Our Easter theme at Newlife was The Tree (borrowed from Rob Bell and John Ortberg). This is an excerpt from my Good Friday message that reminds us of the incredible gifts we have through the death and Resurrection of Jesus (the second Adam)!
On Good Friday we remember that Jesus was hung on a tree. The gospel is the story of three trees: one at the beginning of Creation (Genesis 2:9), one at the end (Revelation 22:2), with the Cross of Christ in the middle.
Sin began at the first tree with the first Adam. The Bible gives Jesus the title the second Adam. Sin was defeated at the Cross by Jesus, the second Adam. The first Adam came from the dust; the second Adam came from heaven. The first Adam sought to exalt himself by becoming like God; the second Adam humbled himself, becoming one of us. The first Adam ignored God’s will; the second Adam only did the Father’s will.
The first Adam was tempted and quickly gave in; the second Adam was tempted again and again and always overcame. The first Adam heard the serpent say ‘take and eat’ and tragically, he did. The second Adam says to us ‘take and eat’ and joyfully, we can. The first Adam brought upon us a curse; the second Adam liberated us from curse’s grip. Through the first Adam, sin and death entered our world; through the second Adam, sin is defeated and death is conquered.
Because of the sin of the first Adam we live with suffering; because of the suffering of the second Adam we are healed. The first Adam was condemned by his sin; because the second Adam was condemned, we are set free. The first Adam was estranged from God; through the second Adam we are reconciled to God. God breathed into the first Adam the breath of life; the second Adam breathes into his disciples the Spirit of God.
The first Adam ran from God in shame; through the second Adam, God runs to us. The first Adam lost his crown and gained death; the second Adam tasted death and gained his crown. Now, we bear the image of the first Adam; if we die in Christ we will be transformed into the likeness of the second Adam. In Jesus, the second Adam, the cross has become the Tree of life.
What was intended by human beings to be the tree of death has become, by the mercy and love and grace of God, our tree of life!