Genesis 5:3 tells us that every human being after Adam, except Jesus Christ, is born in the image and likeness of Adam rather than in the direct image of God. Adam forfeited the life of God that was in him when he disobeyed God’s one and only command, and this one act is the reason that sin and spiritual death have been passed on to every human being. To grasp this concept fully, we need to revisit the beginning in the Book of Genesis. The root of our spiritual death is found there, while the remedy comes through Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Testament.
God created Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him (Genesis 2:7). The Scriptures state that Adam was made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:27; Genesis 5:1-2), which signifies that God’s Spirit was alive in Adam.
Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to care for it, where two trees were central: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave Adam one command: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). This command demonstrated God’s gift of free will. Despite this freedom, Adam and Eve chose to disobey, deceived by the serpent. As a result, the Spirit of God departed from them, and they experienced spiritual death. The life of God that once dwelled in Adam departed, leaving him spiritually dead.
Adam and Eve’s death was spiritual, not physical. Adam lived for another 930 years before his physical death (Genesis 5:5). At 130 years old, Adam had a son, Seth, in his own image and likeness (Genesis 5:3). This implies that Seth, like his father, was born spiritually dead and in need of divine life.
For us, this means we are born into the world in the image and likeness of Adam, lacking the Spirit of God and needing spiritual life and renewal. This perspective challenges the common belief both in secular contexts and within many churches. As Paul writes, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). He also states, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22), and, “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man” (1 Corinthians 15:49).
The essential issue of Christianity is not merely that we are sinners needing forgiveness, but that we are born spiritually dead and in need of life. This fundamental truth is often overlooked. It is the single greatest reason why God sent Jesus into the world—to give us new life and reverse the curse that was handed down to all humanity.
That is why John 3:16 says that if you believe in Jesus you will not perish (spiritually), but have eternal life (spiritually). “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 5:24 reinforces this point with clarity. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
In Romans 5:12, the Apostle Paul contrasts Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross with the salvation offered through faith in His resurrection, using the phrase “how much more” to highlight the profound difference.
The verse says, “For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” This comparison underscores that if God could reconcile us while we were still His enemies through Christ’s death, we can be assured of our salvation through the life and resurrection of Jesus.
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