Written on September 10th, 2008 - 3:00AM Last Updated: September 10th, 2008 - 4:16PM
Adam was the first man, born naturally. Paul speaks of this, saying that the natural must come first, then the spiritual. The first Adam (Man) was out of the earth, made of dust (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). He was created with the need for outside Life.
God reveals this by forming Adam from the dust, and by placing the Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden. From the beginning, God is showing that natural creation is insufficient in itself, but can only sustain by the Life of Yahweh, Who is Christ Himself (Colossians 3:4).
Beginning with the natural thus also gives opportunity for failure, when it often attempts to survive on its own. With this comes many examples we can observe and avoid in our own lives. Adam shows us the result of trying to live apart from God: death (Romans 6:23).
So we find a lesson in beginning with the natural—it is weak in itself and can only survive by the Lord's sustenance. God also commanded Adam not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. So, he had two commandments—to eat of every tree in the garden including the Tree of Life, but not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17). The lesson is: reject the role of decision-making apart from God, and accept the gift of life.
Adam is also revealed to be the vehicle for death into the human race (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Paul reveals that it only took one “offense” for death to come upon all men (Romans 5:15-18). “Offense” comes from a Greek word meaning to slip near or fall beside. Adam was very close to obtaining God's Life, as the Tree was in the center of the Garden.
However, he instead fell for the lie of Satan to Eve, that eating the other forbidden tree would bring the same result (Genesis 3:4). He slipped past the goal, he sinned, he trespassed; and the result of that single slip was death entering all mankind.
Notice also that Paul explicitly says that Adam was a type of the one who was to come. He identifies that “one” in the next verse: Christ. Both were vehicles for a fundamental change upon mankind, via their actions.
Adam brought death through one sin; Christ brought life through one act of righteousness. However, that gift which Christ brought was not in response to the one sin of Adam—rather, it was in response to all the subsequent sins of those following him. Many sins caused grace to abound beyond measure!
It would be enough for Christ to atone for Adam's single sin which allowed death to enter the human race; that would be grace enough to redeem Adam from his serious fall. But God reveals His limitless grace in redeeming all people on account of all of their falls!
Adam is the type, of Man being a vehicle for spiritual things to his progeny, but Christ far surpasses Him as the fundamental truth being shadowed as He brings life beyond measure to Man, in spite of his continual falling.
It was also given to Adam to be the head of his wife, Eve (1 Corinthians 11:3). He was to direct their life together, and to be her authority. Thus, he was responsible for her actions and for protecting her from what God forbid. It was to him that the commandments from God had been given; not to Eve. Adam, in communicating what God had said to his wife after her creation (Genesis 3:2), should have also followed up with his continual presence with her.
But Adam failed in his charge to cover his wife. Imagine a human body acting on its own apart from the direction of its head. This is even the subject of many horror novels and movies! It is a fearful and unnatural thing for a body “to do its own thing.”
The natural order is for the head to tell the body what to do, such as walk, eat, sleep, etc. When it doesn't, it is a strange thing, as Paul found to be the truth we all experience (Romans 7:14-23). This is what the natural man is destined to find, unless and until it comes to that answer which Paul also had found, both for himself and for all of us: the Lord JesusChrist (Romans 7:24-25).
Adam slipped by allowing his body (Eve) to do as he knew it shouldn't. He let the temptations of that body (as Eve desired to be wise) cause the entire Person (Adam & Eve as one) to fall from grace, through the lies of Satan.
He lived out the truth that the natural cannot sustain itself apart from God's Life. It cannot make good decisions, it cannot say no to substitutes which do not satisfy, it cannot stand up for its dependents.
Had Adam eaten of the Tree of Life before Satan came, there would have been no temptation! Adam would have already had what Satan promised—he would be like God, having His very life dwelling within. He would have no need or desire for any substitutes, especially one which his own Father had forbidden. He would have had the boldness to tell Satan to go away and leave his wife alone. But, he did not.
And so, Adam bears out the truth which Yahweh has been testifying throughout man's generations:
11The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn't have God's Son doesn't have the life. (1 John 5:11-12)
As you read this site, you will hopefully come to know Yahweh more fully.
But all of this continuing knowledge is useless unless and until you come into union with Him. I use the word union because it is truly a marriage. It is that deep connection we all seek, for which we most often look in other people. However, the truth is that our hearts will only be fulfilled when we enter that union in fullness with the One Who made us.
This is the grace of God, that He has not stayed distant for us only to worship as Creator. But He has come unto us, even become one of us—in His Son, ChristJesus—in order to share an intimate union with us. He desires such closeness that it truly will envelope our entire life, transforming us into something new and wonderful.
You may have already entered this union with Him and only seek to know Him better through reading here. But if you have not, as you do read, let this Gospel sink into your heart as you read it now.
God loves you, and has cast your sins into the sea. He has sent His only Son as the Savior of the world—that includes you.
That Son, JesusChrist, was born as a man through a virgin who had given her life to Yahweh; He lived without sin, reflected the glory of His Father, God, in all His words and deeds, and was persecuted even unto death because of it.
His death upon a cross was the powerful explosion that separated you from your life of death. It remains for you, now, to enter into that death with Him. As you die to the one you are now, a person separated from God from your many sins, you will be born anew, with a nature predisposed to live rightly. This gift is free to you, with nothing you can do to earn it. It is the mercy of God to offer it to you, as He loves you so much! All you must do is receive it by trusting Him to have delivered you. Simply place your life in His hands and embrace the freedom that came through that death on the cross.
The Gospel is that Jesus did not remain dead, but rose again on the third day after His crucifixion! Death could not hold Him, as He was without sin. And so death will not be able to hold you, as you identify with Him fully through your trust in Him. Let go of yourself and confess Him as Lord of your life. The power of His death and resurrection will work in you all that your Creator has destined for you. You will truly enter a new life and experience that intimate union you have been seeking all of your life.
So ponder these words as you read here of this great God—Yahweh—and all that He has revealed to His creation. Let His Spirit testify to your heart that these words are true, that God is Love, and that He sent His Son so that you might receive the life that is unbound by time and space. As you feel that witness in your heart, simply believe and receive what He is offering to you, even now, and begin your new life as a child of God.
Please write to me and let me know when you take this step, as I will be your brother in Christ—we will be one in Him!
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