What's the Difference?

When the Godhead decided to create man, they went to work, if that's the right word, and Adam was the result of their design. Adam was the … first. He was the first of many things. Nothing like him had ever existed before. He was the first, the original; I guess we would say today … the experimental model of things to come.

Of course God didn't need a pre-production model to see how it would work, to run it through some tests and see if He needed to make any changes before going into full production. Even though God looked at His first man and pronounced the completed work to be … "good" … history has proven that this first man and subsequently all those reproduced from him has had an inherent, intrinsic flaw.

No … God didn't make a mistake. What He did was prefect. It has always been man's problem. God gave us a … "free will" … something called choice. The trouble with choice is that it is usually tied very closely to our flesh … what feels good or looks good, we want. And usually … now. We don't want to wait.

Some have said, and maybe rightly so … that never before had "loneliness" existed. This was another first with Adam. So God solved that problem with Eve.

Since nobody really knows when Satan sinned and became a fallen angel … I'm going to say that Adam along with his wife was the first to sin. Yes, I know Eve really sinned first, but only because of taking a bite of the fruit before she offered it to her husband who was … "with her." Because she was a part of Adam, I'm going to lump them together as one. Together they willfully brought sin into the production line of man by choice and the result was the inherent fallen nature we all have today.

By being the first man, Adam had many "firsts" too numerous to try and list all of them. He was the first man to have a son or daughter. That would have made them the first son and first daughter in the production line.

Now here is what I am working toward, where I am headed with all these "firsts."

When you say, "This is my first piece of pie" or "my first born child" … that means there could be a "second" piece of pie or a "second" born child.

I've never been accused of having real intelligence, but I am smart enough not to introduce my wife Peggy as my … "first" wife. Somehow I just don't think that would go over real well. She would say … "Oh, are you planning on having a second wife in the future?" She is my wife, period.

So where am I going with all this? I'm thinking of Jesus.

When you use the term … "the first" … it is leading one to assume there will be a second; more than just the one. This is also true in Adams case. Adam had a fallen nature after he sinned. He failed in what God asked him to do. He was the first man that sinned. Eve was the first woman that sinned.

The Bible states that … "Eve is the mother of all living." Consequently every one born after them became sinners as well … including me.

So now I'm thinking, when you say the … "second" … it doesn't necessarily mean or bring to mind that there is going to be another one later. It only means this second one was not the first one, it came after the first one. But just in case you think it does mean perhaps more, Paul ends any speculation about Jesus when he adds the term … "the last Adam."

The Apostle Paul correctly calls Adam the first man. But he calls Jesus the second or last Adam. Why? There will be no other.

1st Corinthians 15:45 & 47 … "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven."

Jesus is called "the last Adam" … meaning there shall be no other after Him who will affect the destiny of man the way both, the first Adam and the last Adam did. The first Adam caused the fall; the second and last Adam redeemed man from the fall.

Jesus becomes the "second" Adam and fulfills the covenant that the first Adam could not keep. What the first Adam could not do, the man Jesus, the "last" Adam did. Jesus willingly became the second Adam to fulfill the Law, and satisfy the justice of God. Jesus was the first to do that and will be the last to do it.

The sacrifice of Christ will never be repeated; Christ will die no more. His blood will not be shed again, nor His sacrifice reiterated; nor will any other sacrifice be offered … ever.

There will be … no other Saviour.

What's the difference … between the first and the second?

Eternity.