Thus it
is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a
life-giving spirit. 1st Corinthians 15:45
Ever wonder what might have happened if Adam and Eve had resisted Satan’s temptation in the Garden of Eden? I used to think if they had, wouldn’t one of their children have eventually been tempted by Satan into sinning? It was a conundrum until I recalled Jesus Himself said the Lake of Fire was created for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41). It is my view, and speculation only, that Satan and his evil host would have at that time been put into the fire that was prepared for them, allowing the human race to live on in a state of eternal perfection (Genesis 2:17), in a perfect world (Genesis 1:25).
Sin and
death did not enter the human race when Eve ate the forbidden fruit. It happened when Adam, whom God made the
federal head of humanity, did (Genesis 1:26, 3:6-7). There is no sin in being tempted. Jesus was tempted in every respect, as we are, and there was no sin found in Him (Hebrews 4:15). Sin comes with commission.
But what if Jesus in His temptation, like the first Adam, had failed? The universal disaster in that is too horrific to contemplate. But He did not fail. Some will say, “Yes, but His temptation wasn’t that hard. Plus, He couldn’t have sinned because He was God.” It wouldn’t have been a temptation if it had been easy, would it? A temptation always hits us hardest where we are the most vulnerable.
Satan was offering Jesus the easy way out of God's full plan of human redemption. The way where He wouldn't have to suffer but could have everything earth could give, the way around the cross, for it was delivered to Satan to give these things to whomever he chose (Luke 4:6). When Jesus had fully resisted him and said, “Be gone,
Satan,” He became the Second Adam who in His success brought us out of death
unto life.
It took a
human of free will to be the first to fail.
It took God in the flesh, the Word (John 1:1), to make it right the
second time. People ask, “If God knew
Adam would sin why did He make Him then?”
I will ask, “First, answer me why would a perfect and all-powerful God,
knowing that, be willing to suffer and die to redeem him back to Himself?” That is Grace far too amazing to sensibly
ponder. Love we cannot fully fathom.
We wouldn’t
know that about Him without the First Adam’s slipup. God didn’t set him
up for failure. Love cannot be fully expressed
without free will and God created that within him. Adam was allowed to choose and he chose
poorly. The Second Adam revealed Himself to us, choosing rightly. In doing so He took our punishment for sin on the cross and brought us from death unto life eternal, demonstrating that life truly can
be better the second time around.
Ken
