-March 26. 2023-
Good morning, happy Lord’s Day,
“And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. “
(1 Corinthians 15:45-46).
There are two Adams: the first man that God created, through whom and sin and death came upon him and thus the whole human race; and Christ, the last Adam, through whom life and righteousness came to all who believe in Him. These two Adams represent what we call the two federal heads of the human race.
We are all born through Adam bearing his sinful image. Through Adam we became sinners by nature and by practice. Adam was a man of dust and his body, like our’s, will return to dust. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Paul also wrote, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Adam surely was to blame, but we can’t excuse ourselves for our sins. The wages of sin is death and we are all guilty. Paul describes what we were in Adam and how sin and death affected our lives in Ephesians 2:1-3, “And you He made alive, who were dead in our trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. We were in a real mess.
But thanks be to God for Christ, the last Adam, who was born into this world as God manifested in the flesh, yet without sin. He died in our place, for our sins, and through the new birth we now have His life and righteousness. Death, sin, and devil were defeated at the cross. He died, was buried, and rose again. Just as we bore the image of the first Adam, we now bear the image of the last Adam. Romans 5:15-16 tells us, “But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came through one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came through many offenses resulted in justification.”
Christ is now our federal head, the Head of the church, the body of Christ. We are now in Christ, freely forgiven of our sins and possessors of eternal life and salvation. We have the new nature and all the fruit of the Spirit and all spiritual blessings in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us thank and praise Him today that He is the last Adam. Through the first Adam paradise was lost, through the last Adam paradise was gained and given to us. Let us praise and worship our Lord today and forever.
Have a glorious Lord’s Day remembering the Lord Jesus and what He has done for us. Stay safe and healthy,
Living for Christ our last Adam,
Dean
Dean Allen's Daily Devotional 