Tuesday, April 13, 2010

April 13, 2010

"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! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the 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." Romans 5:15-17
One of the most significant theological truths of the Bible is one of the most overlooked. What am I referring to? The central importance of the First Adam and the Second Adam. I want to spend a couple of posts examining that.
We are all familiar with Adam. He is our ancestor.
The Second Adam is Jesus. Of course, we are familiar with Him but not in this context. He came, of course, to undo what the First Adam had done.
Let's consider some of the things they held in common:
1) They began life without a sinful nature.
Adam, of course, was created by God Who breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. So, he had a human nature but not a sinful nature. He had a will, but it was perfectly aligned with the will of God.
Jesus, the Second Adam, was born with a sinless nature due to the fact that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
2) They each had walked with God.
Adam in Eden and Jesus in Heaven.
3) They each had a human nature
Adam was created humanly divine, while Jesus was born divinely human.
4) They both were tempted by the devil.
Adam went seeking the temptation while the temptation came seeking Jesus.
That is where the positive comparisons end. The failure of the First Adam made it necessary for the Second Adam to come. What the First Adam did, the Second Adam came to undo. All that makes life difficult came through the failure of the First Adam. Any hope of escaping those difficulties came through the life and death of the Second Adam.
To properly understand the significance of why Jesus came and what He did you must fully understand the significance of the failure of the First Adam. To comprehend the awful destructiveness of sin you must understand the terrible cost it demanded of the Second Adam.
Why does this matter to you? It matters because unless you have received the Second Adam, Jesus, by faith you are still help captive to the destruction and the damnation of the First Adam. It matters because if you have accepted Christ as your Savior you will be in possession of both natures, the nature of Adam and the nature of Jesus. Therein lies the dynamic of temptation, the battle between two natures. Due to the Second Adam we have a chance to win that battle!
Slavery or salvation? Adam One or Adam Two? Victory or defeat? It's your choice!

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