SON OF ADAM (Various Scriptures)
INTRODUCTION:
One of the challenges of topical preaching during holidays is having something fresh to share with you, especially after having been here so long. This is particularly true of a holiday like Christmas that has a single focus—the incarnation and advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not saying that it is a topic that ever gets old, there is something new about it every year. So, as I have prayed and contemplated how to approach this series of messages during the weeks leading up to Christmas, I came across a passage in a theology book that listed the five instances that Jesus Christ is called the Son of someone. As I read through that passage, I knew that this was what the Lord wanted me to build my Christmas series on. Each Sunday leading up to Christmas, including our morning and evening services on Christmas Eve, I will look at one of the instances when Jesus Christ is called the Son of someone. This morning we will look at the first which is the Son of Adam, next week we will look at Jesus Christ as a son of Abraham, the week after that we will look at Him as the Son of David. Then on Christmas Eve in our morning service we will look at Jesus Christ as the Son of Mary and in the evening, we will look at Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In each of these messages I will be in various passages of Scripture to develop the message. We want to celebrate the advent of the incarnate Son of God, the Son of Mary, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of Adam. Let’s pray and then look at Jesus Christ, the Son of Adam.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
In Luke 3:23-38 we find the genealogy of Jesus Christ, this genealogy is a little different than the one found in Matthew one. It is believed that the genealogy of Matthew, which is traced through David’s son Solomon is Joseph’s genealogy, where the one in Luke that is traced through David’s son Nathan, is believed to be the genealogy through Mary. Matthew’s genealogy begins with Abraham and goes forward to Jesus, Luke’s genealogy begins with Jesus and goes backward to Adam. We are going to read this genealogy as our jumping off point this morning. Please stand, if you are able, in honor of the reading of God’s Word, and follow along while I read.
Luke 3:23-38,
“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luke 3:23–38, NASB95)[1]
THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM (Genesis 1:26-28; 3:20; 5:1-3)
Jesus is never referred to directly as the Son of Adam, it is implied in the genealogy which we just read. Who is this Adam that is said to be the son of God? This Adam refers to the first human being created by God, the name Adam in Hebrew is the word for man or human being. This name speaks of man as he was originally created without sin, innocent, and made in the image of God. We read of man’s creation in Genesis 1:26-28 which says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ ” (Genesis 1:26–28, NASB95)[2] Man, created in the image of God, was to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. In other words, this first man and the first women were to begin the process of populating the earth. Adam (man) and his wife Eve were the first human beings and all human beings though the rest of history are the progeny of the first man and woman. If we had the ability to trace our genealogy far enough back, we would find that it goes all the way back to the first man and first woman created by God.
Although the first man and woman were created in the image of God and were innocent and without sin, they chose to disobey the one command that God had given them. God had told them that there was one tree in the middle of the garden that He had prepared for them to live in, the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that if they ate the fruit from that one tree they would surely die. Tempted by Satan, who promised Eve if she ate from that one tree she would become like God, she ate and also gave to Adam who ate, and the world was plunged into sin, and death became a reality for the first time. Adam and Eve immediately died spiritually, their relationship with God was severed, they began to age and would eventually die physically, and without a Deliverer or a Savior they would suffer eternal death in the Lake of Fire, forever separated from God and His goodness and love. After all this happened Adam named his wife acknowledging that she would be the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 says, “Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.” (Genesis 3:20, NASB95)[3] The name “Eve” in Hebrew means “life” or “living.”
Genesis 4 tells us how Adam and Eve began to populate the earth and how their children though still created in the image of God had a marred image of God because of sin. In Genesis chapter 5 we find the book of the generations of Adam, a genealogy from Adam to Noah. In the first three verses we find something very important. Genesis 5:1-3 says, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man (Adam) in the day when they were created. When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.” (Genesis 5:1–3, NASB95)[4] Did you notice the important thing about which I was talking? Adam was created in the likeness of God; Seth was created in the likeness of and according to the image of Adam. He inherited his father’s sin nature, like the image of God was marred in Adam because of sin, he passed that marred image on down to his son. I want you to notice one other thing in the end of verse 2, my version says that God blessed them and named them Man, with a capital M. The Hebrew word there is Adam. Some versions translate it “mankind” and if you have the KJV it says, “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” (Genesis 5:2, KJV 1900)[5] So now we know who this Adam is, he is the first created man and the progenitor of the human race.
THE SON OF ADAM (Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14-17)
Having established that Adam (Man), the first man created is the ancestor of all the living we can say that we are each a son or daughter of Adam. We have established that this same truth is implied about Jesus Christ from the genealogy in Luke 3 that goes from Jesus to Adam. Genesis 5:3 stated that when Adam became the father of Seth, that he was a son in Adam’s own likeness and according to Adam’s image. This likeness and image was passed down from one generation to the next. To be the son of someone in Hebrew thought was to be like the person to whom you were a son. This idea can be seen in the use of son in other passages of Scripture. For example, there is a phrase that is used several times in Scripture where certain people are called the sons of Belial. Belial is used in the Bible to refer to personified wickedness or worthlessness. To say that someone is a son of Beliel just means that person is an evil and worthless person. Another example is found in John 12:36 where Jesus speaks of those who believe in the Light becoming sons of Light. We are not the literal sons of Light, but this personifies our becoming like Jesus who is the Light of the world. Jesus Christ was like Adam in his humanity, in that He was a real human being having flesh and blood like Adam. The difference between Adam and Jesus was the fact that Jesus Christ did not have a sin nature. Jesus Christ was the perfect Man and was like Adam before he sinned, He had a true body of flesh and blood, and He had a rational soul that was seen in His intellect, emotions, and will.
Because Jesus Christ was born into the human race through Mary, He was in this sense a son of Adam. Paul explains the difference between Adam and Jesus in Romans 5. Describing Adam and his choice to sin Paul writes in verse 14, “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” (Romans 5:14, NASB95)[6] In other words, Adam passed down his sin nature and the penalty for sin which is death. Adam was a type of Him who was to come, Adam was a type of Jesus in that he passed a sin nature down to each of us and we are each born sinners. In the same way we can now be born again and have the righteousness of Jesus passed down to us and be justified and holy in the sight of God. Paul explains it this way in verses 15-17, “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:15–17, NASB95)[7] The Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect man, the only One who could rescue us from our sinful state in order that we could reign in life through Him.
THE SON OF MAN (Hebrews 2:14-15)
But it was only by being a sinless Son of Adam that Jesus Christ could be a perfect substitute for us and pay the penalty for our sin so that we might be justified by believing that He died for us and was buried and on the third day was raised from the dead, guaranteeing our own resurrection and glorification. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He often refers to Himself as the Son of Man. I think this is significant since the Hebrew word for Man is Adam. When Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, He was calling attention to the fact that He was fully or truly Man, that He had a body of flesh, and bone, and blood like our own, that He was a Son of Adam. This is the wonder and the awe of the incarnation, that Jesus Christ could be fully Man and fully God. This is how Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ in His incarnation in Colossians 2:15-20, “He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness [of Deity] to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Colossians 1:15–20, NASB95)[8] The wonder and the awe of Christmas is that the Creator became a Creature to die for us.
When we consider what God did for us in becoming a Son of Adam can we even begin to comprehend what that was like for Him. Never before was He limited by time or space to be suddenly limited to a human body, to be limited to time and to grow from a single cell into manhood and all for the purpose of dying for our sins, becoming sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The author of Hebrews sums up for us the purpose of the incarnation and the result of it. He writes in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” (Hebrews 2:14–15, NASB95)[9] Because you and I are sons and daughters of Adam and share in flesh and blood, in other words, since we are humans, God Himself, God the Son partook of the same. In other words, He became a son of Adam, He shared in the same flesh and blood that we share in. He became human for one reason and one reason only, to save us from our sins and the bondage we are in because of them. That through His death on our behalf, as our perfect substitute, as our spotless sacrifice, He would render powerless him who had the power of death. Satan, the deceiver and usurper that he is has become the god of this world and as such holds the power of death over our heads, before Christ we fear death, it is the great unknown. Because of this we are slaves of Satan our whole lives, we may not see it that way, maybe we are very religious trying to do enough to make it into heaven not knowing that we can never do enough and that is why we are afraid of death. Jesus Christ changed all that, by His death and resurrection He broke Satan’s power of death so that we can be free from fear and free from slavery. When we come to God in repentance, recognizing our sin, and ask Him to forgive us believing that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ paid for our sin He saves us. He frees us from the fear of death because it is no longer the great unknown, but simply the doorway from this life into eternal life with God. He frees us from the slavery of sin, no longer are we under Satan’s control, but we have been adopted into God’s family and we belong to Him and His Holy Spirit indwells us to conform us to the image and likeness of His Son.
CONCLUSION:
This morning we have looked at Jesus Christ as the Son of Adam. That fact that He is the Son of Adam is part of the wonder and awe of Christmas. Do we fully understand, or will we ever fully understand the incarnation on this side of heaven? No, I do not think we will but that should not stop us from believing it is true. God’s Word says that it is true and the only way that we could be saved. If you have never repented of your sin and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, you can this morning in the quietness of your own heart speak to God, tell Him you are a sinner, but you want His forgiveness through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for you through His death and resurrection. If you are a child of God never let the wonder and awe of the incarnation dimmish, without the incarnation we could not be the children of God by faith. Let that wonder and awe permeate all your Christmas traditions and celebrations. Be a testimony of the One who became like us to save us.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version.). (2009). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.