DAY 1: The True and Better Adam

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. That saying may bring relief if your family line has an abundance of desirable traits—like love, gentleness, or humility. But what if the characteristics were less than ideal and your lineage was marked by pride, immorality, corruption, and depravity?

Well, I hope you are sitting down, or have at least had your morning coffee, because this is not just a possibility, it’s a reality. Whether we like it or not, we are all inextricably linked to humanity’s first forefather—Adam. God sought delighted devotion, wholehearted love, humble submission, and joyful, intimate relationship with Adam; what Adam returned instead was pride, suspicion, unbelief, and rebellion—and, as a result, all was lost. The disobedience of Adam in the Garden has ramifications for us all. We have all inherited and been infected with the same sinful nature. Consider the whole bunch spoiled by the one.

But what Adam undid, Jesus redeems and restores. While Adam was disobedient in Eden, Jesus remained obedient in Gethsemane. He lived His life as it ought to be lived—in perfect humble submission and obedience to the Father. As such, He became the true and righteous representative of humanity, giving His life as pardon for ours. 

While it may seem unfair that we have inherited the results of Adam’s trespass, the real absurdity lies in the gift we receive as a result of Christ’s obedience. Through Christ’s perfect obedience and substitutionary death, He accomplishes for us what Adam, nor any of us, could ever do—right standing before God. Those that are in Christ are now justified! Those that are in Christ are now credited with His righteousness! Those that are in Christ are now gifted with eternal life! We are undeserving of any of this, but if we are in Christ we inherit it all. There is no greater gift!