The Bible speaks of three different types of death:

·       Adamic death, passed onto the entire race by Adam for his original disobedience to God

·       Christ’s sacrificial death for the benefit of all mankind, paying the ransom price for Adamic death 

·       Second death, which will come to those who, during God’s coming kingdom, are willfully disobedient after they have had the opportunity to come to a full knowledge of God’s righteous laws 

Adam died as a convict. Romans 5:12 (NAS) tells us: Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…This verse confirms that every human who has ever lived has been under this death sentence. To get us out from under it, a perfect man had to die and pay Adam’s ransom price. If we put this concept in today’s terms, suppose someone committed a crime and was sentenced to jail. Justice must be satisfied; either the perpetrator would have to serve the time or, if some civic-minded substitute could be found, that person would serve the sentence for the perpetrator and free the original criminal. This doesn’t happen in our society, but God, in His love for humanity, has arranged just such a redemption for mankind—a wholly innocent man paid the price for Adam, and through Adam for us all. What a gift!

The only perfect men who have ever lived were Adam, who lost perfection and thus plunged all his progeny into eventual death; and Jesus, who came to the earth for the purpose of rescuing mankind from this fate. He did this by sacrificing his life so that all of humanity might live. First Corinthians 15:22(NAS) clearly states this: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. His sacrifice culminated at the cross, but it began at his baptism 3 ½-years earlier. When Jesus consecrated his life to do his Father’s will, he became a new creature—no longer considered a man in God’s sight—dead according to the flesh and alive according to the spirit. From that day on he left behind his own will, and with the help of the holy spirit (God’s influence), was able to flawlessly accomplish the purpose for which God sent him.

This same dedication to submerging our own wills and trying to the best of our ability to do God’s will can be practiced by Jesus’ footstep followers today, and God looks at this sacrifice in the same way as He did Jesus’ sacrifice. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NAS) we are assured: Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Being imperfect people ourselves, we can have no part in the redemption of our race. That was done solely by Jesus. But we can consecrate our lives to become as Christlike as we possibly can, to daily bend our wills to do what God would have us do. When we do this, we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God. Paul explains further in Romans 6:3 (NAS): Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death?  Or on a personal note, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:31: I protest, brethren, by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. Paul is referring here to putting his old fleshly self aside by his day-by-day commitment to do the Lord’s will and transform his character to become as Christlike as possible.

God has amazing plans in store for mankind. His coming kingdom on earth, for which Jesus taught us to pray when he said in Matthew 6:10 (NAS), Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, will bring mankind up to human perfection again and restore all that was lost in Adam. This coming kingdom is spoken of throughout the Bible, including in Acts 3:21-22 (NAS): …and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of all His holy prophets from ancient time. But those consecrated, footstep followers in this age, those whose lives were hidden with Christ in God–if they are faithful unto death–will be reigning with Christ in the coming kingdom. What a prospect!

Revelation 3:21: He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.

Additional Resource: 
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1324: “What Is the New Creation?”
The profound results of God creating something never seen before
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CQ Rewind Show Notes