This teaching is part 3 of teaching number 84, The Fall and Rise of Adam.
The gospel is the story of Adam and Jesus, from fallen souls to resurrection. The contrast between the two help distinguish mortality and immortality. Adam is of the earth, and Jesus is from heaven, a quickening Spirit. As we have taken on the earthly body of Adam, we also take on the spiritual body of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus shows us the way.
In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul speaks of resurrection in a way that highlights the purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ, how he died, was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day. When Jesus died and rose again, He fulfilled both Adam and Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
Paul goes on to teach that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, our gospel is futile; therefore, we have no hope of ever trading our earthly life in for eternal life. All the generations of our family will continue to cycle on the earth as dead men walking, asleep in the sleep of death. We will never be able to return to heaven as Adam. We must put on Jesus Christ, the new.
Thankfully Paul is an advocate for Jesus to teach us that the resurrection is true, and that’s what makes the gospel of Jesus come alive in our hearts. When the Spirit of resurrection works in us, we are now called the sons (or children) of resurrection. (Luke 20:34-38)
Now He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him.
There may be a question of why God put Adam to sleep in the first place. The answer is found in the purpose of the gospel, which is the revelation of the Son of God, and it is taught through Adam, the first and the last. Adam is his earthly name, and Jesus is His heavenly name, which God gave to His Son as a name above all names. It teaches that from death to life, from going to sleep to waking up, the fall and rise of the sons of God were always a part of God’s plans to teach the earth’s people how to become like Him; God-Like people who could not only reign with Him in heaven but the earth as well. (It will take a new heaven and a new earth to accomplish this.)
So the point of the gospel is to reveal death and life so that we understand both good and evil. Paul said, “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” Understanding this will bring us to the complete revelation of God and His Son Jesus and how He came to be the heir of all things having power and dominion over heaven and earth. This knowledge helps you understand God’s desire for you and gives you hope for life after death. To think otherwise is foolishness.
The original body of Adam that was sown was not the body that God intended for it to be in the end. Adam was sown an earthly body where sin and death could be revealed, but Jesus was the finished body Adam was always intended to become.
1 Corinthians 15:35-37 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain.
Adam’s life begins the gospel story that only Jesus could finish. Just like the gospel started with death and finished with resurrection, the same gospel started with Adam’s death and finished with Jesus’ resurrection. Adam and Jesus connected God with man on the earth. Adam’s fall made it possible for all of us to experience the power of death and life, which leads us all to immortality and eternal life. This is the true gospel and must be taught through the story of Adam and Jesus.
That said, you won’t learn much if you are sleepwalking through your life. The gospel is revealed to those who are awake in Jesus. It’s after you wake up that Christ gives you light. (Acts 26:22-23; Ephesians 5:14)
Wake up, Adam; Jesus is here.
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