November 28, 2023

Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:1-20, Matthew 25:14-30

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul tells us a tale of two Adams. The man Adam, formed by God from the dust of creation. And the God-man, Jesus, the Second Adam, begotten of His Father before all worlds. The first Adam was formed by God into a man. The Second Adam is not only true man, but also true God. 

In the Garden, Adam was tempted three times and overcome by Satan. In the wilderness, Jesus, the Second Adam, was tempted three times and overcame Satan. The first Adam was tempted to become like God. Jesus, the Second Adam is true God, and became man to be tempted for us as we are tempted, yet without sin. The first Adam was tempted to eat the food that God had not given him to eat. The Second Adam knew that man lived not by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The first Adam was tempted to forsake the word of God. The Second Adam is the very Word of God who also speaks God’s living word.

The first Adam brought death out of life. Jesus, the second and perfect Adam brought life out of death. As Paul writes, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” 

The first Adam failed. Fell in sin. Died. And in Adam, in our own sinful flesh, so do we. But not Jesus, the Second Adam. Where the first Adam said “yes” to the devil’s lie, Jesus says no, again, again, and again.                

The first Adam was overcome by the tree serpent and the tree of the Garden. Jesus our Second Adam overcomes the devil by the tree of the cross for you.  

The first Adam fell and brought us sin and death. Jesus our Second Adam dies and rises to raise us from the dust by His resurrection.

The first Adam cast us out of Paradise. Jesus our Second Adam brings us through the wilderness to a new creation: “today you are with me in Paradise.”

The first Adam gave us food of the fall by sweat and labor. Jesus, our Second Adam, feeds us with his own life-giving food, the Bread of Life in his body and blood.

We confess with St. Paul, that “As in Adam we die, so in Christ, our Second Adam we live.” And we rejoice with St. Paul that we are brothers and heirs of Christ, our Second Adam, who has destroyed the last enemy of death for us and for all creation. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

But Christ the Second Adam, came To bear our sin and woe and shame, To be our life, our light, our way, Our only hope, our only stay. (LSB 562:4)

-Pastor Samuel Schuldheisz is pastor at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.