Biblical Common Sense – Jesus – Two Adams
July 21st, 2011 by Ron S.
Installment #7 in my “Common Sense†series.
Biblical Common Sense – Jesus – Two Adams
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans and 1st Corinthians detailed comparisons of Jesus and Adam. Paul even termed Jesus the “Last Adamâ€. This is because he recognized critically important parallels between these two individuals. Adam, the father of the human race brought death upon everyone because his disobedience took away the ability for humans to live eternally. The perfect obedience of the Last Adam, Jesus the Messiah, gave humanity a way to overcome death and live eternally as originally planned.
Romans 5:12-19 (NRSV)
(12) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all, because all have sinned—
(13) Sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law.
(14) Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come.
(15) But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many.
(16) And the free gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
(17) If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
(18) Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.
(19) For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.1 Corinthians 15:20-23
(20) But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep
(21) For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
(22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
(23) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,
(45) So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.†The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
For Paul’s two Adam analogy to work, Jesus must be on the same level as the original Adam. For a “Last Adam†to logically be in the “Adam†category then he has to be a man just like the first. God or the 2nd member of The Trinity coming down to earth in human form just isn’t an “Adam†at all. He would be God – the creator of Adam. Sure, God could come down and get it right. But it was a man that got us into this mess in the first place. Shouldn’t common sense tell us that if a man that was created perfect by God and used his free will to disobey God and bring sin into the picture, then another perfectly created man with free will should be the logical counterpart to obey God and provide an escape from sin?
Common sense and the plain meaning of words makes it easy. Jesus is called a man and is referred to as the last “Adam” because he is a MAN on the same level as the original MAN that Paul compares and contrasts each to the other. Both were perfectly created by God. Both were without sin but with the capacity to sin. Adam chose to disobey and brought sin and death to his race. Jesus chose to obey and brought about a new future for his race – eternal life instead of eternal death. The simple bottom line is that Two Adam analogy posits that Adam and Jesus were both men – both real human beings. Both were called Son of God because God was their Father more so than any other humans that ever existed. Yet only one lived up to the name and expectations of his Father and Creator! None of this analogy works properly if Jesus is God.
Biblical Common Sense series:
1. Intro
3. Jesus – “This is MY Sonâ€
4. Jesus – The Anointed of God
The symmetry of Jesus being like Adam, for me, meshes with what I have seen through the study of science. Though God’s creation is quite complex, at its core, it is elegantly simple.
The Adam parallel was striking for me when I first heard of it and when I was first exposed to unitarian principles. The trinity disturbs me in that it means God has created us to be eternal failures. Only a God/man can live the obedient life that God desires of us. We will never be God/men,so how can we ever be what God created us for?