JESUS; The Second (and the Last) Adam

Introduction: There are many titles given to Jesus in the New Testament, Such as, but not limited to, Messiah, Christ, Lord, Savior, The Son of Man, The Son of David, the Son of God, The Prophet, and The Lamb of God are some of the better known. These are all synonyms that point us to the multi-faceted mission, role, job that God has given Jesus in His plan to give eternal life to those who would accept that gift.

On the other hand, the description of Jesus as the Second Adam is the only title of Jesus that deals with his nature. He is the only truly human being, truly free to obey God or not to obey, that we know very much about. The only other truly human beings we know only a little about and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before they chose to disobey, Of most importance is that it is Jesus’ nature that made it possible for him to fulfill his mission as Lord and Savior.

A Very Early Creed

There is only one God,

And Jesus Christ is the only one

who can bring us to God.

Jesus was truly human,

And he gave himself to rescue all of us.

1 Timothy 2:5 (TEV)

Jesus was created by the Spirit of God in the womb of the virgin Mary who was a descendent of King David of Israel. Those facts qualify him to become the Christ, literally the anointed one, the Lord and Savior of the people who choose him as their Lord and to be the second Adam, the new beginning for the human race. And the last Adam since the next thing God is going to do in the plan of salvation is end this age. The time live in is our last chance

Adam, the first human being, was created by God who is Spirit and into whom God breathed “spirit.” Thus enabling God to communicate with Adam and his descendents in a way God does not communicate with His other animate creation. Adam was free to obey God and continue that relationship, or to disobey (rebel). Adam’s choice was to rebel. One of the consequences of that rebellion was that all descendents of Adam are born with his rebellious nature and are slaves to sin. We will rebel. The only question is when, where, how, with whom, etc. Another consequence is that Adam would die and we too are dying from the moment of our conception.

In spite of Adam’s rebellion, and in the face of the continued rebellion of all of his descendents, God did not abandon, or destroy, us humans but continued to serve as our Lord, Savior, and Protector through people He chose to use for that purpose. People like Noah, Moses, the Judges, the Kings like Saul, David, Solomon etc. and the Prophets like Elijah, Isiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. All of these people God used to shepherd His people but all of them had the rebellious nature inherited from Adam so not all went well. Eventually the Jewish people demanded a King like the nations around and not a Judge who ruled and protected only until his death and then the people would soon forget God’s having saved them from their enemies. Eventually God granted their request and started a dynasty with David, a man after God’s own heart, but, as with the nations around them, it soon devolved into a corrupt, oppressive, and often idolatrous rule. God decided that the time was right for Jesus to come as the perfect Savior and Lord of God’s people.

God tells us that our sin nature comes to us through the male, not the female, since Adam was responsible for Eve’s actions and so Jesus, in order to be the second Adam, the Savior and Lord, of the born of the Spirit, born again, human race had to be born of a virgin by the direct action of God’s Spirit, so that he was truly free, like the original Adam, to obey or disobey God. When Jesus obeyed God’s call to be immersed by John he was identified as God’s chosen one, i.e.Lord and Savior, a King like David, and equipped for that role by God’s Spirit coming upon him and remaining with him. Jesus, unlike Adam, chose to obey. He obeyed God in all things through the power and direction of God living in him (having been given the Spirit of God “without measure”), even to his sacrificial death on a Roman cross. Jesus’ resurrection from death to eternal life is God’s proof that he is Lord and Savior, and the second Adam, the first of every member of the born again, born from above, born of God, born of the Spirit, human race.

Jesus, having no sin of his own, was not subject to the death penalty imposed for Adam’s rebellion so God counts his death as the death of every other human being who accepts Jesus as King and Savior. In the union established by our baptism we “die” to this life and we also are “born” of God’s Spirit to the life that Jesus had, and still has, the life empowered, directed, and protected by the Spirit of God, i.e. by God living in us. It is because of this destruction of Adam’s nature that we were born into this world with and being born of God that Jesus does realistically serve as our example in living the born of God life since the Christian has the truly free nature that Jesus has and is empowered the same way that Jesus was. Since Jesus really does understand life in this sin damaged world we can be at ease in relating to our “older brother.” We can look to Jesus after he was resurrected to get some feel for what our resurrection life will be like. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, the position of the second most powerful person in the Kingdom of God. He will reign as God’s representative king until death, the consequence of sin, God’s last enemy and our enemy, is defeated by the bodily resurrection of all God’s people, then Jesus will then turn the rule back to God who will again rule over His subjects with no human intermediary as he did in the Garden of Eden.

Summary: Jesus, as the Second Adam, is the only truly human being, truly free to obey God or to disobey God, that we know very much about. He is what God created us humans to be, not what we became after Adam and Eve’s disobedience. Jesus, the first born of the restored human race, is what we will become when we Christians are resurrected, with the same body as the resurrected Jesus had, when he comes back to usher in the new heavens and the new earth. Because of this Jesus can realistically serve as our example as we live life in this age.

In summation;

As to his nature, Jesus Is the Second and the Last Adam, a human being miraculously created by God, as was the first Adam, to have a truly free nature, as Adam did before his fall into rebellion. Jesus, as the early creed says, was human, not God, the second person of the Trinity, as the much later Nicene Creed wrongly demands that we believe in order to be considered a Christian. My prayer is that this Biblical truth will someday make it much easier for strict monotheists, such as Jews and Muslims, to accept Jesus as their Savior.

As to his role, Jesus is the Lord and Savior, the Christ, the Messiah, the son of God, the son of David, or any of the other ways the Jewish people had of referring to their coming King. Being the Christ, the anointed one, Jesus also carried out the offices of God’s other “anointed ones,” serving as High Priest, as both sacrifice and officiant, and as The Prophet, the one like Moses, thus the originator of the New Covenant. Jesus not only spoke God’s Word, i.e. the news about the Covenant God was now offering, but lived the message, God’s Word (message) incarnate.

As to his life, Jesus chose to obey God in all aspects of his mission, delivering the good news, the gospel, God’s offer of the gift of eternal life “to whosoever” would accept it and he sacrificed himself on the cross so the gift could be made available to you and me.

Primary Scriptures to consider in looking at Jesus as the Last Adam.

Genesis Chapters 2 and 3, Romans Chapters 5 through 8, and 1 Corinthians 15.