“Jesus Christ, Second
Adam” Mark 1:9-13 September 10, 2006
SCRIPTURE INTRO:
Last Sunday we began a study
of the Gospel of Mark.
This is the shortest
Gospel. Today reading
about Jesus baptism and temptation.
This takes 15 verses in Matthew and Luke,
but only 5 in Mark.
That’s because Mark is a book
of action.
Every part is about the Son of God, Lord of
all invading this world,
and in so doing
trashing people’s perceptions about what God is really like.
Mark makes you look at Jesus
and decide if this is the one you
are going to follow
and trust with your life.
INTRO: The largest lottery prize in
in
They chipped in to buy the winning $365
million dollar ticket.
The man who actually bought
the ticket, one of the 8,
was a 34 year old
Vietnamese immigrant named Mr. Tran.
Putting aside the morality or
wisdom of spending money on lottery tickets—
I want us to focus on the
work of that one man, Mr. Tran.
He was entrusted with the money to buy the
ticket.
He didn’t forget, or lose it, or do
something else with it—
He did the work he had promised to do—
Because of what he did, a new
world opened to those seven connected to him—
A world much bigger than
their world in the meat packaging plant in
A world that lifted them out of debts and
struggles that once loomed so large.
A world full of freedoms
and possibilities that they never dreamed possible.
You might say that his action
changed their lives forever.
That’s the way we are made as
human beings.
The actions of one can affect those who are
connected to him—
sometimes for
years, sometimes for generations, for good or for bad.
Theologians have a name for
this—call it federal headship.
You won’t find that phrase in the Bible but
the idea is there—
that the work of
one person is done for the many,
repercussions and
effects of that work flow out to all who are connected.
David and Goliath were
federal heads.
David federal head of
Israelites, Goliath federal head of Philistines.
Victory for David meant victory for every
Israelites, for Goliath every Philistine.
When David slung the
stone—even though he did the work—
the effects of him
bringing down Goliath flowed out to Israelites for generations.
The two most important
federal heads who have had the greatest effect
on the greatest
number are Adam and Jesus Christ. Paul
in Romans 5:
For as in Adam all die, so also
in Christ will all be made alive.
Paul calls Jesus the last Adam.
As a human person, your
federal head by birth is Adam.
What did you inherit from him? Guilt. Sinful nature.
Fallen world filled with futility and
suffering.
Separation from the life
of God.
As a Christian, Jesus is your
federal head.
What flowed from his work on your behalf?
He has opened up for you a
whole new world—
freedom and
possibilities never dreamed possible—
a world in which
your present struggles and debts seem small.
That’s the message of this
passage, that Jesus has come as the Second Adam,
to open up a new
world for you. You are called to trust
him completely.
Let’s look at this passage
under three headings for you note-takers.
Jesus Christ, the Second Adam,
gives you a new life, new power, new identity.
MP#1 Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, gives
you a new life.
Mark’s presentation of the
baptism of Jesus is intended to show
that Christ’s
ministry marked the beginning of a new creation, new life.
Listen to the first three
verses of Genesis 1.
In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the
Spirit of God was hovering over the
waters. And God said,
"Let there be light," and there was light.
There are the waters, the
Spirit of God hovering over the waters, then God
speaks.
That is exactly the pattern here. Jesus comes up out of the water,
Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and God
speaks from heaven.
But notice the crucial
difference.
This time the Holy Spirit does not hover
over formless void, dark waters.
He hovers over a man.
Let’s look at some of the
details.
As Jesus was coming out of
the water he saw heaven being torn open.
Sometimes the Bible uses a gentle verb for
open, like the opening of a door.
That verb used when the prophets get a peek
into heaven and God’s future plans.
The door opens, they have their vision, then it shuts.
But that’s not the verb used
here. Instead it’s a violent verb. Ripped. Torn.
Like when one of your children open a potato
chip bag and instead of carefully
opening the seam at
the top of the bag, tear it down the side and chips spill out.
When Jesus
comes out of the water, all heaven breaks loose.
This is not so much a symbol
that access to God is opened as it is a symbol,
that through Jesus,
God himself is coming down.
Isaiah 64: Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come
down,
that the mountains
would tremble before you.
Heaven is ripped open, Spirit descends like a dove—
the same Holy
Spirit who hovered over the waters at creation,
now descends on a
man.
Which shows
that God’s intention for Christ is to bring about
the transformation
of people. That’s the work of the Second
Adam.
That’s the new creation
Christ ushered in—our transformation.
The reversal of Adam’s fall, re-creation in
us of person God intended.
New life,
different life.
Lottery winners—new life,
changes never thought possible.
Out of
Allison and I were talking
about someone in church—yes, we talk about you.
And this was our conversation—how this
person has changed in time known.
Changed in speech.
Changed in response to
people and situations.
Changed in contentment.
Not just mellowing that
happens with age—with age, bad habits engrained.
This was clearly the supernatural work of
Spirit.
The work
that Jesus came to bring about—new life, different life.
Think
of the Christians you admire—ones who demonstrate most new life.
Usually the ones who have
changed the most.
Seminary
buddy, Charlie Baldini. Life so different from mine.
Grew up in a godless home,
surrounded by godless friends.
New life came and he was changed.
Life now so different from
trajectory was on—nothing short of miraculous.
Paul speaks in Ephesians 4 of
the new self, created to be like God.
That’s what Jesus, Second Adam secured for
you.
What do you want to change
about yourself?
Every thoughtful Christian has a list.
Wish I could change the way I
respond to certain crises.
Wish I was more patient, more
wise, more gentle, more loving.
Wish old ways of thinking,
old habits could be removed.
They can, through Jesus, the second Adam—
because what he
came to do is something none of us could do—
to receive the
power of new creation into himself—pass it on to those connected.
Lots of
strategy for change. Lots of books to change
life.
Interesting stories of lottery
winners. Didn’t
change life for better.
Exaggerated problems and
pathologies already there—destruction.
Money, change of scenery not answer—new life in Christ.
MP#2
Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, gives you new power.
Mark’s presentation of Jesus’
temptation is intended to show Jesus exercising
the power of the
new life in area of temptation and testing.
Succeeding
where Adam failed.
The parallels with Genesis are
striking.
You remember Adam’s
temptation—just read about it.
As they began this task of
the human race, God gave them a test.
He put them in the best possible place for
this test—The Garden of Eden.
What was the Garden of
Eden?
It seems to have been a special oasis of
God’s grace.
A sheltered, lush place, where all needs
were met, food was provided.
What was the test? You remember, were not to eat the forbidden
fruit.
Why this test? Obvious nothing wrong with fruit itself—
God could have picked anything as the test.
Because the test was: Do you trust me?
Do you
believe I love you and have a wonderful plan for your life?
Do you trust my goodness toward you?
Do you trust my truthfulness?
Do you trust the plan I have laid out for
you?
Will you, for my sake, not
eat the fruit of that tree?
You know the results. Satan appeared as the serpent.
He convinced Eve that God was a liar, who
could not be trusted,
she ate and gave
the fruit to Adam.
We call this Adam’s fall,
because as the federal head, he represented the race.
Now look at the parallels and
contrasts with Jesus.
As the Messiah, God’s King,
inheritor of the nations—also tested.
Test was essentially the same.
His Father in heaven said, Trust me. Trust path I have for you.
But notice the tremendous
difference.
Instead of Jesus being in the
Garden of Eden, special oasis of grace,
where every need
met, fruit and water in abundance—
he was driven out
into the desert—into the wilderness.
He had to face his test in a
world that had been scarred by Adam’s fall.
And it was there that he was tempted by
Satan.
What is so interesting about
Mark’s account, unlike Matthew and Luke—
Devil is not sent running off with tail
between his legs.
Obvious that Jesus resisted,
passed the testing in the wilderness.
But want Mark wants to emphasize is that
this is simply the beginning.
For Jesus, his whole ministry
would be one of testing.
Final test would come in a Garden—
What would his Father say
there: Obey me about the tree.
And he did.
Father, let this cup pass, yet not my will but yours.
He obeyed and went to the cross—blessings
flowed.
As the Second Adam, the
blessings of that power—
that power to obey
God and resist temptation flow to you.
Just like those lottery
winners, received power when got the call—
you receive greater
power through Christ.
Where do you need power in
your life?
What temptations are you
facing?
What are your besetting sins?
For some of you it is your
speech.
Your tongue lashes people, spouse, your children.
When angered, when your plans
aren’t carried out—
temptation is
there—obey God, use words to build up,
or listen to Satan
and sinful nature—better, feel better to lash out.
Where’s the power to resist
temptation?
It’s in Jesus Christ. Deliberately looking at him
and his obedience.
Saying to yourself—here
I am in a virtual garden of Eden compared to Jesus.
There he was in the wilderness—he resisted.
O Lord, help me to resist this urge to use
words for evil, give power for good.
Blessings will flow.
But there is another
help. When you do
fail. And you will.
Know that you are forgiven. That’s what his obedience ultimately secures.
So stand up, look at him in
the wilderness, and resolve obedience in next test.
MP#3
Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, gives you a new identity.
There is a detail in this
passage that always catches the eye of commentators.
Peculiar because Mark is the only Gospel
that mentions it.
Mark is short, to the point, action
oriented—so his inclusion of details important.
That is his comment that in
the wilderness Jesus was with the wild animals.
In the
Back then there were lions, bears, hyenas,
other wild dogs.
Why does Mark include this
detail?
First reason that comes to
mind is another contrast with Adam.
Adam was tested in the Garden of Eden with
tame animals,
he still had
dominion over them, could not harm him.
Jesus was tested in a
threatening wilderness with wild animals.
One more evidence
of the greatness of the Second Adam.
But there is another
interesting reason that many have pointed out.
Do you remember who Mark wrote this Gospel
to?
According
to church history—written to Roman Christians.
At the time, they were undergoing Nero’s
persecution.
Remember Nero burned
But he blamed the Christians for the fire,
turn suspicion away from him.
He made their deaths a public
spectacle.
He had them crucified, burned as human torches
in garden parties,
and he fed them to
wild beasts.
The Christians and the
lions—it’s not a myth—really happened.
What a terrible death that would have been.
Could it be that Mark
included that detail for God’s people in
By including this detail—Jesus was with the
wild animals too.
Mark was saying, be
encouraged, you are so intimately connected to Jesus,
and he to you, that
what he faced, you face, you face, he faced.
You have a new identity.
That identity, in this life,
is to share in his glory—
but it is also, for
this life, to share in his sufferings.
That’s not what we want to
hear.
Prospect of big win in
lottery is that problems are now over.
For many, imagine that Christian faith is
stepping into a magic circle.
Sufferings are kept out.
But no, Mark is saying,
something greater—identity with Christ.
Knowing Christ, fellowship
of sharing in his sufferings.
But what does this new
identity do in midst of sufferings.
It lifts you. Lifts you in a number of
ways.
Jesus knows what I am facing
in my darkest hour.
You know that there is
nothing so comforting as a person who says—
I’ve been through the same thing—and they
really have.
There is an immediate
connection. You feel that you are one
with them.
Someone who had lost a child once telling me
about meeting someone
who had lost a
child at the same age—immediate bond.
Even deeper
with Christ. There is a supernatural connection.
As the new people of God
through Christ,
suffering of every
kind is redemptive, it connects you to Him more deeply,
it causes you to
trust him, lean on him—that makes all the difference.
So that ultimately, even the
sting of death is God—
because believers
know that it is simply a doorway to life with God.
What are the wild beasts that
you are facing in your wilderness?
Have you been sinned
against? Sins of parents, spouses,
strangers,
come against you
and left wounds, maybe even wounds make you feel guilty.
Jesus was sinned against by
those close to him.
As one of his people, you are entitled draw
close to him
through that
suffering and be encouraged.
Are you suffering from the
brokenness and futility of world?
illness, financial
or business setbacks, family troubles—
Jesus came to this fallen world, he knows what that is like.
As one of his people,
entitled to draw close to him, be encouraged.
But apart from Jesus, for
those on the outside, suffering of every kind
is not redemptive,
its simply a foretaste of judgment.
CONC: Mr. Tran’s work changed the lives of those seven
connected to him.
New life, new world opened
for them.
As a human person, your
federal head by birth is Adam.
From him you inherited the
anti-lottery.
You were born into debt—the
guilt of sin and a sinful nature—
surrounded by
sinful people in a fallen world.
As a Christian, Jesus is your
federal head.
His work he was charged to do he did not
forget, or fail.
But he accomplished it and blessings flow
out to all connected by faith.
Adam, in the Garden of Eden,
was tempted by Satan and failed.
Jesus, in the wilderness, was tempted by
Satan and successfully resisted.
The effects of Adam’s failure
have brought misery to the human race.
The effects of Jesus’ victory have brought
life to the chosen race.
He has opened up for you a
whole new world—
freedom and
possibilities never dreamed possible—
a world in which
your present struggles and debts seem small.
That’s the message of this
passage, that Jesus has come as the Second Adam,
to open up a new
world for you. You are called to trust
him completely.