Here, we begin to see the life spans of the pre-Flood world. See Day two – Gen. 1:6-8 – for an explanation of the canopy which was likely above the Earth at that time, and which accounts for the vastly different climate on the Earth.
Even more notable, of course, is that Adam had a son, but a sharp contrast is made. This stark contrast is between God’s creation – in God’s image – and Adam’s son. Because, his son, and all children since then, were born in Adam’s likeness.
This, then, further illustrates this likeness that was God’s. God’s likeness is present in the first man, because Adam was patterned after the Trinity. Just as the Trinity is an undivided three in one, one in three – Father, Son, and Spirit – so, too, was Adam composed of a body, soul, and a spirit.
However, when he died spiritually, he was separated from God. The Spirit left Adam. He could no longer commune with God whenever he wished. This also meant a marked difference in his children. They were also born with only a body and a soul, not with the Spirit connecting them with God. We, like them, need God’s grace and mercy; we need God to reach down to us, because we can’t reach up to God. It’s impossible, because we aren’t born with that Spirit.
However, praise be to God, we can have that indwelling Holy Spirit if we simply put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us from our sins. 2 Cor. 5:17 promises that “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold, all things are made new.” This doesn’t just mean that God comes and dwells in us through His Holy Spirit. We who are in Christ literally have that fellowship restored; we become different creatures than when we were born sons of Adam. We have that Spirit that we don’t have when we’re born.
Yes, that old Adamic nature is still present, meaning that we still sin on this earth. Our bodies are corrupted, too, by sin. So, we listen that that fleshly part that tells us to lie, to be mean, to do other things which are sinful. But, the Holy Spirit is the earnest, the promise, of our inheritance in heaven. (Eph. 1:14) It is the surest sign of what will be our complete redemption when we are taken to Heaven. Because, the Spirit is God Himself living inside us, guiding and helping us through everything, and convicting us when we go astray. It is God Himself, holding us fast, and not letting us become separated from Him, because He has the power to keep us from falling (Jude 24, etc.); He is God, after all. Nothing can separate us from His love, once we are in Christ. (Romans 8:38-39) We are truly new creatures on Earth, with his Spirit inside us, until that time when we celebrate with Him in glory, because we have been bought with a price; by the power of His own blood, with which he saved us. Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a friend!
