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The First Adam versus the Second Adam

God created man, the first Adam, in his own image, but man failed catastrophically by disobeying Gods direct command! Disobedience bought instant spiritual death and eventual physical death. The entire race of man inherited the dead spirit and eventual physical death. God, in great mercy, grace and love sent a second Adam from above, the Lord Jesus Christ, to correct the mistakes made by the first Adam.

Only two men did not have human fathers, Adan and Jesus Christ; Adam was the originally created man and Jesus Christ had the Holy Spirit as his earthly father. We, as born-again Christians, also have experienced the new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit, our old Adamic nature was crucified with Christ at the point of our salvation and we were born-again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, into the family of God.

That is why, in a spiritual sense, we are joint heirs with Christ; there is more to Romans 8:15-17 than might first appear:

¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”

The second time around, God was taking extra steps to make sure mankind would not fail again; as each born-again individual is brought back to spiritual life by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit indwells that individual and will never, ever leave! Every Christian man or woman becomes a new creation, eternally indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit, and secured in God’s family by the power of God!

What Does This Mean?

God has done an enormous thing in creating this new creation, the Christian; those who have been born-again have been blessed beyond measure by being made a dwelling place for God. The Christian can never be separated from his creator because his creator is in him, forever. This should be the dominant thought in the mind of every Christian, we are the temples of God, we are the vessels through which Christ lives His life on earth.

There are several sections of the Bible where this is revealed:

¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:9-11

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. ¹⁶ And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.¹⁸ I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. ²⁰ At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.²¹ He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” John 14:15-21

What an unqualified cause for rejoicing and gladness; this knowledge alone should make every day of your life a joy and be a never-ending source of praise and thanksgiving!

We have every reason to rejoice in Christ always and delight ourselves in the blessings He has poured out on us. The words of Philippians 4:4-7 should dominate our thoughts, “⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

One More Thing

While the Holy Spirit is now indwelling all those who are born-again, there is another ministry of the Holy Spirit to the world which is described in John 16:7-11 ” ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me;¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

The Holy Spirit is restraining sin in the world today, as bad as it seems to be it will get worse when the Church is removed at the Rapture; things will become more like they were before the flood when, “⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

In the next part of this series we will cover the balance of the Church Age and the removal of the church from the world scene.