3 Reasons Jesus Is Called the Last Adam
God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect garden. They had everything a person could desire and need. The temperature was not too hot, not too cold, but just right, as Goldilocks would say.
They enjoyed beautiful colors and plants, animals surrounding them without danger, and food was available beyond what our taste buds could imagine.
Then a snake appeared to Eve, and no matter how wonderful their garden home was, doubt entered her mind about God’s words. One bite changed the world, not only for the first couple but for every human born after them.
But God had a plan to usurp the deception of the serpent.
Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Genesis 3:14-15 NIV)
From eternity past, God had a plan to redeem mankind from what God knew the created human would do (Revelation 13:8).
The first Adam failed to fulfill God’s plan for the earth. He was told to take dominion and subdue. That meant he could have told the serpent no and thrown the creature out. But Adam and Eve yielded to the twisted words of the crawling dragon and believed that God was holding out on them.
The Lord God promised to send His Son to clean up the mess Adam and Eve made.
Jesus is known as the last Adam because he completed His Father’s plan to make things right again. Sometimes Jesus is referred to as the second Adam. But saying He is the second Adam could imply there will be a third, fourth, etc. Jesus, as the last Adam, tells us that what the Son of God did is final.
Here are 3 reasons Jesus had to be the last Adam to give us eternal life.
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)
1. Adam came from earth; Jesus came from heaven.
Adam was created from the dust of the ground. God breathed His breath into the lifeless body, and man became a living soul.
Jesus was created in the womb of Mary from the Spirit of God. He was born into flesh, but with a sinless spirit.
The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:47)
We have these human bodies first. Then we are given God-like bodies that are ready for heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:46)
Humans must be born with flesh first before we can be born of the spirit. Our bodies house our spirits.
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. (1 Corinthians 15:48)
We are born physically from the line of Adam with a fallen nature, separated from God.
We are born spiritually from Christ.
And just as we have born the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man (1 Corinthians 15:49)
2. Because of Adam, we will all be returned to dust. Because of Jesus, we will be given a glorified body that will never die again.
Jesus and the first couple are the only people who were born sinless. Although Adam messed up and became sinful, Jesus remained without blemish.
Jesus, Adam, and Eve are the only people who had no earthly father. God the Father formed Adam from dust. Although Jesus always existed as the Word, the Father created the body that would house Jesus inside Mary.
Jesus’ resurrected body was still physical, but it was different. Flesh and bones, not flesh and blood. He shed His blood to pay for sin.
Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. (Luke 24:39)
We are sown in corruption, we will be raised in incorruption. Earthly bodies decay, get sick, are injured, and die. They can’t live in heaven.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
We were born into sin with the image of our earthly seed from Adam. We are born again from the spirit into Christ, and we are given His image.
3. We can’t inherit the kingdom of God with merely our physical existence. Only Christ can give our dead spirits life.
I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:50)
Adam received God’s spirit when the Lord breathed into Adam’s nostrils. Adam was born physically and spiritually at the same time and was united with his Creator until he rebelled against God’s truth.
Now it is backward for all who came after Adam. We are born physically, but with a dead spirit separated from God. We must come to Him in obedience and receive His Spirit so we can inherit His kingdom.
Jesus explained the spiritual rebirth to Nicodemus in John chapter three. A person must be born again. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit (John 3:6).
The Son completed His Father’s plan for redemption on earth. When He said, “It is finished,” His work was done. Here are a few ways Christ took upon Himself the curse that was inflicted in Eden.
- The ground was cursed with thorns. Thorns were placed upon Christ’s brow.
- The curse of death came upon mankind. Christ overcame death, hell, and the grave to give us eternal life.
- The curse came when the woman listened to the serpent and took a bite of the forbidden fruit, then gave it to her husband. Christ crushed the serpent’s head.
- The woman was cursed with painful childbearing. Christ was the Seed born from a woman.
- Adam was tempted in a perfect garden, yet gave in to sin. Jesus was tempted in a cursed garden, yet overcame the temptation to give in to the flesh.
Why is there still so much corruption on this planet if Jesus said His work was done?
Yielding to the temptation to do things our own way, have control, and rebel against holy living causes many of the problems on earth. Power-hungry dictators, greed, covetousness, and lust bring consequences to the population of this planet. Although God gets questioned about the reason for these atrocities and tragedies, they are not His fault. People still have free will and make choices that bring disaster.
We are called to use the spiritual weapons available to us, outlined in Ephesians 6, to overcome temptation, sin, demonic oppression, and sickness.
We recently celebrated Easter, the day Christ rose from the dead and defeated Satan’s power against us. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15)
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:10)
The last Adam completed His purpose, and He gave us His Spirit and power to help us live in this fallen earth. When we think about how awesome it is that the Sovereign who created the universe will come to live inside us when we invite Him in, how can we feel limited in any way?
God will take away their tears. There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All the old things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4)
The first Adam failed. God’s Son fulfilled His role as the last Adam to complete the Father’s plan to overcome evil.
Do you know Him? If not, He invites you into His kingdom.
To anyone who is thirsty, I will give the water of life. It is a free gift. (Revelation 21:6b)
Each day is Easter because of Christ’s victory.
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Boonyachoat
Her book, Redemption, the Heartbeat of Christmas: What the Birth of Christ Means to the World, was released in October 2025. She loves coffee, a good book, and gardening, which would be more fun if not for the weeds. Barbara and her husband enjoy life with two sons, one daughter-in-love, and an energetic granddaughter who keeps these retired people on their toes.
She writes about living in our identity in Christ at https://barbaralatta.blogspot.com/. You can follow Barbara on Facebook: Barbara Latta, author; X @barbaralatta; and Instagram blatta2.
Originally published April 24, 2026.
