First Adam

From First to Third
Written By Patrick Burch

OPENING THOUGHT

Charles Dickens’s classic, A Tale of Two Cities, tells the story of two men who become friends—Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a young Frenchman who is thrown in a dungeon and faces the guillotine the next morning. Carton is a wasted lawyer who has finished his life as a loose-living individual in England. Carton hears of Darnay’s imprisonment and through a chain of events gets into the dungeon and changes garments with Darnay who escapes. The next morning Sydney Carton makes his way up the steps that lead to the guillotine.

The book contains perhaps the best known opening line in all of literature: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Two cities form the setting—London and Paris. Two men switch places—Darnay and Carton. The American Revolution looms large over London, while the French Revolution takes its toll on Paris. It is exciting to watch the two sides intertwine and influence each other.

The Bible tells a tale of two men—Adam and Jesus. Adam was first, but without Jesus, none of us has any hope. Their lives intertwine to give us a story about sin, death, hopelessness, wrath, grace, and eternal life.

EXPLORING GOD’S WORD

Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7

  • God created every living being on earth. What was different about man?

  • What does it mean to be created “in the image of God”?

  • What responsibilities did God give man when he created him?

Romans 5:12-21

  • Who brought sin into the world? What was that sin?

  • Did we inherit Adam’s sin? Who is responsible for my sin?

  • Paul calls Adam a “type of the one who was to come” (Jesus). A type is a figure of speech. Like a metaphor or an allegory, it represents something beyond itself, but a type is a real person or thing with its own impact in history. It points to someone in the future without losing its own significance.

  • In what ways are Adam and Christ similar?

  • In what ways are they different?

1 Corinthians 15:20-26

  • What are “firstfruits”? (see Deut. 26:1-2).

  • What did Paul mean by calling Christ the “firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”?

1 Corinthians 15:45-49

  • Who is the “last Adam”?

  • What does it mean to bear the image of the man of dust?

  • What is meant by the promise that “we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven”?

  • What lessons can we learn from Adam as a type of Christ?

  • How should the hope of bearing the image of the second Adam affect our lives?

Patrick Burch
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