As the second and final Adam, Jesus does everything that the first and original Adam was called – but failed – to do. He obeys God. He honors His Name. He delights in His Presence. He adores His Divinity. He gives thanks for His gifts. He speaks His words. He does His works. He accomplishes His will. And so He fulfills Himself in a human manner as one made in God’s image and likeness. But being the Son of God Himself, God’s uncreated Image and Word, His accomplishment extends to all human beings and is made fully and freely available to all people. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor 15:22). For Adam himself was but “a type of the One who was to come” (Rom 5:14). This is Jesus.
Fr. Thomas Hopko
The Winter Pascha
