The First And The Last Adam

“So also it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45)

Jesus is referred to in Scripture as the Last Adam. Sometimes he is mistakenly referred to as the “second Adam”, but that would seriously undermine the greatest point of what is being indicated in the above verse. As the “last Adam,” Jesus is the final limit of the extent of Adam’s fallen race. Since he is the “last Adam”, there can be no more “Adam” after him. In other words, Jesus is the point of extinction for Adam’s fallen race. But, not only does he come to make the old race of Adam extinct, he is the beginning of a brand new race.

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)

"… one (Christ) died for all, therefore all died;"
(2 Corinthians 5:14)

The Bible teaches two distinct streams of life. God recognizes in terms of salvation only the acts of two men, Adam or Christ. The whole human race is bound up in one of these two men. We are either “in Christ” or they are “in Adam.” These are the only two men that matter to God. The “in Adam” men are sinners and the “in Christ” men are righteous. Those who are in Christ are no longer referred to as sinners. As the Scripture says,

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

All men share the nature and condition of whomever they are in. If they are “in Christ”, they are alive. If they are “in Adam” they are dead. According to the above verses, both Adam and Jesus have passed death on to their succeeding race, their offspring. The death Jesus has passed on though, is a death of the old life we once had. In Christ our past ceases, is eradicated, and we have a new beginning. Once again I remind you, that we are “in Adam” through a natural birth and we are “in Christ” by receiving the new, supernatural birth. But our commonality, our one-ness, with Adam is by default through our natural birth, our commonality; our one-ness with Christ is by choice through faith. Whatever either man possessed we are made partakers of through being part of their particular family. Sinfulness or righteousness is primarily a family ties matter. You cannot be part of both families at the same time. You cannot be in two places at the same time. You are either in Adam or in Christ, and being now in Christ, your old family tie in Adam is now extinct, and when you were in Adam you were separated from Christ.

"So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. [19] For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19)
As we have already noted in the previous chapter, men are not first and fore-mostly wrong because of what they do but because of what they are. Men are not made sinners through personal acts of sin anymore than men can be made righteous through personal acts of righteousness. Men are made sinners through the act of only one man – Adam. Men are sinners by nature and not by actions.

"Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." (Ephesians 2:3)

Similarly, men are only made righteous through the act one man – Jesus Christ. As Adam’s single act of sin was of universal effect, and was imparted to all men through natural birth; Jesus’ righteousness, which is God’s own righteousness, is imparted to all men who are born again of him through faith.

The great truth here is that you are not what you do. You are not a sinner through personal acts of sin and you are not righteous through personal acts of righteousness. Your spiritual identity is secured through either one of only two persons – Adam or Christ. This is the very meaning of “righteousness by faith.” You are what Jesus has made you to be. It is possible for believers to act out of character, to do things that are not in keeping with their true, received identity in Christ. It is also possible for unbelievers to, at times, rise above their character and do some good things even though this is not who they fundamentally are in their received identity. So we may observe that Christians do not always do what they are and some times sinners, when they do good, do what they are not. You cannot become righteous by doing, but you are righteous by birth.

To fully communicate this truth, Paul uses two contrasting ideas, “in Adam” or in “Christ” and “in the Spirit” or “in the flesh.” “In Adam” corresponds to “in the flesh,” “sinners” and “in Christ” corresponds to “in the Spirit,” “righteous.” The “flesh,” in a general sense, refers to our fallen identity received through natural birth. The “Spirit,” in this sense, refers to our new identity received through the new creation by being in Christ Jesus through faith in his finished work. Being in Christ is being in the Spirit. You cannot be in the Spirit without being in Christ. Being in the flesh is being in Adam, "and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:8) This does not mean simply that they do not please God, but that it is impossible for them to do so. They cannot. These are not referred to as walking in the flesh, though we are sure that they do, since they have no other choice, but to those whose identity is from the flesh. They have inherited failure, from which the believer has been delivered, "knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers," (1 Peter 1:18)

Paul made it unmistakably clear that the believer is not in the flesh.

"However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Romans 8:9)
Being “in the flesh” is a condition reserved for the unsaved person and not for the believer. The believer is referred to as having been “in the flesh” at one time, "while we were in the flesh," (Romans 7:5) but that former condition is true of us no more.

Paul further draws a distinction between being and walking in the Spirit. This distinction reinforces the concept that “walking in the Spirit” is not what puts us “in the Spirit,” just as we have already seen in Romans 8:9, having the Spirit of Christ, being born again, is what puts us “in the Spirit.” Paul challenges the believer with this truth in that,

"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25)

In other words, since we are alive through faith in Christ and consequently through the Holy Spirit’s working in us, then let us live that reality out, walk out that righteousness, in our daily lives. It is not only possible, but it all too often happens, that people who are in the Spirit, righteous, do not walk in the Spirit. They do not walk under the influence of the new life given them through the new birth, by not practicing the righteousness that they are already partakers of. All would agree that it is possible to be in Christ, a new creation, in the Spirit, and still walk as if you were yet in Adam, an old creation, in the flesh. What you walk out does not make you what you are but what you are enables you to walk it out in your life.

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

We find the source of victory in the new life, implanted in us. We must live out of this new nature, the divine nature, which we have received as a free gift. If we do, we will no longer live inaccurately, like those who are without Christ. As we do this, the perfect requirement of the law will be our experience. Quite literally, we will act our new nature. This is absolutely necessary,

"In order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." (Romans 8:4)

Allowing our recreated human spirit to dominate our lives will result in the fulfillment of what the law of Moses was aiming at, a pure life. It is imperative that we fill our minds with the reality of the new nature, our new identity, if we are going to live who we are.

"For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;" (Hebrews 7:26)
"I am the vine, you are the branches…."
(John 15:5)
"But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him." (1 Corinthians 6:17)

Notice in the above verses that Jesus is separated from sinners, but as the vine he is joined to the believer who is one of the branches. We cannot therefore be “sinners” and be joined to Christ because that would violate the separation between Christ and sinners that the Scripture clearly declares. The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with him. This union with his spirit would be a violation of Christ’s purity if we were yet sinners.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

The above verse again makes it quite clear that we are no longer regarded as “sinners.” Christ died for us while we were yet in that condition, but we are in that condition no more. So the term “sinners,” in the New Testament, is not a description of what men do, but of what men are.

Conversely, the term “righteousness,” also does not refer to what men do, primarily, but to what believers are through faith alone. Sinners may do good things, but this does not make them righteous, and righteous people may do bad things, but this does not make them sinners. Both these terms, “sinners” and “righteous”, are used in the New Testament as statements of identity, primarily, and are not descriptions of action. Actions do and will follow, but external actions cannot change these internal realities.

Man cannot undo his original, sinful condition by doing good because he did not become what he is, a sinner, by doing evil. His evil actions have merely flowed out of what nature he is the possessor of by natural birth and solidarity with Adam’s sin. The converse is also true; you cannot loose through doing wrong what you did not get through doing right. It is gained or lost through one of two births provided by one of two men – either Adam or Christ. Salvation is received through faith and does not come by means of good works and therefore cannot be lost through the doing of bad works. It is futile to think that you can eradicate by doing good that which you did not get through doing wrong. The unsaved person is not lost because of what he has done, but because of what he is. The lost state of man is not solved through right actions, because it did not come through wrong actions. It was a fact of natural birth and can only be undone by a supernatural birth.

You are what you are by one of two births. You are who you are by being in one of two families. Your state of being comes from whom you are in – either in Christ, righteous, or in Adam – a sinner. Paul uses the terms “in Him,” “through Him,” and “with Him” no less than sixty-six times[1] in his epistles to illustrate the condition of the believer. Salvation, as far as Paul is concerned, is being “in Christ Jesus.” And this is the only means, as far as God is concerned, that anything good can come to man. And it is the only means by which man can be truly good.

Note carefully with me the deliberate parallel and comparisons made between Christ and the Church (the spotless Bride of Christ) and Adam and Eve (the spotless bride of Adam) in the following verses. Please note, that because of this deliberate parallel, Adam and Eve are representative, according to Paul, as an accurate depiction of Christ and the Church.

Adam & Eve

"And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. [23] And the man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."" (Genesis 2:22-23)

"For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)

Christ & the Church

For we are members of his (Christ’s) body, of his flesh, and of his bones." (Ephesians 5:30)

"For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh. [32] This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:31-32)
Now we can clearly see that Paul, in the above verses, says that the story of Adam and the creation of Eve, made out of what was removed from Adam’s side, is really a “reference to Christ and the Church.” This is a very telling parallel. Armed with this comparison we see that the deep sleep Adam fell into, prior to Eve being taken from his side, would correspond to Jesus’ death. When God awakened Adam from his deep sleep, it was a picture of Jesus’ resurrection. We know this because the Church was not born until the resurrection of Jesus was complete.

"… According to His great mercy (God) has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
(1 Peter 1:3)
The Church is made up of the saved and Paul makes it clear that there can be no salvation without faith in the resurrection. Just as the scripture says, "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved;" (Romans 10:9)

Why was she called “Woman?” It was because of whom she was formed from, “She was taken out of man.” Her name was an indication of her direct source of identity. It is not a stretch for us to say in response to this, “She shall be called Church, because she was taken out of Christ,” since Paul has reminded us that he is in fact speaking about Christ and the Church (see v32). When Adam was awakened and saw the woman he said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” She was like Adam from the moment of her creation, with no further adjustments needed. She was already complete when he awoke to see her, as the word “now” in his exclamation attests to. In the same way the Church is made perfect of Christ, finally and completely, through his resurrection from the dead. No other event is ever needed to effect this transformation that is received in salvation.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
(1 Peter 1:3)

Christ’s own body is perfect! Could we be his body and be any less perfect than what he is? We who once were separated from Christ have become “one flesh” with him. He loves us as he loves himself. We are part of him. "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." (Ephesians 5:30) These words are the same observation Adam made concerning Eve and they are the same words, according to Paul, that Christ makes use of to refer to the Church. Eve was as perfect and sinless as the one she came from for as long as Adam remained perfect and sinless. She was identical to him in all respects. Just so, the Church is as perfect and pure as the One she comes from, and is identical to him in all respects, even as Eve was to Adam.

When Adam fell and lost his perfect and sinless state, his loss was passed on to Eve. It was not Eve’s personal act of sin that changed her status before God to that of a sinner. Eve ate of the forbidden fruit first, but it was not until Adam ate and only then, that “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…." (Genesis 3:7) Sin only affected Eve when Adam sinned. This is why this event is referred to both as the fall of Adam and the fall of man, because it was initiated by Adam and affected all mankind after him. Whatever Adam had he had it for the whole world. When he lost it, he lost it for the whole world.

Salvation, in Paul’s epistles, is referred to as “a new creation.” There is a much reference to Adam and the parallels between him and Christ. The effects of salvation are equated with the effects of the first creation in many places in Paul’s epistles. The following are some direct references:

"Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

"For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation."
(Galatians 6:15)

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
(Ephesians 2:10)

"And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Ephesians 4:24)

"And have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him"
(Colossians 3:10)

We believe in God the Creator and not in mindless situations and circumstances that somehow cause us to evolve into higher forms of life. We believe in God-inspired and God-directed transformation in our lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Clearly, salvation is not a slow, lumbering evolution to a perfect state, but a creation, which is defined as an event that happens instantaneously, immediately. This creation provides us with that perfect state through faith in Christ. God’s image, nature and perfection are the current possession of every believer through the fact of a new birth, salvation, a new creation. This is not to say that the believer always lives what he is or that he fully expresses what he is. But if he knows what he is, and truly appreciates and treasures what he has become in Christ, he will live far more accurately the new life that what he has up to now. We do not live what we do not know and believe we are and we will not reach for what we do not believe is possible.

Here is an amazing thing. Adam was an adult male without a past. In fact, without any history whatsoever. In reality, a man without achievements. His identity could not have been in what he had done since he had done nothing and yet God was fully pleased with him. The source of God’s pleasure in Adam was that God had created him and God is always satisfied with what he has made. How could he not be? God is fully satisfied with himself and he had made Adam in his own likeness and image.

"Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…." (Genesis 1:26)

"For … man … is the image and glory of God…." (1 Corinthians 11:7)

"And He (Jesus) is the radiance of His (The Father’s) glory and the exact representation of His nature…." (Hebrews 1:3)

"And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians 2:14)

Adam was as much like God as God could make him. If God had expressed dissatisfaction with Adam, it would have been a reflection of imperfection in God’s being and not in Adam’s condition, since his condition was wholly of God’s doing. What Adam used to be never mattered to him, since he never was before he was. There were no past accomplishments or failures to measure himself by. His only point of reference was the One who had made him, who had given him birth and he had his full attention and absolute approval. It was in the face of God that he found his true identity and worth. Doing had nothing to do with it since he had not had time to do anything. He was created on the sixth day, so that his first day was a day of rest and appreciation of the completeness of all he surveyed. He was not created to perform but to rest in and appreciate the completeness of God’s creation. This would have to include himself. Adam knew instinctively that he was from the complete and perfect one and so he himself must be complete and perfect. His identity was secure and unchallenged.

The next great event was the creation of Eve out of Adam’s side. She too was an adult female without a past, without achievements. She, as a creation of God, made from the “stuff” of a perfect man, was herself complete and not lacking in any way. Though she had come from man she was not less than man. She too was in the image and likeness of God.

Then came the challenge to their created and revealed identity. Satan questioned who they were. Just as he questioned who Jesus was at the beginning of his ministry with the questions:” If you really are the Son of God – do…” (Matthew 4:3,6) If you are what you say you are, prove it. Satan insinuated to Eve (Adam was with her, Genesis 3:6) that she wasn’t really in the image and likeness of God that God had made them to be in Genesis 1:26. Satan promised her something she already was,

"…You will be like God, knowing good and evil."" (Genesis 3:5)

He awakened their unbelief in the goodness of God and the completeness of their identity by suggesting that God was not totally good and that he had kept back something that was good from them. This inferiority induced by unbelief produced a desire for relief from something they now believed they were missing. This sense of lack robbed them of their caution and they followed the suggestion of Satan on how to relieve themselves of their “problem.” The sad thing is that they never had a problem. Being “like God” is something they were since the very beginning. But they were now in fellowship with the insinuations and suspicions induced by Satan, which brought negative thoughts that stirred corrupted emotions, which produced sinful actions.

"The one who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His Son." (1 John 5:10)

They looked for a source in created things rather than in the Creator. Sadly Satan had duped them into trying to get something they already had. Adam now learned his first lesson from experience, that experience is neither a good nor an effective teacher. Adam’s sin consisted in not believing who he was (someone in the likeness and image of God) – unbelief. And further, in trying to become what he was through his actions – works. He fell because of his unbelief.[2] It is the same with any Christian who begins to doubt the goodness of God or his completeness in Him. Sin robbed him of his sense of self worth, his sense of value and his sense of identity.

Man fell and all of human history is a record of the disaster of confusion and emptiness that resulted from that fall. Man forgot what he once looked like. Man forgot what God looked like. Being familiar now only with the creature he made god’s for himself, in the likeness of the creatures, to worship and so sunk ever lower in his depression and degradation. Man degraded himself because he did not know (and therefore could not appreciate and live out) his value and worth.

Then Jesus came as the God-man. He was fully God and fully man so that he could fully represent God to men and men to God. He reintroduced God to men with the words, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father," (John 14:9) and he had come to reintroduce men to God with the words, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me." (John 14:6) He had brought God down to man by becoming man and he would take man up to God by taking the place of fallen men. We will look at this closer in the next chapter.

Jesus justified God’s design of man by living as perfect man and showing that the original man could and would overcome. God had not created Adam, and consequently man, to fail. Being in God’s image and likeness, there was no propensity or leaning to failure that was included in man’s original design, even as there is no propensity for failure in Jesus Himself. God did put in Adam a freedom to choose who to listen to and whom to believe and Adam had made the wrong choice. But Adam’s failure did not merely result in a loss of knowledge; it resulted in a change of his essential nature. God was no longer the father of this fallen race.

"You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father." (John 8:44)

“… You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness….” (Acts 13:10)

"… Children of God and the children of the devil are obvious…." (1 John 3:10)

When God created Adam he told him to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the earth. Adam was to reproduce after his own kind and produce offspring in his own likeness and image. As long as Adam was righteous his offspring would be also but when he became unrighteous, his offspring after him were born with this identity based upon his single act of disobedience. In the same manner, as the Last Adam, Jesus was not meant to be the only person like himself for all of eternity. He was also meant to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, like Adam, with offspring that look just like him. Just as the following scriptures indicate:

"For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory…." (Hebrews 2:10)

"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;" (Romans 8:29)

God had in mind a multitude that look just like his Son, and he has achieved that goal through the work of Jesus Christ. He had in mind many such brethren and not merely one perfect son. This is why he brought “many sons to glory” and not just Jesus when he raised him from the dead as the author of our salvation. Paul makes this same point clear when he writes that,

"… As Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4)

This makes it clear that the very identity that Christ was raised with “we too” now share in. God’s purpose is many sons. Jesus is the blueprint, or prototype of the restored humanity and as such he is the perfect display of our new identity. He is fully God and fully man so he fully reveals the truth about God and also fully reveals the truth about restored man.

[1] Taken from the NASB version and counted as the phrases are specifically stated. In addition, the words, “in Christ,” occur eighty-six times in the NASB. Together, these words are used a total of 152 times in the epistles of Paul, which make them the single, most referred to subject, in all his letters, by a great margin.
[2] While current, conventional wisdom says that the sin of Adam and Eve was simple disobedience to the commandment of God not to eat, the motivation behind that disobedience was the real cause of the action. Their unbelief was inspired by the words of the devil to mistrust God’s goodness. This resulted in them believing that what God had said was in some way deceptive, for the purpose of withholding from them something that was good, which is the very essence of unbelief. Unbelief attributes to God characteristics that are wholly out of keeping with his true nature. Since they now believed that God was in some way lacking and morally defective, the next conclusion was that they, as his offspring, must be lacking also. It was these thoughts of unbelief that induced their disobedient actions and as such unbelief was their primary, inward sin, while disobedience was merely the fruit or outward expression of that inward sin.

Re-Fathered!

RE-FATHERED!

At the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry he told a religious ruler called Nicodemus what the greatest need of man was. That man needed to be restored again to the life that God had originally created him to be possessor of. Whatever good Adam possessed, he had it by the act of God in creation and not by personal performance. Jesus said:

“Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again[1].” (John 3:7)

The word “must” denotes absolute necessity. This is not an optional experience in the Christian’s life. In fact, there can be no Christian Life without this event. Furthermore, Jesus declared that it was of primary importance. He did not start by saying you must live holy, be righteous or get your life cleaned up. No, he said we needed a new birth. The results of a godly life would follow the new birth but, without it, they would just be those who hold “to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power…."
(2 Timothy 3:5) Jesus preached first the cause rather than the effects of the new life, because if a believer possesses the cause (the new identity through the new birth) and understands what he is the partaker of, the positive effects of right living will flow naturally. To put it another way, we must begin with the root and not with the fruit if we are looking for godly results.

There are two words used in Greek for “again.” One is simply the repetition of an action, [palin], and the other, [anothen], is sometimes translated “from above” in the margins of many Bibles. It is the word [anothen] that is used here, that is translated “again” in the above verse. Jesus did not simply say we must be born a second time, but that we must be born “from above.” Is this a heavenly birth? Yes it is, and it is produced by the Heavenly Seed being received, namely the Word of God (Jesus), embraced by faith,

“For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)

Jesus is spoken of in John’s gospel as the Word of God. (John 1:1) As such, he is the very identity and nature of the Father in all his purity and completeness. We are born again of this Seed, Jesus, which according to 1 Peter 1:23 is incorruptible, that is, morally upright and unchanging. John also tells us that,

“… Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)

Just before this verse, the Greeks had come to Jesus’ disciples saying, “We wish to see Jesus.” Jesus’ response to this request was, that he had to die in order to reproduce himself, in order that their request might be fully satisfied. Jesus is the Seed that fell into the ground and died through the crucifixion, but he is also the plant that sprang up and produced much fruit – us. Seed is the chief means of plants reproducing themselves. The fruit that is produced by the plant contains the same seed that the plant originally was started by. This is what guarantees the same identity within the species. "And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind…." (Genesis 1:12) No seed can produce a lesser plant than the plant it came from. As is the seed, so is the plant and so is the fruit. Jesus is in fact the source of this new life and as the Seed he guarantees its authenticity as being the very same life of God. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." (Galatians 6:7) God sowed a righteous and holy son – that is precisely what he has reaped.

Let’s get back to what Jesus said, that we “must be born again.” Jesus was saying something far deeper than merely being born from above. Strong’s Dictionary gives the meaning of this word [anothen] as: from above; by analogy, from the first; by implication anew: — from above, again, from the beginning (very first), the top.
Notice again the last words of Strong’s definition, “from the beginning (very first), the top.” This is more than just a rebirth but a return to the beginning, the very first, the outset or start of the whole matter[2]. When was this beginning or outset of the whole matter of man if it was not at the first creation? What Jesus was in effect saying here is that man must return to his original condition of pristine innocence that he enjoyed in the garden in Adam. Man is wrong by birth and this is precisely what has necessitated a new birth. Since the problem has come by natural birth, it can only be removed by a supernatural birth. God has clearly shown in the creation of the first man, Adam, what he has always wanted in all men. That, and that alone, was what God was and will only ever be satisfied with. Man was originally made with all of the essential attributes that are absolutely necessary for meaningful fellowship with God. Only the return to the originally created condition, that man enjoyed before he fell, will ever satisfy the purpose of God already clearly shown in the original creation. Anything less than that would be a lowering of God’s standard and the consequence would be a severe reduction in the quality of fellowship possible with God; Even to the point that this lower level of fellowship would be neither fulfilling to man, nor satisfying to the heart of a perfect God. If our salvation is the craftsmanship of God, his own masterpiece, then it cannot be less than a full reflection of his absolute, perfect ability. In other words, a perfect God cannot do an imperfect or compromising work!

“… Ascribe greatness to our God. The Rock! His work is perfect.” (Deuteronomy 32:3,4)

This new condition could not be conferred through a second experience of our mother’s womb, as Nicodemus in John chapter 3 suggested, because that is how the original problem has been passed on down to us. Man must be delivered from the lesser life (Adam’s) that he has inherited by birth, by inheriting the Greatest Life (Jesus’) through the new birth. The spiritual rebirth Jesus was talking about would totally undo all our natural birth’s birth defects, by an event that would return us to the perfect status of the original creation, which Adam had and was before the fall. If Jesus could not do this, then the devil would have accomplished a greater defeat in Adam than the success that God has been able to accomplish in Christ. This is not possible, since the cause of the failure (the devil and Adam) is infinitely smaller than the cause of our success (God and Christ).

Throughout most of my Christian life, I was suffering from a kind of spiritual Multiple Personality Disorder. I didn’t know God as my Father in the sense of “like father like son.” In the sense of heredity. In the sense that what was in my Heavenly Father has been passed on to me through the new birth. Salvation had been reduced in the preaching I heard to: God preparing a place in outer-space (heaven) for me one day, rather than my restoration to being the very image bearer of the perfect and incorruptible God. This view is a reduction of the Christianity of the Bible in which we find the following statements of truth:

“For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him.” (Colossians 1:19)
“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)
“…Which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:23)
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete (lit. Full).” (Colossians 2:9,10)

The above verses clearly bear out the fact that the fullness of the Father that dwelt in Christ is now in us. We are filled full with Jesus’ fullness and nothing less. There is no inferiority of nature here; we are partakers of the same nature that is in Christ and nothing less than that. Paul makes clear that nothing less than this goal is the stated aim of the Gospel as he says:

“And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14)

A child bears the image of his father without his permission and without any effort of his own to make himself look like his father. In fact he does nothing to look like his father, for the family likeness is imparted to him through birth, and not through any personal effort. This principle is true in the spiritual, super-natural, birth also. Too often we think that the “spiritual genes” imparted through the new birth are somehow subdominant. That the divine species: “You are from God little children…” (1 John 4:4), is swallowed up by and made powerless through our humanity.

Let me illustrate. While I was ministering in Australia some years ago, I was astounded to see Aboriginal children of mixed decent with blond hair and blue eyes. This was so contrary to what I expected that I could not help staring. It was told to me that often when a white person marries an Aboriginal Australian and they have children, the normally dominant brown eyes, darker skin color and black hair that are passed on to their offspring by other darker skinned races, are not passed on to Aboriginal children, as would be expected, because of something called “subdominant genes” prevalent among the Aboriginal people. The children are born, contrary to all expectation, in many cases, having almost straight, blond hair and blue eyes. This is an anomaly in genetics and is caused by these “subdominant genes” in the Aboriginal race.

In the kind of Christianity many of us have been exposed to, the spiritual genes of our all powerful, Heavenly Father are viewed as, wittingly or unwittingly, somehow subdominant also. We are led to believe that they are somehow inferior, and have disappeared into the mix, rather than exerting a greater influence over it, and delivering God’s unmistakable identity to his offspring. I believed that the whole focus of the Christian life was me spending time and effort to overcome the shortcomings of my nature, that I had inherited from my earthly father, rather than enjoying the limitless power of the dominant nature I had inherited from my heavenly Father. I did not understand that God, as my Father, had given me a greater life and a far more secure identity. The kind of one that John wrote about:

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

The word “from” here is the Greek word [ek.] It means to be “out of as a source”. In essence, John is saying that God is our source. The “stuff” we are made of is divine. We have a very short genealogy; a divine pedigree, we are of God. Our family tree is very brief in the area where it really matters – we are of God. Since we come from God, we look like God in the place where it really matters and we bear his unmistakable identity. John goes on to say in the above verse that it is for this reason that we have (not, “will one day”) overcome the world since we are made of world overcoming stuff. God cannot be defeated. The undefeated God has made us, through the new birth, of himself, like himself. Jesus is the very image of his father and the scripture says:

“… As He is, so also are we in this world.”
(1 John 4:17)

Please notice, that according to the above verse, we do not share the very identity of Christ only one day in heaven, but as it clearly says, “In this world.” My two boys look just like me. They even have some of those instantly recognizable idiosyncrasies that I have, which they have displayed in them since when they were very young. The fact that they were present in them from such an early age, makes it impossible for them to have done them by observing me. Many parents have observed this same fact in their own children.

The only place that they could have got this from was my genes, which were passed on to them by birth. God’s genes and spiritual DNA, so to speak, are in his Son and we have been made recipients of both. “The Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men might become the sons of God.”[3] (Athanasius, of The Athanasian Creed fame, 4th century AD) This is what the incarnation, Jesus becoming a man, and the death and resurrection of Jesus were all about. “It is through his humanity that Christ exalts us to God and brings God down to us.”[4] (Augustine, 5th century AD) We will look at this more in a later chapter. See how Peter tells us that we are partakers of God’s own nature:

“… He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature….” (2 Peter 1:4)

Even as we grow up we often promise not to be like our parents in some way and yet when we are older we suddenly awake to the startling conclusion that we are acting just like them in the very areas we have refused to be like them. What imparts this unintentional and oftentimes unwanted similarity? The only possibility is that it is somehow mysteriously conveyed in our genes. Not only are actions passed on but also likeness. My sons look like me. I ask the question: “What did they do to look like me?” The answer is a resounding “Nothing!” They were simply born with my likeness. Both my idiosyncrasies and likeness were conveyed to them through birth. It is just the same with the believer who is born again. The identity of the Father is his by the new birth.

“And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Corinthians 15:49)

Paul here makes it clear that we share Adam’s identity through birth and Christ’s identity through the new birth and not through personal struggle to look like him. The struggle comes in believing in our new, imparted identity and living like it. The use of the words “just as,” also translatable as “in just the same manner,” expresses the truth of this comparison. The word “shall” used in the phrase, “shall bear the image of the heavenly,” refers to the certainty of the image being borne and not merely to the certainty of the future event. The English word “will” would have indicated a future event only, but the word “shall,” that indicates certainty and not only time is used here instead. [5] The believer bears God’s likeness already through the new birth and not through any personal effort at holiness or dedication of his own. He has inherited it all from the one from whom he comes.

Jesus spoke concerning unbelievers:

“… "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.”
(John 8:23)

But concerning believers, who are born from above, Jesus said:

“… they (the believers) are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:14)

Christians have never really been convinced of whom their father is. Their natural birth has dominated them in almost every area of their thinking. In both their thinking and acting they do not live as divine beings, in the image of God, not of this world. Paul asked those believers in Corinth:

“Are you not walking like mere men?”
(1 Corinthians 3:3b)

Mere men? So there must be something more to us than being mere men! Yet, how often do we excuse our faulty behavior with the words, “I am only human.” Only human!? This could not be further from the truth! In fact, we are from above and not from below. We are not of this world. Peter even calls us “aliens and strangers.” (1 Peter 2:11) Not aliens and strangers because we are from a different planet, but because we are from a different father. We are a new race of being fundamentally different from this human race even though we share a body like theirs. Just as Peter says,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession.” (1 Peter 2:9)

We are not really been convinced of whom our real father is. Consequently, we are not yet persuaded of our real identity. The principle of living life is that you cannot act like what you do not believe you are. People who do not believe that they are free will always live in bondage. People who are not convinced of their new life will live their old life even though they are partakers of the new. Positive life experiences flow from faith in your new identity. Any lack of confidence here will severely limit your experience even though it cannot change the truth of who you are by the new birth.
Here is confused Christianity. We know we have a God, but we really need a Father. This is true of the whole world. They do not need a God – they need a new Father. Jesus came to introduce God as Father to a lost world. Jesus said:

“Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.’” (John 3:7)

Man’s real problem is not what he does but who he is. His doing is of course linked to who he is, but man has an identity problem. Fallen man is not what he needs to be, a child of God. He exists, but not in a condition that finds favor with God. Fallen man is wrong before God not because of what he does or has done, but because of who he is. If a stream is polluted at the fountainhead, it will pollute the whole course of the stream. Just so, man’s being is polluted and so his doing is polluted also. Man needs a new state of being. Being must always precede doing if we are to be pleasing to God. In essence, Jesus is telling us in the above verse that we need to be re-fathered. We need a new father. The condition of our heart that our first birth gave to us is the problem.[6] Since it comes by birth, it can only be removed by a new birth. The only solution is not doing better or trying harder but being born again. Only God can give us this. The New Identity (Jesus) is the current possession of all who are partakers of the new birth. Internal, spiritual change is what is absolutely necessary. Without it, the new birth, it is impossible to be part of God’s kingdom, to be saved, or to be pleasing to God.
“Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

When a child is born he already has all that he needs for adulthood. He does not need to go back to the hospital and have adult teeth put in, they are already in his gums, even though they may yet be invisible. A boy does not need to go back to the hospital and have whiskers put in his face when he reaches puberty, they have been there all along even though no eye can see them. Every child is born complete in this regard, not lacking anything. Just so the believer is complete and perfect, not lacking anything even though nothing may yet be visible. He may not exhibit any of the qualities of the new life, but this does not change the fact that he has it and has it in all its fullness.

“He who has the Son has the life…”
(1 John 5:12)

The believer is not called to live a life but to receive a life that, when yielded to, will live itself. He does not need to supply the power to live it. The power to live the life is already inherent in the Life that he has received. Jesus came and gave his life for us so he could give his life to us so he could live his life through us. You have been re-fathered! The truths we have discussed above are often subconsciously present in young children and may be illustrated by their seemingly foolish actions. I remember while I was in the first or second grade we would often get into arguments with each other over whose father was the best. The argument went something like,
“My father is better than your father.”
“No, my father is better than your father.”
“No! my father is much better than your father.”
And so, on and on we went, each one unwilling to stop his proclamation of the superiority of his own father. Firstly, because to stop the assertion would amount to the same as a denial of the superiority of your own father. Secondly, and this was quite clear to us, that if our father was in fact superior to theirs, then we were obviously superior to them also. As little children we draw our sense of value from who our father is and not from our personal achievements because we have none. The fact that our own father is successful is sufficient cause for us to feel valuable and important.

The revelation of our divine identity is indispensable to living a godly life and to walking in victory. Jesus did not begin his ministry until he heard these words spoken from heaven at his baptism, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Though he had not performed a single miracle at this stage, nor preached a single sermon, or even “led someone to the Lord,” he knew two all-important things about himself based upon this heavenly revelation. He knew that he was a Son loved by the Father, and that the Father was well pleased with him despite his lack of any achievements since he was at the very beginning of his ministry. These facts were so important that they are precisely the things that Satan attacked when he tempted Christ in Matthew’s account of the temptation of Christ. Twice he said to him, “If you are the Son of God….” (Matthew 4:3,6)
Every temptation will try to bring into question our revealed identity, spoken form heaven, since it is this identity that is at the very heart of our victory. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were prevented from entering, and taking possession of their promised land, because they were unconvinced of whom they were as God’s covenant people. They were more familiar with their own natural selves, and feelings of inadequacy, than with their identity as the children of God. They said:

"…And we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
(Numbers 13:33b)

How they saw themselves is how they conducted themselves in the face of the enemy. Furthermore, how they saw themselves is how the enemy eventually looked at them! This is the very foundation of all spiritual warfare.

"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Spiritual warfare is a matter of maintaining, in our hearts, the conviction of our new identity, even in the face of intimidation, contradiction, and yes, even failure. Paul refers to this as the “good fight of faith.”[7] The devil knows that if he can undermine the conviction of our true identity in our hearts, then he can destroy, or at least severely hinder, the quality of the life we live as believers. The ten spies that Moses sent to spy out Canaan did not want the people to enter into the promised land of their inheritance because of their fear, inspired by a low opinion of themselves.

"…we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
(Numbers 13:33)

How they saw themselves is ultimately how the enemy saw them. How you see yourself is ultimately how will be seen. Since they were far more aware of their feelings of inferiority than the promise of God that they would inherit the land, they settled for the wilderness of unbelief and lack and a life way below what God had always intended.
[1] God has made being “born again” very simple, so that it can be a universally inclusive act that even the simplest of people may partake of. “Being saved,” and being “born again” is synonymous, one and the same thing in Scripture. Those who are born again are saved from their old life and it’s consequences by being made partakers of a new and un-condemned life as a free gift received by faith. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God…” (John 1:12) and "…Those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17) Receiving as true and as a finished fact all that Christ has done for you is what releases the power of the new birth and results in a new nature implanted. This receiving of Jesus by faith results in us having him as our life and as John tells us, "He who has the Son has the life…." (1 John 5:12) which is that nature which changes our fundamental identity and spiritual family membership, and puts us into the category of the “saved.”



[2] Kenneth S Wuest “Priceless Gems,” Wm. B. Eerdemans Publishing Co.
[3] Early Christian Doctrines, Revised Edition, Dr. JND Kelly, page 352, HarperCollins Publishers
[4] Early Christian Doctrines, Revised Edition, Dr. JND Kelly, page 391, HarperCollins Publishers.
[5] The subject in 1 Corinthians 15 is certainly about the future resurrection, but it is my contention that the verse: “And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Corinthians 15:49) by using the words "just as," Paul is making a connection to natural birth here (for how else do we share the earthly likeness if not by this?) and he is also setting us up by the use of this simile (a comparison between two idea's using "like" or "as") to draw the same conclusion about salvation (which is the impartation of the divine likeness) through the similar process of a spiritual birth, which according to 1Peter 1:3, is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. This view is not a departure from the foundational premise of the chapter that "if Christ be not raised, then neither are the dead raised." Paul is not tying any transformation of the essential man (the spiritual man) to the future resurrection. It is my contention that the whole argument in chapter 15 is entirely founded upon the past resurrection – Christ’s, which alone guarantees the resurrection of all men. All will be raised, but not all will share Jesus’ likeness. A distinction that would be lost if we put the emphasis on the future resurrection only. Could not my contention be further corroborated by "However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:46,47) which is the basis for the "natural" and "spiritual" comparison and similarities that follow? Does not verse 45, speaking of Christ as a, "Life-giving spirit" change the tone of speaking about a natural bodily resurrection only, to the internal transformation that guarantees the external transformation of v50? The resurrection will be the time when the body is made glorious, but only of those who are glorious within, even though all will be raised, and only those who are glorious within at the time of the resurrection can be glorious without, and so inherit the kingdom of God. The bodily resurrection of the believer will be the opportunity for the glory within to be revealed, but it will not be the source of that glory, or will we make a savior out of the future resurrection which is only the result of the greater event, the past resurrection of Jesus? Our current body cannot live forever. Paul is arguing for a new body on the foundation of our new and eternal spirit. Adam dies, Christ lives forever! The new and eternal spirit requires a new and eternal body. The new body will not give us a new spirit, but our new spiritual identity assures us of a new body. We must not put the cart before the horse. Our future possession of a glorious body in the resurrection is only as certain as the past impartation of a new nature through the new birth.
[6] "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
(Genesis 6:5)
[7] "Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12)

The Nature of the Problem

INTRODUCTION

While I was still in my early twenties, my father was suddenly snatched from life, and our family, by an automobile accident. It came as a great shock. Though my father and I had never seen eye to eye about my faith and commitment to follow Jesus Christ, I had loved my natural father deeply and now I was suddenly without him and I felt the loss greatly.

On the day of the funeral, two of my brothers and I were pallbearers together with three of my father’s closest friends. As we entered the church the priest walked in front reciting passages of Scripture. I was overcome with grief and wept openly and cried out to God in my heart: “Father!” I prayed, and then in a sudden flash of realization, I modified my prayer: “My only Father!” It was a turning point in my life. The sudden realization, that my heavenly Father was the predominant influence in my life, totally changed my perspective, and utterly revolutionized my experience as a Christian.

The truths that have impacted and changed my Christian walk since that day are what I want to share with you now. These are the truths that have kept me, strengthened me and delivered me, even when many other Christians and men of God about me were falling. According to my observations, over the past twenty-five years, more than 90% (perhaps even far higher) of people who have made an initial commitment to follow Christ, have been unable to maintain their Christian walk or to go on in victory. It is my contention, that they would have had a far better chance at succeeding, if they had had an eye-opening grasp upon the knowledge of the truths I am going to be sharing with you in this book. I regard these as not only indispensable, but also the very heart of the message of the Gospel. I believe that if we miss this emphasis we will miss the full power of what Christ intended us to experience. Like so many we will fall into a low level of Christianity that can neither satisfy nor meet our expectations. Many believers are tired of Christianity. In reality they are tired of their low level of Christianity. There is nothing wrong with the power and the ability of the truth, but there is something deeply and fundamentally wrong with our lack of experience of the truth.

“Jesus therefore was saying … if you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32)

The root of the word “ignorance” is “to ignore” and truth ignored, or neglected blinds. People often hear what they need to hear, but they do not act upon it. This is because they are not convinced that the very thing that they have just heard is what they are looking for. So they spend the rest of their lives looking for something else. Yet they have the answer in their possession the whole time. Just like the carpenter who has lost his pencil and cannot find it. He searches everywhere for it. But the main reason he cannot find it is because he has not lost it. It is still behind his ear where it has always been. Our songs and our prayers all cry out for more. “More love, more power…” we sing. Yet we have all the love and power we will ever need right within us because Jesus lives within us. Even though we give lip service to this fact, we continue to believe we need “something more.” Something more than Jesus? What could there be beyond him? Is the All-Sufficient One not enough? Look what the Scripture says – "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3)

The Father has granted to us everything that is necessary for life and godliness through the true knowledge of Jesus. “There must be some other way!” they cry. Yet Jesus said that it is the truth that sets us free. An eye-opening grasp of the knowledge of the truth (not simply knowing about it) followed by a deep conviction of its validity and veracity in my life, must always precede experience. Any truth not believed is never experienced. The greatest problem, in my opinion, facing the church today, is a lack of comprehension and appreciation of the vast magnitude of the truth of our salvation. A salvation that is not just for one day in the sweet-old-bye-and-bye when we die, but right now. In fact, the book of Hebrews emphasizes this very point that I make when it asks this all-important question:

“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3 KJV)

The believer faces two problems. They are ignorance and neglect. I have a confession to make, I have never neglected my Ferrari, simply because I do not have one. One must be a possessor of something before it can be neglected. Just so, those who are the possessors of “such a great salvation”, may neglect it, and therefore never escape from the bondage they experience. Even after having been made free in their inner man, they may still feel outwardly frustrated and unfulfilled.

Our modern church has become expert in giving “altar calls” but not very good at making disciples. There is no lack of recommitments and rededications from the people in our pews. If the lack of commitment was the cause of ALL of the problems we are facing, all of our rededications and recommitments should have taken care of it by now. But every commitment must be armed with truth. If we do not do this we are missing the fulfillment of the calling to make disciples of all men. So, the real problem is not only the prevailing neglect of good teaching and the making of disciples within the church, but we also lack the necessary persuasion in our hearts that we are, right now, partakers of “such a great a salvation.” We must be careful not to make our current inexperience the truth. The truth is the truth whether we experience it or not. It is my hope that this blog will help in some way to restore to you the life-giving persuasion of our salvation’s greatness, and result in all of us living bigger lives that faithfully attest to that salvation’s greatest power and worth.