Can We Become Something Better Than We Are? Series

A PROFOUND QUESTION: Can we become something better than we are?

- Am I stuck being who I am? Is there hope for improvement?

TWO REPRESENTATIVE MEN: There is a first Adam and there is a second Adam.

- Genesis 2:7, 20; John 19:5.

- This sermons series is about the parallels between the early chapters of Genesis and the last chapters of John. This sermon is about another of those parallels.

- Let’s start with Genesis 2:7. We have the first man created. His name comes from a transliteration of the Hebrew: the Hebrew word for man sounds like “Adam.”

- Hopping down to v. 20 we have “the man” and “Adam” used interchangeably.

- Now we fast forward to John 19.

- In the midst of the passion narrative we have Pilate talking to Jesus. In v. 19 Pilate brings Jesus out before the crowd and says something that means more than you might see at first glance. Pilate says, “Here is the man!” We usually take that in its immediate context that Pilate is saying, “Here is the one you’ve accused of a crime.”

- But when you know there are parallels between Genesis and John, you see there’s something else going on there. Adam in Genesis was the original man; Jesus is John is “the man” in a new way.

- Both of them represent something more than themselves.

- We are going to look at passages in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15. Both of these passages are explicit in making this connection between what we could call the “First Adam” and the “Second Adam.”

- When you add this up, I’m reminded of a line from a movie from many years ago where a lawyer asks his client, “Explain it to me like I’m a six-year old.”

- What we are looking at this morning is a vast and important issue, but this approach to the issue simplifies the matter. There is a first Adam and there is a second Adam. Adam from Genesis represents certain things and Jesus from John represents certain things. As we look at the two of them we get a picture of our situation.

HOW TO IDENTIFY WITH EACH ADAM:

1. With the first Adam you are separated from God; with the second Adam you are reunited with God.

- Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:22.

- Get into some of the verses.

2. With the first Adam you are trapped by sin; with the second Adam you can be freed from sin.

- John 8:36; Romans 3:10-11, 23; 1 Corinthians 10:13.

- Get into some of the verses.

3. With the first Adam you have to be like him; with the second Adam you get to be like Him.

- John 10:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 3:17-19.

- Get into some of the verses.

CAN WE BECOME SOMETHING BETTER THAN WE ARE? It depends on which man you identify with.

- Back to the sermon title and that big question. Are we stuck with who we are and the limitations that this world inevitably brings? No, there is a road to something higher.

- How do we get there? It depends on which man you identify with. Who do you identify with?

- There is an invitation here to identify with Christ if you want to. It’s a path to a better life. It’s a path to the amazing things we’ve talked about this morning.