Though what happened to Adam had a negative effect on all humanity, what happened with Christ has a much greater positive effect on all humanity!

Adam believed a lie and became subject to sin, fear and death.
Christ believed the truth for us and freed us who had all our lives been subject to bondage through fear of death!

Through Adam came sin and fear and death.
Through Jesus came grace and truth, and He brought life and immortality to light through the good news of grace (God’s attitude of peace and goodwill toward man).

Adam’s heart was darkened when he believed lies, and these lies trapped and bound him.
Jesus came announcing freedom to the captives and sight to the blind (both spiritually and physically).

Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became bound in a system of performance and works, thinking he needed to do good to earn God’s favor and that anything less would bring God’s vengeance and curse.
Jesus was and is the tree of life, and He freed us from the law system, showing us God’s way has always been unconditional love and freely given grace (acceptance), and that nothing we do or don’t do could ever change His heart toward us!

Adam’s sin made him feel alienated in his mind from God, and he couldn’t see who God really was – it was like a veil was over his mind, a veil of religious thinking, and he couldn’t see the glory of God within him, couldn’t know who God really was.
Jesus’ righteous act freed our minds, for He redeemed us – He came and claimed what was His own, what He had prior claim to, us! He showed us the glory of God in His own face, that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father – He revealed God as Father!

Adam’s sin deadened or dulled him in some ways from sensing the Spirit’s work in his life, even though the Spirit was always present.
Jesus activated the Spirit’s presence in us in a new way, sending the Spirit into our hearts to assure us of God’s love for us, to echo within us that we truly are God’s children, and heirs!

Adam was of the earth, earthly, and the lies of the enemy made him feel that was all he was at all, someone from below.
Christ was of heaven, heavenly, and He showed us the truth that we are made of God-substance, a part of us is eternal – that we are also from above!

Through one man’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and death through sin.
Through one man’s obedience, there came justification (proving our innocence and likeness to God) and life!

In Adam, all died.
In Christ, all are made alive – we have been raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places with Him!

Because of Adam’s believing a lie, sin ruled in many ways.
Now because of Christ’s believing the truth, grace rules and has the final say!

Because of Adam’s sin, death reigned.
Christ came saying ‘Your God reigns!’ And He has the keys of death and the grave! We reign in eternal life with Him! Life wins, Life reigns!

Because of Adam, everyone forgot their origin in God and their family name.
Because of Christ, all the families of the earth will remember! The sleepers will awaken to God’s glory shining on them! And everyone will turn to the Lord and worship (from Ps. 22).

Because of Adam, everyone feels left out.
Christ shows us noone is left out, all are reconciled! Christ shows us in His forgiving attitude that God is not counting our sins against us, that God’s favor and goodwill is toward all mankind, all are revealed to be included – in!

Because of Adam, all have made themselves into sons of disobedience, though they are truly still God’s own created children.
Because of Christ, God has brought back and redeemed (rescued us from vain thinking) what is His own – His children!

Because of Adam, all were dead in sins (unresponsive to relationship with God). We were made for relationship with Him and we were hurting because we were missing out on enjoying that relationship our hearts longed for, being bound by lies about God and thus afraid to interact with Him, thinking He was mean or distant or demanding.
Yet Christ brought life to the dead and restored the fellowship we were missing, opening our eyes to the fact that God was never against us, He was always right there with us, open and friendly and ready to interact with us. He showed us that God was not scary or distant but safe and embracing us, and we were able to relax and enjoy real intimacy with our Papa!

Adam’s sin affected humanity, because all were from Adam, and we were all ‘lost.’
But Christ’s work affected humanity more, because before we were from Adam, we were formed and found in Christ, chosen in Him and dearly loved as God’s own children, before the world began! We were all found before we were ever lost! God’s prior reference and claim upon us was safely preserved in Christ and we are found in Him, no matter what happened here on this earthly timeline!

Though sin is shown to be great, God’s grace is always shown to be greater still!
Oh, the depth of the riches of God’s foreknowledge and plan!
It saves us all, includes us all, rescues and forgives and frees us all!
As my old pastor used to say, “All means all, and that’s all all means!”
God has consigned all under ‘disobedience’ that He might have mercy on ALL!
ALL humanity was included in His life, death, resurrection and ascension!

Though all creation was subject to futility, corruption and frustration, ALL creation will be freed into life and expansiveness and joy!
Though all became disjointed because of Adam, because of Christ ALL things will be summed up in Him, restored and set right through Christ – there will be the ‘restoration of ALL things’ (Acts 3).
And God will be ALL, and IN ALL!
Hallelujah!