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The Apostle Paul tells us in his first letter to the church in Corinth, "The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the nat...
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The phrase 'second Adam' comes from the pen of the Roman Catholic cleric Cardinal Newman in his hymn 'Praise to the Holiest in the Height' - "...a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came." The Bible refers to Jesus as 'the last Adam' (1 Cor 15:45). He put right all that the first man, the first Adam, had undone when he sinned against the Lord in the Garden of Eden. The Apostle Paul states that 'as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive' (v22). 'As we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear the image of the heavenly Man' (v49).
John 12:25 "...except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Christ is the firstborn of many brethren (Rom.8:29). He is also the bridegroom in the marriage supper of the lamb (Rev 19:9). Adam was the father of the physical body and the soul of every human being. Both body and soul became subject to death due to original sin. Christ is the father of all whose souls have been saved through his life-giving spirit. All living in heaven and earth will have his spirit in the Kingdom of God. Christ has proliferated himself in multitudes of saved people, and so is like a spiritual Adam.
The first Adam handed over the authority God gave him over the earth to Satan in disobedience to God, Gen. 1:28. Because of God's justice, another man (Jesus) fully man and fully God had to come from heaven in obedience to collect back the authority Adam lost. The first Adam brought death into the world while the last Adam brought back life. The first Adam was sin tainted while the second Adam was sinless. Hebrew 4:15. The first Adam was beaten by the serpent (Devil) While the second Adam (Jesus); seed of a woman bruised the head of the serpent (Devil) Gen. 3:15 The first Adam died and was held by the grave but the second Adam through death destroyed the one who had power over death (Devil) Hebrew 2:14
When reading, “What does it mean that Jesus is the second Adam?”, it appears that the author is negating the fact that since the beginning, in Genesis, Jesus was the Word, then that would mean that Jesus was, in fact, before Adam and can, therefore, NOT be second to anyone!
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