Two Adams

Excerpt from Battle for Your Mind

The gospels present the genealogy of Jesus. To Jews, their ancestry was important because they were linked to one of the twelve tribes. Often, they would express themselves as being of the line of such and such. For example, the Apostle Paul was of the line of Benjamin. With that as a background, consider that everyone is in the line of Adam; we are descendants of Adam in the flesh. Hence, Adam is considered the first Adam, so we are all children of Adam. Now Christ is the second Adam, so those who believe in Him become Jesus followers and are all the children of God.

Notice that our life in First Adam’s line began when we were born in the flesh with flesh and blood parents, but those born in the Second Adam’s line were born by the Spirit and have God as a parent. This means that both lines started with a birth. Clearly, these lines are distinctly different and separate.

The reason for spending time on the two Adams doctrine is to help see the big picture. Think of what God is doing as the big story, and your part and my part is a little story in the big story. Although our little story is only a small part of the big story, it is still very important to us because it is our story, and we live in it. Our little story is also important to God because all parts of the story are important to God and necessary for the story to be complete. Also, our little story is important to God because we are important to God. Remember, God loves us and cares for us. Now let’s look at the verse that explains the doctrine of the two Adams.

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. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:12-21).

The Scriptures tell us, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.” But the last Adam—that is, Christ—is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever (1 Corinthians 15:45-50 NLT)

Follow along as I recap the two Adams doctrine. The Lord gave Adam and Eve only one commandment: to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know that they disobeyed. The penalty for disobedience would be death. As we review the drama of that first sin, we remember that Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. They had a guilty conscience because they now knew both good and evil. The death that was experienced was immediate spiritual death, followed later by physical death.

There was a principle in the creation that each living creature was to increase or reproduce after their kind. This principle applied to Adam and Eve, so since they now were sinners their offspring would also be sinners. One of their sons became a murderer. The result is that all the descendants of Adam and Eve have been born sinners and would experience physical death. Their descendants would also experience the effects of the curse. Adams would experience resistance from his labor efforts, and Eve would have pain in childbirth and be subject to her husband. Adam’s line results in Adamliness.

We do not have to look too far to see evidence of a sinful nature. If we are honest, we can easily see it in ourselves. We can see it in others and certainly in the daily news and the record of human history. The sinful nature manifests early. Small children just learning to talk will defy their parents’ authority with a strong “no”. They will grasp some object and determinedly pronounce it, “mine”.

A.W. Tozer in The Knowledge of the Holy summarizes:

Yet the change is deeper and more basic than any external act can reveal, for it includes also the reception of the life of another and a higher quality. The old man, even at his best, possesses only the life of Adam: the new man has the life of God. And this is more than a mere manner of speaking; it is quite literally true. When God infuses eternal life into the spirit of a man, the man becomes a member of a new and higher order of being (page 58).

However, Jesus was not born of Adam’s line. He was not born a sinner. His father was the Holy Spirit. His mother was a virgin, and this is important. Therefore, those born again of the line of Jesus can be partakers of His line. We wonder, how is this possible? It is possible because the death-producing sin factor has been removed. After all, Jesus paid for that sin on the cross. Jesus tasted death for everyone.

What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9 NLT).

Born-again Jesus followers now experience the after its kind principle of being after Jesus’ kind. The Holy Spirit in Jesus followers is producing Godliness.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™