The Second Adam

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

The first Adam is the Adam that God made out of the dust of the earth. He is the one the Lord breathed life into and he became a living soul. “And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) From the very beginning we see the difference between the first Adam and the Second Adam that Paul is speaking about. The Second Adam of course is Jesus. The first Adam is of this world and created from the dust. And so are we. Psalms 100: 3 says, “... He has made us...” The Lord God formed us. “I will praise You; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are marvelous and my soul knows it very well.”  (Psalms 139:14) When the first Adam fell, God told him, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19) And so all mankind, when we die, return to the earth we are from.

But Jesus was not made from the earth. He was born of the Spirit of God. “And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you shall be called Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) Jesus was not made nor formed as man was made or formed. He didn’t come from the seed of man. God tells the serpent in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve fell from grace, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15) God doesn’t mention Adam as a ancestor of the “Seed” God will bring up to put an end to evil. He mentions the seed of a woman. Women do not have seed. This is God’s promise of redemption. This redemption will not come from a descendent of Adam, but of God. He will be divine. When Jesus died, His body did not return to the earth. His body resurrected. No body and no bones were found in the tomb, only the cloth in which He had been wrapped.

Our Scripture of study makes another distinction between the first and the Second Adam. The first Adam was made a living soul, but the Second Adam was a life giving Spirit. He is God. Only God can give life. And Jesus gives life, both on earth and eternally. On earth the life He gives is the spiritual life of knowing God, becoming God’s children, having God’s nature with God indwelling. This is an eternal being. Jesus came to make man a spiritual being who will live eternally with God. Now there is a question here about those who came before Jesus.  The Bible speaks about the righteous ones before Jesus. They are the ones who believed on, waited for the redemption of man and kept the Law. They didn’t go to a tortuous hell, but a place of peace waiting for the redemption. Jesus reveals this when He tells us of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus  who die and go to two different places. “And it happened that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich one also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, there is a great chasm fixed between you and us; so that they desiring to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they pass over to us from there.” (Luke 16:22-26) From this we gather that there were righteous ones of the Old Covenant who waited even in death for the coming redemption. These are the ones to whom Jesus preached the Gospel so that they would believe on Him and be born again of God (become children of God) and live eternally in heaven. “For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison...” (1Peter 3:18-19) He had to do it to free them from that place so that they could go to heaven. Jesus made it definite when He spoke to Nicodemus. “Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

And how do we know those Old Testament saints went to heaven? “Therefore He says, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men." (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same also as He who ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)” (Ephesians 4:8-10) This is a big discussion in Christian circles. Did Jesus go to hell and preach to the saints there? This Scripture clearly states that He did go to hell.  But understand that Sheol is different from the hell as we think of hell. It was a place divided into two sections with a great chasm between them. One part was a place of torment and the other of peace and comfort. The Old Testament saints could not go to heaven yet. There was no redemption for their sins. That is why Jesus went there to preach to those souls so they could believe, be saved and be born again.

We wonder about such things. We wonder about those who haven’t heard the Gospel. But God has it all covered. “ For the unseen things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being realized by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, for them to be without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) Instead of thinking of the unfairness that it seems, we should be more concerned that we live as Scripturally as possible for a person of this world, knowing that what we have difficulty with, Jesus can help us with whether in spirit, soul or body. And what things we cannot do Jesus did for us and we rely and trust in Him. All the questions we have about death and the hereafter are nothing to be worried about. God has it all under His control. Death is a solitary event. It’s a time that we come with our beliefs and our life like an open book revealed to us in Truth and to the Lord. It all comes to that point in time. There is no more excuse and nothing on this earth will matter anymore, except our relationship with the Second Adam, Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Let us pray:

Father God, how wonderful is Your wisdom and acts from the beginning of time in this world. I may wonder and think about what I cannot know. Help me to focus instead on Your amazing love and mercy that Your grace pours out on me. Help me to meditate on Your Truths. And help me to treasure what You do reveal to me. Your Truths are a pearl of great price that cannot be bought or gained in any way. It is a gift from You. Help me to treasure it in my heart and to guard it with all my being. Reveal Yourself to those who have not heard the Gospel whether through their stubbornness and rebellion or through external prohibition of family, community or government. Father, I pray that they could come to know the freedom from oppression of their souls from their sin and guilt. I pray that they would come to know the Only One they can solely rely on, the Lord Jesus. Lord, those of the times and worlds before me are gone. Their fate is sealed. I believe Father that You revealed Yourself to them because You are a just God and You love the world, past, present and future. Father I know Your Goodness, Your mercy and Your justice. You look at the heart of man and judge his intentions. You are merciful to those who are merciful, Good to those who do good and reveal Yourself to those who are seeking. I thank You my Lord and my God. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.