Slides: The New Adam Rises

The New Adam Rises
By David Feddes 

  ¹ Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 
   ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)

The saving gospel

• Christ died for our sins.
• Christ was buried, then arose.
• The Scriptures predicted this.
• Eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive.
• You are saved through believing.

²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. ²⁸ When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:20-28)

The first Adam

• Dust: mortal without tree of life
• Son of God: made in God’s image to represent and relate to God
• Gardener: defend and expand God’s garden-temple to fill the earth
• Link: bring God’s reign to creation and creation’s praises to God

In Adam all die
By the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man… sin reigned in death... The creation was subjected to frustration… bondage to decay. (Romans 5:17, 21; 8:20-21)

The new Adam rises
But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)

Firstfruits
But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Corinthians 15:23)
Two-step resurrection:
  1. Jesus’ body rose first.
  2. Believers’ bodies will rise later.

Two-step resurrection
  1. When we believe, Jesus’ Spirit puts his resurrection life into our spirit.
  2. When Jesus returns, he will give us bodies like his resurrection body.
See Romans 8:10-11; Philippians 3:21

New creation now
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Put off the old man [Adam] … put on the new man [Jesus], created after the likeness of God. (Ephesians 4:22, 24)

Twice dead, twice raised
Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live… a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. (John 5:24-29)

 

NT speaks of two world-ages (aions). These overlap between Jesus’ first and second coming. God’s kingdom is “already/not yet.”

Reigning till the end
Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)

End of enemies
The beast… and the false prophet… were thrown alive into the lake of fire… The devil… was thrown into the lake of fire… Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them… Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 13-14)

God all in all
For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:27-28)

Universe reborn
… the rebirth, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne… (Matthew 19:28-29)
… new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3)
He must remain in heaven until the time of the restoration of all things. (Acts 3:21)
The creation itself will be freed from its bondage to decay into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:21)

Two-stage renewal
Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:19-21)

New Adam

• Son of man: from Adam’s line
• Son of God: man from heaven
• Defeats death: rises and reigns
• Expands empire: conquers evil
• Restarts humanity: now & future
• Completes creation: God all in all

 

… If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a lifegiving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  … ⁵⁷ Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.