Adam was a Type of Jesus?

So I'm going to invite you, brethren, to please open up your Bibles to Romans Chapter 5. By God's grace, we're going to continue with our exposition of this book, and I hope the Spirit of the Lord will lead us and guide us as we proclaim His Word and as you receive the Word of the Lord. We are going to be, by God's grace, addressing that last statement that the Apostle makes in verse 14 of Romans chapter 5. If you pay attention to Romans chapter 5 verse 14, there the Apostle is going to tell us something about the connection that exists between Adam and Christ. He says in verse 14, reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam."

And then he gives us this statement. Who, that is Adam, was a type of the one who was to come. That is Jesus. So the Apostle tells us that Adam is a type, or was a type, of Jesus, of Jesus Christ. I want us to consider together this afternoon, brother, dear sister and friend, the meaning of what it is to be a type of Christ.

What does the apostle mean by the fact that Adam was a type of Jesus Christ who is the one that was going to come? What is the meaning of that word type and the relationship and the connection between Adam and Jesus as a type of the one who was to come. So we are going to consider that this afternoon. We're going to be reading together from verse 6 all the way through the end of the chapter verse 21, but we're going to be focusing our attention, I think, on that last statement and then the rest of the chapter until verse 19. Let's see how the Lord leads us as we do this.

Let us pray. Let us come before the Lord that he will help us, guide us, and give us the freedom to speak and freedom to receive the words of Christ. And then we will read the scriptures. Let us pray together. Father we come before you in the name of your son Jesus Christ once again Lord on this Lord's day we give you thanks for your goodness your patience your kindness towards us that extended our days and that we woke up on this day Lord and by your grace you extended our days and allowed us to be gathered here together as brothers and sisters in Christ We give you thanks Lord for everyone that is here present and also we pray for those of our brothers and sisters who for different reasons are not able to be among us.

We pray for the one that is sick, we pray for the one that is broken, we pray for the one that is of contrite spirit, we pray for the one that is not among us Lord and we ask that you will help them, help us Lord by your Holy Spirit that you will point us to Christ Jesus to the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ. We come to this place every Sunday by your grace, Lord, and I ask, Lord, that every time that we come, you will grant us by your Holy Spirit a deeper and stronger desire to follow Jesus Christ, a deeper and stronger desire to be like our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will grant us a deeper and stronger desire to follow our Lord through his word and by the Spirit. that You will protect us from ourselves, that You will protect us from our thoughts, from the desires of our hearts, Lord, and that You will make us more like Him, that we will decrease, that He will increase, and that in all the things of our lives, all the affairs of life, all the thoughts of our minds and the directions and inclinations of our hearts will be towards Christ and for Him and for His glory. We're so feeble and we're so weak and we are so broken, oh Lord, and we need of Your power and we need of Your strength. We are so easily distracted by the things of this world, and we are so easily distracted from the things of life, Lord.

So I pray that You will strengthen our faith by Your Word, and that Jesus Christ will be exalted about everything and everyone. I pray, O Lord, that You will grant the freedom that is needed to speak about these matters. and that the brethren will be edified and pointed to Christ, and that you will give us clarity as we speak and as we receive the words of Jesus. Bless us, not only in our reading, bless us in the exposition of your word, and bless us as we receive your word. Because faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, and certainly we are in need of our faith to be strengthened.

So we pray, O Lord, that you will do this for your glory, for the edification of your bride, this feeble, meek church of yours that is represented here, that you will strengthen us, Lord, to give you glory in our minds, in our thoughts, in our deeds, in our words, and that in all things you will be glorified. Bless us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Romans chapter 5, we're going to be reading together, verse 6 through 21. And as I said, I want us to focus our attention on that last statement that the apostle gives us, verse 14, in which he tells us that Adam is a type of the one who was to come, in this case, the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the connection that exists between Adam and Christ. Adam was a type. of Jesus, the one who was to come. Let us read together from verse 6 all the way through verse 21. This is going to give us the context of what the apostle is telling us in this section of the scriptures.

Let us read together Romans chapter 5 verse 6. At the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows, or God demonstrates, his love for us. In that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now we are reconciled, that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, the apostle says in verse 12, therefore, just as sin came or entered into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death is spread to all men because all sinned. For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many die through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

For if because of one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass. But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, Grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. This is the reading of God's Word. Now, my dear brother, sister, and dear friend, it was my intention, my desire, last week, we will try to give an answer to a very important theological and practical question. And that question is, why did sin enter into the world? Why God, who is all-powerful, almighty, all-knowing, and is loving, why did He allow sin to enter into the world through the disobedience of Adam?

It was my desire to give an answer that depends upon two important points. I aimed to say to you last week that first, and very importantly, we need to understand that reconciliation is the greatest demonstration of God's love. A relationship that is not broken, a relationship that is untouched, cannot compare with the greatness of a relationship that has entered or gone through the process of reconciliation. In reconciliation or redemption, we find the triumph of love. While in a relationship that has not been broken, everything is at peace, but let me submit to you that reconciliation requires a greater manifestation of love, reconciliation, redemption.

And for redemption to take place, sin becomes a necessity. If sin does not enter into the world, then Adam is not going to be a sinner. If Adam is not a sinner, then humanity is not fallen, and humans are not sinners. And if they are not sinners, then they are not in need of redemption or in need of reconciliation. And if they are not in need of redemption or reconciliation, then there is not the need of a redeemer.

If there's no need of a Redeemer, then God the Father will not send His Son to show His love for the world, to reconcile them to Himself. Sin is necessary so that there will be reconciliation, there will be redemption. Why? Because in redemption, we have the greatest manifestation of the love of God. Do we see the love of God in everything that has been created?

Certainly, we see the love of God in everything that has been created. But the greatest manifestation of God's love, we can see it in the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. Because that who, or the person that is exalted above all, God Himself, Now send his son to be humbled in the lowest of places to redeem and rescue those who have sinned against God himself. So now God is doing on behalf of those who are his enemies the greatest manifestation of mercy, the greatest manifestation of love, the greatest manifestation of grace. So sin is necessary so that there will be Redemption.

And when we see it in that way, now we understand that whatever question a person may bring against the character of God is answered with the fact that the reason why there's evil in this world, it is because evil serves a greater purpose. And that purpose is redemption in the person of Jesus Christ. God wanted and decided to demonstrate his great love for us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Love is the center of this history, story of redemption. Love was the beginning of it, Ephesians 1.

We were predestined in love, in the Beloved. We were found before the foundation of the world, and love is going to be the focus and the consummation of all things. when the bride is united to the groom, and they become together, never to be separated. And the reason why we cannot be separated from Jesus Christ is because now the righteousness that we have is not earthly righteousness, but the righteousness that we have is the righteousness of God. A righteousness that is no longer vulnerable to imperfection, as was the righteousness that was given to Adam in the garden.

Adam in the garden had a righteousness that was vulnerable to imperfection, an earthly righteousness. God created a creature upright, and this creature was vulnerable to imperfection. But in order for us to have a deep, profound relationship with God, it was necessary that we will go to the lowest of places, so that the one that is exalted above everyone will come down to rescue us, unite us to himself, so that we will spend the rest of eternity with him. The reason why there's going to be no sin, no cry, no tears, and no death in the eternity that is to come is because we're going to be one with God in Jesus Christ, and not even the angels. have that glorious position that the redeemed Christian has.

Not even the angels that have not fallen have this status and this glorious blessing of being one with God. And the gospel is about that. Not about a best life now and not about money and about people and about things now, but it's about Jesus Christ. coming to save His people out of this world, so that He will be one with them for eternity, and that they will enjoy the blessing of what it is to be one with the Exalted, with God Himself. And let me submit to you that the center of it, the substance of it, it is the love that God has had for us in Christ Jesus.

I am so frustrated with myself and with my language and with my mind that I cannot speak more about love, that I cannot explain more love of what it is, that my experience of love limits my comprehension of what it is, the love of God that has been manifested to us in the person of Jesus Christ. But at least we have the Scriptures and we have the Spirit that tells us that this is love. Not that we loved Him, but that He loved us first, and that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die upon the cross to be a propitiation for our sins. And if He has so loved us, we ought to love one another. This is the center of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is the redemption, and this is the reconciliation that we find along in Jesus Christ. And the Apostle has told us now here in this portion of the scripture that we have before us that one of the ways in which this redemption is manifested and is given to us, one of the ways that this redemption, this reconciliation is revealed and given to us, it is through the relationship that exists between Adam and Christ, that Adam was a type of Jesus, the one who was to come, and that this Adam, who was a type of this Jesus that was to come, teaches us that which the first Adam has done unto the world, And that which Christ Jesus does for those who are in him. The first Adam brings death. The second Adam or the last Adam, Jesus Christ, will bring life. And the way that that relationship is given to us in the scripture is with this word, type.

But now, I know that this is not a word that we use much in English, or at least contemporary English. Perhaps the word that we use as type is when we speak about a category, that type of people, or that sort of people, or that kind of people. This is not the meaning of that word. This is not the meaning of the biblical meaning of that word type there. So I want us to examine together, I hope, not very long, but I want us to examine and to consider what is the meaning that Adam was a type of Jesus, and how is that seen in our redemption, in our salvation?

What is the meaning of it from a biblical perspective that Adam was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? Of course, the center of this is not to feed your brain. The center of this, of what we're going to be doing here, is not only to provide information into your head so that you will have theological and doctrinal answers to the questions about Jesus. The point of everything that we're going to do here, I hope, by the freedom and the power of the Spirit, is that you will see that in this world, the only thing that matters is to be in Christ, because there are only two types of people in this world. Those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ.

It does not matter how much money they have. It does not matter how healthy they are. It does not matter how many cars or how many houses they have. It does not matter if they were born here in Australia or in America or in Colombia or in Brazil. It does not matter if they have a big family or a small family.

It does not matter if they're going to live to 40 or 50 or 100. It does not matter who they are and what they have. The only thing that matters is if that person is found by grace in Jesus Christ. Because if that person is not found in Christ, then they are going to receive that which Adam received, and that is death, judgment, and condemnation, as the text has just said here, as we have just read it. I want us to explore and consider that.

What is the meaning that Adam was a type of Jesus Christ, the one who was to come? And in order to do so, I want us just to give two questions that perhaps are going to guide our thinking and are going to guide the way that we present this. The first question that I want us to ask ourselves is just simply, what is the meaning of it? What is the meaning that Adam was a type of Jesus? And once we explore, and I suppose that is going to take most of our time, once we explore that idea of Adam being a type of Jesus, then I want us to consider how is Adam a type of Jesus?

How is that manifested? How is that supposed to be understood? Not only the meaning of what it is a type, but how is it manifested? And I hope that we can see it here in the text. and also in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which is a parallel passage to these chapters.

Let us start, brethren, may the Lord help us as we address this. What is the meaning of Adam being a type of Jesus Christ? If you pay attention once again there to verse 14, the apostle is going to tell us not that Adam is a type, but rather that Adam was a type of the one who was to come in this case, Jesus Christ. As I said before, this word, type, is not what you have in your brain. It's not what you have this definition of contemporary English of typing, kind of like a category of that type, that sort of that kind of something.

Here, type, this word, is actually only found like 16 times in the New Testament. Paul is the one that is going to use it most of the time. And this word actually means shadow or like a shape. Actually, some of your translations may say something like that, like a shadow or like a shape or like a form. What the apostle is telling us is that Adam was a shadow of Jesus Christ that is the one that is to come.

That is that when we see Adam in the garden, then we can see certain things that Jesus Christ will bring. It is a shadow for shadows. It's like the shadow when you go outside and then you have the sun and then you have your shadow on the ground. Then you can see the shadow. And in the shadow, you can see certain features, the characteristics of yourself, your shape.

And perhaps, you know, the way that the Lord has made you, you can see there on the shadow. But the shadow is not you, but it's actually telling something about you, your shape, and the way that you are. This is what the Apostle is telling us here in a very general sense, that this Adam was a shadow of Jesus Christ that was going to come. Now, this is not the first time that the Scriptures speak about a type, and certainly this is not the only instance in which we learn about types, or about these shadows that we have in the New Testament. A shadow, in a general sense, is going to be anything that we find in the Old Testament that is going to tell us and give us some information about something that is going to come in the New Testament.

In this case, we have Adam in the Old Testament that is giving us and telling us some information about Jesus Christ, the one that was going to come. The interesting thing about shadows or types is that they are going to teach us something about the history of redemption. And in order for us to understand that which types teaches, we need to pay attention not only to the shadow, but also we need to pay attention to the one that fulfills or to the embodiment of that shadow. And sometimes you may have heard that the shadow or the fulfillment of it is called anti-type. So we have the type in the Old Testament that is kind of speaking to us about something that is going to come in the New Testament and when that something or that someone comes in the New Testament sometimes or most of the time we call that anti-type or the fulfillment of that which was in the Old Testament.

So, in simple words, and I hope that I'm not complicating things here, in the Old Testament, we have these shadows or these types that speak to us about certain things or people that are going to come in the New Testament. And when we have the Scriptures, and then we see in the Old Testament the shadow, and then we see the fulfillment, then we learn something about the history of redemption. As I said, for instance, this type of this shadow that we have of Adam and Jesus is not the only one. There are many types and there are many shadows in the Old Testament. For instance, you may think about the Passover, you remember, in Exodus chapter 12?

We know that the Passover is a type or is a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when the people of Israel were slaves in the land of Egypt, and then the Lord is going to bring judgment upon the Egyptians, you remember that? And the final plague or the final manifestation of His judgment is that He is going to kill the firstborn. So the Lord instructs the people of Israel that they were supposed to slaughter or to sacrifice the lamb, and then to paint with the blood the door frame so that the spirit of judgment that was going to come, the angel of the Lord, will pass over the houses of the Israelites, and then the spirit of judgment will come upon the Egyptians. That is a shadow of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the reason why we know that It is because Paul tells us so in 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7.

He tells us that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, or that Jesus Christ is our Passover. It is not only the Passover that we have in the Old Testament, but even if you may remember, perhaps, the serpent, you remember the bronze serpent that was lifted up by Moses, I think this is Numbers chapter 21, when the people of Israel sin against the Lord, then God sent judgment to the Israelites, and then Moses is going to try to find a way to solve the problem of the judgment, and then the Lord tells him that he's supposed to lift up this bronze serpent so that everyone who looks to the serpent will be healed, and they will not die. Then we know, in John chapter 3, that the lifting up of the serpent was a shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was going to be lifted up in the cross, and everyone who believes in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will not die, but they will be saved. These are shadows. These are types in the Old Testament that speak certain things about things that are going to come in the future.

And the main and most important thing that we learn only with this simple definition, brother and dear sister, it is the importance of knowing the word of God. Types and shadows are going to bring unity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And much of our doctrine, much of our understanding of what the biblical gospel is, will depend upon those connections that God has given us between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And if a person does not know the fullness of the Scriptures, if a person is not a student of the Scriptures, if a person is not diligent in understanding the things that God has done in the Old Testament and the things that God does in the New Testament, but if a person only focuses on certain aspects of God's revelation, then this person is going to lose the connections that God has given us in the Word of God that are going to be foundational for us to understand the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and who we are supposed to be as God's people. That's why church is not about entertaining our emotions and our feelings.

But when we come together as brothers and sisters, we ought to know the Lord Jesus Christ through the word of God. And it's mandatory for the church and the brethren that we will seek Jesus Christ through that which is written. That is a definition of what a type or a shadow is. But what is the purpose of it? What is the purpose of a type of a shadow?

The Apostle Paul is going to give us a list of different types or shadows in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, if you come with me there. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, we can see the purpose of this type and shadows in a couple of words that the Apostle is going to use. Come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 you may remember and some of you may know the passage that I'm going to call your attention to in which the Apostle is going to mention many of the things that happen in the Old Testament and how those are connected to Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 with you here, brethren.

And I understand that this topic may be perhaps a little bit dry, but just bear with me as we try to understand the purpose of these types and shadows. Verse one of chapter 10, it says, for I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea and all were baptized into Moses in the clouds and in the sea and all ate the same spiritual food and all drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. You see there? And the rock was Christ. The apostle tells us that something that was in the Old Testament, you remember the rock that was struck and then the water came out of the rock?

The apostle is telling us clearly here that the rock was Christ. Now, the apostle is not telling us that the rock shared substance with the sun, or that the sun was in substance with the rock, as if they were equal in being, but rather he's telling us that that which was represented in the rock was the son of God. that just as the rock was struck twice and then water came out of it then also the sun was going to be struck down i think that's the way the way that you're saying you're struck down or killed and then living waters will come out of jesus christ just as the waters came from the rock in the old testament to come the first of the people of Israel. So the living waters will come out of Jesus Christ, who is going to die upon the cross. So the puzzle is telling us that when we look back and then we see the rock in the Old Testament, then we can know that this is pointed to Jesus Christ.

The scriptures are telling us what the connection is. Another puzzle is going to tell us something very interesting in verse 6 and verse 11. Here is where we're going to find two more times, in two more instances, this word type. It says in verse 6, now these things, all of these, the rock and all of the things that the puzzle mentioned, being baptized into Moses and so on and so on. Now these things took place as examples.

You may have a different word there. examples for us. Literally it says that these things took place as types or as shadows. for us, that we may not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now pay attention to verse 11. Now these things happen to them as an example, or say shadow, or as a type. But they were written down, pay attention, for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come.

These things that took place in the Old Testament that were foreshadowing realities that were going to happen in the New Testament were written, they took place for the people of God. If we were going to summarize the purpose of types and shadows, we can use this word, revelation. The purpose of types is to reveal to the people of God what God has done throughout church history or throughout redemptive history, better, what God has done in his son, Jesus Christ, for his people and for the church. The purpose of my time is to reveal to us, to teach us through the scriptures, to understand deeper and better what God has done throughout redemptive history. We are the only ones that are blessed in the sight of the people of God who have the fullness of the written word.

People in the Old Testament, they did not have the fullness of the written word. People in the first century, they did not have the fullness, or at least printed, the fullness of the written word. The church, we the people of God now, have the fullness of that which has been written. And these types, these shadows, teach us what God has done from the Old Testament into the New Testament, bringing about the redemption that I was speaking about in the very beginning. This story of love.

that God has had for His people through the Son, Jesus Christ. Now it is revealed to us through the Scriptures, and hence, the Word of God is very important, brethren, because it says there that it was written. And if it's written, then that means that we need to read it. And if we need to read it, it's the way that we understand it. You cannot have the church of God separated from the scriptures.

You cannot have the people of God separated from that which God has revealed to us through the word of God. Christianity does not exist in these connections from the word of God. Christianity is false when Christianity is not attached to that which is written in this book. Our lives depend upon what God has revealed to us in the New and the Old Testament through His Son, Jesus Christ, so that we will learn not only who God is, what He has done, but also what we ought to do. Because as we read the Scriptures, brethren, you know one of the things that we learn that is incredible and powerful?

That God has been in control of the whole thing from the moment that everything started. From the moment that Adam and Eve were created, you were not there. You did not exist, at least physically, you were in the mind of God. We did not exist, but God was in full control of absolutely every single element of the development of redemptive history. And every one of those elements of development of redemptive history is connected with what is going to happen later on.

I don't know if it does for you, but it blows my mind to see that my salvation, my belonging to Christ, is somehow connected to the way that history has developed over the years, even from the creation of the world. and God has been in control of absolutely all those things through the work of his son Jesus Christ for the benefit of the church. So we ought to be students of that which is written because in the scriptures we're going to find these shadows and these types that are going to reveal to us in the New Testament how God has operated and worked throughout church history or throughout redemptive history better and how we can know There is a very powerful passage that is found in Hebrews chapter 8 that I want to show you, brethren, because that is the second instance in which we have the third instance, actually, in which, if it was Paul who wrote Hebrews, that Paul tells us about types. If you come to Hebrews 8, there is an incredible way in which these types are presented. I know that this sounds more like a lecture, brethren, but this is just the Word of God.

Pay attention to this. It's an incredible thing. Now, you know about shadows and copies and patterns that we have just discussed up to this point, but pay attention to this in Hebrews chapter 8. Here, the apostle or the author of Hebrews is going to tell us about, you know, like comparing, brethren, if you would be a little bit Comparing the high priest of the priests in the Old Testament and how Jesus Christ is the high priest now that is going to fulfill the role of those priests in the Old Testament, but also as he's comparing the priesthood in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ being the high priest that these priests were pointing to Christ Jesus, he's now going to tell us about how the tabernacle and the temple came about. He's going to remind us that the way that the tabernacle was given, if you remember, is that Moses was taken up to the top of the mountain, and that in the top of the mountain, Moses was given insight into the heavenly things.

When he saw the heavenly things, he was told, now go down and do exactly the same as you have seen. Then he comes down, and he's going to build the tabernacle according to the things that he has seen. Not the things that he's been instructed to do, the things that he has seen. So there's a tabernacle, there's a heavenly place that already existed that is the model that Moses now comes down and he's supposed to implement. And now these two things are pointing to the type or the entity that is coming.

Let us read together and I will elaborate on this. Hebrews chapter 8, pay attention to this. Now, I love this first statement of Every time that I read it in Hebrews 8, it's just as simple as this. Now, the point in what I'm saying is this. We have such a high priest.

one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not men. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. Thus, it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve this praise according to the flesh, according to the law.

They serve a copy and a shadow, pay attention to this, of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, that is the tabernacle, he was instructed by God, saying, But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old, As the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant, that is the covenant of the law, or the covenant of Moses, or the covenant of the priest, or the covenants of the tabernacles, for if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. The apostle or the author of Hebrews is incredibly giving us insight into what happened that day that Moses went up to the mountain, and then he saw, spiritually speaking, heavenly realities. You know how sometimes we think that it's Paul, the one who was taken up into the third heaven in 2 Corinthians 12?

Moses was taken into the presence of the Lord, and he was given insight into the heavenly places, the tabernacle that was in heaven. And then he was supposed to do that and to build that on earth. And then when we come to the New Testament and we see the Lord Jesus Christ who comes to fulfill all the things of the Old Testament, the high priest and the law and the tabernacle, then we learn and we know that the one to whom all of these tabernacles and all of these things were appointed, his name is Jesus, that we know that when He comes, that He is the temple. Destroy this temple, and you will see how I rebuilt it on the third day, and that those who are in Christ become the temple of God. And then we learned in Revelation chapter 21, that when He comes, He will dwell with us, and we shall be His people, and He shall be our God.

We learned that is through all of these revelations that we have here, that the purpose of those things that were given to us in the Old Testament were revealing the redemptive work of God that He was doing and giving to His people by and through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the important things that we learn about these types, let me give you two, is this. A type, something that happened in the Old Testament, is going to have a fulfillment in the New Testament, and the characteristic of the fulfillment is that there's going to be a spiritual escalation. When I say escalation, it's that it increases. That is, something that was given to us in the Old Testament, when we see the fulfillment of it in the New Testament, that which fulfills the shadow of the Old Testament has now a greater spiritual reality.

So as we see the Old Testament tabernacle, then we see the heavenly places and the dwelling of God with his people, this temple has a greater heavenly reality. The fulfillment of a type has a greater heavenly reality. And as we see the advance of that which is physical into that which is spiritual, we can see from the very beginning that the purpose of God was not that things will accomplish through early means, but that the purpose of God was always that heaven will come down to the earth. The purpose of God was always, not that the earth, that which is natural, that which is earthly, will achieve excellence in such a way that will achieve and go into the heavenly, but always that which is natural was pointing to that which is spiritual, because the heavenly will come down to rescue that which was earthly. And that is actually the relationship that exists between Adam and Jesus Christ, if you come with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, brethren, we're going to find the equivalence or perhaps the parallel passage between Romans chapter 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. We're going to find a parallel passage. It is only in this passage that Paul is going to answer the question of how was Adam then a shadow or a type of the Lord Jesus Christ? What was that connection? What was that relationship?

We're going to find that in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to read first only one verse. I'm going to try to elaborate as the Lord leads and as the Lord gives freedom, and then we're going to read the passage to see how we can explain this. Let me just simply point you to this verse 50 in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Pay attention to this.

You may have a title, as I have in my ESV, but there's no title, right? There's no divisions of verses there. Everything is a continuation. Actually, what he's going to say in verse 50, it is a continuation of what he has said before. He says in verse 50, I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Let me just read that once again and see the impossibility of that which is temporal to accomplish that which is eternal. It says in verse 50, I tell you this, brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. And some of you may be thinking now in your minds, well, the apostle is speaking about the resurrection that is going to happen from the dead, and that is correct. But the point that the apostle is making is deeper than only resurrection, because he's trying to defend the fact that those who have died will be resurrected as the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected.

And the point that the apostle is going to make here is that that which is natural has to die because it's perishable, so that it's raised imperishable. That that which is mortal, that that which is earthly, that that which is of the system of this world has to die so that it is resurrected in imperishability, in immortality. That in order for immortality to be accomplished, and in order for imperishability to be accomplished, that which is natural and that which is earthly has to go through the process of death. Why? Because that which is natural and that which is earthly cannot inherit the things that come from above.

So that which is earthly cannot go to heaven and say, knock, knock, now I deserve to be here. Heaven has to come down to send the Son to rescue that which is earthly and that which is natural. And that was the purpose of God's redemption from the very beginning. Redemption is not going back to the garden as if being in the garden was the best place where we could be. Redemption is an escalation of the grace of God that is given to us through Adam and through the fall and through the people of God.

Redemption is not going back to the garden. It's going up to within the Son of God is because when you compare Adam, even in the garden, with the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the earthly man with the heavenly man, Brethren, the comparison is such that Adam in the garden is closer to us fallen than what he is to Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is God Himself who has come down to rescue His people. The excellency of redemption and reconciliation is such that we cannot fully comprehend it, that we cannot fully understand it. Otherwise, we will be jumping here, brethren, and we will be crying, and we will be going on our feet, and we will be going on our knees. We will be doing that if we would understand the greatness of what God has given to his people.

When we are concerned with money, when we are concerned with health, when we are concerned with the temporal things of this world, and brethren, what comes ahead for the people of God is such that when that moment arrives and the Spirit of God is in us and we look back, we say, why? But the answer is going to be because of Him who was in control of all things and was teaching us and leading us through that. The imperishable or the natural better, the earthly cannot accomplish that which is spiritual. Let us now read the passage from verse 45. Pay attention to verse 45 of 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15. Thus it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living being. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. In other words, Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam, was much better, or is much better than the first Adam. The first Adam is a receiver of life.

The last Adam is a giver of life. Remember, the first Adam got breathed life from his nostrils. I tried to have my best English there just to say that complicated sentence. You know, he breathed out from his nostrils life into Adam, Jesus Christ, the last Adam, is a life-giving spirit. He's not a receiver, he's a giver.

Now he's going to continue in verse 46. And as was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as is the man of heaven, so are also those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Existence and life is dividing between these two types of people.

Not type in the biblical sense, but in the contemporary English way. These two kinds, these two sorts of people. Those who are in Adam and are made of dust, and those who are in Christ. And even though they were made of dust, They are now being recipients of that which is imperishable. Now they are being recipients of that which is immortal.

They are being recipients now of the grace of God that is going to be fully consummated when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. And that which is perishable will pass away, and we will be resurrected in newness of life with the Lord Jesus Christ. And we will enter the kingdom of God, not because we have merited it, or not because we have done things that deserve that we will enter into the kingdom of God. but because the kingdom of God came down to the earth to rescue those who were broken and to make them part, not of only a kingdom, but the kingdom of the Lord. Of this kingdom, the apostle has told us, if you come with me there, previously there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, in verse 25, pay attention to verse 25, it says, let me just point you to this.

He says in verse 25, for he, that is Christ, let me just read from verse, let us just read from verse 21. 21, for us by a man came death. For us by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. Verse 22, for us in Adam all die, so also in Christ. shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order cries the first fruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he, that is Christ, must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. What is that which Adam brought into the world?

He brought death. And what is that which Christ brings into the world? Life. That which is reigning in the dispensation of Adam, in the world of Adam, is death. And that which reigns in the kingdom of Christ is life.

And the fullness of this life has not been seen yet because we're still in this cosmos that is fallen. So we're in the ready not yet. But when the fullness of time comes and this cosmos that belongs to Adam is destroyed to be made anew, then the dispensation of grace in Christ Jesus will exists on its own, removing that which is of Adam, and the last enemy which is dead will be removed. This is what Adam, the first Adam, brought to this world. Sin, judgment, and condemnation.

And the second Adam, what he brings to this world is the free gift of obedience that gives us justification and life. Let us return now to Romans, and let's read what the Apostle said there, because sometimes what he says in Romans chapter 5 might sound like a repetition or a puzzle of words, and why would he write in that way? He writes in that way because you need to understand what he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Let us now read together Romans 5 verse 15. It says, the free gift It's not like the trespass.

For if many die through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following the one man trespass brought condemnation. That is the equation that the apostle has in mind. Trespass, judgment, condemnation.

This is the equation that he has in his mind. Trespass or disobedience, then judgment, and judgment brings condemnation. But the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if because of one man's trespass, now pay attention here to the word, death reigned through that one man, much more will those those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one main Jesus Christ. Through the disobedience of Adam, the apostle says, death is now reigning in the system of this world.

And that death is spread to all people because all people are in Adam. But when Jesus Christ came, he came with a free gift of righteousness, with a free gift of obedience, with a free gift of fulfilling the requirements of the Father. And by the obedience of God the Son, then the reign of grace starts. And this grace is poured into the hearts of those who receive by faith. And those who receive that grace of Christ by faith are the ones who reign in the kingdom of the Lord.

And the fullness of the reigning of the people of God will come when He comes. And He defeats the last enemy, which is death. But the kids, or the people, or the children of God, they are now reigning by the grace that he has given to his people in their hearts. We are now reigning. And the reason why he has this in his mind, Paul, it is because this grace that has been given to us, it is the means by which now we do not allow sin to rule over us.

You remember Romans chapter 6? He's going to tell us, for sin shall have no dominion over you, because you are not under the law, but you are under Grace. You have been taken into the kingdom of God that is the kingdom of grace. And it's by the power of Jesus Christ, by this grace, that now we have the power in us to live as citizens, not of this world. To live as people who belong not to the system of Adam, but to the system of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And when we die, brethren, and when He comes, He's going to bring the fullness of the kingdom of God that is the kingdom of grace. The first Adam brought death, the second Adam brings life. The first Adam failed, the second Adam conquered. The first Adam was a receiver and a broker of the law of God, of the Word of God. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, was a receiver of the Word of God.

He is the Word of God, and he was a keeper of the Word of God. The first Adam failed in a garden with abundance and with all things that he needed. The last Adam, Jesus Christ, was conqueror and victorious in the wilderness when he was led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by Satan. And it was with the word of God that he defeated the temptation of Satan because the last Adam came to conquer. And those who are in him by grace are recipients of the victory of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The victory of grace. Once again, we don't have the fullness of brain and hearts and the alignment that we need to understand these brethren. Because you understand and you see that everything in our life pales in comparison with the reality of what it is to be in Christ. As I said from the beginning, and I finish with this, the idea of everything that I've set up to this point is not to feed your head and your knowledge because this is not the point of what we do. The point of the coming and the gathering of the saints, it is that we will behold the grace of God in sending his son to die upon the cross for us sinners, and that we will just simply answer a simple question.

Am I in Christ, or am I in Adam? And the question is not, do you come to church? Or the question is not, do you read the scriptures? Or the question is not, have you been baptized? Or the question is not, have you done sufficient religious activities that you call yourself a Christian?

The question is, are you in Christ Jesus? Has the grace of God been given to you so that by faith you come and are one with Jesus Christ? And then you know that all of your endeavors, all your struggles, all your thriving, all of your efforts, all of your works and deeds, are not sufficient, are not enough to make it to the heavenly. That the heavenly has to come down to the earthly to rescue you because you're broken, because you're a sinner, because you're unrighteous. Do you know, do you acknowledge in humility by the Spirit that it is the heavenly man, the one who has to come and rescue you and save you?

Or are you still trying to build, in an earthly way, means to reach to God and to satisfy Him, as if you had the knowledge of the works and it's sufficient for Him to be satisfied? Are you resting in the fact that reconciliation is through the Lord Jesus Christ, or are you working your own righteousness? Not resting in Him, but resting in your own performance, trying to be something that you're not before the Lord. Because the difference between those two is heaven on earth. Those are dustly people.

Those who are made of dust. And the other ones are the ones who shall bear the image of the heavenly man, Jesus Christ. The first ones are prideful, trying to do in their own words and deeds something that they can't. The other ones are broken and humbled, not because of what they see in themselves, but because of the great revelation that they see in the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you in Adam or are you in Christ?

And if you happen to realize that indeed you are in Adam, that you have been striving in your own efforts, works and deeds to please God when you cannot, and try to be righteous in your own works and deeds. So this is the day. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day in which you come to Christ. Today is the day in which you realize that the earthly will not make it into heaven, Because blood and flesh cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

That which is perishable will never be imperishable in and of itself. That which is mortal will never be immortal in and of itself. The one who is imperishable, the one who is immortal is the one who has to come down to rescue your soul. And that happens by grace. That happens by faith in the message of this man who came and died upon the cross, whose name is Jesus Christ.

Amen? Amen.