Three Men; Two Adams
“45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” — 1 Corinthians 15
One thing many students of the Bible find ever compelling and intriguing is the painstaking details it provides again and again from book to chapter to verse. I mean, to appreciate this, try reading through Leviticus or Chronicles like you were about to take a test and every detail is in scope. 😊 Some of these details at first seem superfluous but many have found upon in-depth study, meditation and revelation, that seeming minutiae are not minutiae at all. They are critical blocks in the building of understanding.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul the apostle is reteaching the Corinthians about resurrection because wrong doctrine was being propagated about the topic. In the verses at the top, he does something interesting in its detailing. He uses adjectives to describe the two subjects of his exposition that at first seem usual and aligned, but on closer study, are unusual though purposeful in their specificity:
1. The first man Adam (verse 45)
2. The last Adam (verse 45)
3. The first man (verse 47)
4. The second man (verse 47)
Did you notice that? In speaking about the Adamic office, he describes Adam as both the first man and first Adam (verse 45). But immediately after, in the same verse, he describes Jesus, not as the second man and second Adam which would be aligned, but instead as the last Adam. Two verses later, he describes Adam again as the first man and then Jesus, this time, as the second man.
So, we have, first man, first Adam and then second man, last Adam. Why is he not describing Jesus as either the second Adam (which is technically correct by the way) or as the last man? Why the need to specifically convey that our Lord Jesus Christ is the second man but last Adam? Let us dive deeper into Scripture.
Genesis
14So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” — Genesis 3
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” — Genesis 3
In Genesis 3, we are given the first mention of 3 unique men. The first man, who happened to be standing physically in the garden, was Adam. The second man was foretold in verse 15 where He is referred to as “her Seed”, i.e. the Seed of the Woman. But there was a third man also foretold in the same verse. He is referred to as “your seed”, i.e. the seed of the serpent. It is for this reason, this third man, that Paul does not describe our Lord Jesus Christ as the Last Man.
There is another man coming after Him. A third man who will make claims about the Adamic office. However, his claims will be false and will be falsified forever. It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul describes our Lord Jesus Christ emphatically as the Last Adam. In other words, “Don’t get it twisted, there is no other Adam after this One.” The Adamic office, the federal head of mankind, has been filled forever. All other candidates need not apply.
The Uniqueness of the 3 Men
Before going further, I have used the word “unique” to distinguish these 3 men among mankind. What makes them unique? Why are the millions of men who were born after the first man but before the second man, and the billions more who have been born and will be born after the second man but before the third man not considered in the numbering and enumeration? The key to understanding this is the word “seed”. Each of these men is the first seed of his type. Let us use an analogy to make this clearer.
Consider an apple. Consider that there was the very first apple seed. That seed was planted and blossomed into an apple tree with apples growing on it. Each apple can be plucked and within it are seeds that can be replanted — rinse and repeat. That very first apple seed is the unique one. In it were all the apple trees, apples, and more apple seeds to come. Now consider an orange and take it through the same thought process. All ensuing orange trees, oranges, and orange seeds were in that first orange seed but they were never in the first apple seed. It is in that sense that we can say, the first fruit (i.e. the apple), the second fruit (i.e. the orange), and the third fruit (let us throw a yummy mango into the mix) are each unique.
It is in similar fashion and understanding, that Paul, conveys this truth about Levi in Hebrews:
“9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.” — Hebrews 7
Levi, yet unborn, was said to have paid tithes because he was in the loins of Abraham when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek. He was a seed of Abraham who himself was a seed of Adam. And as Levi and Abraham were in the first seed Adam, so also were you and I in Adam from the very beginning. And when Adam sinned and fell, we all also sinned and fell in him. The same way Levi tithed in Abraham even though Levi was yet unborn.
This is the reason why the virgin birth was a necessity. The second man, Jesus Christ, was not in Adam and could not have been birthed as you and I are birthed. He was a new Seed. We are not. Neither was Cain, nor Abel, nor Seth, nor Abraham, nor any man born of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man. But God (two words that bring joy to the believer), had a plan for us. A plan that John 1: 12–13 speaks deeply of, “But as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Seed of the Woman would come and has come. And now, whosoever believeth in Him — wild and rebellious as he or she may have been in Adam — has now been grafted into His cultivated olive tree. Paul captures this in Romans 11 below.
“24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!” — Romans 11
If you wish to further study this olive tree illustration used by Paul, here is a blog with more exposition.
Now that we understand what makes these men unique, let us get back to the central focus of this article. Let us examine a couple of interesting details about these three men. This is by no means exhaustive and I encourage you to study the topic further and share the truths you discover as you are led.
Before we get back though, one more useful detour. There are matters that the Bible is explicit about. They are in your face and you really cannot miss these even on a cursory reading of the Bible. But there are also matters that it is not explicit about. Matters it expects Believers to study and seek revelation to unearth (pun intended). The Psalmist gives us one revelation for this latter case:
“2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” — Psalm 25
Now let us search out some matters about these 3 men.
The 3 Men by their Missions
First up, what is the mission of these 3 men? What have they (or in the case of the Third Man, what will he) come to do? We will go in the order of their appearances as men on the earth.
Adam the First, had a mission he was charged with in Genesis 1:
“28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” — Genesis 1
He failed at the Fall when he relinquished the authority he was given over the earth to the enemy, Satan. That is why Satan was able to offer that authority to Jesus at the temptation in Luke 4:6, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” For a long time, the authority of the Adamic office was usurped and in the hands of God’s enemy, thanks to Adam the First.
Adam the Last, Jesus Christ, also had a mission and as Christians, we are very familiar with His mission. But let us hear it in His own words. The verses below are all from John 10 and I encourage you to read the entire chapter for greater understanding. Observe how, like Adam the First, His mission has two inherent components — one, it is a command, and two, it comes from the Father.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
Did He execute His mission fully? The virgin birth, the unblemished life, the death, burial, and resurrection of the last Adam were part and parcel of his mission to become a life-giving Spirit as 1 Corinthians 15:45 describes Him. Note: this description — in addition to the continuous reference to “My Father” in the verses above — will subsequently help us understand the mission of the Third Man. But one more pertinent point before we discuss that.
Understand that the last Adam took back the authority that the first Adam lost. He took it back not as God for He never lost the supreme authority of His deity; but He took it back as a man in His humanity. As the second man and last Adam. That is why He said to us after the resurrection, in the Great Commission, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
And now, what about the third man? What is his mission? The second man, the Christ, is a life-giving Spirit. The third man, the Antichrist, the one who stands antithetical to the Christ will be a death-giving spirit. He will also get his command from his father, thus, like his father, he is coming to steal, to kill, and to destroy.
The Bible gives him very little coverage because we as believers in the Church Age do not have anything at all to worry about concerning Him. Why? Because we have authority over Him. Recall that “all authority” has been given to Jesus Christ and we as His Body have this “all authority” through our Head, Jesus. Should the Antichrist manifest himself while even one single Christian remains on this earth, he will be repelled quickly and his ministry of evil will be over before it even begins. But he and his father know better; as do all the evil spirits in the kingdom of darkness. Let us recall a story from Acts 19 to buttress this:
“13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” — Acts 19
The vividness of this story always cracks me up. The evil spirit hearing the words out of the mouth of these seven sons of Sceva, consults his authority manual and sees the name of the Head and the name of one within the Body, i.e. Paul, both of which the sons of Sceva were peddling. However, he could not find the names of these characters themselves. Therefore, he proceeded to teach them a brutal lesson on authority. Any human operating outside the Body of Christ is operating under Adam the First’s lost authority and thus is the lawful victim of Satan’s kingdom. There is a hierarchy, and you cannot go about commanding a superior officer. This, by the way, is why you will see no record in the Old Testament of a man rebuking an evil spirit. It just could not happen. They did not have the required authority. And unfortunately for the sons of Sceva, this evil spirit knew this fact. Hopefully they learnt it fast and went to the Source of Authority.
If this evil spirit understood authority, so do the heads of the kingdom he belongs to. And so, the Antichrist and his father know that he must come at a time where no man on the earth can validly exercise authority over him. A time when he can deceive, lie, and make false claims without the fear of rebuke from any man on the earth. When is that time?
The Man of Lawlessness
“1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us — whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter — asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” — 2 Thessalonians 2
This is one of the more detailed passages in Scripture about the third man, the Antichrist. And Paul writes it to address a false teaching going around about the day of Lord having come already. He makes it clear that that day will not come until after the rebellion has occurred and the Antichrist is revealed. But he goes further to explain that the Antichrist is being held back so that he may be revealed at the proper time (verse 6). And then in verses 7 & 8, he makes a poignant revelation, “For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed…”
There are many different beliefs about who this one who holds back the Antichrist is. Some believe, it is Jesus; others believe it is the Holy Spirit and still others believe it is the Church. Frankly, I do not get the fuss, given that you cannot find daylight between all 3. The Church is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is the One sent to empower and animate the Church — as occurred at Pentecost. Now, if the Body of the One who has all authority is present on earth and empowered by the Holy Spirit (that is, the Body of the same One who already gave a sneak preview of coming attractions when He dealt with hell’s powers that be) which lunatic will dare to be revealed then?
If he does, his lies in verse 9 will be countered by the Truth which the Church is custodian of; his deception in verse 10 will be countered with enlightenment which the Church possesses. He will not be dealing with the bride of the First Adam whom his father was able to deceive; but instead with the bride of the Last Adam who is enlightened and impervious to his deceit. And his ultimate claim in verse 4 that He is God will be refuted by the second man who is indeed God. And so, he does not dare to come now. He must wait till this One who holds him back is taken out of the way. He must wait till the Body goes to meet its Head so that no man on earth can exercise authority over him and his mission. He must wait till the Rapture.
Third Man, No Adam
Well, if he is coming after the Rapture, why are we Christians even talking about him? Good question. Besides the fact that the Bible talks about him to make us aware of his coming deceit, and we must talk about what the Bible talks about, there is another reason.
What happens after the Rapture? If the Church — the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation — is raptured, who is left here on earth as God’s chosen people? Yes, Israel. When the spiritual chosen nation is gone, the physical chosen nation is back from its setting aside. Recall what Paul said about the natural branches of the cultivated olive tree in Romans 11:24 and how they can be grafted back into the cultivated olive tree that they rejected? I encourage you to read Romans 9, 10, and 11 for a deeper understanding of Paul’s exposition on the Jewish nation. But what is important to understand in our study here is that this chosen physical nation will now have to deal with their rejection of the cultivated olive tree, the Messiah, after the Rapture.
The imposter, the Antichrist, will come with a claim to Israel and the world that he is the Messiah they have been waiting for. As we read earlier in 2 Thessalonians 2, he will come “proclaiming himself to be God”. Claiming to be the new federal head of mankind — an Adam. It is that claim that we refute while we are here on the earth and that we leave as gospel truth on the earth for those left behind after the rapture:
HE IS NOT AN ADAM!
The last Adam has been appointed and He is forever and ever, the last Adam. The Adamic office is by appointment only and not by self-declaration. No amount of displays of power, no deceit, and no lie will change that.
In Revelations 13, we read that his deception will include the survival of a mortal wound. His own deceptive resurrection as it were and from which he becomes a death-giving spirit.
“16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” — Revelation 13
What is the number of his name?
The 3 Men by their Numbers
Each of these 3 men has a number associated with him and there is an easily observable progression in their numbers:
6 — — — — — — 66 — — — — — — 666
Let us start with the third man, aka the Antichrist, as we easily know and understand his number because the Bible explicitly conveys it:
“18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” — Revelations 13
I do not intend to get too deep into Bible numerology but a quick word or two on the number of the Antichrist. Adding each digit of his number gives the number 18, and in Scripture, this number is typically associated with bondage. For example, in Luke 13, we read about the woman who had the spirit of infirmity for 18 years. And here is what Jesus says after He healed her, and the ruler of the synagogue became indignant:
“16 “So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound — think of it — for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.” — Luke 13
And lastly on the Antichrist’s number, you may consider it a coincidence or more likely part and parcel of the divine composition of this amazing compendium that we call, “the Bible”, that the verse revealing his number happens to be verse 18 (again, the number of bondage) of chapter 13 (the number of rebellion). Receive as you are led.
The number of the first Man, Adam, is the number 6. Many Bible scholars label it the number of Man. There are many associations of this number with the First Man including the fact that he was created on the 6th day, however, the one I love and find most intriguing is the association we see at the first recorded miracle of Jesus — at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. The turning of water into wine at that event was a presage of the redemptive work of Jesus as He had come to change Man’s destiny and enable Man to become spiritually alive again through the infilling of wine which represents the Holy Spirit. The waterpots in the story were thus symbolic of Man, the First Adam and all his descendants. And how many waterpots were in this foretelling first miracle? 6!
The last number 66 belongs then to our Lord Jesus Christ. And again, you may consider it a coincidence or more likely part and parcel of the divine composition of this amazing compendium that we call, “the Bible”, that the book which is all about Him contains exactly 66 books. The digits in His number add up to 12 — a more recognizable number associated with His perfection across Scripture. The 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 disciples, and so on. And in the revelation of the New Jerusalem, you simply cannot miss that number even if you tried to.
“10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
14 Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” — Revelation 21
And the passage below from Leviticus, we see an unmissable signification and prognostication of His number:
“5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephaha for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord.” — Leviticus 24
There are so many more of these across His book. Enjoy the glory of kings. And all glory, honor and adoration to our last Adam. Amen.
