The First Adam And The Last Adam

The First Adam and the Last Adam

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Romans 5:12

Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Romans 5:18-19

The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:45

Have you ever had a teacher who punished the whole class for something one person in the class did? It doesn’t feel fair, does it? Likewise, when we first confront the idea that we are all held accountable for Adam’s sin and are paying the price for it, we want to protest because it seems unfair. Why should we experience the consequences of his bad choice?

The truth is, we were all “in Adam” as his descendents. So in a way, when he sinned, it is as if we all sinned. His sin transformed his inner nature, and that sin nature has been passed on to us. We’re kidding ourselves to think that if we had been in Adam’s shoes we would have resisted temptation and made a better choice.

If we don’t think it is fair that Adam’s sin counts against us, then neither should we accept that Christ’s righteousness will work in our favor. But it does.

The good news is that what Christ has done through his obedience for all who are connected to him by faith is far greater than what Adam did through his disobedience for all who are connected to him by birth. In a deep and mysterious way, we were united to Adam in his sinning. But now we’ve been deeply and mysteriously united to Jesus so that his obedience has the final redeeming word in our lives.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

How were Adam and Jesus different? How were they similar?

What do those who stay “in Adam” (because they never become connected to Jesus through faith) receive through Adam’s disobedience?

What do all those “in Christ” receive through his obedience?