First man, created in the image of God
The beginning · Old Testament
The first human, formed by God from the dust of the earth, given dominion over creation, and whose disobedience plunged humanity into sin — making him the typological counterpart of Christ, 'the last Adam.'
Adam is the first man in the Bible — created by God on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7). 'And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul' (Genesis 2:7). The name 'Adam' (Hebrew: adam) is related to 'adamah,' the ground from which he was taken. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden 'to dress it and to keep it' (Genesis 2:15), with one prohibition: do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). God said: 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him' (Genesis 2:18). After bringing all the animals to Adam to be named, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep, took a rib from his side, and formed Eve (Genesis 2:21-22). Adam declared: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh' (Genesis 2:23). The serpent tempted Eve, who ate from the forbidden tree and gave to Adam, 'and he did eat' (Genesis 3:6). Their eyes opened to their nakedness; they hid from God. God confronted them. Adam blamed Eve and indirectly God: 'The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree' (Genesis 3:12). God pronounced judgment — the ground cursed, painful labor, returned to dust at death (Genesis 3:17-19) — and the first promise of redemption: the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). God clothed Adam and Eve in skins (the first blood shed in Scripture) and drove them from Eden. Adam and Eve had three named sons — Cain, Abel, and Seth — and 'sons and daughters' (Genesis 5:4). Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5). In the New Testament, Paul presents Adam as the head of fallen humanity and Christ as the head of redeemed humanity. Romans 5:12 — 'by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin... so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.' 1 Corinthians 15:45 — 'The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.' 1 Corinthians 15:22 — 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' Christ is 'the last Adam' who undoes what the first Adam did.
God breathes life into him
To dress and keep it
Demonstrating dominion
"Bone of my bones"
Sin enters the world
Seed of the woman
Cherubim with flaming sword
Adam's significance: (1) He is the first human, the head of the human race — all people descend from him. (2) He was created in God's image, conferring dignity on every human. (3) His disobedience is the origin of original sin and death (Romans 5:12). (4) He is the federal head of fallen humanity. (5) He is the typological counterpart of Christ — Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 present Christ as the 'second' or 'last' Adam who reverses what Adam did. The whole gospel hangs on Adam-Christ parallelism.
“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman.”— Genesis 2:23
“The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”— Genesis 3:12
Adam was the first human, created by God on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:26-27, 2:7). God formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. He was placed in the Garden of Eden, given dominion over creation, and provided with Eve as his wife. His disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3) brought sin and death into the human race. He lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5).
Adam's sin was eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden (Genesis 2:17, 3:6). Beneath the act was distrust of God's word, desire to be 'as gods, knowing good and evil' (Genesis 3:5), and choosing his own will over God's. Adam was not deceived as Eve was (1 Timothy 2:14) — he ate knowingly. His sin brought guilt, shame, death, and separation from God.
1 Corinthians 15:45 — 'The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.' The 'last Adam' is Jesus Christ. Paul presents Adam as the head of fallen humanity (sin and death entered through him) and Christ as the head of redeemed humanity (righteousness and life come through him). Romans 5:12-21 develops the parallel: what Adam lost, Christ recovered, and more.
Genesis 5:5 — 'And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.' Adam is the first of the long-lived pre-flood patriarchs in Genesis 5. The lifespans of the pre-flood generation reach over 900 years (Methuselah at 969 being the longest), shrinking dramatically after the flood. Adam's death fulfilled God's warning that 'in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die' (Genesis 2:17) — spiritually immediate, physically delayed.