The last Adam and His Bride
…Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. (Romans 5:14)
God made the first Adam in His own image (Genesis 1:26) and formed a body for him from the dust of the earth. Then He breathed life into that body and Adam became a living being on. But Adam was alone, and God concluded that it was not good for man to be alone, so He provided a bride for him.
Just as the first Adam was ‘a type of Him who was to come’,the last ‘Adam’s bride is a type of a bride that was to come.
God put Adam to sleep and took one of his ribs from his side and made (literally built) a bride for him. Adam’s bride came from his side, and Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” God confirmed that by saying that the two shall be one flesh.
Fast forward to the New Testament where we see the last Adam take His place. If the first Adam was the type, then the last Adam is the real one. The two Adams have some things in common:
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The first Adam was made in the image of God, so was the last Adam. (Genesis 1:26 – John 14:9)
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The first Adam was born from life to death through disobedience; the last Adam was born from death to life through obedience. (Romans 5:19)
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The first Adam was the federal head of a race of people that were just like him – born from a fallen man with a fallen nature; the last Adam became the federal head of a new race of people – that have eternal life just like Him. (Romans 3:10-18 – 1 Corinthians 15:49)
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The first Adam’s bride came from his side while he was sleeping; the last Adam’s bride came from His side. When He was ‘sleeping’ in death on the cross, a Roman soldier thrusted a spear into His side and blood and water gushed out – the blood that purchased His bride, the church.
And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. (1Corinthians 15:45-49)
Note that Jesus is called the last Adam, not the second one, because that would open the way to more Adams, but no more sacrifices will be required after His:
…so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Hebrews 9:28)
But it is not good for man to be alone. Jesus, our Adam, is still without His bride. Paul says he “betrothed” (engaged) us to Christ:
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2)
There is a wedding in our future. The true Adam is coming to take His bride with Him!
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. (John 14:2-3)
There is the coming of the Lord to reign on the earth (and us with Him – Revelation 19:14) when He will stand with His feet on the Mount of Olives, but there is also His coming where we will meet Him in the air.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17)
Read Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 3!
