Why a Second Adam?
And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Corinthians 15:45, NKJV italics added
Many people are aware that Adam is the first created man, but there are a relative few who realize there is a last Adam who is the first begotten man, the firstborn of life-giving spirits. The first Adam was a temporary temple of flesh designed to house the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:19), but the last Adam was given the full measure of God's Spirit in the temple (see John 3:34). The first Adam sowed the seed of his flesh in the earth to generate the kingdom of man. The last Adam, Jesus, sowed the seed of the Spirit in the kingdom of man to generate the kingdom of God. The seed Jesus sowed is the word of God (see Luke 8:11–15).
The first Adam sowed the seed of his flesh in the earth to generate the kingdom of man. The last Adam, Jesus, sowed the seed of the Spirit in the kingdom of man to generate the kingdom of God.
The first Adam was created through the union of God's breath with dust and placed in Eden. The last Adam was conceived through the union of God's word with his breath and birthed in Bethlehem. Our Creator formed a living being from the natural components of common dust to make the first natural man, then he implanted the seed of his Spirit in the dust to beget the first spiritual man. Through the sum of these events, Jesus, the word made flesh, became the Adam of life-giving spirits in a temporary temple of flesh.
The first Adam was created in the three-part image of God with a body, soul, and spirit called the spirit of man (see 1 Corinthians 2:11), but Jesus, the last Adam, is the first natural man to be given the full measure of God's Spirit in the flesh to become the express image of God's person in flesh (see Hebrews 1:3). Because of this, Jesus could say to Phillip, "He that hath seen me seen hath seen the Father" (John 14:9, KJV). So there's a huge difference between the two Adams.
When God's Spirit overshadowed the natural seed in Mary's womb to sire this first, completed man, the incredible outcome of his immaculate conception was that God, the Father of life-giving spirits, walked among us in the form of the man called Immanuel. Then, being God with us in the body of a man, Jesus, our promised Messiah, began to sow the seeds of the Spirit into the hearts of those who would receive it.
We were foreordained of God to be created in Christ Jesus (see Ephesians 2:10); therefore, the natural man cannot be completed in Christ Jesus without receiving and implanting the seed of the sower. Paul put this sequence of events in their correct order when he identified the two phases of our creation saying, first the natural and then the spiritual…and again, "as we have borne the image of the man of dust [the first Adam], we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [the last Adam]" (1 Corinthians 15:46–49, NKJV). Then Paul reaffirmed our need for Christ in us when he wrote, "And you are complete in Him [Jesus], who is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:10, NKJV, italics added).
The bottom line is, Adam and the succeeding generations of his seed were created to be the dwelling place of God through the Spirit (see Ephesians 2:22). Therefore, our creation in Christ Jesus cannot be completed without the seed of God's Spirit being born within us, so we can pass from death to life (see John 5:24). Our need for the last Adam has become more than obvious to me as I've seen the need for all men to purify their nature as he is pure (see 1 John 3:3).
The bottom line is, Adam and the succeeding generations of his seed were created to be the dwelling place of God through the Spirit (see Ephesians 2:22).
Jesus is so much more than the atoning sacrifice for our sins, as incredible as his sacrifice is. He is also the sower of the seed that must be implanted in our hearts to complete us in his likeness, the seed of God's word that completes our spiritual transformation from the kingdom of the carnal to the kingdom of the divine, for it is Christ in us that's our hope of glory (see Colossians 1:27).
In the book of Acts, Luke wrote, "Known to God from eternity are all His works" (15:18, NKJV, italics added). Then Paul told us that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, so we could be holy and blameless before him in love (see Ephesians 1:4). Therefore, before the commencement of creation, our omniscient Father had already known and ordained both Adams for the reproduction and perfection of his eternal offspring in temples of clay. These are the children of God who, through the same union of the word and flesh, will be glorified with Christ as the joint heirs of God (see Romans 8:16–17).
For me it is clear: the man from Eden sowed the seed for the kingdom of man, and the man from Bethlehem sowed the seed for God's kingdom in those called out of the kingdom of man. The man from Eden was a living being with a carnal nature; the man from Bethlehem is a life-giving spirit with the divine nature. The first Adam was the union of God's breath with the dust; the last is the union of God's word with the breath. The first was created with the spirit of man; the last was begotten by the Spirit of God. The first was corruptible; the latter, incorruptible. The first was carnally minded with a focus on self; the last was spiritually minded with a focus on others. Both Adams were foreknown of God before the world was, and both were necessary for our development into perfect men and women who will share the stature and fullness of Christ—"the firstborn of many brethren" (Romans 8:29, KJV).
Learn more about God’s purpose for two Adams in my new book, The Bridge of Hearts. Click here to download a free example chapter, or buy it on Amazon: eBook or paperback.
If you have any questions, comments, or if you want to share your stories, please leave them in the comments below.
About the Author
Johnny L. Dudley was born in Louisville, Kentucky, raised in Florida, and served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam. He is the father of three sons and is presently engaged as a real estate developer.
