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Reason #9: Jesus rose from the dead to show he is the “better Adam”

There are various ways to think about the Bible's story:

  • Old Testament and New Testament
  • Old covenant and new covenant
  • Law and grace

Another way of thinking about the Bible is to see it as a story of the "two Adams":

  • There is the "first Adam" and the "second Adam"
  • Adam (book of Genesis) is the first Adam, Jesus is the second or "better Adam."
  • Death came through the "first Adam," resurrection came through the "second Adam"--“For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:21)
  • Death through one, life through the other: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
  • The "better Adam" gives life to others: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).
  • The "better Adam" is from heaven: "The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:47)
  • Those who follow the "better Adam" are also of heaven: "As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven" (1 Cor. 15:48).
  • Followers of Jesus are both in the image of the earthly man and in the image of the heavenly man: "And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man (1 Cor. 15:49).
  • The second Adam overcame temptation and the Evil One (Matthew 4:1-11)
  • The second Adam fully listened to the voice of the Father (Matthew 26:36-46).
  • And just as death came to all through disobedience concerning a tree (Genesis 2:17), life came to all through obedience on a tree (the cross--see 1 Peter 2:24, literal translation). 

In every way Jesus, the second Adam, is much superior to the first Adam. Let's follow the second Adam!