The Last Adam

This is a good word from Steve Fleshman of the Lightwalkers BIBLE fellowship.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive… And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit… The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.” 1 Cor. 15:22, 45, 47

In these verses, we see a comparison of the only two original men; all mankind have descended / been born from Adam, but only those who have been born again are kindred to “the last Adam”. If we’re related to the first Adam only we’re already dead spiritually and we’ll die physically one day too; but if we’re reborn into a relationship with Christ by faith, we’ll “be made alive” now and forever! Since Rom. 5:14 says that Adam “…is the figure of him that was to come”; Adam was a type or pattern of Christ. Consider that both are called “the son / Son of God” (Lk. 3:38; Jn. 1:34); both were tempted in a garden (Gen. 3:6; Mt. 26:39), and both were offered forbidden fruit. Adam yielded to the temptation but Jesus rejected “wine” (Mk. 15:23); the implication is that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a vine tree and the forbidden fruit was grapes. Adam was commissioned to be “fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Gen. 1:28) with sons of God; Jesus gave a similar commission to his disciples (Mt. 28:18-20). Adam was also called to “subdue” the earth (Gen. 1:28) but failed; Christ will one day “subdue all things unto himself” (Php. 3:21). Both were given a “help meet / bride” to accomplish their mission; Eve for Adam and the church for Christ (Gen. 2:18; Eph. 1:22-23; 5:21-33; Rev. 21:9). Both got a hole in their side, out of Adam came a rib from which woman was formed (Gen. 2:21-23) and out of Christ came blood and water from which the church was formed (Jn. 19:34). In Gen. 5:2, God “called their Adam” (Eve’s identity was in Adam), which is why women take men’s last name in marriage today. This is also why, when a person gets saved, they are called “Christian”, i.e. they take on the name of Christ and their identity is now in him! After sinning, Adam was driven out of paradise, taking Eve with him (Gen. 3:23), Jesus entered into “paradise” after overcoming sin, taking the first member of his bride with him (Lk. 23:43). Adam had dominion over everything and lost it because of sin; Jesus remained sinless and won back dominion over everything (Col. 1:20). Because of his sin, Adam realized he was “naked” and went and “hid” (Gen. 3:6, 7), because Jesus was sinless, they stripped him and crucified him naked for all to see (Mt. 27:35). God planted the tree by which man sinned; man planted the tree / cross of Calvary. The tree by which man sinned was “pleasant” (Gen. 3:6) to the sight; the tree on which Jesus died was “cursed” (Gal. 3:13) and horrible to look upon. The tree by which man sinned was in the “midst” of the garden (Gen. 2:9), the tree of Calvary was in the “midst” of transgressors (Jn. 19:18). The fruit of the tree by which man sinned was forbidden to be eaten because it would bring forth death; the tree of Calvary is meant to be freely eaten of because it brings forth life! The serpent was “subtil” with Adam and Eve (Gen.3:1 – first mention in Old Testament), just as the chief priests, scribes, and elders tried to take Jesus by “subtilty” (Mt. 26:4 – first mention in New Testament). Satan enticed man to partake of the forbidden tree; Satan uses “any means” (2 Cor. 11:3) to keep man from partaking of the tree of Calvary. The name Adam means “red earth”, no doubt in reference to the dust he was made from, but the same Hebrew word is translated “dyed red” in context of the ram’s skins that covered the tabernacle (Ex. 26:14), which housed the ark of the covenant, i.e. the presence of God. So, skins dyed red / Adam; were used to house the presence of God / Christ! Friend, is Christ dwelling in your skin from Adam? If not, be instructed from another word translated from the same Hebrew word for Adam “red”, and be made “white” in Christ today...

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

Author Steve Fleshman, copyright © 2009, all rights reserved. You may copy this material or use it as long as it is not changed and this copyright, and author’s information is left intact. All scripture references are from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.