ADAM: THE FIRST MAN
Understanding the person of Adam as the FIRST man is worthy of note for every believer in the entire globe regardless of race, tribe, or skin colour. Adam is known to be the pioneer of the human race and therefore, without any controversy, we all come from this source. He is the origin and the foundation that bears every man upon the earth and under heaven. Looking at him as a case study is very essential in the whole of scriptures. Hence, this is what this article seeks to explore in a panoramic way. For this reason, there are probably questions that we might have pumped out in our hearts as we read or glance at the topic. Among others are: who is Adam and what was his status in the universe of God? What caused him to fall or why was he cast out of the garden of Eden? The precise response might not be made glaring but reading through will definitely answer these and several hidden questions. May the light of revelation dawn upon our heart in the name of Jesus. Welcome to an exploration into the depth of God.
Adam: An offshoot of Divine Conception
In the beginning, God…says the first book of the Bible that speaks about the first man. Gen. 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In verses 26,27 we saw the divine conception and the bringing forth of the man and the introduction of a special agent of heaven on the surface of the earth.
Genesis 1:26-27
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and overall the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
The above verses revealed that out of the whole sequential outlay of the creation, the man was introduced from premeditation of the Trinity. It was through the conception of the supreme God that brought as a divine project to be executed and run solely and directly by God. Adam was made to be dependent upon God. In making this clearer, Genesis 1 revealed in a systematic study that all other creatures were made after their kind or after his kind. Which is the defense point for them but in the case of Adam, God is his reference point. You can’t trace man anywhere outside of God. That’s a divine conception. Thus, man (Adam) possesses two distinct attributes, IMAGE, and LIKENESS of God. Even his creation model was in two-fold (a) Adam was created (b) Adam was formed. No wonder, out of all the creatures of God, Adam is the only being that can conveniently operate in both the realm of natural and spiritual.
From this, we know that contrary to the evolutionary theories, the man was created and not evolved. Secondly, Adam was created in the image after God’s likeness. This shows that man was made as a triune- Spirit, soul and body (1Thess.5:23) that is the orientation of a spiritual man but there are possibilities of having it in either body soul and spirit (carnal man) or soul body and spirit (natural man). By default, Adam was part of the advertisers of the nature of God according to Romans 1:23. The spirit part is the one that “knows” and gives man God’s consciousness; the soul part is the self-consciousness comprises of the emotions, desires, affections; while the body is the dividing point of the spirit and soul. It has the seat of the senses; the means by which the spirit and soul have world-consciousness. Then, we need to remember that all creatures have their habitat. The fishes are in the water; animals are on the land but the habitat of man is the PRESENCE OF GOD and that is why he was placed in a garden planted by God himself in Eden eastward. That means that it is not everywhere that a man can dwell.
Who is Adam?
There are deeper things about the project called Adam. A taste of this is as followed to whet our appetite in furtherance of looking into the scriptures.
*Adam has the similitude of the son of God. The reason is because of the nature of his coming into being or existence. He was spoken into being first before the formation. Jesus had been before, then spoken into this realm to be born of a woman. Lk.3:23-33
*Adam was a god. Ps.82:1,6-7. This psalm shows that it is only in the judgment of the gods that God stands. He is a supreme God that needs not to stand to judge but in the matter of the gods, he sustained a standing posture. Adam never knew he was a god. Gods are the representative and custodian of the eternal purposes and secret of God on earth or in heaven…Adam was the pioneer of this generation or a race of mankind. That’s why he was being blessed with fruitfulness, multiplication, increase waxing strong and dominion. He was a ruler because dominion signifies the kingdom.
*Adam was a priest. The protocol of priesthood was first initiated at the crudest stage by him in that which God gave him to do. He was to DRESS the garden. What do you think the word “dress” suggests? Perhaps it is not what you think i.e. to clear all the dried leaves and make the environment clean; rather it was a function of a priest that he was engaged with. How? The atmosphere in the garden is such that can allow for the immortal realm to find expression. As a matter of fact, the garden is an embassy of heaven that is let down into the earth realm and that is why God was only visiting and not dwelling there permanent. Therefore, the action of the dress is to maintain the atmosphere.
*Adam was a Guardian. He was made a watchman over the garden. The reason is that there had been a rebellion led by the devil and God knew that the removal of the devil and the third part of the angels in that are his cohorts from heaven might want to pass through the earth. However, there is nothing that God does without given grace to overcome any challenges that may arise. Not only that, Adam has a with and he must be subjected to test to know whether he is going to use his will against or for God. The angels were proved and that was when Satan used his will against God. Isa.14:12-14. That rebellion can not but to vibrate through the earth. However, the man was given the key to operating the earth realm and his allegiance must be sought to do so, even God. That was what the devil understood in coming to deceive him and break the concord he had with God. In the categories of beings created by God, Adam was in the class of the guardian. That was the reason why when he fell, his replacement was a guardian cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. As a guardian, he failed to realised he was in charge of the divine purposes of God, and the same independence declared by the devil that relegated him, was the aftermath of the fall of Adam too. Adam was reduced into time and he is to die like a prince.
Despite that, the error of Adam the first man plunged that human race into this mess, yet, right there in Eden was the redemption began through the same channel wherein the error was committed. It was the woman who activated the dimension and civilization of the second heaven on earth, it was the woman that activated the civilization of the third heaven on earth too in the person of the virgin Mary (Gen.3:15, Matt.1:18-25).
Here is the good news, the last Adam has been given to the human race. The first Adam was a living soul; the last Adam was a quickening spirit.1cor.15:45-47. The expression of the psalmist in chapter 8:4-6 was found to be fulfilled in Christ the last Adam through the death on the cross of Calvary. He did that to restore the first Adamic race into the factory setting(the original purpose of God). Now, are we free to stand again in His presence and by the new and living way that he has created for us?
Glory be to God for this great redemption and the victory for the race of Adam through Jesus Christ!!!
Remain blessed