Adam 2.0

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. – 1 Corinthians 15:44-49 ESV

Adam, whose name in Hebrew means “man,” was the first of his kind. The book of Genesis tells us exactly how God made the first human being: “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7 ESV). Adam was created by God, not on a whim or in some kind of prideful display of His power. Adam, like the rest of creation, was intended to bring God glory. But unlike the rest of the creative order, Adam was made in the image of God.

So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27 ESV

There has been much debate over the centuries as to the exact meaning of that phrase. Theologians and scholars have wrestled with the significance of what it means to be made in the image of God. Some have argued that Adam’ creation in God’s likeness meant that he was given immortality, a will, and the capacity to love. He was also provided with the responsibility to care for the rest of creation, having been commanded by God to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28 ESV). No other living creature was given this mandate. But one other aspect of the image of God breathed into Adam by God was his endowment with righteousness or, to put it another way, holiness. Adam had been created without sin. And when God had completed His creative process, He pronounced His satisfaction with all that He had made.

God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. – Genesis 1:31 ESV

It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word used to describe God’s satisfaction is towb and it can refer to beauty, but also to moral perfection. In fact, in the very next chapter of Genesis, the word is used again to describe the one tree and its fruit that had been deemed off-limits by God.

And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. – Genesis 2:9 ESV

In this passage, the words “good” and “evil” are set in direct contrast from one another. They are intended to represent polar opposites. Three verses later, the same Hebrew word is used to describe the gold found in the garden of Eden. It was towb or good, because it was without blemish or free from impurities. That is the essence of Adam’s post-creation nature. He was made pure and holy by God. He was free from any kind of flaw. He was a sinless reflection of God’s glory and given the responsibility to care for the pristine and defect-free creation God had made.

But Adam and Eve sinned. They listened to the lies of the enemy and chose to satisfy their own natural appetites rather than obey the will of God. They used the intellect and the free will with which they had been endowed by God to choose evil rather than good. And, in doing so, they permanently marred the divine image given to them by God. Their intellect was darkened. Their formerly free wills were now enslaved to sin. They were no longer free to choose righteousness. In fact, the Scriptures make it painfully clear that righteousness was no longer an option for them or for their descendants.

As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” – Romans 3:10 NLT

But as 1 Corinthians 15 reminds us, God was not about to let the sin of Adam be the final act in His plan for the world. While the creation He had deemed good was now permanently damaged by Adam’s sin, God had a plan of redemption already in place, and it involved a second Adam.

In his first letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul addresses the role of Jesus as the second Adam or to put it in more modern terms: Adam 2.0. While Adam was born a living being, having been created by God, Jesus was born a life-giving spirit. While Adam brought death to mankind, Jesus came to bring life. But it’s important to note that the first Adam had been given the very breath of God.

…the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. – Genesis 2:7 ESV

Adam had been given life by God, but rather than glorify God with that life, he chose to disobey and dishonor God through his actions. And the result was the entrance into the world of both physical and spiritual death. The creation itself became infected by the sin of Adam and Eve, and everyone of their descendants would inherit their propensity to sin. They would become slaves to sin. 

But the second Adam came to change all that. Jesus became a man, just like the first Adam, but He lived in complete obedience to His Father’s will. As Paul writes in Philippians, Jesus was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8 ESV). And it was His willingness to become the unblemished sacrifice for the sins of mankind that made restoration to a right relationship with God possible. 

And one of the most important aspects of Paul’s words, found in 1 Corinthians, is his hopeful reminder, “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV). Yes, we were born into sin, having inherited the sin nature of Adam. And we have inherited the same flawed, sin-prone body of flesh that will one day face not only physical death, but the even more heinous reality of spiritual death – eternal separation from God.

But Jesus came to change all that. And He makes it possible for sinful men and women to have the image of God, lost as a result of the fall, permanently restored. And while Paul speaks of us as one day bearing the image of the man of heaven, the second Adam, we have the joy of experiencing that restored image even now. That is the joy of sanctification. God has made it possible for those who were at one time dead in their trespasses and sins to be restored to their original state of righteousness. And the author of Hebrews reminds us of this wonderful reality.

For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. – Hebrews 10:14 ESV

Those who are in Christ have been perfected, but are also being perfected. We have been deemed righteous by God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the second Adam. But we are being transformed, day after day, into His likeness.

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. – 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT

The second Adam has given fallen mankind a second chance to image God in this world.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Caro l Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

The Reality of the Resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. – 1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT

The future resurrection of the dead may have been in question with some of the believers in Corinth, but Paul affirmed it's reality. His argument was that if there is was no such thing as a future resurrection of the dead, then Christ Himself was not resurrected. Their rejection of the doctrine of bodily resurrection had ramifications. It eliminated the possibility of Christ having been resurrected from the dead. "And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless" (1 Corinthians 15:14 NLT). And if there was no such thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Paul and the other apostles were nothing more than liars, having taught that God raised Jesus from the dead. Without the doctrine of the resurrection, there is no such thing as a risen Savior, forgiveness of sin, or an eternal estate. All it would leave us with is the present reality of this world, then death.

One of the things that jumps out at me in this passage is the danger of human logic and reason. When men begin to try and explain away what they see as difficult to understand, it almost always leads to heresy. The Corinthians were wrestling with their cultural concept of the dichotomy between the flesh and the spirit, the body and the soul. They had been indoctrinated with the idea that the body was material and therefore evil. But the soul was spiritual and therefore good. So the idea of a resurrection of the body was inexplicable to them. They couldn't fathom how that could be. So their human reasoning kicked in and they simply denied the possibility of a bodily resurrection. It didn't matter to them what God may have to say about the subject. They had reached their conclusion and were completely comfortable with it. But Paul wasn't. He wanted them to understand the dangerous ramifications of their human reasoning. By denying the bodily resurrection of the dead, they were denying the very thing that was the key to their forgiveness and future glorification: The resurrection of Jesus. When God raised Jesus from the dead, it was not just to prove His own power, but as a precursor of what was to come. As Paul said, "Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died" (1 Corinthians 15:20 NLT). Paul made a comparison between Jesus and Adam. When Adam sinned, he brought death (both physical and spiritual) to the world. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He brought new life (both physical and spiritual) to the world. Paul gave them a glimpse into the future when he wrote, "Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back" (1 Corinthians 15:23 NLT). He is referring to the Rapture of the Church. Paul goes into greater detail about this future event in his letter to the Thessalonian believers. "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever" (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NLT). Just a few verses earlier in this passage, Paul made it clear that when Christ returns for His Church, He will be accompanied by all the believers who have died. But then he wrote that all "the Christians who have died will rise from their graves." They will return in their spirit form, but will be reunited with their resurrected, renewed bodies. And those believers who are alive at the time of Christ's return will also be given new bodies. Paul addresses that a few verses later in this section of his letter to the Corinthians. "It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies" (1 Corinthians 15:52-53 NLT).

The resurrection of our earthly bodies is a non-negotiable aspect of our faith as believers. God is not redeeming just a part of us, but all of us. He is going to restore ALL things, not just some things. He will redeem and restore what has been marred by sin, including all of creation and our bodies. All that God made in the physical universe He deemed as good. But it has all been damaged by sin. God will restore it all. He will bring back to life even those bodies that have been dead and buried for centuries. But if none of this is true, and there is no resurrection, then as Paul said, "Let's feast, and drink, for tomorrow we die!" (1 Corinthians 15:32 NLT). But Paul also warned the Corinthians to avoid people who thought that way. He wanted them to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the resurrection was a reality. Christ Himself was proof of it. And His own resurrection was ample evidence and assurance of our own future resurrection. It's going to happen. We don't know when or how, but it is going to happen. "So encourage each other with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:18 NLT).

Father, thank You for this timely reminder. We live in a world where everything is growing old, decaying, and falling apart. While I have Your Spirit living within me, my body continues to show the effects of sin. But there is a day coming when I will receive a new, resurrected body. You will make all things new, including my own physical body. Your work of transformation in my life will be complete and whole, because You don't do anything halfway. Amen.

Back to the Basics.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NLT

As Paul began to wrap up his correspondence with the Corinthian believers, he attempted to refocus their attention on what was really important. He took them back to the heart of their faith: The Good News regarding Jesus Christ. It is so easy to get distracted from the reality that without Christ's death, burial and resurrection, we have nothing to live for. All the spiritual gifts in the world, our rights, our reputation in the community, our status within the local body of Christ, and our biblical knowledge mean absolutely nothing if the Good News about Jesus is not true. So Paul revisited the three primary points regarding the Good News or the gospel. It was this message, in its entirety, that had led to their salvation. All three aspects of the Good News are essential for believing faith. Two out of three won't work. Partial belief will not result in salvation. To accept that Jesus died for your sins and was buried are two critical aspects of the Good News, but are incomplete. You must also believe that God raised Him from the dead. Without the resurrection, all we would have is a martyr, not a Messiah. Without His resurrection, we would have no hope. And this seems to be the crux of what Paul is getting to in this section of his letter. It appears that some of the Corinthians were struggling with the concept of the resurrection. It's even clear that some of them were saying there will be no resurrection of the dead. Their struggle was most likely related to the Greek belief that, while the soul was immortal, the body was not. They tended to dichotomize the two. The body was evil and material, so it made no sense that God would resurrect the body. But the soul was another matter. It was spiritual and good. Most likely, they believed that their souls were already born again and reigning with Christ, so there was no need for resurrected bodies. So there was no need for a resurrection. But Paul begged to differ. If their conclusions had been right and there was no such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then Christ could not have been raised. "And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless" (1 Corinthians 15:14 NLT).

The resurrection of Jesus was and is the heart of the gospel. Yes, it is vitally important that Jesus died a sacrificial, substitutionary death for our sins. That part is critical. But if all Jesus had done was die, we would have no hope. He would still be dead. And we too would face death. Paul made it clear that Christ's resurrection was essential for His death to be effective in paying for our sins. "And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT). Jesus had died as a payment for our sins. He was buried as proof that His death was real. And He remained in the grave for three days, in keeping with the prophecies concerning His death and as further proof of its finality. But He was raised by God on the third day – miraculously, permanently, and bodily. It wasn't just His soul that was raised. It was His body. And Paul gives proof. Jesus was seen by more than 500 of His followers in the days following His resurrection, including by Paul himself. They saw His body. They ate with Him. They spoke with Him. And the disciples witnessed His ascencion back into heaven.

Jesus had died for their sins. He had been buried in a grave. But He had also been resurrected from the dead. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, "I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death. So that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!" (Philippians 3:10 NLT). The resurrection of Jesus is the gold standard for God's power in the Scriptures. God raised His Son from death back to life. It is that unbelievable power that is available to each of us as believers. The same power that could transform the body of Jesus from death to life can transform our lives from death to life. The resurrection of Jesus should remind us of the incredible power at our disposal. There is nothing impossible for God. He is the life-transforming, miracle-working God who gives life in place of death – who restores, redeems, revitalizes, and regenerates what has been dead. And Paul believed that fact with all his life. "But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me – and not without results" (1 Corinthians 15:10 NLT). Paul had been redeemed from the life of hopelessness and sinfulness. He had been transformed from a persecutor of the Church of Jesus Christ to a messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ. All because of the power of the resurrection.

Father, help me understand the power of the resurrection in my own life. It isn't that I don't believe it. It's just that I'm not sure I fully appreciate it. It has become old hat and I have become too familiar with the message of the resurrection. I won't to comprehend it's impact on my daily life, just as Paul did. Amen.