Adam - Lewis Sperry Chafer

In Lewis Sperry Chafer's Systematic Theology, he notes that, in God's eyes, humanity is represented by two men. The first Adam represents the race fallen and all those who are lost in him. The Last Adam, Jesus Christ, represents a new creation redeemed in Him. It is critical that Christians understand the distinctions between these two headships.

The Old Testament offers a historical perspective of the first Adam. He was directly created by God, he was tempted, and he fell into sin, taking all of his progeny with him. Adam was created as a full-grown mature man. He gave names to all if God' creatures as they passed before him. He walked and talked with God, and of God said that His creation of Adam was very good.

The New Testament teaches about Adam and Christ as a contrasting typology as type and antitype. Each of them is the head of a creation of beings. In Romans 5:12-21, God sees Adam as representing disobedience, and Christ as representing obedience. Humanity is divided into two classifications. Those who are in Adam are lost, while those in Christ are eternally saved.

God warned Adam about sin, and when he sinned in the Garden of Eden, he died spiritually (immediately), and he died physically (eventually). All of his descendants (virtually all of humanity) died with him, both spiritually and physically, because they were all in his loins. The result was that every human subsequently born had a sin nature (the flesh) which results in spiritual death, and this sin nature is inherited by every child through his parent. Adam's sin also resulted in imputed sin with its penalty of physical death, and this imputed sin is transmitted immediately from Adam to each individual member of his race. A person dies physically because he shared in the original sin which resulted in death. This is because Adam was the natural head in creation and he represented the entire human race. In this position of headship, Adam contained the whole human race, and his sin was imputed to all of his posterity, along with its penalty of physical death. As a result, every human who is born is subject to physical death because it's as though they have already sinned, even before they commit their first willful personal sin (Rom. 5:14). In other words, when Adam sinned, the whole human race sinned, and they would all suffer physical death.

1 Corinthians 15:22 says, "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." Because of Adam's sin, we all are destined to die--both believers and unbelievers. However, this verse is not saying that both believers and unbelievers will be made alive in Christ. It is saying that all of those "in Christ" (believers) will be made alive. According to the following verses (23-24), every man will be raised in his own classification. So, those who are in Christ by position will have eternal life with God; i.e., those "that are Christ's at his coming" (verse 23).

1 Corinthians 15:45 tells us that Adam was made a life-receiving soul; however, in contrast, Christ is a life-giving Spirit. While Adam was "of the earth," the Second Man is Jesus Christ. Although the believer was of the earth, he is appointed to a destiny in the heavenly realm. He will be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). 1 Timothy 2:13-14 says that Adam, unlike Eve, was not deceived in his transgression. Adam sinned knowingly and willfully. Romans 5:14 refers to those who, because of immaturity and incompetency, have not knowingly and willfully committed personal sins themselves. In Jude 1:14, Enoch is said to be the "seventh from Adam," as throughout the entire Bible Adam is recognized for a living man, the beginning of the human race. In the genealogy of Christ in Luke, Christ is traced back to Adam who, it is said, was the son of God (Luke 3:38). Christ Himself upholds the Genesis record with respect to Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:6-8).

Owen Weber 2012