Earlier this year, I preached a sermon on types and shadows, a kind of theme, that I want to kind of spend some time with from time to time. And so we talked about how bondage in Egypt was like a type of sin. And here today we're gonna talk about Adam as a type of Christ.
You know, as we've said before, the Old Testament contains types of New Testament anti-types.
- A type is something that has a representative form or the characteristic of something else.
- An anti-type is an object that is represented by a type.
- Adam is a type of Jesus.
And so, Jesus is an anti-type of Adam. And Adam is the type of Christ. And so, he is a figure of the one that was to come.
Now, God never intended the Old Testament to be his final revelation of man. It contains types, figures, patterns, and shadows.
- Jeremiah 31:31, 32
It was never intended to last forever. It does though, it contains types and figures, patterns and shadows of New Testament things that were to come to the anti-types.
- Hebrews 9:9
Talking about the Old Testament sacrifices.
- Hebrews 9:23
- Hebrews 10:1-2
As we look at the Old Testament and we compare the things in the Old Testament to the New Testament, the Old Testament types perfectly fit into the New Testament's church, doctrines, and Christ.
And so, we can learn some things from these Old Testament types. We can learn a lot of things about our Lord from the Old Testament type of Adam.
Therefore these Old Testament types confirm the church of the Bible. To be the fulfillment of the longstanding Will of God.
- Ephesians 3:10-11
Some teach a doctrine known as premillennialism, and they say that Christ came to establish an earthly kingdom in the first century and was rejected. And so, [He] put the church in place as a last-minute alteration of his plan. But here we see in verse 11, the church was the ultimate purpose for which Christ came.
So the wisdom of God, the manifold wisdom of God is seen in the church and the establishment of the church, the eternal purpose of God in establishing the church. So as we are going to begin to look at this comparison between Adam and Jesus.
And of course, we know that Romans chapter five has that beautiful treatise about how Christ came to take away our sin when we were at enmity with God, how God sent His Son Jesus to die for us.
- Romans 5:12-15
It's not saying, it does not mean that we inherit the guilt of Adam's sin, but we have sinned after the similitude, in the same way, that Adam sinned, by turning away from God and transgressing God's law. That's all it's saying there. We followed his example.
- Romans 5:15-19
And so, Romans chapter five draws this comparison between Jesus and Adam, how that one introduced sin into the world, and the other brought about the ability to be totally free from that sin.
There are many comparisons also that we can draw between Adam and Christ, and so, we're gonna point out several of these as we go.
Comparisons Between Adam and Christ
Adam
- Miracle creation - Genesis 2:7
- Head of the physical family - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49
- Deep sleep - Genesis 2:21
- His side was opened - Genesis 2:21
- A rib was taken - Genesis 2:21
- Woman formed from Adam’s rib - Genesis 2:21-23
- Adam named his bride, Eve - Genesis 2:23
- Adam and Eve cleaved to each other - Genesis 2:24
- Family propagated through seed - Genesis 1:27-28
Jesus
- Miracle birth - Matthew 1:18, 23
- Head of the spiritual family - Ephesians 3:14-15
- The sleep of death - John 19:30
- His side was opened - John 19:34
- His blood was shed - John 19:34
- The Church was purchased with Jesus’ blood. - Acts 20:28
- Named bride church of Christ/Christian - Romans 16:16; Acts 11:26
- Christians should cleave to the Lord and each other. - Luke 14:26; Romans 12:10
- Family propagated by seed (Word of God). - Luke 8:11; Romans 10:17
And so these are just a few of the comparisons that could be made between Adam and Christ.
Observations and Lessons by Comparing Adam as a Type of Christ
As we move on this morning I want us to take, a closer look at a couple of these passages.
- Romans 5:14-19
- 1 Corinthians 15:22
Adam
- Represents Humanity
- Introduced sin into the world
- Led to death
- Brought the “gift” of sin & death.
- Choose sin and death
Jesus
- Represents the Godhead
- Introduced righteousness into the world
- Leads to life
- Brought the “gift” of life - Jeremiah 10:23, Genesis 3:15
In either one of these cases, whether we choose sin or we choose life, we've gotta take hold of either gift. Committing sin is a choice. We must choose Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
Adam
- Made after the order of creation and bore the image of God.
- He allowed the earthly side of him to err and overcome the spiritual side.
Jesus
- Choose righteousness and life
- A Spirit Being re-introduced the spiritual into the world.
Adam was made after the order of creation and also bore the image of God, Adam, however, through sin allowed the earthly side of him to go astray, to err and it overcame the spiritual side of him. Jesus Christ, a Spirit Being, reintroduced the spiritual end of the world. He came down from Heaven, came in human flesh, and brought the spiritual back into the world. Christians in particular will bear the image of the spiritual over the image of our earthly existence. We have an earthly form, a physical form, but we are made in the image of God. And in Christ, we can be reborn and put that image of God back on, to be faithful to Him, to have that hope of Heaven.
And so as we look at types and anti types; of fulfillments, one can easily see some of the significant features of the anti-type. The anti-type, again, in this case, is Jesus, and He's more important than the type, the anti-type is always more important than the type.
Though we are dual beings possessed, possessing both body and spirit, we must nurture the spirit rather than gratifying the lust of the flesh. Adam introduced sin and death, whereas Jesus introduced righteousness and life. We must seek to follow the example of Jesus rather than the example of Adam.
Now while we do not inherit the gift or the guilt of Adams's sin at birth, you know the doctrine that man is a sinner from the moment of his birth is a false doctrine.
- Ezekiel 18:20
We don't inherit the guilt, but many of us, though, at some point, really all of us, at some point we're going to walk after Adam's example and miss the mark and fall short of the glory of God.
- Romans 3:23
If we continue to live in that sin, then death will be the result.
- Romans 6:23
However, if we choose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ then His example will lead us to eternal life.
- 1 Peter 2:21
And so, following in the similitude of Adam leads to sin and death. Following the example of Jesus leads to life, eternal. If we obey Christ, He will save us.
- Hebrews 5:9
- John 14:15
And so his commandments that we are to keep, we've got to believe in Him. Certainly, we must have faith. We must believe that He is the Son of God, or we will die in our sins, John 8:20. That belief must lead us to repent, Luke 13:3. We must also, in our faith, confess our belief that Jesus is the son of God. If we will not do so before men, He will not confess that He knows us before His Father in Heaven.
And then baptism. Baptism is for the remission of sins. Without baptism, one cannot be saved, Mark 16:16. And then we need to live a life faithfully dedicated to Him, even as our Lord said in Revelation 2:10.
If you have not followed the example of Jesus. You know, we've all followed the example of Adam and come short of the glory of God. But if you've not followed the example of Jesus and obeyed Jesus' commandments to become a child of God through belief, repentance, confession, and baptism, we urge you to do so, to put on Christ in baptism.
"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." — Galatians 3:27
If you are a Christian who has done those things in the past but has not been living faithfully as our Lord said, then we urge you to repent to come back today.
If we can help you to obey God, or help you to return to following Jesus, please contact us.
