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."