The first Adam brought sin and death. The second Adam brought life and immortality.
I think that Christians have no confusion about the Deity of Christ but we can be fuzzy about His complete, genuine humanity. As the Holy Spirit continues to take me deeper into the bottomless treasure mine of the Bible, I have never before experienced such reverential awe at the immeasurable purpose and external, essential necessity of the human MAN Christ Jesus.
Adam, the first human man was created in a perfect world and was given dominion over everything. He named all the animals. To be created in God’s image means that he would have to be like God in some way. The way was free-will choice. God laid aside part of His Sovereignty for humans and we all have sovereign authority to make our own choices.
How did Adam handle his authority? He sovereignly chose to yield up total dominion to a cruel usurper. Adam broke it – ruined everything and only a MAN could fix it. But there was no MAN. The shocking pinnacle – the most God-like of all creation brought the destruction of perfection and God’s heart was broken. Just because God knows everything in advance does not mean that He is without feeling. His great love would not permit Him to let it go but how could it be possible that there could be a second Adam? Astounding fact! God actually gave us part of His Godhead for our redemption! God the Son, the second Person of the Godhead, sovereignly chose to temporarily lay aside His Deity and be clothed in humanity which enabled Him to be the fully human second Adam. He was not half-God and half-MAN. He was fully human with all human limitations. The first Adam used his sovereign authority to relinquish dominion. The second Adam had no dominion but could use His sovereign choices during His sojourn on earth to buy it back (Revelation 5:7) and reclaim the title-deed to this world.
The first Adam began in a world that was perfect. The second Adam was born into a world where Satan was prince. The first Adam caused the FALL of holy human nature into the natural. The second Adam showed us how to gradually return the natural back to the spiritual (or not) by our free will sovereign choices. The first Adam brought to humanity (in Adam all die 1 Corinthians 15:22) sin and death. The second Adam brought (2 Timothy 1:10) life and immortality. The first Adam brought (Colossians 1:21) alienation which made us strangers to God. The second Adam purchased reconciliation, relationship and made us part of God’s family. I could go on but there is one more thing that deeply impacted me. With the magnificence of our personal sovereign authority, comes the loss or gain of eternal riches. What made the MAN Jesus strong enough (John 8:29) to always please the Father? We are told that the joy of the Lord is our strength but often we have neither joy nor strength. So, what does that mean? Consider – did Jesus have a joy-filled life? He was despised, rejected, a MAN of sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) and acquainted with grief. His earthly life was filled with mocking, slander and attempts to kill Him. He offered Himself with tears and strong crying (Hebrews 5:7). What was the secret of His strength? It was the certainty (Hebrews 12:2) of the joy set before Him that gave Him the strength to endure whatever it took to obey His Father. His strength came from His rock-solid trust that His future joy would be far greater than anything and everything He would suffer in the present time – while He made godly sovereign choices.
Who was given all power (Matthew 28:18) in heaven and earth?
The MAN Jesus Whose Name was (Philippians 2:9) exalted above every name?
The MAN Jesus, His human sovereign choices prepared and (Revelation 19:16) equipped the MAN Jesus to be KING of kings and LORD of lords
Are you glimpsing the marvel of God’s second laying aside? God actually laid aside a portion of His sovereignty and bequeathed it to humans. Every human has the sovereign authority to determine his own final destiny by personal choice. Every believer has the sovereign authority to obey or disobey God by personal choice. Believers can never be lost but we must all appear (2 Corinthians 5:10) at the Judgment Seat of Christ. What we have done with our sovereign authority will determine the quality of our reward or loss and the eternal position we will have in heaven. Our daily choices bring God joy or heartache based on what is or might have been.
Why does God allow difficult things to last so long? If we base our total lives on the fact that (1 Corinthians 6:19) we are not our own – I do not own a private life – this viewpoint will do much for our understanding and insight. If we are going through a rough patch – a dark time – maybe we are in the Potter’s house because the (Jeremiah 18:2-4) the Lord has something to say to us. If our circumstances are painful, perhaps we are on the Potter’s wheel. If so, it means that God is focusing His full attention on us and with His own hands He is creating within us that which will bring us eternal benefit.
Eternal life is (1 John 5:11) the Life of God
The Christian life is (Colossians 1:27) the Life of Man.
Everybody wants instant coffee but everybody agrees that brewed coffee has a richer flavour.
In patience (Luke 21:19) possess your souls. What does that mean? If, I’m not patient in my circumstances, my mind and emotions will be flying in every direction and I have no possession or control. I need to accept everything from God’s hand and use my sovereign authority to trust and obey. We have learned from Jesus that future eternal joy will far exceed present, temporary suffering. If I know God’s character, seeming constrictions will not shake my faith in Him.
Remember – we’ve got a MAN in heaven – the only MAN Who could open heaven for mankind.