Saturday, March 3, 2012

the second adam


Second Adam, condemned with thieves, thank you for saving this man, condemned with devils.

“Adam” means “man”, literally. The first representative man was deceived by the devil. When God made humans he gave us all things richly to enjoy; there was but one thing he didn’t want us to have: evil. To come to know evil is to know death, for God only gives life. Since there is no evil in God, the only thing that can be found outside of God is death. This death came by the devil’s deceit and the submitted will of man to the will of the devil. In forfeiting our will to the devil, we forfeit our choice. We become his slave. This slavery brings condemnation.

Life was restored to the world through a tree from which the Second Adam was willing to partake. In a sense, the devil was deceived in the second desolate garden called Golgotha. Satan thought he was killing a mere man, but once this man was in the belly of death, Ultimate Good penetrated the finite darkness and defeated the deceiver once and for all. Jesus is our new representative Man. By his gracious, forgiving act, he released us from bondage to sin, death and the devil. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In crucifixion, Jesus was condemned alongside criminals. Jesus appeared as a worm on a fish-hook. Satan, the great monster, gobbled him up, but got hooked because Jesus was more than a worm, he was Perfect God. Satan had no right to take him, so the worm was liberated from death. By faith in Jesus’ work on our behalf, so are we. And, our new Master gives us back our choice: Jesus sets his servants free and calls them friends. So love him, just freely love him.


The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. -I Corinthians 15:45

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. -I Corinthians 15:22

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