Seems like a simple enough question. After all, what did I do wrong; right? I am basically a good person. I have done a lot of really good things. Why must I be, as the Christians put it, "Saved"? The real question is why must I be "born-again"? In John 3:2, Jesus tells Nicodemus, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". Okay, how do I do that?
Before we answer, let's take a real look at the situation. Who was Adam? He was the first man, right? Who named him Adam? God did, of course. Who named Adam's wife? That is an interesting question. In Genesis 3:20, Adam named her Eve. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living". If Adam named her Eve, what did God call her? According to Genesis 5:1, He called her Adam as well. What? "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created". Why in the world would He do that? Was it Mr. and Mrs. Adam? No, it is much deeper than that. It is not a male or female thing, it is a blood thing. A blood thing? Yes, and here is why.
In biology, the blood comes from the father. While you may have your mother's blood type because of shared DNA, your blood comes from your father. When you are in your mother's womb, you are connected to an umbilical cord. The cord does not attach to the mother, it attaches to the placenta. The umbilical cord not only supplies oxygen and food, but it also protects the baby from the mother's blood. God set this up on purpose. As we go further, it will make sense. Since Adam was created and not born, did Adam have blood? Of course he did. According to Leviticus 17:14, blood is life and without you do not live. "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off". Adam obviously had blood. But whose? His father's of course. God provided Adam with pure, perfect, and uncorrupted blood as He did all of his other body parts.
Which begs the question, what does Adam mean? If all Hebrew names have deep meanings, should Adam's as well? The word Adam is broken down in two parts; A -Dam. Taking the second part first, dam in the Hebrew is blood. Okay then, what about the A?
In Revelation 1:8, Jesus said He was the Alpha and the Omega. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the language the New Testament was written in. If taking the Hebrew language, it would be comparable to the Aleph and the Tau. These are the first and last letters in the Hebrew language. In John 8:58, Jesus tells the Pharisees that "before Abraham was, I am". Here is the point. Jesus was the first. He was the first in everything. Before anything was, He was. He is letting us know He is the "A" in Adam. Adam means God's Blood. You could translate it as "Pure, Holy, and uncorrupted God provided blood". Stay with me as we continue to make our case.
If you look up the meaning of Adam in Strong's Concordance, you will get "ruddy; a human being; to show blood; flush or turn rosy; be red". This makes sense because your blood makes your color. If someone blushes or is angry, their face turns red. Why? Because the blood rushes to their head. If they are dead, they are completely white or ashy because of no blood in their skin. Make sense?
What about Eve? Who's blood did she have? While she may have been made from a part of Adam, he was not her parent. Adam said she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, not blood of his blood. God created Eve. Therefore, He put is blood in her. God's blood was flowing in Eve as well as Adam. Is it clear why God called "their name Adam"? They both had His blood. In 1 Corinthians 15:45-47, Jesus was not given an Adamic number. He was the LAST Adam. He would be the last one with God's blood. Notice He is called the second man and NOT the second Adam; Eve was the second Adam.
This is where the need for salvation or "being born-again" comes in. Pay attention. Adam and Eve's act of disobedience resulted in the corruption of their blood when they "changed gods". When one sins, they in effect are choosing a different God from the one that created them. Note that Eve sinned first. Why is this never mentioned? (except by husbands) Adam was not only responsible for his house, but he was also the blood giver to the next generation. Because the blood is given by the father, Adam's children, including us, have corrupted blood. Corrupted blood has been passed down since the beginning of time through our father, Adam. This is why we are born "into sin". Although we did nothing wrong, our father did. This is why God promised Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3:15, a Messiah would come to restore us. Even this scripture has biological problems. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel". Notice that it says, "her seed". The seed is in the man, not the woman. This points to the virgin birth and the coming of God's son, not hers.
Which brings us to our hero. Was Jesus truly a man? The obvious answer is yes. Only a 100% man could take the place of a 100% man. Anything other than that would be deception. God does NOT deceive. As an interesting side note, Jesus referred to Himself as the "Son of man" until He was resurrected. After that, He referred to Himself as the "Son of God". In John 5:19-20 and John 8:28-29, we see examples of Jesus saying He could do nothing of Himself. Would God say that? He would if He left all of His glory to take our place and become one of us. He was speaking as the "Son of man".
As an interesting ending note, a good question comes up. Did Jesus have anything in common with Adam? Other than having God's blood? Yes, and it is the most important thing for all of us. Here is the story. Adam and Eve are in the garden enjoying their life. In walks a bully; a trickster that deceives Eve. She sins and is now in a fallen condition. It is obvious to Adam she has sinned. The light that God had clothed them with is now missing from her. She is sobbing and turns to him. He obviously was away and then came back at that moment. He has a choice to make. God told him if they eat of the forbidden fruit, they would die. Although he did not understand death, he did not want her to go through it alone. He loved her. He GAVE HIS LIFE for her. While there are scriptures that say Eve was deceived, none say that Adam was. He knowingly and willingly ate of the fruit. Jesus knowingly and willingly took our sin and corruption upon Himself. Why? Same reason as Adam did; He loved His bride.