Two Adams: An Amazing Story (Part III)

There is a beginning and an end to all of mortality.  The end is stark, bold, and final.  Ecclesiastes 8:8 speaks of death, and reads,

There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.

 

Choices are made here, and many times at a very young age, regarding this mortal plain.  Imagine, a single choice will dictate how we spend our time between the dust.  Genesis 3:19:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

This single decision will dictate who my friends and closest confidants are.  This decision will direct the entertainment we pursue, the things we consume through all the senses, who I will or will not marry, the children I rear, my career, and more.  The climactic result of this single decision will certainly dictate how I die and where I will spend eternity.  This decision is not just something you contemplate in a church moment – this decision you live in.

 

There is only one choice to make: light or darkness; shades of grey will not suffice.  If you choose light, you will have chosen Jesus Christ who is the Light of the world.  Speaking of Christ, John 1:6-9 reads,

6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

 

7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

 

8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

 

9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

 

If you choose Light, you will make life’s decisions in the light.  The choices will be obvious.  If you choose darkness, you will have chosen Satan, who ultimately leads his followers to where he’s going, which is the lake of fire, also referred to by Jesus Christ as outer darkness.  The path of darkness is the path of stumbling and destruction.

 

Choices are being made.  Have you chosen Light?  Will today be the day you become born again, and participate in the greatest miracle of all time – one that will last forever?  This choice means everything, and the results last for all eternity.  Make you choice for Light today.  Everything will change.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  Now for today’s subject.

 

GOD SAID, Genesis 5:1-2:

1  This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

 

2  Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

 

GOD SAID, Romans 5:18-19:

18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

 

19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedienceof one shall many be made righteous.

 

GOD SAID, I Corinthians 15:45-47:

45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

 

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.

 

MAN SAID: There never was a virgin-born, only begotten Son of God who came to save the world.  He did not preach the gospel of salvation, or hang on a cross on Golgotha’s hill, and of course is not resurrected from the dead.  Absolutely not!

 

Now THE RECORD.  This is the final installment of the three-part feature concerning the first and the last Adam.  In feature one, we established that there was a first man, Adam, an immortal son of God.  But this Adam chose to die.  Several excerpts follow from last week’s feature:

When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, eternal life was lost and eternal damnation was gained.  God commanded Mr. and Mrs. Adam not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He warned that if they disobeyed, they would die the very day they did so.  Adam and Eve ate and died that very day—not the physical death, which occurred hundreds of years later, but they died the second death, the spiritual death that lasts for all eternity.  Concerning the second death, Jesus says in Revelation 2:11:

 

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

 

Because Adam and Eve were spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, all of their children were spiritually stillborn.  Speaking of this issue and salvation, Ephesians 2:1 reads:

 

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins:

 

Not only were we spiritually stillborn, but we were taken by Satan at his will (II Timothy 2:26).

 

Satan becomes the god—little g-o-d—of this world.  II Corinthians 4:3-4:

 

3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

 

4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

Satan gained this status when the once-immortal Adam, who had been given dominion over all the earth, chose to throw in his lot with the devil.  Thus, Satan says to Jesus in Luke 4:6:

 

And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

 

In the Garden of Eden, the world and all its creation were thrown into a desperate fallen state that will only worsen and finally arrive at the impending judgment of God’s Great White Throne.  But God planned a masterful way of escape that met and satisfied all spiritual laws in play.  That masterful plan is discovered in the last Adam, Jesus Christ the Righteous.  [End of quote]

 

In feature two, we referenced two major ancient records that certify Jesus Christ, His life, ministry, and resurrection.  In the “Historicity of Christ” category of GodSaidManSaid, you’ll discover a plethora of Christ-confirming history.  In the Bible’s Old Testament, there are nearly 300 prophecies of the coming Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ the Righteous.  A mathematician put a pen to the probability of one man in time fulfilling all the prophecies, and came up with the number one, followed by 90 zeroes – a number so large it doesn’t have a name.  There certainly was a last Adam.

 

Again from “Two Adams: An Amazing Story (Part II):”

The academic skeptics consistently struggle against the truth.  But, Jesus Christ surely was and Jesus Christ surely is, and Jesus Christ will surely return again—just like He said.

 

Why does the blood of Jesus Christ wash our sins away?  Why does God require blood for atonement?  Why did Jesus give His flesh for the life of the world?  Why are the devils terrified by the blood of Jesus?  This life-changing mystery is uncovered in what is arguably the oldest book in the Bible, the book of Job.  In this book, an argument arises between God and Satan, and the legal parameters of what would have to happen to wrench free the sons of Adam from the double-dead bondage of the enemy of our souls is laid out in plain sight.  The argument takes place on two different occasions when the non-human sons of God come before Him to give account of their activities.  The first debate occurs in Job 1:6-11:

 

6  Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

 

7  And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

 

8  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

 

9  Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

 

10  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

 

11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

 

After destroying all that Job has, including Job’s ten children—all in one day—Satan believes that Job will curse God to His face. Instead, Job 1:20-22 reads:

 

20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

 

21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother''s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

 

22  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

 

After this obvious defeat, Satan regroups to challenge God a second time.  Job 2:1-5:

 

1  Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.

 

2  And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

 

3  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.

 

4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

 

5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

 

Job’s trial in the second argument goes on for what appears to be months.

 

Satan’s challenge was that no man could live up to God’s standards; his argument was confirmed by the Scriptures.  Romans 3:10-12:

 

10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

 

11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

 

12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

 

Satan was constantly accusing the brethren before God.  He was demonstrating that no one was righteous.  It is noteworthy that Satan knew Job but had not challenged his credentials.  Of the Devil, Revelation 12:10 reads:

 

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

 

Satan lays out his legal challenge in Job as follows:

 

1. The man would have to be sinless;

 

2. The man must be motivated to serve God because of his love for God and not just for what God could provide to him;

 

3. Even in the most severe times of life when situations go drastically wrong, the man would not charge God foolishly; and

 

4. In the midst of life’s trials—even when life itself was in the balance and even when it appeared that God had deserted him—the man would not curse God to His face.

 

Satan lays out a standard that he thinks is impossible to attain, and in a way, appears to be attempting to justify his own failure to live up to God’s standards.  Satan’s challenge stands for thousands of years until the arrival of the Last Adam.  [End of quote]

 

God needed someone to open the book if a way of escape would be made possible for the sons of Adam.  Revelation 5:1-5, 9-10:

 

1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

 

2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

 

3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

 

4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

 

5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

 

9  And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

 

10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

 

In these final paragraphs, it will become obvious how Satan lost it all at Calvary, and why the devils are terrified by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Let’s review Satan’s challenge again:

 

Satan lays out his legal challenge in Job as follows:

 

1. The man would have to be sinless;

 

2. The man must be motivated to serve God because of his love for God and not just for what God could provide to him;

 

3. Even in the most severe times of life when situations go drastically wrong, the man would not charge God foolishly; and

 

4. In the midst of life’s trials—even when life itself was in the balance and even when it appeared that God had deserted him—the man would not curse God to His face.

 

This paragraph will address Satan’s first and second challenge.  The sinless Christ was not “shapen in iniquity” as the sons of Adam are, but was conceived of the Holy Ghost by His earthly mother, the virgin Mary.  He was the sinless one who could open the book.  He was the only begotten Son of God.  Some are surprised to discover that there are no sons of Adam that are called sons of God until we arrive at the birth of Jesus Christ.  There were no sons of God between the two Adams.  Luke 3:38:

 

Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

 

Concerning our Saviour, John 3:16 reads,

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

There were no sons of God between the two Adams.  Abraham was called the friend of God.  Moses was called the servant of God.  The Hebrews were not called children of God, but instead (and correctly) the children of Israel.  This sinless Lamb of God satisfied the Devil’s first challenge – He was sinless.  The second challenge was dismantled in John 10:17-18:

 

17  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

 

18  No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

 

Jesus Christ could have stopped the procession to the cross immediately, but His love for His Father, His perfect will, and His love for the lost souls of men moved Him past His own desires and His own personal interests.  Matthew 26:38-45:

 

38  Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

 

39  And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

 

40  And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

 

41  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

 

42  He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.

 

43  And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

 

44  And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.

 

45  Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

 

The issue of Satan’s legal argument and his death grip on the sons of Adam could only be settled by the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who went to the cross to settle it all.

 

On the day Jesus died, Satan’s third and fourth arguments suffered an irreparable defeat.  At Calvary’s cross, all the matters of life and death came to a climactic head.

 

Jesus of Nazareth lived for 30 sinless years in public obscurity awaiting the hour of the beginning of His ministry.  According to Ussher’s highly reliable dating, the thirtieth year of Christ also marked the thirtieth jubilee of Israel.  The jubilee was a 50-year celebration of liberty and involved the restoration of all things to the original laws of inheritance.  The prophet Isaiah prophesies of Jesus, in chapter 61, verse 1:

 

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

 

Jesus Christ is the perfect law of liberty.  This Christ preached the gospel of reconciliation to the lost sheep of Israel and He worked marvelous miracles in their streets.  After about three years, He was arrested and tried for blasphemy and leading the children of Israel astray.  He was tried and convicted.  Then His public humiliation, torture, and death finally began.  He was mocked, humiliated, and beaten.  His beard was plucked from His face.  A crown of thorns was placed upon His head.  He was mercilessly scourged.  He fell under the weight of the cross, and was marched and shamed before the huge Passover crowds on His way to Golgotha.  There He was stripped of His clothing.  His hands and feet were nailed to the cross.  The cross was lifted and dropped into its hole between two thieves.  Over His head hung a sign written in three languages (Greek, Latin, and Hebrew) that read: “This is the King of the Jews.”  As the blood of life spills from the King of the Jews, He hung between heaven and earth as a naked pauper rejected by men.  He had no wife.  He had no children.  He had no home.  To any serious observer, surely it appeared that all was lost, and Christ for a moment thinks that His God had forsaken Him.  Matthew 27:46 reads:

 

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

 

All appeared to be lost, but Jesus of Nazareth, the sinless, selfless Christ did not accuse God foolishly and He did not curse God to His face.  Job 2:4-5:

 

4  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

 

5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

 

Instead of the curse to the face, Jesus’ last words were (Luke 23:46),

 

…Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

 

What happened on the cross?  Satan’s argument was destroyed and a way of escape was made for mankind.  Colossians 2:13-15:

 

13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

 

14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

 

A telling verse in I Corinthians 15:45 reads:

 

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

 

The first Adam was a living soul who had lost access to God, had died the second death first, and could not pass on immortality to his offspring.  The last Adam, Jesus Christ, is a quickening spirit.  Quicken means to make alive, thus the term “born again.”  John 3:3:

 

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

“Born again” literally means a second birth – this time born of the Spirit of God.  How marvelous is this verse in II Corinthians 5:17:

 

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

 

Keep in mind when you read John 1:11-13 that there were no sons of God between Adam and Christ,

 

11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

 

12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

 

13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

The curse of the law is death, and it can only be legally satisfied by death, and that is exactly what happens when a soul is born again.  We die to our old selves and become new creations of God, with a new Father, a new purpose, a new eternal life, even a new name (Revelation 2:17).  We become sons and daughters of God.

 

This sinless, selfless Christ, who did not curse God to His face, paid the price in full.  Jesus said in John 6:51:

 

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

 

Satan has been defeated and his devils cower at the power of the shed blood of the Lamb of God.

 

GOD SAID, Genesis 5:1-2:

 

1  This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

 

2  Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

 

GOD SAID, Romans 5:18-19:

 

18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

 

19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

 

GOD SAID, I Corinthians 15:45-47:

 

45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

 

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.

 

MAN SAID: There never was a virgin-born, only begotten Son of God who came to save the world.  He did not preach the gospel of salvation, or hang on a cross on Golgotha’s hill, and of course is not resurrected from the dead.  Absolutely not!

 

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

 

References:

 

Authorized King James Version

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