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How are Adam and Jesus alike and how are they different?
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7/23/2010 9:38:48 PM
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Historical Background of Adam In this section of our study, we will be looking at the origin of Adam & Eve as outlined in scripture. We will review their creation, early actions, Satan and his influence on them, The Fall, and the judgment against them by God. In the second section we will compare Adam & Jesus using this information as our foundation. Because it is not possible to understand Jesus' & Adam's similarities & differences without first understanding Adam's background.
Before we begin, I would like to express that there is a false doctrine circulating around christian circles and even being taught in our churches today. That damnable teaching is that the Genesis account of Adam, Eve and The Fall never occurred historically; that it is just an illustration at best of how the early patriarchs of the Old Testament perceived the creation account. They say it was a story passed on to each generation much like our modern day fairy tails.
I would like to suggest, that as we journey back through the ages, looking at these main players, that you notice:- That the bible is clear in it's presentation of these events as factual and actual events of God's creation of mankind.
- That the bible is God's Word and not man's and that these events are being set forth in the same way as all other satements of fact used throughout the entire Old Testament when dealing with a narrative approach of sharing historical facts.
- That Israel during the time of the early church believed that the events were factual as stated without error as seen in the fact that the events were:
a. preached by Paul & Timothy
b. received by the early church as common knowledge
c. Jesus never said otherwise as He would have if they were erroneous
The Creation of Man
Genesis 2:7, 15-257 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
First we see that God formed man out of dust of the ground (actually out of the very elements that make up planet earth, we truly are children of Mother Earth and are by nature, children of this world! The only part of man's being that is above his elemental ingredients was put their, actually breathed into man directly from God; a personal and independent act of the Lord.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
Notice here, that God did not create man to be lazy or self-centered but to work and serve Him. He not only created man to perform task, but He specified what task His son should do. Jesus, as the Only Begotten Son of God said of His purpose for coming to earth in prayer to His Father, "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do." John 17:4 Here we see our first "similarity" between Adam & Jesus; there purpose was to do the work of their Father! As born-again Christians, it too is our primary task to do God's works on this planet. He has a plan for us, a job for us to do! That is our PRIMARY Purpose!
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Notice here that God does not leave Adam ill informed of his purpose. God takes the time to educate His son as to what is expected of him and what is not allowed. And in this case it is in informing Adam of his freedom to eat fruit from any tree but not the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But what is important to us at this point is "what" that restriction was: don't eat of the tree, for in the day you do, you will die!
Now you may be thinking well Adam does eat of the tree but he didn't die? He lived to be 930 years old! (See Genesis 5:5) Ah, and here we have our second contrast between Adam and Jesus but this time it is an inverse simulation! Adam had longevity of life and lived 930 years and Jesus lived a short life of only 33 years right? WRONG! Jesus was actually the One who created Adam: "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John 1:3). OK, but what about Adam's longevity'. Well Adam did died that very day he ate of the fruit! You see, Adam was a physical being but he also had that life that God breathed into him, a soul and spirit. Adam was made in God's image in that he was created a triune being! He was created with a body, soul and spirit. In similitude to God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And the very DAY Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he died spiritually. His spirit died, his body started to die and his soul would be ding for eternity in hell; unless God decided to intervene some how.
So you see, in scripture, things are not always as they appear at first glance, Jesus lived allot longer than 33 years, He has always lived; talk about longevity, and Adam lived a very short life; a matter of days!
18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.
Here we see another interesting thing about mankind; he is not good on his own. He needs: companionship, to love, and to be loved. He needs others to be complete.
"No man is an island unto himself." - Unknown
19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them.
And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.
Here is another indication of "how" Adam died a short death. You see, Adam was created perfect. He used 100% of his brain. He was the most intelligent man that ever lived accept for Jesus. Adam had cognitive abilities that far surpassed ours. He was able to reason and "think" up a name for ever animal God created! Not only that but he had the "memory" to remember each and everyone he named. I am amazed at how even God was interested in what name Adam would give to these creatures: "brought them to Adam to see what he would call them". Now God already knew what Adam would call them, but the point is in how God loved Adam. He personally enjoyed watching His creation learn and grow. Ask any mother how she feels when her first born child says their first word; especially if that word is "mom"! Now of course a mother "knows" their child will say that word one day, but that is not the same now is it? :)
But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
There is a good lesson here for us. You see how God already had a solution for our needs but He lets us work with Him in bringing it about. And in the process, others are blessed as we work together with the Lord!
So God creates a "helper" for Adam out of his own rib. How Awesome is our God? He was creating a wife for Adam to honor, love and cherish. And when God finished His creation, he took Adam's new bride to meet her future husband. And Adam fell head over heel's in love with her immediately. As soon as he saw her, he broke out in song to serenade her and rejoiced in God's Great provision:
23 And Adam said:
This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.
It was only fitting that He got to name her species as well so he called her women because she was made from his own flesh and bone.
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
At this point, it is important to realize that Adam & Eve were totally innocent of any sin. So it was only natural for them to perceive their nakedness as natural too. They were not like other animals with hair, scales of feathers but that was OK as they were what God wanted them to be.
But things were about to take a bad turn for the worst! Adam and Eve had no concept of sin but they were about to get a crash course.
The Fall of Man:
Genesis 3:1-211 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Enter the serpent! That cunning and cruel fox who come to: kill, steel and destroy: Satan. And notice how he delivers his deadly venom to the new couple in the garden. He approaches Eve in the garden and ask her a question. This was not because he did not already know the answer but rather to "test" Eve to see what she knew. The answer to this question is the very thing that opens the door for his deadly corruption:
2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.
Ah, Satan got his edge! He now knows that he can proceed by setting his deadly trap! You see, God did not say that. This meant that Eve got her info from Adam and not God. And when a woman gets her information second-handily, look out! ;)
God had told Adam, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. But Eve added the clause "nor shall you touch it" which was not part of God's commandment!
A side not here, while Eve went a step further in her desire to stay away from the tree by saying that they should not touch it, the outcome of adding to God's words was disastrous. Many good men and women have been dashed to pieces on the rocks of heresy by adding a positive sounding clause to the words of the Lord! Beware, God's word is His word not ours and must be tought verbatim!
OK, so equipped with the knowledge that Eve did not know what God had said, Satan played on her insecurity and fleshly desires. By first, discrediting God's word; actually calling God a liar! No surprise because Satan is the farther of lies and knows how to spread falshoods with a slight ring sound of truth! He implies that God is holding out on them! God not only lied to them he says, but God is just selfishly keeping something from them as we read:
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
And so the trap was set! Now Eve had bought Satan's lies and doubt, the opposite of faith in the truth, had made it wedge into her soul. Satan had nothing else to do but sit back and watch as Eve's fleshly desires would do the rest. And what are these fleshly desires that lead us to sin? You will find them in the book of 1 John 2:15-16:
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Now look at Eves sin as described in our text:
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
You see, Adam and Eve were perfect (holy) but notice the reasons for the fall vs. Johns definition of sinful desires:
1. John: "lust of the flesh" Eve: "good for food"
2. John: "lust of the eyes" Eve: "pleasant to the eyes"
3. John: "pride of life" Eve: "desirable to make one wise"
Here we see an important truth! Though Adam & Eve were innocent, they still were created from the earth and were "of the world". They were created perfect, but they were flawed! Not flawed in the sense that God messed up the formula or did not create them perfectly. No God said of His creation that it was "Very Good". But they were flawed in that they lacked the necessary ingredient that would make them capable to resist or "mortify" these worldly desires. They lacked the righteousness of God. They were innocent and therefore pure, but they were not God; they did not have His "Divine" nature in them! They were created in His image and likeness but it was just that: an image, a "likeness" not actually part of God. Remember how God made Eve from a very "piece" of Adam? Well God did not make them from a "piece" of Himself; His Righteousness Nature! This would only be possible with the imputation of Jesus' Nature of Righteousness to them which they would ultimatly receive at Calvary.
Now things get really interesting, though sad for a time. Sad in that Adam & Eve are abiding under the penalty of sin! Immediately they felt the sting of sin in their conscience. They felt, "dirty", "naked", "ashamed", "embarrassed"..."GUILTY"! They had died! Their spirit was no longer in complete and happy fellowship with God's Spirit. They were alienated from God. Read on.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? 10 So he said, I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Notice what happens. They hear God "walking in the garden" so they did two things. First, they covered their nakedness with fig leaves as if that would covered their sense of guilt. They had gotten the knowledge of good & evil but at a very high cost! This impulse to "cover" their sin is not bad in and of itself, but it was futile to think that mere fig leaves could be an adequate covering for their iniquity! Nothing, short of the Atoning Blood of Christ could cover their sin.
Secondly, they "hid" themselves. How like us to try and hide from God because of out sins. As a child, will try and hide from mommy or daddy when they break a vase. As adults, we try to "hide" from God in may ways: deny He exist, say we evolved from apes, say we were put here as a colonization project of aliens from another planet, or some other scheme. As long as we some how take God out of the equation, we "think" we are well "hidden"!
And as to covering our sins, well were good at that too! We act like we are vessels unto ourselves and need not give an account. We "cover" ourselves with pride, knowledge, philanthropy, giving to others, riches, fame, power, and many other such foolish devices to convince ourselves that we are invincible and responsible to no one but our own beings!
But there is one more respondent to consider here: God! notice God's response! He comes "Calling"! He knows they have sinned and He immediately comes to meet them. Can you feel His heart here? This is His "Very Good" creation! He loves Adam & Eve and is hurt much more by their actions then they are! His heart is broken by their fall as well!
But their is a gem buried in this incident! A Pearl of good price! You see, this teach us that the answer to our sins is not to run away from God and hide, the answer is to run TO God! He alone is capable to make atonement for our sins! He alone is the answer to our plight!
Continuing...
11 And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?
God ask them two questions, both of which God already knows the answer to. First, who told you you was "naked". After all they WERE naked. No one "told" them that but they had gotten the knowledge from the tree! Once they ate the fruit "eyes of both of them were opened". They were no longer innocent. God follows that question which was designed to stir-up their mind to think about what they had done with a question directly related to their sin, "Have you eaten from the tree"? The one "I commanded you that you should not eat"?
You see here the second thing Adam & Eve needed to do after running TO God was to confess! The answer to sin is to Confess and to confess immediately! Not to hide, not to try and cover it up, and definitely not to do what they are about to do: blame someone else!
Notice ho God get confession from each of the guilty parties before He passes His judgement.
12 Then the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.
Adam's response is the worst: "The woman whom You gave to be with me". Adam not only does not confess his sin but blames God! "It's your fault". "You gave me this woman". Then he adds that it is her fault: "she gave me of the tree". And finally, he half-heatedly confesses,"and I ate", but only after asserting it is not his fault. It is not his responsibility.
So God ask the woman:
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
It should be pointed out here that Eve's answer was much more accurate than Adam's She admits she was deceived, but also still blames the serpent for that deception. However the truth of the matter was she ate because she believed Satan and because of her own sinful desires.
Now God does not ask the serpent to give an account because that would be pointless. Instead, He immediately passes judgment on him:
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel. 16 To the woman He said: I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you. 17 Then to Adam He said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.
God pronounces three judgements. First to the serpent who would no longer be able to stand upright. This would limit his ability to stand face to face with man; because by doing so, makes him seem equal to man.
Secondly, He gives a promise of a 'seed' (Son) to Eve that would ultimatly crush the serpents head (wipe him out) but only after the sepent would (constantly) be on His heels. Satan was a continual burdon to Jesus the Seed in that he is always trying to destroy God's Word by deception, deciept and lies as he had done here in the garden. He also tells Eve that she would have pain in child bearing and that she would desire her husband's approval at all times. This was a change in her very nature to make it more likly that she would listen to her husband's advice and not take matters into her own hands again. We will see better WHY God did this as we get futhur into this study and see what motivate Adam and what motivated Eve to sin. The motives, as we will see, are totally different!
Lastly, God informs man that he would curse the ground itself as part of His curse on Aadam: "In toil you shall eat of it (the cursed ground) All the days of your life". This curse would include, not only "toil" in work but also it would stand against him with "Both thorns and thistles". Adam would learn the meaning of work! There would be no more "free ride" in a lush garden that produces 100-fold without any effort on his part. And this would be the case till the ground finaly won; "For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."
20 And Adam called his wifes name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Since Woman now has a new roll of childbearing, it is only fitting that Aadam give her a name that reflects that fact: Eve, "the mother of all living". In this is also seen the Mercy of God. Had not God arrainged it that Eve would be the mother of the Deliveror because had He not, Aadam would have lost favor for Eve over time due to bitterness. But Adam knew his only salvation would come through his wife! And he was glad because he loved her!
Paul Evaluates Eve's Sin
1 Timothy 2:11-1511 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
God's gives some seamingly hard to reconcile commandments to women via the apostle Paul. But This is the best place to review these verses as it is much easier to see why God says what he says here. Many have tried to change God's word at this point by saying that Paul was teaching in a time when woman were looked down on and as a result, he had to make some church rules so as not to hinder the Gospel of Christ. Hogwash! First, nothing can hinder the goepel of Christ, not even the "gate of hell"! No God's word is God's word and making it say what you want it to say or changing it to meet contemporay "peer presure" to do so is exactly what got us in this mees with sin in the first place! God forbid that hte church should take on the role of satan and twist God's words as satan did in the garden. There is a reason God set it up this way and it is a "Good", "Pure" and "Holy" reason. You see, God knows that He created woman diferently than man. He made woman to be a helper of man. He gave her a different mind set and emotional makeup than He did man. Their is no belittling going on here but just a proper alignment of God's intention of the sexes.
Women are not to have authority over a man. Since they are not to be a teacher of men, they cetainly are not to hold a position of minister, preacher, evangelist or pastor! Why, because just as Christ has preiminence over all His creation, man was created before woman. Not better, not holier, but first. There is no reason to be threathened or defensive here as it is just a condition of position not rank or value. It is equal ground at the cross and only God is to be worshipped, not man or woman. But this text teaches a very important truth. A truth that is central to our thesis: The comparison of Jesus and Adam! Notice why God says it is to be this way: "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression". Eve was decieved by the serpent and can be esily decieved again. Does that mean man can not be decieved? Of course not, but the entire "Fall" happened because Eve was decieved! Eve was decieved but then as a result of that decpetion, she "fell into transgression"! She broke God law! Ok, but what about Adam? Didn't he break God's law?
Yes, Adam broke God's law but for an entirely diferent reason. He was not decieved so why di he do it? Why did he eat the fruit?
Do you remeber how he named every creature as God brought them to him looking for his helper? Do you remember what Adam did when he first met Eve? He broke out in song for his bride! He loved Eve totally, completely, and unashamedly! He would do anything for her jsut as God would have done anything for him! And, Adam did the exact same thing God would do! What sin, no! God forbid. Think about it: Eve ate of the tree. Imediatly she died spiritually. Imediatly she felt naked. Imeditly she felt shame. Imediatly she was under the wrath of God! Adam was still perfect. He still loved her perfectly! He seen the results in her and his heart broke! The "bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh" was doomed! Adam had time to think about this. He knew God loved him and Eve. He knew God would judge Eve. And he loved Eve perfectly. There was only one possible thing he could do: give himself for her!
Jesus said,"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13. You see perfect love is self-sacrificing. Adam knew that God would "make a way" for them. That some how, God would work it all out. And if not, then he loved Eve enough to face God's wrath with her. he would not, infact could not, allow her to face the punishment alone. He loved her too much to do that, so he ate!
Adam's logic was perfect and his knowledge of God was much greater! He had spent a lot of time with God as they shared experiences together. he knew God could do anyting! He could surely find a solution to their prdicament. This is the exact same kind of love God had for mankind! "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." John 3:16.
Jesus said that He gave Himself as a self-sacrifice for man just as Adam did for Eve:
Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. John 17:17-18
Jesus gave Himeself for us but the difference is that jesus did not have to "STAY" dead! He said He had "power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again"! Jesus took our sins on Himself in our place just as Adam took on Eve's sin by sharing in it with her!
Does that make Adam's sin any less sin than Eve's sin? Of course not! But Adam was acting on faith in the All Powerful God he came to know and to Love! And if he could selflessly give himself to sahre in the consequecnes with eve, than he knew God, who was infinitly more loving, could do the same or whhat ever it would take. Worst case, he knew God would understand that, "I can't live without you if I don't do something; I won't let you go through this alone" kind of love!
But does that teaching line up with scripture? Well let's see what God's Word says:
Adam gave his life / Jesus gave His life
1 Corinthians 15:45-4945 And so it is written, The first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Adam became a living soul. He could give that life, but when he did, he died!
Jesus became a lif-giving spirit. He could give His life, and when He did, He & we were brought back to live!
46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
Adam was carnel, of the earth!
Jesus was Spiritual, God of heaven!
Adam made by God of the earth less than the angels!
Jesus who is God was made less than the angels!
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone." Hebrews 2:9
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.
Adam was "the man of dust"
Jesus is "the heavenly Man"
We are in the Image of Adam: made of dust
We will be tin the Image of Jesus: made spiritual
Death by Adam / Life by Jesus
1 Corinthians 15:21-2221 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Notice, the bible has no issues with comparing Adam with Jesus!
Adam's self-sacrificing (sinful death) brought death to all. Jesus' self-sacrificing (righetous death) brought life to all.
I know this has been a very long thesis to use as a blog post, but my hope and prayer is that God will help you see how He has been in control of everything since the entire creation began. And that when you sin, you have the option to "run to Go" for He has the Power and the Love to solve your sin-death issues!
God Bless You All!
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Summary
We are being
warned! God is showing us what His purpose for this
world entails. As we get closer and closer to the end,
the world has become more and more sinful! And
unfortunately, this condition will worsen till He
returns and redeems us from ourselves. Don't let sin,
self or Satan who has invaded our planet separate you
from the free gift of salvation that Jesus extends to
you in His invitation to be born-again:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes
in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
Are You Ready? If not get ready, "Repent
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"!
Click to Read:
Luke 13:3;
Ephesians 2:8-9;
Romans 10:8-13;
Acts2:38
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