by Tad Lindley
There are several pivotal events in human history. The first is of course the creation of man, when God breathed the breath of life into Adam and Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). This was Adam 1.0, who it turns out had a bug in the program. You see Adam 1.0 and the woman sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). They had many descendants and after a millennium or so God flooded the earth at which time only eight human beings were saved (Genesis 6-9).
Noah blows it
At the time of the first grape harvest after the flood, Noah ended up getting drunk (Genesis 9:20-25). In his drunkenness he ended up being in a very embarrassing situation, as have many of us in times past. I do not want to undermine in any way the preaching and the faith of Noah before the flood, but I want to point out that the waters of the flood were not enough to wash sin from the face of the earth, because people were still running Adam 1.0.
God tries the Bible
Eventually God called a people out from the tribes of humanity. They were the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the Israelites. In due time God raised up a man named Moses. God gave that man the beginnings of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses tried in vain to instill the Bible in the hearts of God’s chosen people. Sure they would do well for a time, but then they would relapse back into sin. Other prophets added to the Bible, completing what many of us refer to as the Old Testament, but still the majority of the planet walked in spiritual darkness.
Adam 2.0
Eventually God tried his ultimate plan, Adam 2.0. The first Adam messed things up, the second Adam was destined to restore what was lost. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven (I Corinthians 15:47). We know Adam 2.0 as Jesus, the Son of God. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
Son of God: human tradition
Over the centuries there has been a great deal of debate about who the Son of God really is. In our modern world we have churches voting to override the Biblical teaching about human sexuality. In 325 AD they had a church meeting to vote on who God is. The Council of Nicea, a meeting of church leaders in the church that would eventually split to become the Catholic and Orthodox churches of today, the men voted to approve their understanding of God, the Trinity (this word is not in the Bible). This teaching holds that God consists of three persons, and that they are all equal, all made of the same thing, and all eternal. According to this teaching, Jesus, being the Son of God was essentially one third of God. Perhaps you have even heard people speak of “God the Son”, another expression that is nowhere to be found in the Bible.
Son of God: Bible truth
The Bible does refer to Jesus as the Son of God, and even teaches that God sent forth his Son, made of a woman (Galatians 4:4) and that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son (John 3:16). It also clearly teaches this fact, which is supposed to be an inarguable fact for it says, And without controversy [there is no argument about it], great is the mystery of godliness, now look at this next phrase, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory (I Timothy 3:16). All of these things describe Jesus. He was not Jehovah Jr., he was not the third person in a Trinitarian godhead. All of God is in Jesus! For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Did you catch that? Jesus is not in the godhead, the godhead is in Jesus!
Better than Adam 1.0
The first Adam was made from the dust of the ground. The second man is the Lord from heaven (I Corinthians 15:47). On his mother’s side, he was begotten, but on his Father’s side, he was the Creator of heaven and earth (see John 1:3,10). Adam 1.0 was just as imperfect as you and I, but Jesus, Adam 2.0, was without sin. He was fully God and fully man and even though he was tempted to go to bingo and to smoke and to sin sexually, he never did (Hebrews 4:15). His whole purpose in coming as God manifest in the flesh was so that through him we might be saved. And as we enter the season of Easter we should all contemplate Adam 2.0, for it was at that time that Jesus died, was buried, and resurrected.
He took the weight of our sin upon himself (I Peter 2:24). He allowed the very men that he created to defile him and horribly abuse him, ultimately murdering him naked on the cross. He descended into hell and preached to the souls that perished in the flood (I Peter 3:18-20). And then he arose on the third day so that those who would follow after him might rise up and walk in newness of life.
Free Upgrade
If you are tired of Adam 1.0, it’s time to upgrade to Jesus. God already paid for your upgrade with his own blood at Calvary (Acts 20:28). In fact his will for your life is to get rid of your old man and to put on Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). Upgrade now!
Reverend Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.
