Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Two Heads of Humanity
First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22 is a massive verse. There is so much that is packed into this one line. It speaks of all of humanity—I mean, how many people has that been? I don't know how many people. There have been billions and billions and billions.
Out of all those people, these are the two most important people. These are like the two heads of humanity. There is Adam, and there is Christ. You either belong to Adam or you belong to Christ. To belong to Adam is to belong to the human race, and it is to be ruined by sin.
To belong to Christ is to have life—eternal life. To belong to Christ is to be a part of God's family—to be a part of the family of God. Paul writes here to the Corinthians, and he says those who are in Christ have been given new life. That is the hope of the Gospel. Christ is the Head of a new humanity.
What Adam Did and What Christ Did
Where Adam brought condemnation and death, Christ brings righteousness and eternal life. Here's how this works. I'm going to try to boil it down, and there's so much to this. The two heads of humanity are Adam and Christ. Well, what did Adam do? Adam was, you could say, a representative in the garden, representing all of mankind. What did he do? He sinned. What did that sin lead to? It led to death—eternal death, punishment, consequence for sin. Everybody belongs to Adam. We are all his descendants. We are all in Adam. We all sin, and we're all headed for eternal separation from God. We're all headed for death.
Then there is Christ. Christ comes along. Does He sin? He never sins. He lives a life of perfect righteousness, which means life. If we are in Christ, that means that His good works, His perfect life and His righteousness are imputed to us. They are given to us as if we lived that perfect life. Now we do not die, but we live eternally with Him in heaven.
Who Do You Belong To?
That forces the most important of questions: Who do you belong to? I can tell you one person you belong to. By nature, you do belong to Adam. You are a sinner, and you have proven that throughout your life, because you've continually gone your own way. You know what pleases and honors God, and you do the opposite.
The question isn't, do you belong to Adam or not? You do belong to Adam. Now, do you also belong to Christ? You were born in Adam, but now are you in Christ? Well, how do you come to be in Christ? The answer is through faith. You have to hear the Gospel—that Jesus came, suffered, died and rose again in the place of sinners like you and me, so that sinners like you and me could be reconciled to God.
You have to hear that, believe that, and then place your faith in Christ. If your faith is in Christ, then you belong to Christ.
Death Does Not Have the Final Word
That means that every believer's future is not defined by decay and loss and death. It means that if you belong to Christ, then death does not have the final word—Christ does.
