In Genesis 1.26-28, Moses, the author, said that God made man, Adam, in his own image. By nature, then, Adam possessed the likeness of God, upright, righteous. A unique creation, Adam surpassed all of God's other creation.

After God made man, he gave to him a duty. God commanded Adam to fill the earth with his offspring, thus taking God's image and likeness to all parts of the created world. However, Adam and his wife Eve disobeyed God's command not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden in Eden (Genesis 3.1-18). The once holy image of God in man became marred with iniquity. Mankind could no longer fulfill God's demands. He needed a savior, a champion who would conquer the evil one.

Moses, inspired by God, recorded the cause for mankind’s existence and his purpose: to glorify God throughout the earth. Because of Adam’s sin, sin and death passed upon all humanity. All of his offspring, including you and me, inherited his sinful nature, which alienates humanity from God and prevents men and women from fulfilling God's purpose for them (Romans 5.12-14).

In grace, God promised a champion from the seed of the woman who would destroy the serpent, through whose temptation sin first entered the world. The Bible progressively reveals this savior as a second Adam.

This second, or last Adam, fulfilled God's promise. His nature surpassed that of the first Adam. The second Adam not only possessed human flesh but God himself in humanity. The Scriptures explain how Jesus Christ, equal with God, took flesh and bones and became man (Philippians 2.5-8).

Jesus, the second Adam, exceeded the first Adam because he as God inhabited humanity, not a mere image or likeness of God. He came to make humanity alive again. He came to reconcile mankind to God, which required his death on the cross. In his death, Christ atoned for the sin of people like you and me.

Jesus promised to give to all who come to him the authority to become children of God (John 1.12). Through faith in Christ, sinners become alive with the life of God. They now have Christ dwelling in them, far surpassing the first Adam’s status. Now, they can carry God's image to all the earth fulfilling God's command.

Because of what Christ accomplished in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, therefore, we must become children of God through personal, individual trust in Christ, the second Adam. He will accept all who come to him in faith, making them alive in the life that he gives to them. They can then fulfill the destiny of his descendants: bearing the image of God to the world.