Jesus, the Life Giver

“And so it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul," the last Adam was a life-giving Spirit.” (1Corinthians 15:45)

This Scripture exemplifies the difference in the two types of people on this earth. We are all born of the first Adam and inherit his nature. “Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned: for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” (Romans 5:12-13)

The first Adam is a living soul. The soul is the mind, will and emotions. There is no mention of the spirit in the first Adam because the spirit is dead due to sin. And those who are like the first Adam inherited his dead spirit. “The first man was out of earth, earthy; the second Man was the Lord from Heaven. Such the earthy man, such also the earthy ones. And such the heavenly Man, such also the heavenly ones. And according as we bore the image of the earthy man, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.” (1Corinthians 15:47-49) And the heavenly ones are those who follow Christ. They are heavenly as the Lord is heavenly. 

The earthy man cannot know God. Its tendency is toward sin. Even if that soul wanted to depart sin, it can’t. It is condemned already. Along with the Scripture that is the basis of the Gospel is the Scripture that tells us this soul is condemned. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes on Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18) The unbeliever is condemned already.

But thanks be to God, the last Adam is Jesus Who put to death the old man of all who believe in Him. When that dead old man is dead, we were resurrected with Jesus to life and born again of the Spirit of God, a new creation. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) This is demonstrated in following Christ in baptism.  “So that if anyone is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2Corinthians 5:17) The born-again person has a spirit that is alive, born of God and with the nature of God. This spirit doesn’t want to sin. It loathes sin. And when the flesh rears up and sins, the living spirit of this person is very uncomfortable and craves the fellowship of the Lord more than the sin. With the help of the Holy Spirit, this spirit is reconciled to the Lord by repenting and renouncing this sin in the flesh. With the Holy Spirit’s help, it never will return to that sin again, gaining victory over the flesh. This work of the Holy Spirit is changing the person more and more into the image of Christ. “But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.” (2Corinthians 3:18)

The unbeliever is like the first Adam, earthy, sinful and condemned. The believer in Jesus is like the last Adam and has received life from Jesus. “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) This abundant life is for living here on earth and for eternity. Jesus told Martha, “...I am the Resurrection and the Life! He who believes in Me, though he die, yet he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) Though we die here on earth, we will live for eternity.