Carol Swenson
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Tyndale iLumina
ADAM
Adam was the first man. He was also the father of the human race. Adam’s role in the Bible is helpful in understanding the Old Testament. A study of Adam also helps in understanding the meaning of salvation and the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The creation of Adam and the first woman, Eve, is recited in two accounts in the book of Genesis. The first account (Genesis 1:26-31) presents the pair in relationship to God and to the rest of the created order. God said the first humans were created male and female in God’s image. He gave them a specific command to populate and rule over the earth. In relation to creation the first humans were, on one hand, part of it. They were created on the same day as other land animals. But they were also distinctly above it. They were the highest point of the creation process and the only animals to bear God’s image.
The second account is much more specific (Genesis 2:4–3:24). It explains the origin of the present human condition of sin and death. It sets the stage for the drama of redemption, that Christ paid the price for our sins. The second account treats in detail aspects of Adam’s creation. It tells of the formation of Adam from the dust of the ground and of his receiving the breath of life from God (2:7). It recounts the planting of the Garden and the responsibility given to Adam to cultivate it (2:8-15). God instructed Adam that the fruit of every tree in the Garden was his for food, except one. It also records the solemn warning that the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” was never to be eaten, under the pain of death (2:16-17). Adam’s loneliness after naming the animals and not finding a suitable companion is also described. The creation of the first woman is introduced (2:18-22). The creation of Eve from Adam’s rib portrays the essential unity of spirit and purpose of the sexes intended by God.
The story does not end on such a positive note, however. It records the great deception Satan played upon Eve through the serpent. By distorting God’s original commandment (compare Genesis 3:1 with 2:16-17), the serpent tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit and sharing it with Adam. Eve seems to have eaten because she was deceived (1 Timothy 2:14); Adam ate out of a willful and conscious rebellion. Ironically, the two beings originally created in God’s image and likeness believed that they could become like God by disobeying him (Genesis 3:5).
The effects of their disobedience were immediate. For the first time a barrier of shame disrupted the unity of man and woman (Genesis 3:7). More important, a barrier of real moral guilt came between the first couple and God. The story relates that when God came looking for Adam after his rebellion, he was hiding among the trees. He was already aware of his separation from God (3:8). When God questioned him, Adam blamed Eve and then God: “It was the woman you gave me who brought me the fruit” (3:12). Eve, in turn, blamed the serpent (3:13).
According to the story in Genesis, God held all three responsible. Each one was informed of the consequences of their rebellion (Genesis 3:14-19). The two great commands, originally signs of pure blessing, became mixed with curse and pain. The earth could now be populated only through the woman’s birth pangs. It could be conquered only by the man’s labor and perspiration (3:16-18). Further, the unity of man and woman would be strained by a struggle for dominance between them. Finally, God pronounced the ultimate consequence. As he had originally warned, Adam and Eve were to die. Someday the breath of life would be taken from them, and their bodies would return to the dust from which they were made (3:19). That very day they also experienced a “spiritual” death. In other words, they were separated from God, the giver of life, and from the tree of life, the symbol of eternal life (3:22). God sent them out of Eden, and there was no way back. The entrance to paradise was blocked (3:23-24). Only God could restore what they had lost.
Adam’s story is not devoid of hope. God was merciful even then. He made Adam and Eve garments of skin to cover their bodies. He promised that someday the serpent Satan would be crushed by the woman’s “seed” (Genesis 3:15; see Romans 16:20). Many scholars consider that promise to be the first biblical mention of redemption.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ADAM
Adam’s significance is based upon the fact that he was a historical individual. That assumption was made by many Old Testament writers (Genesis 4:25; 5:1-5; 1 Chronicles 1; Hosea 6:7). The New Testament writers agreed (Luke 3:38; Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Jude 1:14). But he was more than an individual. To begin with, the Hebrew word adam is not merely a proper name. Even in the Genesis story it is not used as a name until Genesis 4:25. The word is one of several Hebrew words meaning “man.” It is the generic term for the human race. In the vast majority of cases it refers either to a male individual (Leviticus 1:2; Joshua 14:15; Nehemiah 9:29; Isaiah 56:2) or to humanity in general (Exodus 4:11; Numbers 12:3; 16:29; Deuteronomy 4:28; 1 Kings 4:31; Job 7:20; 14:1). The sense of the word adam is also behind the phrase “children (or sons) of men” (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalms 11:4; 12:1; 14:2; 53:2; 90:3; Ecclesiastes 1:13; 2:3). That phrase, literally “sons of adam,” simply means “men” or “human beings.” When it is used, the entire human race is in view. Indeed, the word adam indicates a concern in the Old Testament that extends to all the earth’s people and the Lord of all nations (Genesis 9:5-7; Deuteronomy 5:24; 8:3; 1 Kings 8:38-39; Psalms 8:4; 89:48; 107:8-31; Proverbs 12:14; Micah 6:8).
It is no accident, then, that the first man was named Adam, or “Man.” To speak about Adam is to speak about the entire human race. This usage can perhaps best be understood using an ancient Hebrew mind-set. Modern thinking emphasizes the individual. Other social relationships are seen as secondary. The Hebrew understanding was quite different. The separate personality of the individual was appreciated (Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:4). But there was a strong tendency to see the social group (family, tribe, nation) as a single living body with a corporate identity of its own. A group representative displayed the corporate personality of the group. The actions and decisions of the representative were reflected on the entire group. If the group was a family, the father was usually considered the corporate representative. For good or for ill, his family received the results of his actions (Genesis 17:1-8; compare with 20:1-9, 18; Exodus 20:5-6; Joshua 7:24-25; Romans 11:28; Hebrews 7:1-10).
Adam was the original man and father of humankind, in whose image all succeeding generations would be born (Genesis 5:3). Thus, he was the corporate representative of humanity. The creation accounts themselves give the impression that the commands of 1:26-30 (compare with Genesis 9:1, 7; Psalms 8:5-7; 104:14) as well as the curses of Genesis 3:16-19 (compare with Psalm 90:3; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Isaiah 13:8; 21:3) were meant not only for Adam (and Eve) but for the entire race.
In Romans 5:12-21 the apostle Paul made this contrast: death and condemnation came upon humanity by Adam’s disobedience. But life and righteousness was given to humanity through Christ’s obedience.
For Paul, the human race was divided into two groups in the persons of Adam and Christ. Those who remain a part of Adam are the “old” humanity. They bear the image of the “man of dust” and partake of his sin and alienation from God and creation (Romans 5:12-19; 8:20-22). But those who are a part of Christ by faith become Christ’s “body” (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:18). They are re-created in Christ’s image (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians 3:18). They become one “new man” (Ephesians 2:15; 4:24; Colossians 3:9-10, KJV). They also partake of the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). The old barriers raised by Adam are removed by Christ (Romans 5:1; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 3:27-28; Ephesians 2:14-16). For Paul, the similarity of Adam and Christ as human representatives meant that Christ had restored what Adam had lost.
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