Two Adams

The Bible presents the entire human story through the lens of two men. Everything you have inherited, your sin, your condemnation, your appointment with death, came through the first man, Adam. And everything God freely offers you, righteousness, justification, eternal life, comes through the last Adam, Jesus Christ. Paul draws this contrast vividly in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians, and in doing so, he reveals the most important question any person will ever face: which Adam are you in?

In Adam

When Adam disobeyed God in the garden, the consequences did not stop with him. Sin entered the world through that one man, and death followed right behind it. Every human being born since has inherited Adam’s sin nature: not because we each committed Adam’s specific transgression, but because we were made in his fallen likeness.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” - Romans 5:12

The passage is unmistakably clear: death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the same way Adam did (Rom 5:14). This is the doctrine of original sin. We don’t become sinners when we first choose to sin; we are born sinners, made in Adam’s own likeness and image (Gen 5:3). There is none righteous, no not one (Rom 3:10, 23). The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and in Adam, every person receives those wages because they sin.

This matters because if we do not understand the depth of our problem, we will never appreciate the magnitude of God’s solution. People, including professing Christians, do not like to talk about sin. But if sin is ignored, the need for a Savior disappears, the cross becomes ineffectual, and man is left trying to save himself, which he cannot do.

In Christ

But we don’t have to be left in Adam. He calls Adam “the figure of him that was to come” (Rom 5:14): a type, a representation of Jesus Christ. The parallel, however, is not equal. What Christ accomplished far surpasses the damage Adam caused.

“For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.” - Romans 5:15

Paul lays out the comparison carefully. In verses 15 through 17 of Romans 5 he describes the act of one man, the imputation of that act, and the result. Through Adam’s one offence came judgment and condemnation upon all men. But through Christ’s obedience, his perfect life, death, burial, and resurrection, the free gift of justification is offered to all humanity (Rom 5:18). By one man’s disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous (Rom 5:19, Php 2:5-11).

Notice the word “many.” It tells us that while the gift is offered to all, not everyone receives it. This is not universalism, for not all receive it. Neither is this “limited atonement” because Christ died for all (2Co 5:14–15). The gift of righteousness, justification, and eternal life is only given to those who receive it by faith in the gospel of Christ (Rom 3:21-26, 4:24-25, 5:1-11).

Paul brings the contrast between the two Adams into clarity in 1 Corinthians:

“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”- 1 Corinthians 15:21–22

Below is a small table comparing the two.

Adam Vs. Christ

Sin entered (Rom 5:12) | Grace abounded (Rom 5:15)

Death passed upon all (Rom 5:12) | Eternal life freely given (Rom 6:23)

Judgment to condemnation (Rom 5:16, 18) | Free gift unto justification (Rom 5:16, 18)

Many made sinners (Rom 5:19) | Many made righteous (Rom 5:19)

The earthy image (1 Co 15:47–49) | The heavenly image (1 Co 15:47–49)

A living soul (1 Co 15:45) | A quickening spirit (1 Co 15:45)

How to Get “In Christ”

If all of these wonderful things, grace, righteousness, justification, eternal life, belong to those who are “in Christ,” then the most urgent question anyone can ask is: how do I get there?

We see in Romans that for this to happen, the old man must die. Our identity in Adam, that sinful, condemned, spiritually dead person, has to be put to death. And the beautiful truth is that God accomplishes this spiritual process when we trust in the gospel. When Christ died on the cross, he did not only die for our sins; he made it possible for us to be identified with his death and raised in newness of life.

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” - Romans 6:6

This is not something you do by your own effort. Trying to work for a free gift is a rejection of the message itself (Gal 2:21). God does the saving. God does the baptizing: by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body and into His death and resurrection (1Co 12:13, Rom 6:3-6, Col 2:10-15). When you trust the gospel of Christ, that he died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1Co 15:1-4), God supernaturally places you into Christ. Your old man in Adam is crucified. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13–14). You are a new creature (2Co 5:17). You are eternally secure, for if salvation is not by works of righteousness, then it cannot be lost by a lack of works either, for it is on the merits of Christ’s sacrifice (Rom 5:1-2, Eph 2:8-9, Rom 8:38-39).

“The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirti. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Every person ever born has inherited the image of Adam: sin, condemnation, death, and a corruptible body. But God, in his grace, sent the last Adam, the Lord from heaven, so that by faith in his finished work we might bear the image of the heavenly. The gift is free. The offer stands. The only question that remains is: which Adam are you in?