The Two Adams Part 3

If creation is the foundation, then the fall of man is kind of like the frame. Creation is the foundation because there is no part of the Bible that does essentially rest upon the fact that we are responsible to a creator and that creator has revealed Himself to man. The fall of man is like the frame because it unifies the overall Biblical story. However, before we examine that further I think it would be beneficial to define what I mean by the fall of man for any who are not familiar with theological language. When I say the fall of man I am refering to the time as recorded in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve (the first people) knowingly disobeyed God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Christians refer to this as the fall because it is when Adam and Eve (and therefore all men after them) fell from a right relationship with God because sin i.e. disobeying God was now a part of their lives and God is perfect. As a result of the fall God pronounced judgement on man which can be found in Genesis, but perhaps the most important judgement in regards to this post is that of death. The fall unifies the overall story of the Bible, because the overall story of the Bible is about God bringing about salvation; salvation is meaningless if there is nothing to be saved or anything to be saved from. The very first promise we see of this salvation comes shortly after man fell in what theologians like to dub the protoevangelium (first gospel) which is found in Genesis 3:15. In this passage we see a promise that there will be someone who will not be an offspring of the serpent or the fall, and who although his heel will be bruised (he will be hurt) he will have the power to crush the head of the serpent. As we move through the Bible we continually see the problem of sin, but more importantly the actions of God to bring about salvation and foreshadows of Christ. God saw fit to destroy the world in a flood, but he graciously provided an ark. God confused the languages and scattered mankind, but then he called a man named Abraham out from his people and purposed for the savior to come from his line. God struck the land with famine, but he raised up Joseph to store food for when that famine came. God has to withold a generation from the promise land, but he gives it to their children under the leadership of Joshua. The list could go on and on God raising up nations in judgement against Israel and then sending a judge to overthrow their captors. God sends the Jews into exile and then calls a remnant back. Ultimatley though, behind each judgement and each gracious action we see that everything is leading up to when God Himself will enter into his own creation as a human in order to save His people. Where is the rightness of judgement, and what is the need of salvation if there was no fall that brought sin which corrupts every part of man? Paul makes it clear in Romans five that there are two Adams. The first Adam is the one that fell and all who are in Adam have no hope. But the second Adam was Jesus Christ and he kept the law perfectly and all who are in Christ by the grace of God will have eternal life.