In his invigorating The Great Dance , C. Baxter Kruger asks which Adam we think is greater: “If the human race fell in a mere man named Adam, what happened to the human race in the death, resurrection and ascension of the incarnate Son of God? Why is it that the Church has been so quick to give Adam such status in the whole scheme of things and so slow to recognize the surpassing greatness of Jesus Christ? Is the incarnate Son less than Adam? Is Jesus Christ less a factor in human existence?”

Great questions, and it shows that we haven’t quite grasped the gospel’s radical undoing of tragedy. We still believe that the first shall be first, that the best wine comes at the beginning.