Mankind has been "upgraded" through Jesus Christ
So often we are told that we are sinners. We are told that Adam made a mistake in the garden of Eden, and we are now all sinners because of him. Separated and rejected of God--all because of him.
But what we are not told (because the preachers themselves apparently don't believe or understand it) is that Christ Jesus is the LAST ADAM. Why is He considered an "Adam?" Because His "seed" went into all the earth (mankind) just like Adam's did.
He, like the first Adam, was/is considered a Son of God. And the commandment of God to the first Son of God was: "be fruitful and multiply." But the first son of God didn't do it until after he was expelled from the garden of Eden. Therefore, the fruit he brought forth was a fallen fruit. All mankind and the surrounding creation: animals, plants, land and sea were polluted as by God's curse.
But this "Last Adam" was well-beloved and begotten by the Heavenly Father with a mission, and He was anointed with the Spirit without measure, and had the power and obedience to do what the first Adam didn't do. Jesus Christ was the "right Adam" that God desired for the creation, and He is beginning to reproduce through mankind so that creation will eventually be restored and all mankind will know his Creator as he is supposed to. The first Adam reproduced in the flesh, and brought forth flesh. But the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, reproduces through the Spirit, bringing forth Spirit.
Now we generally agree that if there is a God, then He must be a "just" God, who cares about making sure that everything will turn out right for His creation. So the idea of punishing "innocent" men, women and children for the sinful action of a man who supposedly lived 6,000 years ago would not seem just. Punishing all mankind for the sin of one person would seem exaggerated and senseless. -Unless there is a reason for doing so. And there is.
Adam was "part one" of the situation God has in mind for mankind. In His plan for the mankind throughout all eternity, this one man was permitted to "try his hand" at walking in Godliness. And God foresaw that he would fail, because God knows His creature intimately, even better than His creature knows himself.
We read in Romans 5.6, that "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." We were all without strength, just as God determined it should be, because Adam's impact on humanity was one of death, condemnation and sin. "In due time," the moment which the Father Himself had chosen, He sent His Son, Adam 2, to be a Light, Splendour, Purity, the Bright Shining of His own Glory, to perfect that which the first Adam failed to achieve: to create a new mankind which is holy and acceptable unto God!
Did Jesus Christ succeed??
If Adam was "part one," and failed due to his disobedience, Jesus Christ is "part two" and the successful conclusion to a situation from which man was helpless to escape. God put all mankind into sin in order to have grace and mercy upon all. "For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all (alike). (Romans 11.32 amplified)
Now, what is the implication of all this? The implication is this: we all have the New Nature of the New Adam within us. The old Adam was nailed to the cross of Christ at Calvary, and our corrupt nature died together with Him. And when Jesus Christ rose, we all arose with Him, and His Life has been placed in our hearts. Man is now FREE to walk in Life, and we are able to know this Life by Love, which activates faith within us. Every man, woman and child has been washed clean by Jesus Christ, who took away the sin that Adam passed to us.
Since we are all accepted by God, you may be able to hear your flesh cry out, "but this one is a sinner!" Or, "this one deserves to die!" or "crucify him!" Our very flesh still desires to condemn people, just as man has always done since Adam's fall.
But the Spirit is now teaching us of our NEW Divine Nature, which is completely different from the old carnal nature that man has known for so long. The old nature condemns people, but our New Nature forgives and pardons people. Just as Jesus showed us, and Stephen was able to repeat because he knew the New Spirit within him, we must forgive ALL MEN for ALL sins. Our New Nature requires it. When we see that Christ is our New Adam, our New Identity, the One with whom we must identify, the One whom we must follow, then we are able to rejoice to see His Own Light shine forth from our hearts towards others.
We have always been where we have always wanted to be. Christ is our Light, and the darkness is passing away. "The night is far spent." The time in which we wandered in the darkness of the First Adam is now ending. "Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed." We (humanity) are all in the Life of Christ. We must let our True Nature come forth in us, and this is what we call "reconciling ourselves to God," just as He has already reconciled us to Himself.
What we see remaining of the First Adam today in the world, is what in Revelation is called "the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." The First Adam was. Until Christ, there was none other than the First Adam. When Christ came, He replaced the First Adam, and now the First Adam is not. And although the First Adam is no longer in power, he still "is," because if we are not walking in the Life of Adam 2, we fall back into the First Adam, even though he is long dead.
Mankind is growing and learning. And this learning is due to Christ, the New Life, which is becoming more and more present, just as the sun, which arises slowly, but only gets brighter, and will not return to darkness. We are moving into a new day, and this day is Christ, the Day Star, who must arise in our hearts. All the fruits of the Old Adam: lying, stealing, murdering, arrogance, divisions, war, envy, lust, selfishness.. these are becoming more and more exposed for what they are: the First Adam which is dead. And as mankind learns to discern and appreciate truth, sincerity, selflessness, love, patience, kindness, and the like, the closer we get to manifesting Christ more fully--both as individuals, and as a whole. And Christ will continue to arise within mankind, until He is everywhere, in everyone, and in everything.
So we must focus on the New Nature which was planted in us when we died when Christ died, and when we rose when He rose. Christ in us is our hope of glory. When you recognize that God's Spirit is at work in you, you will rejoice and know by experience that sin is no longer. Like a slipknot, it vanishes into nothing, and all that will remain will be Christ Himself, setting you free as you have been set free already. Expect to see Christ arising more and more in mankind, because mankind is God's own temple, made without hands. When you look upon your fellow man, or a new-born child, you will no longer say within yourselves, "woe! another fallen Adam!," because you will understand that Christ is the only Adam now. And all who are born take on the Second Adam Nature which desires to come forth in liberty and love, and it will come forth sooner or later. It must come forth, into the glorious revealing of the Sons of God, where man shall no longer teach his neighbor, saying "know the Lord," because ALL shall know Him, from the least unto the greatest.