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Announcer (00:00:00): Think about the Bible like you never have before. You are listening to Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Our topic is, "Why is Jesus Called the Last Adam?"--an exclusive listener Q&A Series. Here's Rick and Jonathan.

Rick (00:00:20): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. Before we provide our theme scripture, I wanted our listeners to know that this is a special edition episode that was made possible by you. We receive so many questions submitted through our website, along with direct emails. We have received tremendous response from our Q&A pages on ChristianQuestions.com, so we've decided to have periodic, ultra-focused, shorter episodes that address very specific questions and topics from the Bible that most Christians may not be talking about. We're excited to get into today's listener Q&A topic. Jonathan, what is our theme scripture?

Jonathan (00:01:02): 1 Corinthians 15:45: "So also it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

Rick (00:01:15): Jesus is the Savior of the world. We know, we all know how he left his heavenly glory with the Father and was reduced to the human condition so he could be the ransom--the corresponding price--for Adam and his fall from obedience and grace. By so doing, Jesus gave the whole human race an opportunity for everlasting life. When we look at Jesus, we see him as Savior, Redeemer, the Lamb of God, the author and finisher of our faith, and I could go on and on. Why address him then as the last Adam? Simply looking at it, such a title actually invites a lot of questions, especially since all the other ways we know Jesus seem to me so much higher and more honorable. As we look into this, we're going to find what we always find; inspiring reasons and lessons that unlock an even deeper understanding of all Jesus has done.

Jonathan (00:02:13): Why is Jesus called the "last Adam?" Let's go to the context of the verse to find the answer. But first, let's go back to our theme text, 1 Corinthians 15:45: "So also it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit."

Rick (00:02:34): All right, so we've got that as a theme text, and it's obvious. The "last Adam" is Jesus. It says he becomes a "life-giving spirit." We need to establish where this text comes from. We want to look at the important details of the "first Adam," and they will help us define what the title of the "last Adam" means. The best way to get those important details is to go into Genesis 1. Go to the very beginning when God created man. Genesis 1, Jonathan, 26-28:

Jonathan (00:03:05): "Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

Rick (00:03:40): It's like a great big birthday party here, and God is giving man presents. That's kind of what it's looking like. Let's understand this, the details of what humanity was given through Adam. There's four main points here we want to focus in on, Jonathan. Let's go through those:

Jonathan (00:03:57): Man was created in God's image to be His highest earthly representative.

Rick (00:04:02): That would be, they would be assuming an authoritative position like God.

Jonathan (00:04:07): Man was directly blessed by God.

Rick (00:04:10): Think about being blessed by God. What a powerful statement!

Jonathan (00:04:14): Man was given the privilege of rulership.

Rick (00:04:18): Dominion over all things on the earth.

Jonathan (00:04:21): Man was given the privilege of fruitfulness.

Rick (00:04:24): That means to multiply upon the earth. We've got these four main points. We're going to go through these points and look at the "last Adam" in relation to these things, and it's going to help us put it all in order. Let's remember how the "first Adam/last Adam" comparison was made. Jonathan, I'm going to ask you for that theme scripture one more time.

Jonathan (00:04:43): "So also it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." Let's start with a comparison with Adam. Adam's beginning was from the dust of the earth, and his life was defined by the fact that he became a living, breathing, perfect being--a direct creation of God.

Rick (00:05:04): Now let's look at Jesus. Jesus' life began as a perfect man, and it was defined by the fact that he gave that human life as a sacrifice for the world to become a life-giving spirit being.

Jonathan (00:05:22): This comparison is showing us Adam (the perfect man) whose consequence was death, compared to Jesus (the perfect man) whose end result was spiritual glory.

Rick (00:05:34): All right, so perfect man/perfect man. We see the beginnings are slightly different, and you see each of them has a sort of a destination that they're going towards. Now with that in mind, let's go back to those four points one at a time and unfold the story of the "first Adam" and the "last Adam." The first point was that Adam was created in God's image. This is an incredibly important place to start. The "first Adam" was created in God's image. Jesus as the "last Adam" was given life from the dead as the first resurrected, glorified being. Given life from the dead, that gives you a sense of equality with being created in God's image. Let's go to the context of our theme scripture, but now let's go back several verses. Our theme scripture is 1 Corinthians 15:45. Let's go back to verses 20-23 and build some of the reasoning to help us understand what it means for the "first Adam" to be created in the image of God, and the "last Adam" to have that same kind of description. Jonathan, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23:

Jonathan (00:06:44): "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." An important question, Rick; what's the difference between being raised from the dead, like Lazarus, and being resurrected from the dead like Jesus?

Rick (00:07:18): Alright, there's an enormous difference. Lazarus and all others who were raised from the dead in the Bible were resuscitated back to their earthly, sinful lives, and they died again. When you have this resurrection of Jesus, it is a complete change. It's something higher, and he was raised to immortality, as we will see. It was a much bigger thing. We have to make sure we're understanding what we saw in the Bible as terms of being raised from the dead is not being resurrected from the dead. That's an important perspective for us to begin with here. As we move forward with this, "...as an Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive." That's the equation here. "First Adam," "last Adam." You see, one starts something and the other finishes it. When we're looking at this creation in God's image, we saw the scripture that talked about Adam--Christ, rather--being raised to this glorious position. It's a different situation than Adam was. "First Adam" and "last Adam," Jonathan, where are we so far?

Jonathan (00:08:20): Adam squandered his perfection in God's image through disobedience and brought sin and death to all of humanity. Jesus lived up to his perfection in God's image as a man and sacrificed it, so that all of humanity would have the opportunity to have what Adam had forfeited. Jesus as the "last Adam" picked up where Adam left off.

Rick (00:08:45): See, it's not over, that's the thing. Death, it's not the end. There's a beginning. What we're suggesting is when we see Jesus recognized as the last Adam, we're suggesting that in each and every instance Jesus picks up where Adam left off. Adam, as we will see, made mistakes and the world is plunged into sin and death. Jesus, the "last Adam," takes every one of those things and puts it into an entirely different position. The "created in the image of God," you have in a human sense, and then you have in that spiritual sense. It's not over. There's a beginning here. Let's go now to the second point. The second point of this "last Adam/first Adam" connection is that when Adam was created, he was blessed by God, and think about that. The Creator of everything blesses you. That's a pretty lofty compliment. The first Adam was given a blessed and perfect life, but as we just mentioned, failed as he did not maintain his loyalty and obedience to God. Jesus as the "last Adam" was given a blessed and perfect life, which he sacrificed so as to reclaim the corrupted human race back to loyalty and obedience to God. You see both given the same thing. One has one end result, the other has another end result, but it's about the same subject matter in between. Adam was blessed by God in that he had everything he could have possibly needed for eternal life.

Jonathan (00:10:23): Jumping ahead in our 1 Corinthians context, we observed that Paul is talking about the reward of being a true disciple of Jesus. His point shows us the utter sadness of Adam losing God's blessing. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body (meaning decay and ruin), it is raised an imperishable body (meaning incorruptibility); it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." Well, this is talking about a spiritual resurrection to power and glory from a sinful human condition.

Rick (00:11:19): That's important. When you look at the comparisons in these verses in 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, these are the verses just before our theme scripture, which we keep coming back to again and again and again. What we're seeing is you see the dramatic change. It's sown "perishable," and you said decay or ruin. That's what Adam brought by sin--decay and ruin. "Raised imperishable," incorruptible. This is talking about the spiritual resurrection, "sown in dishonor," "sown in weakness." Those are the things that Adam brought because of sin. What Jesus brings because of perfection, the "last Adam" takes and cancels every one of those things out. When you say blessed by God, we're seeing the difference. Adam was blessed, but he messed up the blessing through disobedience. Jesus took that blessing and compounded it by who he was and what he did. As a matter of fact, Jesus attained and maintained God's direct blessing. Couple of things--first, we're going to see that attaining of God's blessing right at the beginning of his ministry. Let's look at Matthew 3:16-17:

Jonathan (00:12:31): "After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased." This phrase "in whom I am well-pleased" is showing God's blessing. It's spoken three times in the Bible. (Editor's note: three events, not "times." 1. Old Testament prophecy, 2. at Jesus' baptism, and 3. at the Mount of Transfiguration. The phrase is found seven times, with the one in Isaiah 42:1 depending on which translation is used.) The first time it is a prophecy found in Isaiah 42:1. The second time is here at his baptism--by the way, which fulfilled prophecy. The third it is found in Matthew 17:5 on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Rick (00:13:14): You have this blessing that is not only prophesied to be but is fulfilled and then recounted. Well, let's look at the result of the end of Jesus' ministry to show the complete fulfilling of that blessing of God because that's where it appears again. We're going to look at Philippians 2:7 to the beginning of verse 9 and see the result of Jesus earthly ministry:

Jonathan (00:13:41): "...but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted him..." Rick, Jesus' blessing is not over.

Rick (00:14:03): No it's not. See, you have everything that Adam brought that ended in a negative consequence. Jesus as the "last Adam" picked up all of the pieces. You're seeing that Adam was blessed by God and he lost the blessing; the ground was cursed for his sake. I mean it was really, really horrible. But here we're seeing the gladness and the greatness of God's glory shown through Jesus and his obedience. "First Adam," not so good. "Last Adam," pretty wonderful. Let's do that comparison, "first Adam" and 'last Adam;" go ahead.

Jonathan (00:14:39): Adam began with being directly blessed by God himself. The loss of that blessing created a perpetual culture of decay and ruin for his entire posterity. Jesus as the "last Adam" picked up where Adam left off and paid the price to bring humanity back to an opportunity for harmony with God.

Rick (00:15:02): What you're saying is, it's not over.

Jonathan (00:15:04): That's right.

Rick (00:15:05): See, the key is Jesus as the "last Adam" picked up where Adam left off. Why is Jesus called the "last Adam?" Because as we'll see as we go through all of these points, we already mentioned it once, he picked up where Adam left off and took things to a different, higher level that would glorify God. Perhaps one way we can better understand the first and last Adam is to see them as the beginning and the ending of the same story.

Jonathan (00:15:33): Adam was a blessed man created in God's image, as was Jesus. What other aspects of Adam's standing with God did Jesus take up?

Rick (00:15:43): For the Apostle Paul to describe Jesus as the "last Adam" tells us that there are deep lessons we can learn. The next two parts of Adam's original standing before God are striking. We know that Adam was given earthly rule. He was also given the command to be fruitful and multiply. Observing how Jesus fulfills both of these things will be very, very revealing. We've gone through being created in the image of God. We've gone through being blessed by God. Now let's look at the third point from Genesis 1:26-28--the privilege, the privilege of rulership. We know Adam was put in charge. As an earthly being, he was given dominion or rulership over God's entire earthly creation. Jesus as the "last Adam" was given dominion but as we shall see, his rulership became far more expansive.

Jonathan (00:16:43): Adam's dominion means "to tread down, that is, subjugate; have dominion and reign." Now let's remember Adam's blessing was to rule over the fish, birds, cattle and over all the earth.

Rick (00:16:57): You've got a good picture of what Adam's dominion was. It was well-described in Genesis. Now let's look at the dominion of Jesus and compare it. Let's go back to the earlier context of our theme scripture. We're back in 1 Corinthians 15; we're going back into verses 24-28. We started with a few verses before. This adds more to help us understand, because what the apostle is essentially doing is he's telling us the details of the "first Adam" and "last Adam" before he uses that title. We've just got to go back and pull the details out and say, "Oh, this is what he's talking about." Go ahead, let's go with that verse.

Jonathan (00:17:38): This is from the King James version: "Then cometh the end, when he (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he (Jesus) shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He (God) hath put all things under his (Jesus) feet. But when He (God) saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject unto Him (God) that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." "To put under" or "be subdued" means "to be subordinate; reflexively, to obey." Why was Jesus given dominion? So that God is glorified!

Rick (00:18:41): That's exactly what this scripture says. That can be a confusing verse. Folks, if you look it up, read it slowly, because there's a lot of details, but it's talking about the relationship between God and Jesus and how God gave Jesus authority with the understanding that once Jesus did the work of being loyal to God in that authority, that all glory and honor would go back to God Himself. That's what this is really, really showing us. It's a very, very dramatic piece of the story. This is about dominion because God puts everything under Jesus just like He put everything under Adam, except with Jesus, it's bigger. With Adam, it's the earth. With Jesus, it's like everything, everything. It's not just almost everything, just the earth. It's everything--everything. This dominion of Jesus rises to heights never before seen in all of God's creation. Let's go back to Philippians 2. Let's reread the first part of verse 9, Jonathan, then go right to verse 11:

Jonathan (00:19:43): "For this reason also, God highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Why such high heights? Because it ultimately brings the highest glory to God. In the future kingdom, Jesus' glory will be over heaven and earth.

Rick (00:20:15): Think about that. His glory will be over heaven and earth. Adam was given glory and dominion over earth, messed it up. Jesus doesn't mess it up and it's a much bigger dominion. First Adam/last Adam. This high and honored position of Jesus is shown to be--now think about this--it's shown to be shared with his true followers as well.

Jonathan (00:20:41): Wait a minute, stop!

Rick (00:20:42): Okay.

Jonathan (00:20:43): Did you say we as followers can share in the blessing of honor and glory that Jesus was given? You know this is much bigger than just being saved! Is that what you're saying?

Rick (00:20:56): That is exactly what I'm saying, and the only reason I'm saying it is because the Scriptures are teaching it. Let's look at another scripture that focuses all of that a little bit more clearly. Let's go to Ephesians 1:18-23. Remember we're talking about the dominion of the "last Adam." We're putting all of this in that context.

Jonathan (00:21:16): "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe...when He raised him from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."

Rick (00:21:59): It's describing bringing Christ up high through his resurrection, "riches" and "glory" and the "inheritance" to "the saints." But it's talking about the glory of Jesus "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion," and "every name that's named not only in this age" but forever, ever, ever, and then forever on top of that. You've got Jesus raised to this incredible height and then it says it also "gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body." Here's an important point. Figuratively, the body doesn't go anywhere, the head doesn't go anywhere without the body. There's a connection and an attachment. That's the glory and the dominion that Jesus is given, and it is shared. It is much more than just being saved, like you said before. Let's put this one piece, this privilege of rulership, in order--the "first Adam" and the "last Adam."

Jonathan (00:22:56): Though he fell short, Adam's dominion and rule was there to lift all of his posterity up before God along with him. Jesus as the "last Adam" picked up where Adam left off and does lift others to be with him. The elevation of his followers is but the beginning of the power of Jesus' dominion. It's not over.

Rick (00:23:19): That's the point. The "first Adam" had dominion and it was for the purpose of lifting everything to the glory of God. Adam did not fulfill it. Jesus on the other hand, fulfills it. The first part of the evidence of that is the glorification of those who are part of his body; his disciples, his true disciples, the true church if you will. We've got the dominion piece of the "first Adam" and "last Adam" put in place. Now let's look at the the fourth one, the privilege of fruitfulness. Adam was told to be fruitful and multiply as he was to be the first of the earthly creation. Jesus, as we will see, was fruitful as he was the first of a new spiritual creation. "First Adam, last Adam"--we know Adam was told to "be fruitful and multiply." Let's look at how Jesus, his blessing in this area was expressed. 1 Corinthians, back to our theme scripture and then a few more verses. 1 Corinthians 15:45-49:

Jonathan (00:24:27): "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."

Rick (00:25:03): Go ahead.

Jonathan (00:25:04): Well, "life-giving" means "to vitalize or to revitalize; bear living young; to cause to live, make alive, give life."

Rick (00:25:16): When you think about Adam being fruitful and multiplying, you think, oh, okay, Adam had children, that's what we always mean. Well, there's a spiritual application here; the very definition of "life-giving" is to revitalize. It's not having little babies, but it's having the body of Christ, the church be part of him later on. You see that he's fruitful in that "life-giving" power. That's why he came and he called disciples come and "follow me and I will make you fishers of men." He told them that in the resurrection and the Day of Judgment there will be a time of reconciliation. That's what this "last Adam" is doing. You've got the "first Adam" messing it up. I keep saying that, I'm sorry, but that's the truth. You've got the second Adam, the "last Adam" putting the pieces together on a spiritual level. Let's just go a little bit further into the spiritual level. 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Jonathan (00:26:16): "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Rick (00:26:25): Okay, so what is a "new creature?" What is a "new creation?" How does that work? Let's hold onto that thought because we're going to come back to that. This fruitfulness of Jesus as the "last Adam" truly began with his commands to his apostles when he ascended to heaven. He knew what was going to happen and that fruitfulness was essentially commanded as he was leaving their presence physically. Let's look at that; Matthew 28:18-20:

Jonathan (00:26:53): "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Jesus is saying, go find my body members. Your job is to establish a "new creation."

Rick (00:27:26): Establish a "new creation." That's enormous because Adam was the pinnacle of the earthly creation, and Jesus essentially is saying, go, this is a "new creation." "First Adam/last Adam." You see how it just always, it fits exactly together except the "last Adam" is so much higher, so much bigger, so much more comprehensive. We plainly can see how dramatically this call to Christ would have its dramatic beginning on the day of Pentecost when Peter, when he's touched by the holy spirit, gets up and he speaks to this massive group of people. On that day, 3,000 are brought to Jesus and they are of Jewish descent. They were not of faithless individuals. They already had a set way of living and it changed them. You see the dramatic beginning of building this "new creation." Here's the next question: Where does this "fruitfulness" of the "last Adam" of Jesus lead? Let's look at Colossians 1:15,18,20:

Jonathan (00:28:29): This is from the New International Version: "The son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation...And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have supremacy... and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." This "fruitfulness" goes beyond the church, and it goes to the reconciliation of "all things" on earth and in heaven. That's what Jesus is given.

Rick (00:29:09): That's reconciliation of "all things." This means that "fruitfulness" of Jesus expands far beyond the call to discipleship; the reconciliation of "all things."

Jonathan (00:29:20): This is in perfect harmony with Acts 3:20-21, which describes Jesus from heaven at a specific time will restore all things which God confirmed through the prophets.

Rick (00:29:32): That's the restitution of all things. When you restore something, you bring it back to the way it was. Alright, so Jonathan, let's wrap this up. This last first and last Adam comparison:

Jonathan (00:29:44): All that Adam was given as the beginning of God's human creation was designed to bring joy, peace and eternal life to his posterity. Adam's disobedience sent this plan into apparent disarray. Jesus, as the "last Adam," picked up where Adam left off as he took every inch of what was broken by disobedience and supplied what was necessary for all to have the opportunity for life once again!

Rick (00:30:13): This "last Adam" took all of the things that the "first Adam" was given and failed at and built what God had originally designed, not only on earth, but also in the heavenly realm as well. As we look at this, as we wrap this up, why is Jesus called the" last Adam?" Because he finished what Adam began and this was part of God's original plan so that there could be not only harmony on earth, but also in the spirit realm as well. This "new creation," being blessed by God, being created in His image and being given dominion was all purposeful in Adam to show the greatness and glory of Christ, which shows us the greatness and glory of God Himself. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode or other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up in our next episode, we asked the question during this podcast about the "new creation." Well, next week, "What is the New Creation?" We'll talk to you then.

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