◄ What Does 1 Corinthians 15:45 Mean? ►

The first man, Adam, was created by God from the dust of the ground, to have dominion over the earth and all God's creatures. He was not the result of some galactic accident. The first man, Adam, was created in the image and likeness of God and had His very life-breathed into him: "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." The first man sinned and fell, losing his position and his kingdom, resulting in sin and death reigning over the earth and enslaving the hearts of all mankind: "For as in Adam all die........."

Jesus Christ became the second man - the heavenly man - the last Adam, and He was sent from above by God to exercise dominion over all that the first man had lost, due to his sin. The second and last Adam was God incarnate, and the life of God was within Him for He Himself was God: "The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven." The second man paid the price for humanity's sin and broke the power of death in all mankind: "..........so in Christ all will be made alive."

The first man, Adam, became a living being when God breathed His life into Adam's lifeless body that He had formed from the dust of the earth. And we all bear the image of this earthly man. Made in the image of God, with a spirit that can commune with the Spirit of God, but who, since the fall, was destined to die in their sins, with an earthly body that is perishing from the day we are born.

The second man and last Adam was the eternal Son of God Who became the perfect sacrificial Man Who, in willingly laying down His life for humanity, would break the ruling power of sin and death and become a life-giving Spirit for mankind. And we who have accepted the free gift of salvation, now bear the image of the heavenly man. The life-giving Spirit has taken up residency in our bodies, and while our bodies on earth are still perishing, we have the promise of being changed: "For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality."

Jesus Himself was life and light, and He came to conquer sin and death and to terminate its reign over the lives of whosoever would believe on His name. Praise the Lord that the last Adam chose to come to earth, to die on the Cross for the sins of all humanity, and to become a life-giving Spirit for all who believe in Him.

Loving Father, thank You for Jesus, the last Adam Who gave His life for me and broke the terrible power of sin and death in my mortal body so that I might receive His life forever. For this, I praise You now and into eternity. In Jesus' name, AMEN.