Paul explained the solution to our deserved condemnation in the obedience of the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). He explicitly suggests that the first Adam was a “type” of the second Adam. If Adam was not a historical being then neither was Jesus.

Moses tell us how Adam was created (Gen. 1:26; 2:5-8) and how many years he lived (Gen. 5:5)

The writer of 1 Chronicles traced humanity from Adam to David (1 Chronicles 1 and 2) by means of historical genealogy. If Adam was not a historical being then neither were all the people from Adam to David.

Job likened the hiding of his sin to Adam’s covering his sin (Job 31:33).

Luke traced Jesus’ genealogy (from Mary) back to Adam (Luke 3:38). If Adam was not a historical being then neither were all the people from Adam to Jesus.

Jesus declared that “He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ (Matthew 19:4).

Paul explained that the reason for death and condemnation was the representative, imputed guilt of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:12-21).

Paul also explained that the external giving of the law was first with Adam and then with Moses. Those who were not given external law from Adam to Moses still had the sentence of death in them because of Adam’s sin. Paul explains, “death reigned from Adam to Moses” (Rom. 5:13). If Adam was not a historical being then neither was Moses.

Paul explained the solution to our deserved condemnation in the obedience of the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:12-21). He explicitly suggests that the first Adam was a “type” of the second Adam. If Adam was not a historical being then neither was Jesus.

The apostle defended the role relation of men and women in the church by the order in which Adam and Eve were created and were tempted (1 Timothy 2:13-14). Eden was the prototype of every subsequent culture. No one can say Paul’s teaching was culturally bound because he takes it back to the Garden. He takes the Genesis account as an accurate historical record of Eden.

The apostle urged the NT church to defend the Gospel by reminding them of the way in which Satan had historically deceived Eve: “I fear, lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).”

Nicholas T. Batzig is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and serves as Organizing Pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Richmond Hill, GA (near Savannah). He is a contributor to Feeding on Christ and Christ the Center, a weekly Reformed podcast. This article first appeared on the Feeding on Christ  website and is used with permission.

[Editor’s note: The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]