The invention provides a resin adhesive and a preparation method thereof. The resin adhesive is prepared from the following raw materials in percentages by weight: 30-50% of a formaldehyde solution, 10-25% of phenol, 10-20% of melamine-modified polyhydroxymethyl urea, 20-40% of lignin, 5-10% of a polyaldehyde cross-linking agent and 3-6% of a composite catalyst, wherein the mass concentration of the formaldehyde solution is 35-40%; and the composite catalyst comprises a mixture of one of zinc oxide, magnesium oxide, calcium hydroxide, barium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide and potassium carbonate, and sodium hydroxide. With the melamine-modified polyhydroxymethyl urea as the raw material, the storage stability of methylol urea is improved, the storage period of the resin adhesive is prolonged, the polymerization reaction of an ortho-response point with relatively poor activity in a phenol structure in the lignin is directionally promoted by the composite catalyst, and low-temperature fast solidification of the resin adhesive is achieved.