Do you believe that Adam and Eve actually existed as the first two human beings God created? If you are unsure, then allow the words of Jesus of Nazareth, Moses and the Apostle Paul to settle the matter in your mind.
Paul wrote, “For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man” (1 Corinthians 11:8-9). Paul knew for a fact that God created Eve from Adam’s rib.
Moses wrote in Genesis, “For Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:20-22).
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Paul wrote, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Paul knew that Adam and Eve were as real as Jesus Christ. Paul added, “So it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit'” (1 Corinthians 15:45).
In my 2021 CP op-ed, “When Did God Create Adam and Eve,” I wrote, “Genesis 5 and 11 reveal that there were about 2,000 years between Adam and Abraham. Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17) begins with Abraham and culminates with Christ, which spanned another 2,000 years. All of these descendants and events over roughly 4,000 years from Adam to Christ are woven together in Scripture into a beautiful tapestry.
Professor Bernard White wrote, “The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 are unique in the Scripture record. Gerhard Hasel’s term chronogenealogy captures a major aspect of that uniqueness: they are genealogies with a major chronological component. By including the ages at the birth of each named son, the number of years each individual lived after begetting that son, and the stated or implied total years of life for each individual, the two genealogies appear to provide a means by which to calculate the approximate number of years from Adam to Abraham.”
Some people believe that Genesis 1-11 is intended to be understood figuratively. But if that were true, God’s Word would not contain the exact age at which Adam and many of his descendants died, as recorded in Genesis 5:1-32, 9:29, and 11:10-32: Adam–930 years; Seth–912 years; Enoch–905 years; Kenan–910 years; Mahalalel–895 years; Jared–962 years; Enoch–365 years; Methuselah–969 years; Lamech–777 years; Noah–950 years, Shem–500 years, Arphaxad–403 years, Shelah–403 years, Eber–430 years, Peleg–209 years, Reu–207 years, Serug–200 years, Nahor–119 years, Terah–205 years.
Each one of these descendants was just as real as Adam and Eve.
Paul wrote, “Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come” (Romans 5:14). The historicity of Adam and Eve is as certain as the historicity of Moses. And it was Moses who wrote, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).
Jesus referenced Genesis 1:27 when telling some Pharisees, “Haven’t you read that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female'” (Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6). Jesus also affirmed the historicity of Abel, the son of Adam and Eve (Luke 11:51). In addition, Jesus affirmed the historicity of Noah, the ark and the flood (Matthew 24:37-39).
The story of Adam and Eve is foundational to a biblical worldview. Questions about the historicity of Adam and Eve are often connected to questions about the age of the earth. I explored the earth’s age in my 2016 eBook, Open-Ended Creationism: Thinking Outside the Box of Time. While the Bible does not reveal the mysterious age of the earth, it does lay out roughly how many years elapsed between the time God created Adam and Eve, and the time the Messiah was born in Bethlehem.
Jesus, Moses and Paul clearly affirmed Adam and Eve’s historicity. And Luke traced Jesus’ descent back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38). Biblical history, along with spiritual insights gleaned from Scripture, reveal that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that “God our Savior wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4). And this is why “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
His story is by far the most beautiful story ever told! And the best part of all is that it is true. People today flock to the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. to learn more about the history and significance of this amazing book. As someone aptly stated, “This museum pulls back the curtain on the most important Book in history.”
Thankfully, “The Word of God of living and active…” (Hebrews 4:12), and “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). God supernaturally breathes upon man’s soul through the inspired words of the Bible. Likewise, “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7).
And just as God breathed life into Adam and Eve, He will breathe life into your soul when you receive Jesus as your Savior, (see John 1:12) and when you feast upon God’s Word as your daily bread from Heaven (see Matthew 4:4).
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
