In this piece, we'll be looking at another exposition and today we're looking at: The Exposition of the First and Last Adam. The reason why we are spending time on this is that the Holy Spirit wants to take us on a journey on how we need to transit consciously from the realm and the operation of the first Adam, with the inadequacies and the lapses therein, into the realm of perfection of the last Adam, where God has instituted, that our dominion will thrive and rest upon; that is the focus of the Holy Spirit and I pray that: that which the Lord has for us, it will not elude us in the name of Jesus.

 

I want us to start our observation from where this concept actually began. You know, this concept started with the letter that Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians chapter 15; he was the one that introduced this concept as led by the Holy Spirit and we are going to look at the few verses that communicated this; 1 Corinthians chapter 15:45-58, “And so it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” That's like the summary of the matter. The first Adam became a living being and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit; he now went further to explain to us from verse 46, however, the spiritual is not first, but the natural and afterward the spiritual.

 

The first man was of the earth, now he’s helping us to understand the difference between the first Adam, which became a living being: he went ahead to give us the conclusion, or a summary of the matter which is now walking us through the details. He said, the first Adam became a living being, that was all about the first Adam, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit and in verse 47, he said; ‘the first man was of the earth’.

 

I want us to notice the characteristics or the features of the first Adam, he said, the first Adam was of the earth; made of dust. He is explaining to us why the first Adam was limited to becoming just a living being: he was of the earth, made of dust; the second man, that is the last Adam, is the Lord from heaven, as was the man of dust, so also are those, who are made of dust. Now, we are being introduced to their offspring, that the man of dust: who is the man of dust? The first Adam. Anything that is applicable to the first Adam is applicable to whosoever is made of dust. So, this place presupposes and tells us that the first Adam is not the first of his kind, that the first Adam did not terminate his existence when he died, he said whatever is possible, whatever is applicable to the first Adam, i.e. the man of dust, is also applicable to those who are made of dust. So, there are people, there are persons, there are men that are made of dust, and as the heavenly man, (and I love this one particularly because he did not say “as was” but “as is”, whatever is possible and applicable to the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly.

 

For a moment you will think that Apostle Paul was referring to angels, for a moment you might think Apostle Paul is referring to those that are called the living creatures or the 24 elders or just heavenly beings that live in that realm; but he said, as is the heavenly Man so also are those who are heavenly. So, the heavenly Man did not terminate His existence and His possibility to Himself, there is a transmission. Verse 49, and as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

 

Apostle Paul is taking it home so that we can understand. How and when did we bear the image of the man of dust? If we go back to Genesis chapter 1:26-27, the Bible says, God said, let us make man in our image and after our likeness, and let them have dominion, right? In Genesis chapter 2:7, the Bible says, And God made man of the dust of the ground, so that is why he said, we borne the image of the man of dust. Adam became the man of dust, not in Genesis 1:26-27, he became the man of dust in Genesis chapter 2:7, when Bible says, “And God made man from the dust of the earth.”

 

But the reason why Adam operated in the supernatural and enjoyed the heavenly was because that was not the end of it. Genesis 2:7 says, “And God made man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” So, back to verse 45 of 1 Corinthians 15, he said; “The first Adam became a living being.” So, you understand where that is coming from? Genesis chapter 2:7, when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the man of dust became a living being. So, in verse 49, he said, as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.

 

Why didn't he say we are already, in fact, now we bear the image of the heavenly Man?
What happened there? He said, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man, who is the heavenly man? The last Adam, who is the last Adam? Going back to verse 45, He is the one that became a life -giving spirit. So, if we look at ourselves now, and look at our lives, we know that truly we bear the image of the man of dust, because this body was formed from the dust of the earth, and that's why the Bible says dust are you, and to dust you shall return; talking about the body of man. That's why when Jesus was saying, that, what can you use in exchange for your soul, if a man loses his soul, what can be used in exchange; it is a serious matter because when a man loses his soul, meaning that all that is to the man has been terminated. So, when we talk about the life-giving spirit, we're not talking about the physical mundane life, we're talking about eternal life; a life that does not terminate, a life that does not have an end.

 

It is important the body of Christ start appreciating that Jesus did not come so that we can have a life that is temporal, so that we can have cars and have houses and feel good. Jesus came to give us a life without end; everlasting life, eternal life: a life that does not have termination. That is when we know that when we have this life; it does not terminate, we have not lost our soul. A man loses his soul when he refuses to partake of eternal life which the last Adam- the life -giving spirit has come to offer. The reason we love and honor and fear Christ Jesus: the last Adam, and we are in reverence of Him is simply because of who He is.

 

So, when we appreciate who the last Adam is, we understand the reason why we need to bear the image of the heavenly Man. Every one that has borne the image of the man of dust have died, many of them their graves cannot be found; but every one that bears the image of the heavenly Man, their lives transits with time because if you will say that everything ends here, why did Saul go and engage a sorcerer to call forth the spirit of Samuel, remember, Samuel died, his body was found and they buried him. It was Moses that died and his body was not found. Samuel died, they did burial rite for him, they buried his body, but when Saul was confused, he went to a sorcerer to connect to the spiritual realm and call forth the spirit of Samuel and when Samuel was coming, since the sorcerer did not know Samuel; Saul said, describe the man you are seeing for me and he described the man and Saul said, it was Samuel.

 

And when Samuel came, Samuel spoke the way he used to speak to Saul. How did he know it was Samuel if it was another voice he was using? Samuel spoke with the same voice, the same appearance as it were but this time Samuel was not in the image of the man of dust. Samuel was in the image of the heavenly Man. Verse 50, Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What is Apostle Paul saying by the Holy Spirit here? The man of dust is flesh and blood; the man of dust cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

 

Why was Adam and Eve sent out of the Garden of Eden? God said, now that they have known good and evil, less, they lay their hands on the tree of life or the fruit of life and become like one of us. What was He saying? They were men of dust enjoying the breath of God, they died from that life, they became ordinary men of dust, flesh and blood: that was what they became, because Adam was not supposed to be able to die. That's why Apostle Paul was speaking when he was saying that mortality will take up immortality, because at that point, what will happen to mortality is that you and I, in the garden of God, called the earth have found Christ, the tree of life, and we have laid hold on the fruit of life and now we have eternal life; even though we transit this body, the dust that it is: our life continues to exist with God. So that's why he said, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

 

As long as you are in the garden called the earth today, and you have chosen not to lay hold on the tree of life, which is Christ Jesus, and eat of the fruit of life, that is the life He came to give; because the Bible says, and the last Adam is the life-giving spirit. As long as you have not laid hold on the fruit of life, and you have not partaken of the tree of life, why was Jesus emphasizing on the need to partake of Him? It is because He is the tree of life. Once you partake of Christ, once you become one with Him, once you eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, and you become one with Christ Jesus, what has happened to you, even though it looks as if your head is not bigger, it looks as if you are not taller, it looks as if your complexion has not changed, something has changed inside of you fundamentally, that will affect your eternity. And that's why the Bible says that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is foolishness to the world; they can't conceive that you can still be in this mortal flesh, you are not entering your mother's womb to be born again and at the same time, you are born again. Something has happened fundamentally to you.

 

So, Apostle Paul was saying here, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption; that was what happened to Adam and Eve, they had become corrupted and God said I have to chase you out of the garden so that you will not inherit incorruption. You have become flesh and blood; you cannot inherit the kingdom. You can't! That's why they were chased out of the garden and God made sure He protected the garden against their re-entry. And that's why, what is possible for our re-entry into the garden to partake of the tree of life is the life of Jesus that was laid down on the cross. And He did not just finish it on the cross like that, he went to hell; stripped the devil of all authority and power over our crossing from mortality to immortality, stripped the devil of all authority and power that has prevented us from crossing from corruption to incorruption. And when that was done, Jesus ascended back to the right hand of the Father, with all dominion intact; dominion was stolen from man (the first Adam), and the life of God was stolen from man: man became nothing but flesh and blood.

 

When Jesus came, He came to open up, and that's why He said, I am the way; the way that was blocked in Genesis chapter three, the way that was blocked from you entering back to assess the tree of life, I am the way that has been opened. I am the truth, and I'm the life. Verse 51 says; “behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep.” Now, Apostle Paul is taking us on a journey to help us appreciate what has happened to us; bearing the image of the last Adam, bearing the image of the heavenly man. He said,

 

“Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, they died corrupted as it were. But they laid hold on something that had their rising up, they rose up into incorruption: and we shall be changed. Verse 53, for this corruptible must, it is not either or but must; it is of necessity. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

 

Do you know why this mortal must put on immortality? It is because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  The reason why God has kept you alive is so that haven put on the image of the heavenly man can become just like Him as a life-giving spirit. Why has God kept you alive? It is to become a distributor, to become a diffuser, to become an agent, an ambassador of the life that Jesus has come to give. The reason why God is abounding in mercy and keeping the earth is that He wants many more to find the tree of life, and you that have found the tree of life, the Bible says in verse 48, as was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust and as is the heavenly Man, what is the “is” of the heavenly Man? Verse 45 says He became a life-giving spirit, that is who He is; as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. You became heavenly the moment you accepted and lay hold on Christ.

 

Apostle Paul was speaking, he said that he wants to lay hold on the very reason why Christ Jesus laid hold on him. What was the laying hold? Christ Jesus laid hold on him and gave him life. Paul was flesh and blood, causing riots, and instability, he was more like a terrorist, terrorizing everyone everywhere, that’s flesh and blood. And God was looking at him as he was going from pillar to post, and he was boasting in the fact that he was a Pharisee, he was boasting in the fact that he schooled under Gamaliel; Gamaliel is the best, it is like schooling in Harvard, or MIT or Oxford, he also boasts in his circumcision, he was the best among the best, but all that Bible says was flesh and blood until on the road to Damascus, when Christ laid hold on him.

 

I don't know where Christ laid hold on you, I don't know whether Christ has actually even laid hold on you but you need Christ to lay hold on you, because it is when He lays hold on you that you will become a life-giving spirit. Without Christ laying hold on you, you are flesh and blood. There is no difference between you and every other person in the world. What makes the difference is Christ Jesus, the last Adam; He makes the difference. He is the one that makes your mortality to enjoy immortality, He is the one that makes your corruption to step into incorruption, He is the one that makes the dominion to be received by us.

 

In Revelation the Bible says, He is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory, honor, power, wisdom, blessing, might; all of it for you, so that when He lays hold on you, you are not just empty flesh and blood, you become a life-giving spirit. So, Apostle Paul was speaking here, in verse 54, he said, when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortality has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the same, that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. What is the death that was swallowed up in victory? The death in the garden.

 

The serpent said to Eve, did God really say that if you partake of this tree, you will die? Her response was God said we should not look at it, we should not touch it and the serpent told her to eat it that God does not want them to be like Him. Did the death happen? Yes, it did but when Christ comes, who is your life, the Bible says death will be swallowed up in victory, not because we will not transit this physical body but because our life will no longer be terminated here, our souls will no longer be lost to hell, but our spirit will enjoy and will be transited or translated to the kingdom of Christ, that's why he said you will inherit the kingdom; because the opposite of flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom. It is those that have the Spirit of Christ, not just spirits, not like demonic spirit, those that have borne the image of the heavenly Man will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

And you will not just inherit the kingdom because Jesus was speaking; He said, if I by the finger of God, I heal this person or as made this person well, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. He did not say the kingdom of God will come upon you; the kingdom of God is already here. The moment Jesus started showing forth the power of God, He was exuding the image; He is the express image of the invisible God, immediately he started showing us the invisible God, the kingdom of God. So, Apostle Paul said, death is swallowed up in victory. That's why Jesus said don't fear those that can destroy the body, but fear the one that can destroy both your soul and your spirit in hell, that is the lost of a soul and the plan of God is not that your soul will be lost, but that your soul enjoys victory. He said death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin: corruption. The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who give us the victory (victory over death and hell) through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Apostle Paul said, the victory is through our Lord Jesus Christ, the victory you need in the garden, Adam and Eve lost in the garden. You win in the garden as you hold on to Christ who is your life. Many men and women are losing on a daily basis; why? They have not allowed Christ to lay hold on them. When Christ lays hold on us, our life is secured and guaranteed, our victory is guaranteed. But thanks to God who give us the victory: victory over sin, victory over the law, victory over corruption, victory over mortality is ours in Christ Jesus. That's why you wonder why the apostles, when they threatened them saying they will boil them in hot oil, cut them into two, nail them on the cross and turn the cross upside down. You wonder what happened to Stephen when they were stoning him and he was looking up to heaven and he was seeing Christ Jesus standing, welcoming him home because his mortality had taken up immortality, the pain of mortality, the lapses, the weaknesses of mortality has been swallowed up.

 

And he was looking into heaven, looking at Christ; nothing else matters. And this is the way that we must live that nothing else matters. Verse 58, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable: let nothing be able to shake you from looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. Let nothing be able to cause you to waver because immortality had swallowed up mortality, where people will look at you and say, life does not make any sense to you? How come the things affecting us is not affecting you? The things we are carried away with, is what is not carrying you away? How come you are immovable? Why? It is because your focus is Christ. You have borne the image of the heavenly Man. He said always abounding; the secret of this 1 Corinthians 15:58, is that you have borne the image of the last Adam. To be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord is because you have borne the image of the heavenly Man: the last Adam.

 

The reason why if our life on the earth will be full of dominion and will be full of impact is because we are not concerned about what is going on around us. Our focus is Christ. All I want is for Him to be glorified, all I want is for Him to be lifted, all I want is for Christ to be seen in me that I have put on the image of the heavenly Man, that Christ has laid hold on me, why did He lay hold on me? It is so that I can abound in every good work, that I can abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that my labor is not in vain, knowing that even though what I'm doing, I'm doing it in this garden, the experience transcends this garden.

 

In Matthew, Jesus was giving us an account of what will happen in the last days. He said, and He will say to those on His right when I was hungry; you fed me, when I was in prison; you visited when I was sick; you cared for me, when I was thirsty; you gave me water, and He was mentioning the things they did and they said, when did we do it Lord? When did we see you hungry? When did we see you naked? When did we see you sick? He said, as long as you have done it to the least of these ones, you have done it to me: that's the work of the Lord. The Holy Spirit is saying to us to bear the image of the last Adam, to bear the image of the heavenly Man; we are to consciously bear it, not to bear it by mouth but to bear it cautiously.

 

That’s why Apostle Paul said, in Him I live, in Him I move, in Him I have my being; there are some persuasions of Apostle Paul that shows us his conviction and the basis of his conviction. He said for me to live is Christ, for me to die is gain. How can a man be so audacious? How can a man be so confident about his eternity like that? How can a man be unafraid of death? How can     a man be so fixated on Jesus that he is not even seeing how the wind is boisterous? Do you know how many perils he quoted? Perils of shipwreck, perils of beating, perils of death itself, and all those things don't matter to him; they are like the storms and the wind on the sea. As long as he is looking at Jesus, he knows he's going to walk on water. 

 

Jesus said in this world, you will have tribulations; He did not say in this world, you have peace, joy, love: all those things are spiritual. And that's why Bible says in Galatians chapter 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, all these things are spiritual experiences. So, until you connect spiritually, you don't walk in them, and that's why when Jesus was showing us an example of how it is possible for us to walk on water, when Jesus was walking on water, the wind was contrary, it was boisterous, because it was the same water He was walking upon that Peter was walking on, and the Bible says that when Peter refocused, he saw that the wind was boisterous, he saw that the wind was coming against them in a terrible way; and he started sinking. And he cried out to Jesus, remember, Jesus did not sink; He was still walking towards him: so much so that Jesus could grab him, and they walked to the boat.

 

In life, Jesus said, you will have tribulations, but in Me, you will walk on the waters of the tribulations. In life, on the earth, there'll be troubles; Jesus said, but be of good cheer, I, not you, I have overcome. So, what was Apostle Paul saying, he said thanks be to God who has given us the victory through Christ Jesus. So, if you are not ‘in’, you can't enjoy the ‘through’. That's why being in Christ is not something that we're lip-servicing. I am in Christ Jesus, it is not a cliche, it is not something that you are saying because people are saying it, everyone is going this direction and I am following them. You're not saying it because that is the trending thing to say. The matter of Christ is a matter of life and death, the matter of Christ is a matter of victory or defeat, the matter of Christ is a matter of either you lose your soul or you gain it, the matter of Christ is a matter of eternity; so, we cannot afford to joke, we can't afford to sit on the sidelines, nor can we afford to sit on the fence.

 

This is a time to consciously put on the image of the heavenly Man; that even though there are troubles all around, in Christ alone I stand, in Christ alone I have victory, in Christ alone, my tomorrow my eternity is guaranteed. In that hymn he said, there is no fear in death. In the life of Christ, I live, there is no fear in death; that's why Jesus said, it is better you fear the one that can destroy your soul and your spirit in hell.

Thanks for the gift of your time, We are Lara Gboyega Adedeji and Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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