Names of Jesus | Advent DevotionalSýnishorn

Monday, December 23 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 | Last Adam Author: Dr. Tim Sansbury

As we near the end of our exploration of the names of Jesus, we turn to Him as the last Adam. This concept may initially seem strange—after all, the term "Adam" signifies being the first. How can Jesus be both the last and first, especially when he is truly the first, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and the creator of the first Adam? How is he last?

To understand this, we can look to Paul's words. Adam represents the beginning of humanity, the earthly father of every earthly human being. He was formed from the dust by God's hand, and in his own power, he returned to dust upon his death. As his descendants, we share this fate: ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Apart from Christ, this is our family, history, and destiny; we are people of dust who return to the dust, hopeless for anything more.

However, Paul tells us that this does not have to be our only family. Christ is a second Adam but also the last Adam because he initiates a new, imperishable, eternal humanity. If Adam is our only father, we live in peril until death. Yet, if Christ is our Adam, we find permanent protection, assured of an unending spiritual life and a resurrection like his own—in bodies that endure forever on a renewed Earth.

This new beginning, this “second” first, is last because it can never be outdone or undone. Through his incarnation, Christ became the first of a new human race destined to live with Him eternally. And so, while he was second, he was more than the first could ever have been. The first Adam was a human made alive by God; the second Adam is God making humanity alive. By faith in this coming king, we become his image bearers, bearing the image not just of the short, dusty life of our beginning but of the blessed eternity of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, the second, last, and forever Adam.