I don't think there is any greater truth to me than the whole idea of the new man. When we look back in the Bible, to the book of Genesis, we find the creation of God. During the six days of creation, God made all that we see around us. On that final day, he made man. According to chapter one of Genesis, it tells us, "And God said, let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (Gen. 1:26). Man was made as near like God as possible. In Psalm 8:4, David cried out, "What is man that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visiteth him?" The fall had so darkened man's understanding and brought such alienation to the life of God that he could not even conceive in his mind the intention of God for man. But God answered the cry of David's heart, and revealed to him his divine purpose. He said, "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." (Psalm 8:5, 6). The Hebrew word for "angels" is ELOHIYM, which is the same word used in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God (ELOHIYM) created the heaven and the earth." One translation of this verse in Psalm eight says, "Thou hast caused man to stand but a little behind God..."
We know from the Genesis account that man fell. Romans three says, "For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). In the proceeding chapters of Genesis, we discover the magnitude of that fall. Adam's first born son murders his younger brother, and the progression of sin's dominion continued to devastate the human race until God could bring his own Son into the earth to redeem man.
When we come over into the New Testament, particularly the letters of Paul we find something very extraordinary. In his letter to the church of Corinth he writes: "And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). In verse forty-seven, he tells us: "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven." Here is the revelation that should stir our hearts. The Bible clearly tells us that Adam's firstborn was Cain, yet we discover from Paul's teaching that the second man was the Lord. Why would he call Jesus the second man, when clearly we find in Genesis that the second man was really Adam's own son, Cain? There had to be a connection between Adam and Christ that was actually deeper than Adam and Cain. That connection was the fact that both Adam and Christ came into this world apart from sin. They are the only two men to have ever lived perfect, sinless lives, and it was through them, that they became representatives to change the course of man's destiny. Until Christ came, Adam was the only living human being who held the power of choice that would affect all of mankind. When he had sinned, the consequences of his actions passed upon all men. Jesus identified with Adam in that he had the same power of choice to affect the human race. By choosing to obey God, he led every man out of the thralls of death, giving them the opportunity to experience eternal life.
So there you have it: Adam was the first man and Jesus was the second man. The question that now arises is why didn't Paul call him the last man? Why refer to him as the second man? He had already called him the last Adam. Why not the last man? Is there to be another representative that must come to do something in man that Christ did not already accomplish? The fact that he called him the last Adam should have left no doubt that he was the last man. For him to refer to Christ as the second man, must mean there is another? But who is it, and why?
As you delve deeper and deeper into the revelation of redemption, what you will discover is that there is another man. He is called the new man in Christ. We could actually refer to this new man as the third man or even better, the finished man. For you see, when Jesus took our place on the cross and died for us, he reversed what took place in Adam. Adam was alive and then died. Christ was alive and also died, but the difference in his death is that he was made alive again. In fact, his death was so complete that in his resurrection he is called the first begotten from the dead. Throughout the Bible we find places were the dead were raised to life, but this was a totally different kind of life. Jesus himself told John, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore..." (Rev. 1:18). Adam was disobedience to life. Jesus was obedient to death. That only left one other choice. There must be someone who was obedient to life and disobedient to death, and that is where this third man come into account. The purpose of this man is to live in the flesh as Adam (without sin), and operate in the spirit as Christ (above sin)!
If you carefully study Romans chapter six, you'll understand this more perfectly. Jesus died unto sin once (Rom 6:10). He that is dead dieth no more. Verse four says, "...that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Christ experienced a new life. We are identified with him, not only in his death, but in this new life. Second Corinthians five states, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." One rendering says, "A new species that never existed before!" "John writes, "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9). He went on to say, "Whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not" (1 John 5:18).
If we can learn to connect with this new man, this finished man, this complete man, this last man - the man in Christ, we will once again discover our purpose and learn how to extend beyond the realm of the sinfulness of our flesh to embrace the potential of walking in the glory and honor of Christ's glorious resurrection.
