The Last Adam

The Last Adam

“And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). In our concluding text for this study we see the apostle Paul referring to Jesus as “the last Adam” (ho eschatos Adam) in contrast to the “first Adam” (ho protos Anthropos Adam). In this antithetic parallelism, there is a continuity of humanity, but the second person who represents the new humanity so far excels the first that he is described as the one who became an active “life-giving-spirit,” where the original Adam (Gen. 2:7) became only “a natural living being”. The contrast is heightened by Paul’s pointed antithetic style, setting Adam as over against Christ in 1 Cor. 15:46-49):
46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
 
The same contrast was also made earlier in 1 Cor. 15:21-22 and linked with death and resurrection:
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
 
The contrast is expressed again in Rom. 5:14-19, where Paul describes the first Adam as follows: disobedience, trespass, judgment, condemnation, death to all. But Jesus the Christ as the second (last Adam – meaning renewed man) is described in the following antithetic terms: obedience, grace, free gift, justification, acquittal, righteousness, life freely available to all.

Devotional Application
The powerful effect of Jesus as the second Adam is summed up in one of Paul’s favorite expressions, “much more” Rom. 5: 8,10, 15, 17, which makes explicit the implications of how “much more” in Christ the whole human race has an opportunity for abundant life now and in the life to come.
 
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