The first man was of the earth, made of dust;
the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
1 Corinthians 15:47
Adam was a home-grown hero, first man on planet Earth, and was even made of earth. The Father of every human being was one for the record books, but his failures were also world-class and made every human being after him grow up to be a loser.
God’s man project seemed to be going very poorly. After only ten generations, the Creator wiped the slate clean and began with a new forefather to be the root of mankind’s new family tree. People after Noah were almost as bad, and human history was once again filled with sin, rebellion, and violence.
Time to start over with a new business plan. Human DNA, whether it traced back to Adam or even righteous Noah, wasn’t equipping people to return mankind back to fellowship with God. The new model, the Second Man, would have a definite spiritual element to Him. He wouldn’t be from around here or made with local materials. He would be the Lord from Heaven.
The typical stereotype of someone that is born and raised in Texas is that she or he boasts of the greatness of his or her state. If another person talks about something very nice from where they’re from, the Texan interrupts to say whatever it is is bigger and better in Texas.
Anyhow, to be from heaven, how neat is that? The Lord Jesus never made a big deal about his ethnic origin, but rather emphasized His humanity, choosing to call Himself the Son of Man. But being both God and Man, He was able to take Man’s sinfulness on Himself and give mankind His righteousness. Those who came to Christ are conformed to the image of the Son of God (Romans 8:29), adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:5), and are given citizenship in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Jesus is able to do this because, after all, He is the Lord from Heaven.
February 8
