SECOND MAN

The first man, Adam, was created to be head of the human race. Sadly, he became the head of a fallen human race because of his sin. Christ came to be the head of another human race, not now of fallen ones, but of saved, rescued, ransomed ones. As such He was the Last Adam. Adam is also known as the first man; the Lord, the last Adam, is here called the second man.

If the thought behind the two Adams is of their roles as heads of a race, there are a number of ideas behind the titles First and Second Man. The first thought is that of their foundation. The first man was made out of the earth. God formed Adam from the dust and breathed into him and he became a living soul. Upon sinning, God said to him, ‘dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return’, Gen. 3. 19. This first man was earthy (from the earth). The second man is the Lord from heaven. He was not made from the earth, though His was as human a body as yours and mine. Yet, He was not from earth but from heaven, and is, therefore, heavenly.

The second thought is that their differing origins give rise to differing characteristics. These two extremes, earthly and heavenly, are used in verse 48 to draw a contrast between the distinctive features of the two types of men and the ‘races’ of which they are head. ‘Their quality and character of life are conditioned by their origin’, W. E. Vine. Christ came, as second man, to rescue and redeem the race who came from the first man. As man He died for men. Now, all who believe and trust in Him shall be characterized by His heavenly nature. The assurance given to the believer is that, in the same way as we once bore the marks, the image, the character of the earthly man, our first father Adam, so we will bear the marks, the image, and the character of the heavenly man.

The foundation and characteristics of the spiritual race are in view here, as we have seen. But, thirdly, so is their destination. Christ, who came from heaven, is now back in heaven in a glorified body. God shall raise to heaven the bodies of His saints, either after death or before it, at the rapture, and then we shall be forever with the Lord. What a prospect for the believer!