The Second Adam
About the second Adam, the apostle Paul wrote, “The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
The Bible identifies the last or second Adam as Jesus Christ (Romans 5:14). Adam, the first man, the one who stood at the head of the human race, was made by God out of the “dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). But Christ the “second man” already existed before Adam’s creation and later on He humbled Himself and shrouded His divinity with humanity (Galatians 4:4) when He came to dwell among men to save them (John 1:14). The Second Adam became the Redeemer of Mankind.
As people receive their earthly nature from the first man, Adam, so they receive their new heavenly nature from Christ. The first Adam is the father of those that have temporal existence; the second is the father of all, who through faith in Him will, at His second coming, receive spiritual bodies and have eternal life (Romans 5:15–18; 1 Corinthians 15:51–54). Adam became a “living soul,” but Christ is the life-giver.
As Jesus had the power to raise the dead (John 5:21, 26; 11:25; Luke 7:14, 15; 8:54, 55) during His ministry, these resurrections proved that He also has the power to raise the righteous dead at His second advent. At that glorious time, the bodies of the saints will be changed, and the new bodies will be “fashioned like unto his [Christ’s] glorious body” (Philippians 3:20, 21). Thus, the redeemed will not only reflect Christ’s character at His coming but will be also clothed in an immortal bodies similar to that possessed by Jesus since His resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:51–53). Praise the Lord!
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
