Throughout the NT, Adam is seen as a real historical figure, from whom all humanity is descended and by whose sin all humanity is affected.
Adam as the original member of the human race
Acts 17:26; 1 Corinthians 15:45–49 See also Genesis 2:7; Luke 3:23–38 The genealogy of Jesus Christ is traced back to Adam.
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.
Adam's relationship with Eve
Adam as one flesh with Eve
Matthew 19:3–6 parallel Mark 10:2–9 See also Genesis 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31
Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?” Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Adam as the head of Eve
1 Corinthians 11:3, 1 Corinthians 11:8–12; 1 Timothy 2:12–15
The reality and results of Adam's sin
Sin spread to all the human race
Romans 5:19 See also Genesis 4:3–16; Psalm 51:5; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:23
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Death was introduced into the world
Romans 5:12 See also Romans 5:14–17, Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Condemnation for the human race resulted
Again, the gift is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment that followed one sin brought condemnation, but the gift that followed many trespasses brought justification.
So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.