Christ the true and better Adam, Son of God and Son of man
Who, when tempted in the garden, never yielded, never sinned
He who makes the many righteous, brings us back to life again
Dying, He reversed the curse, then rising, crushed the serpent’s head
In this verse of the song ‘Christ the True and Better’ by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa, let’s explore one of the ways Christ is the perfect and final fulfillment of a type established earlier in Scripture. By looking at Christ, the last Adam, we can see how the first Adam pointed to the eventual coming of Christ, and how all of Scripture, and all of history is about Him, the One of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things.
Christ the true and better Adam, Son of God and Son of man
The first man, Adam, was created from dust and was breathed to life by the very breath of God (Genesis 2:7). In this sense of being specially created by God without having earthly parents, Adam is called “the son of God” in Luke’s genealogy of Christ (Luke 3:38). He was made “in the image of God,” in the sense that his nature was designed to reflect God and be his representative on earth. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27 – all Scriptures KJV unless otherwise marked). Adam, as an image bearer, was human, and all who come from Adam share in this image of God because they are made in Adam’s likeness, and share in his humanity.
Christ is the Son of God, but in a different, and in a true and better way than Adam. Christ is God the Son, the third person of the Trinity. When Jesus was baptized, God affirmed His identity directly: “And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). Even though Christ was conceived supernaturally through the Holy Spirit, He was also the son of man through His human mother Mary (Matthew 1:18). Christ Himself acknowledges both His humanity and His divinity when He says “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27).
In 1 Corinthians, Paul contrasts Adam and Christ: “Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45 ESV). In the following verses, he expounds on that contrast: the first Adam is earthly, but the last Adam is heavenly. As we inherit our humanity, the image of God, from Adam, so we shall also be spiritually formed in the image of the perfect Son of God (1 Corinthians 15:47-49).
Who, when tempted in the garden, never yielded, never sinned
Two gardens, two men, two temptations, two choices. In Genesis 3, Adam was faced with the choice to walk in obedience by not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or to disobey by doing the one thing God had told him not to do. He chose disobedience, and because of that, brought death, disorder, and decay into the world. “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life… (19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:17, 19). All of humanity has experienced the consequences of his disobedience because when he was faced with temptation he yielded to his sinful and selfish desires, ignoring the direct command of God.
Thousands of years later, another man in another garden made a different choice. In Gethsemane, Christ looked at the agony that lay before Him, and instead of walking away from the cross, He chose to do the will of His Father. “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, (42) Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. (Luke 22:41-42). Those hours in the garden weren’t Christ’s first temptation. Throughout His life, Christ encountered and triumphed over every temptation, whether in the wilderness when the devil tempted Him by twisting Scripture and appealing to both His physical needs and to His rightful place and power as the Son of God, or throughout His ministry as He dealt with those who hated Him and tried to entrap Him. In each instance, Christ never failed or weakened in even the smallest of ways.
In Christ, we have a Savior who understands the full force of temptation, and who has endured every temptation without ever succumbing to sin. He is our Redeemer and Advocate. “ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV). We can trust that He is always good, and is strong enough to withstand any temptation. He gives us His strength to enable us to resist temptations and makes a way of escape for us in every situation (1 Corinthians 10:13). What a Savior!
He who makes the many righteous, brings us back to life again
In Adam, we all inherited a fallen nature that inherently desires what is evil and sinful and rejects the Lord (Romans 3:23). Because of that, we are naturally in bondage to sin and death: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16). Even though Christ was the one person who didn’t deserve death, through His death He triumphed over sin and defeated the power of death. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). This refers to our spiritual condition, as Paul makes clear in Colossians 2. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, (14) by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14 ESV). But, in 1 Corinthians 15 Paul also explains how it applies in a physical sense, and how Christ will complete His triumph over the grave as He resurrects our physical bodies. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:52-54). When He returns in His second coming He will fully complete His redemptive work and finally destroy sin and the devil, completely defeating the curse of Adam and redeeming all who believe in Him.
Dying, He reversed the curse, then rising, crushed the serpent’s head
Adam, after disobeying in the garden had to face the punishment for His sin, just as God has said. Even amid punishment, God mercifully promised a future Redeemer to triumph over the devil and defeat the curses of sin and death. The first glimpse of hope and of God’s glorious plan of redemption came in God’s prophecy to the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve to sin: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NIV).
Christ, in His humanity, was the offspring of the woman and finally fulfilled the promise of victory over the devil, providing the way for all of Adam’s children to be free from the dominion of the devil. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, (15) and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15 ESV). Through His death and His resurrection, He destroyed the curse Adam brought on all of us and defeated the power of Satan, reconciling us to God.
Christ, the true and better Adam!
Written by NBB Alumna: Janese Hurst
