and wonders. As Pharaoh refused to let Israel go the Lord began to bring plagues on the land of Egypt, one after another, showing Gods power over all creation. Exodus chapters 7 through 10 give us the details of nine plagues that the Lord brought upon Egypt. From the water being turned to blood, to insect infestations, to bodily disease, to hail, to complete darkness, the Lord demonstrated His great power in the land of Egypt. But even after all of this Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go. So we read in Exodus 11:1 - "Now the Lord said to Moses, "One more plague I will bring on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will surely drive you out from here completely."" And in chapter 12 the Lord begins to introduce what He refers to as "the Lords Passover."

Exodus 12:3-13 - "Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers’ households, a lamb for each household. Now if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his neighbor nearest to his house are to take one according to the number of persons in them; according to what each man should eat, you are to divide the lamb. Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire. Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover." This sacrificial lamb described in this passage is called "the Lords Passover." The Lord goes on in verses 12-13 to give the reason why this lamb is called, "the Passover." - "For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt." So Moses instructed the children of Israel just as the Lord commanded him. Exodus 12:21-23 - "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.""

Previously we have looked at the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God and also as the Door. In this title, our Passover, both of these titles of the Lord Jesus are brought together. The Lord was passing through the land of Egypt killing all the firstborn, but, as we often see, the Lord provided a way of salvation. The Lord provided a substitutionary sacrifice that through its death any who obeyed His instructions might be saved. They were saved by the blood of the Lamb, but in order for that blood to save they had to apply it to the door and then enter in. Christ is both the Lamb, the substitutionary sacrifice by whose blood we are saved, and He is the Door through whom we enter.

There were several requirements that the Passover lamb had to meet. It had to be a male of the first year, in the prime of its life. Christ was also sacrificed in the prime of life. Not as a youth who had not yet come into the height of manhood, nor yet as an aging man whose strength was diminishing. Christ was scarified in the height of His human life.

The Passover lamb had to be unblemished. No defects, no wounds, no spots, no blemishes, the lamb had to be perfect. So Christ our Passover, 1 Peter 1 tells us, was "unblemished and spotless." This not referring to His outward appearance necessarily, but rather to His person and character. The Lord Jesus is perfect, holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners.

The Passover lamb was not to have any of its bones broken. When the Lord Jesus was on the cross in between two thieves, the Jews asked Pilate that the legs of Jesus and the two thieves might be broken in order that their bodies might not remain on the cross during the feast of Passover. Because of the way that crucifixion works, having their legs broken would cause them to die by suffocation. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two thieves, but coming to Jesus they saw that He was already dead. No one had taken His life from Him, He laid it down of His own initiative. Having cried out in a loud voice He gave up His spirit, and now, seeing that He was already dead, they didn't break His legs, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, "Not a bone of Him shall be broken."

Even in the timing of His death the Lord Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the Passover. It was on the day of preparation for the Passover that the Lord Jesus was crucified. We read in John 19:14-16 - "Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” So they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified." It was during the feast of Passover, when throughout the land of Israel the Jews were killing the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus was crucified. It was at this very time that all these lambs were being killed that the Lord Jesus, our Passover, was being put to death.

1 Corinthians 5:7 - "For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed."

All the Old Testament sacrifices were unable to take away sin. The book of Hebrews deals with this to a large extent. Since Christ was sacrificed once for all He completed what all those Old Testament sacrifices were pointing to. Does this mean that everyone is saved because Christ our Passover has been sacrificed? Think about the first Passover back in Exodus 12. Just because the Passover was killed was everyone saved? No. They had to apply the blood to the door and enter in. It wasn't enough to have one or the other, both were essential. Seeing Christ as our Passover gives us great insight into His sacrifice for us, but it also tells us that there must be a response from us. He isn't automatically "our Passover." He is the Passover Lamb, but He must become my Passover.

The Lord didn't want His people to forget the way that He had saved them in the land of Egypt so He set up the feast of the Passover as a yearly reminder. He says in Exodus 12:24 - "And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever." So here's a question, do we as Christians celebrate the Passover? The answer that we might expect is no. And the thinking goes that the Lord Jesus has fulfilled what all the Old Testament sacrifices and feasts point to, so we forsake these Old Testament rites and cling to Christ. And that's true. However, there is a sense in which we as believers are to celebrate the Passover, and that is what the apostle Paul is talking about in the immediate context of 1 Corinthians 5. The letter of First Corinthians is largely a letter of correction, and in chapter 5 the apostle is addressing the issue of sin in the local church. The Corinthian believers were not only tolerating sin in the local body but, strange as it may seem, they were actually boasting about it. And in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Paul writes - "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." It's in this context of cleaning out sin, purging evil in the body of Christ, that the Lord Jesus is introduced to us as our "Passover." And we're exhorted here to "Celebrate the feast... with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." One of the things that the Lord emphasized time and again when giving instructions concerning the Passover was that leaven was not to have any part of it. Bread was a part of the Passover, but it had to be unleavened bread. Bread was a part of the instituted feast, but the Lord emphasized that it was to be unleavened bread. And not only were they commanded not to eat anything leavened during this time, but leaven was not even to be found in the territory of Israel. We read in Exodus 13:6-7 - "For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders." And the consequences for the neglect of this command were severe, Exodus 12:15 - "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel."The Lord gives no specific reason for this command, He simply says don't do it. There is nothing inherently bad about leaven, however, in the Word of God leaven often represents sin. That doesn't mean that every time we see this word we should automatically associate it with sin, but in this case we certainly should. Scripture interprets Scripture, and in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 the apostle Paul is pointing back to the Passover in Exodus 12 and saying that just as leaven didn't have any place among Israel after the Passover had been sacrificed, so sin doesn't have any place among the church since Christ our Passover had been sacrificed.

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Just as leaven works in a lump of dough, sin works in the church. Sin in the body of Christ will spread and defile every part. No believer sins in isolation. We are all intimately connected to one another through Jesus Christ our head. Therefore when sin is in one member all the other members are directly affected. So we're told, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened." We are to purge out sin in the church in order that we might become in practice what we are in reality. In reality we are unleavened, when God the Father looks at us He considers us sinless, not because we are but because we have been bought with the blood of Christ. Our sin has been applied to Christs account and His righteousness has been applied to ours. So when God looks at us He sees Christ. That is what is true of us. But the doctrine of sanctification is becoming in practice what we are in reality. So this passage says, since we are unleavened, let's get rid of any leaven that might be among us. Let's become in practice what we are in reality. 

"For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." We are to follow the Biblical pattern. Before the Passover was sacrificed the Jews were to get rid of any leaven. Christ our Passover has already been sacrificed, therefore it is inconsistent that the leaven of sin should remain among us. Get rid of any sin and celebrate Christ our Passover by living lives of sincerity and truth. This is the natural progression presented in the New Testament. You put off the old and put on the new. Ephesians 4:22-23 says - "that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." Put off the old leaven of sin and put on the new lump of sincerity and truth. Colossians 3:5-10 - "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him."

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 - "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."