First Adam, Second Adam - A Study in Contrasts

I Corinthians 15:21-22 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

I Corinthians 15:45-49 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

Following the line of thought in these Scripture verses, my friend Chris DeVidal offers some helpful comparison & contrast of the First Adam and the Second Adam. He gives us encouraging insights that spring from his continuous meditation and contemplation in the Gospel (I did a tiny bit of editing, but these are essentially his words) . . .

"Interesting parallels between the first Adam's test in Genesis 3 andthe second Adam's test in Matthew 4, aren't there? Eve in the garden, Jesus in the wilderness. Satan's twisting and questioning God's Word. Eve's response to Satan vs. Jesus' responses to Satan; Eve misquoting God, Jesus quoting God precisely. Eve falls on Satan's second sentence, Jesus pushes through all three temptations.

What's the application? Memorize God's Word, love the Father more than the world and be filled with the Spirit as Jesus was. I suppose that if Adam and Eve had done these things they would have never fallen. I wonder what would have happened if Jesus were there in the garden instead of Adam and Eve?

There is also a note of federal headship: The first Adam,who represents all of us, failed. The second Adam, through this and all other trials, proved His right to represent Christians and be honored forevermore.

Two more parallels between Adam and Jesus:

First, Adam and Jesus were the only two men who have ever existed with truly free wills.

Second, Adam was in a glorious garden with every pleasure available to him: good food, easy labor and an unclothed woman at his side - and yet he rejected it all, leading me to believe that he didn't know what good really was until he bit into the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good - why else would he have rejected God so easily? On the other hand, Jesus was hungry for FORTY DAYS in the desert, with no food, hard labor, no woman -- and yet He did not fall. The difference? Not free will, but the free Spirit!

I don't think the contrast between free-willed man without the Spirit and free-willed man with the Spirit could be greater."

Grace be with you.