Print This ArticleIt is instructive to compare the first Adam in the Garden of Eden with the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.
| First Adam | Last Adam |
| 1. Came from the earth | 1. Came from heaven |
| 2. Returned to the earth | 2. Returned to heaven |
| 3. Made in the image of God | 3. Is “the image of the invisible God” |
| 4. Yielded to temptation and sinned | 4. Overcame all temptation and never sinned |
| 5. Disobeyed God | 5. Obeyed God |
| 6. Brought the curse | 6. Became a curse for us |
| 7. Hid his face from God | 7. God hid His face from Him at the Cross |
| 8. Cursed with thorns | 8. Crowned with thorns |
| 9. Side was opened | 9. Side was pierced |
| 10. Died because of a tree | 10. Died on a tree |
| 11. Brought sin and death into the world | 11. Delivers from sin and brings life |
| 12. Brought separation from God | 12. Brought reconciliation to God |
| 13. Brought condemnation | 13. Brought righteousness |
| 14. In Adam, all die | 14. In Christ, all are made alive |
Our Need for the Last Adam
In Romans 5:12-21, the Apostle Paul teaches how mankind is arranged, is spiritually positioned under two headships: Adam and Jesus Christ. In this passage, we learn about the relationship of all humanity to Adam and the relationship of all redeemed humanity to Christ. There are two men, two actions, and two results. Paul contrasts the actions of each—Adam’s one act of disobedience with Christ’s one redemptive act—along with their results, which are credited to all people according to who their head is.
Adam, as the first man, was the head of the human race, and he acted as a representative of all mankind. When Adam acted, he acted in our place. Thus, when Adam disobeyed God and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his sin and its ramifications were passed on to all of us, his descendants. The impact of his decision was far-reaching and is ongoing in that we are all born under the bondage of sin. The curse of the Fall affects us all and is why all people have a sinful nature and die physically
What we need is a new, sinless Head over us. All of us are related to the first Adam, and being in Adam results in death, judgment, and condemnation. We need One Who can stand in our place and deliver us from Adam’s sin and give us life.
dam’s sin and give us life. The first Adam failed by disobeying God, resulting in death. We need an Adam who will obey God perfectly and pass righteousness and life on to all who are united to Him. This is what Jesus Christ came to do as “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45): to deliver all who are in the first man, Adam, that we might have life and hope.
Christ lived a perfect, sinless life, and He was “obedient unto…the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:8) and paid the price for all our sins. At the Cross, “our old man”—our sinful, Adamic nature—“is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Rom. 6:6). When we trust Christ as our personal Savior, that He died for our sins and rose again (1 Cor. 15:3-4), we have a new Head. At that moment, the Holy Spirit takes us out of Adam and places us into Christ, the Last Adam, and God’s righteousness is imputed to our account (2 Cor. 5:21), and we are given the gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23).
Sin Entered the World
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world…” (Rom. 5:12).
Paul wrote, “Wherefore, as by one man,” and that man is Adam. This shows us that the account of Adam and Eve in your Bible is not an optional passage we may dismiss or doubt. Genesis Chapters 1-3 is historically and literally true. Adam and Eve were real people. And the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, referred to these events in Genesis as unquestionable historical reality.
In this one verse—Romans 5:12—Paul answers some big questions in life, like why is sin universal, and why is death the experience of every person?
There is no way to explain the world apart from the Fall. It is impossible to understand the world as it is today apart from the reality of Adam’s sin and the curse that resulted from it.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam was clearly commanded by God,
“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).
However, in rebellion against God’s command, Genesis 3:6 states,
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Adam is the one responsible for the fall of the human race, not Eve. Eve was deceived when she sinned, but “Adam was not deceived” (1 Tim. 2:14). Adam sinned knowingly, fully aware of what he was doing. He sinned willfully against God. He placed his will above God’s and disobeyed the direct command of God.
It was through Adam’s fatal choice that sin entered the world. It was not the sins of Adam’s lifetime, but his one, first, original sin that plunged the human race and all the world into sin.
The tragic effects of Adam’s sin extended far beyond himself throughout the corridors of time. Sin entered and spread like a deadly plague throughout his progeny, the entire human race. This plague of sin has infected every one of us. It resulted in all of his descendants being born into sin and a fallen condition. As Psalm 51:5 states, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
By Adam’s sin and rebellion against God’s authority, his nature was corrupted. It resulted in a change in man’s nature from innocence to sinfulness, and Adam has passed down that fallen nature to all of his descendants. Because of this sinful nature, everyone has a propensity and inclination toward sin, rebellion, and self-will like Adam had. All of us commit sins because we are sinners by nature, the nature we inherited from Adam.
The use of the word “one” in “by ONE man” stresses the unity of Adam with all those who came after him. When sin entered the world through one man, Adam, sin’s corruption, curse, and nature spread to every member of the human race.
Death Entered by Sin
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin…” (Rom. 5:12).
We learn from Romans 5:12 that death is the consequence of Adam’s sin. Adam was not originally subject to death. The inauguration of death was the result of Adam’s sin. Sin and death are not two unrelated issues. They are connected. Sin and death reign together like a king and queen over a fallen world. Sin entered the world, and physical death is the result of sin. Death is the penalty and punishment of God for Adam’s sin (Gen. 3:17-19). Sin entered the world through the one act of one man, Adam, and sin’s consequence of death passed to all his descendants.
Adam was told very plainly by God that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would “surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Thus, as God said, when sin entered the world, death entered the world. Death refers to separation, and Adam immediately died spiritually and was separated from God when he disobeyed Him; at the same time, Adam began to die physically.
We are born into a world of death, and we are each on our way to death. Our death ultimately is the result of the sin of Adam. His one act of disobedience as the head of the human race has resulted in physical death for all. When sin entered the world through Adam, death entered with it, and from that moment, death has reigned over all humanity. Romans 5:12 is foundational for understanding why the entire world is filled with sin, wickedness, pain, suffering, and death. It all goes back to Adam.
All Have Sinned in Adam
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
We have all individually committed acts of sin (Rom. 3:23). However, when Paul wrote, “for that all have sinned” in Romans 5:12, it does not refer to the personal sins we commit. In this verse, Paul looks back to the historical event of the entrance of sin and death into the world through Adam.
All three verbs in this verse are in the Greek past (aorist) tense: “entered…passed…have sinned.” What this means is that “all,” or the entire human race, is viewed by God as having sinned in the past in the one act of Adam’s first sin.
Romans 5:12 teaches us of the union of the human race with Adam. Adam is, as theologians say, the federal head of the human race, and when he sinned, all of humanity collectively sinned. Adam’s sin is the sin of all. Adam’s original sin is imputed to every individual, meaning that when Adam sinned, the guilt and consequences of that sin were passed on to the entire human race. His disobedience affected all who would come from him.
Death has “passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” in Adam. The death of our bodies is universal because of Adam. Death is the result of sin, and because we all sinned in Adam, we all face the consequence of physical death.
To some, it may seem unjust that the consequences of Adam’s sin should extend to the entire human race. It might cause one to wonder why all mankind should suffer the effects of sin and death because of a choice made by Adam long ago.
Adam was not acting solely as an individual though; he stood as the federal head of all who would come from him. That is, when he fell into sin, the whole human race fell with him. And if any one of us were in Adam’s place and God tested each human being individually, I believe the result would have been the same; we also would have sinned as Adam did. My father, Pastor Paul M. Sadler, used to say, “If we had been in the Garden of Eden, we would have been pushing Adam out of the way to get to the fruit first.”
Death in Adam or Life in Christ
Although some struggle with the idea that the actions of one man could affect the entire human race, this same principle is at the core of the gospel. As sin entered the world through one man, God graciously also made salvation from sin available to the world through one Man: Jesus Christ.
Adam acted as the singular representative of the whole human race, and so did Christ. “He died for all” (2 Cor. 5:15). As all were made sinners by the action of one man, Adam, all can be forgiven and made righteous by the action of another Man, the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, when we trust Him as our personal Savior.
As the Last Adam, Christ is the Head of all redeemed humanity, and His action affects others. Through His obedience in paying for all our sins at the Cross and triumphing over death in the resurrection, His righteousness and eternal life are given to all who believe.
All humanity is either in Adam or in Christ, and each position carries its own eternal consequences. In Adam, we are sinners, resulting in death and condemnation. In Christ, believers are righteous, resulting in eternal life and justification. Or as Paul put it, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).
The consequences of Christ’s obedience extend as far as Adam’s disobedience; salvation from sin is available to every person. To be in Christ, you simply need to trust that Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Cor. 15:3-4). Have you believed the gospel?
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