Adam - The Story of Jesus' Love for the Church

Adam

Adam seemed to have it all. He was the master of the entire creation --plants and animals; living in a pristine garden; and even having an intimate relationship with God. Yet he was lonely. So his Father provided him with a wife.

What a picture of Jesus! He truly had it all: Heaven, angels, the love of His Father. Yet He desired to be joined with another --mankind.

Adam and Eve

When God created woman, she came from his side. Eve was his helpmate to share in everything. She was not above him nor below him, but his equal so that she could love and be loved. As this woman was created, God also created the door --through his side-- right into Adam's heart.

Mankind was created perfect --in the image of God. God so loved the world --mankind-- that He gave the life of His One and only Son. The bride of Christ is formed from His body and joined at His heart. Jesus considers His bride to be perfect in every way. We Christians are brothers and heirs with Him --not underlings!

The Fall

Although Adam is commonly referred to as the first to sin, it was actually the woman. She wanted to be the one to determine what was good and bad rather than submitting to God's determination of good and bad. Adam knew that when this happened, death would follow. The first substitute sacrifice was killed that day.

Mankind --the woman-- sinned. There's not a person in the world who has not decided in his own mind that he knows what's best for himself. That's our nature as humans, knowing full well that the wages of self-reliance --being able to determine what's good and bad on our own-- rather than God is death. He created us to understand that fact!

The Punishment

But there was more to come. Eve's punishment was twofold: She would have trouble giving birth and she would want to rule over the man. Adam's punishment was also twofold: He was the one who would die and work the cursed ground until that time. And once sin entered the picture, they had to leave the garden.

To this day, mankind's greatest trouble is accepting new life that can only be received through Jesus (this is Eve's "trouble giving birth"). Like Eve --wanting to be over Adam-- we Christians want to control everything around us (ourselves, family, circumstances, etc.) and take away from God's authority in our lives and the lives of others. We even have the tendency to decide what God should do and, more or less, tell we Him so in our prayers.

The punishments Jesus paid were His death on the cross and His work within our human heart. (The ground always depicts man's heart; hence parable of the seed scattered on four types of soil --a hard heart, a shallow heart, a troubled heart and a fertile heart.) Notice that mankind --like Eve-- never has to die; he can accept Jesus' death as a substitute for his own!

The New Setting

They both were cast out of the garden with no way back in --angels stood guard. What if Adam had not agreed to eat the fruit that Eve had eaten? She would still have been forced to leave the garden. And Adam would have been alone once again --separated from the love of his life.

What would have happened if Jesus had decided to not take our sin upon himself? He would have remained in Heaven, but without His bride --the one He was willing to give up His life for!

Three Sons

Their first son, Cain, killed his brother Abel because of envy over how God received their sacrifices. Seth was born after Abel's death. And Cain wandered the earth as a marked man for the rest of his life. They are the fruit of the relationship between Adam and Eve.

They provide insight into the result of what occurs when man accepts Jesus into his heart.

Cain

Cain basically means unchanging. He represents our flesh and its natural desires to follow the ways of the world rather than God's. His sacrifice --an offering from his garden-- was the result of working the cursed ground. It represents the works of his heart which Jeremiah states is deceitful and beyond all cure.

Abel

Abel describes emptiness or vanity. He is the picture of humility like that of a Christian who recognizes his emptiness that the world cannot fulfill. He offered a blood sacrifice that came from an animal provided by God; it was not the result of his own work.

Seth

Seth is the replacement (that's what his name means). When Abel died, he was replaced by Seth. When a man realizes the fact that he needs Jesus as his savior, he must die to himself so that Jesus can come alive in him. John the Baptist said "I must decrease so that He can increase." And Paul said "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

That's Us!

There's a complete picture of a man. The flesh, even after new birth, continues to have a wandering heart until life's end and his works are not hidden, they are marked out for us. We give up our old emptiness when we are spiritually baptized into Christ's body by the Holy Spirit. From that time on, it is Jesus who takes up residence in us --replacing our dead works for living ones that are pleasing to God.