Jesus Christ: The Last Adam

AN ESSAY BY

Brandon D. Crowe

DEFINITION

The Bible teaches that Adam was the first human being, who was created by a special act of God
from the dust of the ground. Through Adam’s disobedience death entered the world, affecting all
humanity. In contrast, life comes through the obedience of the second and last Adam, Jesus Christ.

SUMMARY

This essay focuses on the biblical portrait of Adam and his relation to Christ. First, I will consider
what the OT says about Adam, including the covenant made with Adam. In the beginning God
entered into a covenant with Adam promising him eternal life on the condition of perfect obedience.
Adam is therefore best understood as a covenant head whose actions affect all those who are “in
him.” Second, I will look at the NT witness of Adam, which is closely tied to the person and work of
Christ. This is evident especially in the Gospels, Acts, and Paul’s epistles. Like Adam, Jesus is also a
covenant head. Unlike Adam, Jesus loved and obeyed God fully. Jesus’s representative obedience
overcomes the disobedience of Adam and benefits all those who are united to Christ by faith. Third,
I will consider some practical implications of the Bible’s teaching on Adam.

Overview
The Bible teaches that Adam was the first person in world history. Yet the historicity of Adam is
widely debated and often denied, especially in light of the rise of evolutionary theories that teach
the creation of humanity is the result of a long process of development. It is important to consider
carefully what the Old and New Testaments say about Adam, and why it matters. Far from being
simply an interesting piece of biblical trivia, the role of Adam in biblical history and in the
accomplishment of redemption is epochally consequential.

Adam in the Old Testament

Creation
Genesis teaches that on the sixth day of creation, God created man and woman (Gen 1:26–27). This
account is expanded in Genesis 2, where we are told that the Lord God created man from the dust
of the ground (Gen 2:7). This is a special act of creation; Adam is not described as coming from any
kind of lower life form. Further, Adam is created as a male first, and the female Eve is created from
his side later (Gen 2:21–23). This male-female order has been God’s design from the beginning (cf.
Matt 19:4–6; 1Tim 2:13).
Adamic Covenant and Fall
Genesis also teaches that God entered into a covenant with Adam, which is often called the
Covenant of Works (also known as the Covenant of Creation, the Covenant of Life, or the Covenant
of Nature). This covenant has been debated, and many have objected to the term “Covenant of
Works,” but understood rightly, it best reflects the biblical text. The Covenant of Works does not
mean that Adam could work his way to God for he was a creature who owed God obedience by his
existence. Instead, the Covenant of Works teaches that God freely entered into a covenant
relationship with Adam, promising life on the condition of perfect obedience. Though the term
covenant is not used in Genesis 1–3, the elements of a covenant are present (e.g., covenant
members, stipulations, possibility of rewards or curses), and Hosea 6:7 most likely refers to this
covenant with Adam.

In Genesis 2:16–17 Adam is given a probationary test: he is commanded not to eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, lest he die. This was no arbitrary command but was a summary
command that tested Adam’s entire love for God. Adam was required to be fully obedient to God in
every way. In the context of the covenant, love and obedience go hand in hand. Though it is not
stated explicitly, the implication is that if Adam passed the probationary test, then he would inherit
eternal life. Adam was created upright (Eccl 7:29), but he also had a goal in front of him: fullness of
life. Adam tragically failed this test, and death resulted (Gen 2:17; 3:19). Even so, the Lord
promised redemption by the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15).

Legacy in Old Testament

Adam is mentioned by name only occasionally in the rest of the OT, but everywhere it is assumed
that God is the creator of all people, and the promise to the woman is worked out in many ways.
Adam as a historical figure is reflected in the genealogies of Genesis 5:1–3 and 1 Chronicles 1:1, and
these are affirmed in the NT (Luke 3:38; Jude 14). In addition to Hosea 6:7, Adam’s first sin is
echoed in Joshua 7:21 and possibly in Job 31:33 and Isaiah 43:27.

Adam in the New Testament

Gospels
The New Testament also speaks explicitly of Adam as the first human being. Jesus virginal
conception breaks the pattern of natural birth that has been the norm since Adam, and places Jesus
as the holy head of a new humanity (cf. Luke 1:31­–35; 3:38). Adam is in one sense son of God (Gen
5:1–3); Jesus is Son of God in a more fundamental sense. This is exemplified in Luke’s Gospel,
where Jesus’s supernatural sonship is proclaimed in his baptism (Luke 3:22) and tested in the
wilderness (Luke 4:1–13). Bridging the baptism and temptation account is the genealogy, which
recounts the Adamic sonship of Christ (Luke 3:38). Similarly, Mark’s Gospel makes it clear that
when Jesus obeys in the face of temptation, he does so as a new Adam who reverses the results of
the curse. Whereas Adam’s sin led to disharmony and thorns, Jesus obeys in the wilderness and
dwells peaceably with the wild animals (Mark 1:12–13).

Adamic elements abound in the Gospels. It is likely that Jesus’s favorite self-designation—“Son of
Man”—derives from Daniel 7:13–14 where the kingdom of the Son of Man (drawing on Genesis 1–
2; Psalm 8) is contrasted with the beastly, ungodly kingdoms. Adam was created with great dignity,
to rule over God’s creation. The Son of Man is a new Adam, who reigns over a lasting kingdom.
Jesus accomplishes salvation in Gospels as a representative man who overcomes the sin of the first
man. Jesus binds the strong man by his obedience, freeing those who are in bondage to the devil,
and offering forgiveness of sins (Matt 12:22–32; Mark 3:22–30).1
Jesus is also portrayed in Adamic terms in his death. In the Gospel of John Pilate presents Jesus to
the crowd as King of the Jews, wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. Pilate proclaims,
“Behold the man” (John 19:5), echoing God’s words in reference to Adam in Genesis 3:22. This
ironic episode again echoes the royal dimensions of Christ’s Adamic work. Though Jesus is
condemned to die as a supposed messianic pretender, he rises to new life demonstrating sin had no
claim on him. Unlike Adam, Jesus did not fail in his love for God; as the perfectly obedient God-
man, Jesus rises from the dead and reigns over an everlasting kingdom. It is fitting that Mary
mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener in John 20:15 (cf. 19:41)—just as the first Adam was
tasked with obeying God in a garden, so Jesus emerges to new life in a garden.2

The church father Irenaeus captured the parallels between Adam and Christ poetically, not least
with respect to his death and resurrection. Just as sin came into the world through sin occasioned
by a tree, so Jesus overcomes sin by his obedience on a tree (i.e., on the cross).3 As death comes
through Adam, life comes through Christ. This point is made even more explicit in Paul’s letters.

Acts and Paul’s Epistles

The Apostle Paul has much to say about Adam, especially in relation to the person and work of
Jesus Christ. Two key texts are Romans 5:12–21 and 1 Corinthians 15:20–49. In Romans 5:12­–21
Paul speaks of the sin of one man (Adam), which led to death and condemnation for all people
(5:12, 18). In contrast to Adam’s representative disobedience is the representative obedience of
Jesus, which leads to justification and life for all those who are in him (5:18–19). Adam is more
than an illustration in this passage; here Paul speaks of historical and spiritual realities, as he
explains the origins of sin and the realities of salvation from sin. Adam is the real head of humanity
whose actions explain the universality of death and condemnation. Adam’s actions in history have
to be overcome by the work of another man in history—Jesus Christ, who brings justification and
life.

Paul speaks further about Adam in relation to Christ in 1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 44–49. In this
passage Paul again reveals his covenantal frameworks that envisions two heads of humanity: Adam
and Christ. In 15:21 Paul states that through man comes death, so through man comes the
resurrection of the dead. Paul speaks of two representative men in world history: the first man,
Adam (15:45), and the last Adam, who is the second man—Jesus Christ (15:45, 47). One’s destiny
hinges on one’s relationship to these two men (15:48–49), and this applies to all people in world
history.4

Likewise, in Paul’s sermon at Athens in Acts 17 he speaks of God as the creator of all people, noting
that from one man (Greek: ex henos, 17:26) God made every nation of mankind to live on the earth.
This is most likely a reference to Adam, and Paul then teaches that all people are subject to this one
man—the man Jesus Christ, who has been raised from the dead and is judge of all people (Acts
17:30–31).

Theologian Thomas Goodwin (1600–1680) memorably portrays Paul’s understanding of Adam and
Christ as two covenant heads: Paul speaks of Adam and Christ as if there had never been anyone
else in the world; for these two men have all other people hanging from their belts.5
Practical Implications
1. The God of Scripture is not the distant God of deism; he governs the world and relates to his
creatures. He created Adam from the dust of the ground, and entered into a covenant with him,
offering him a reward far beyond what Adam could ever deserve. When Adam sin God did not
destroy the human race but intervened to save.
2. The biblical teaching on Adam challenges us to believe the Scriptures. Many today doubt the
plain biblical teaching on Adam. Any number of intricate, intellectual arguments can be
mounted against the notion that Adam was the first human being. We must make a choice: will
we believe the plain teaching of Scripture, even where it seems improbable or impossible? The
clarity and truthfulness of Scripture is at stake.
Further, if Scripture cannot be trusted where it speaks plainly of the historical figure Adam,
then where else can Scripture not be trusted? If Adam is not historical, then Paul’s logic
about the work of Christ in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 is wrong. The implications of
this are massive. Is Paul not an inspired apostle? Can he not be trusted, not even on
matters of salvation? If Paul believes that the representative work of Christ parallels the
representative work of Adam, but Adam is not real, then how is it possible for the work of
Christ to count for us? Would Paul have an answer to this?
To deny the historicity of Adam means not only is Paul wrong, but also (at least) the
authors of Genesis, 1 Chronicles, Luke, Acts, John, and Jude are wrong. We are not
Scripture’s authority; Scripture is our authority. We dare not set ourselves up as judge over
the writings of Paul or any other biblical author. We must believe in the Scriptures, even if
it is out of accord with the spirit of our age.

3. Christ’s work must be understood in representative, and Adamic terms. Christ’s obedience is the
answer to Adam’s disobedience. Adam acted representatively as a covenant head. Jesus
similarly acts as a covenant head, which means his actions are counted to others vicariously.
“[T]here is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men,
by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

FOOTNOTES
1
See further Brandon D. Crowe, The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2017), 153–66.

2
See, e.g., Crowe, The Last Adam, 195; Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson, Name Above All Names (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013),
34–35.

3
See e.g., Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 34; idem, Against Heresies 5.16.3; cf. 3.18.1, 7; 5.16.3; 5.21.1.

4
See Richard B. Gaffin, Jr., No Adam, No Gospel: Adam and the History of Redemption (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing; Philadelphia:
Westminster Seminary Press, 2015), 10–12.

5
This is my paraphrase of Thomas Goodwin, “Christ Set Forth,” in vol. 4 of The Works of Thomas Goodwin (Edinburgh: James Nichol,
1862), 31.
FURTHER READING
Bavinck, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. Edited by John Bolt. Translated by John Vriend. 4 vols. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2003–8, esp. §§294–97 (2:564–76); §349 (3:224–28).
Begg, Alistair and Sinclair B. Ferguson. Name Above All Names. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013.
Crowe, Brandon D. The Last Adam: A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017.
Review online
Interview online and here.
Blog Post: Jesus Bound the Strong Man

Crowe, Brandon D. “The Passive and Active Obedience of Jesus Christ: Recovering a Biblical Distinction.” Pages 437–64 in The
Doctrine on which the Church Stands or Falls: Justification in Biblical, Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective. Edited by
Matthew Barrett. Wheaton: Crossway, 2019.
Interview online

Gaffin, Richard B, Jr. No Adam, No Gospel: Adam and the History of Redemption. Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing; Philadelphia:
Westminster Seminary Press, 2015.
Blogpost online
“Inerrancy, Adam, and the Gospel” Lecture Online

Gibson, David. “The Story of Two Adams.” Ligonier.com

Goodwin, Thomas. Christ Set Forth. In vol. 4 of The Works of Thomas Goodwin. Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1862.
Against Heresies. In vol. 1 of The Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 1885–1887. 10 vols.
Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994.
On the Apostolic Preaching. Translated and edited by John Behr. Popular Patristics Series 17. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s
Seminary Press, 1997.
Murray, John. The Imputation of Adam’s Sin. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959.
Poythress, Vern S. Did Adam Exist? Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing; Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary Press, 2014.
Tipton, Lane G. “Adam and the Bible [1Cor 15:42–49],” Reformed Forum Theology Conference 2012.
Turretin, Francis. Institutes of Elenctic Theology. Translated by George Musgrave Giger. Edited by James T. Dennison, Jr. 3 vols.
Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1992¬–97, esp. questions 8.1–6 (1:569–86); 9.9 (1:613–29). Latin version here.
Waters, Guy Prentiss. “Theistic Evolution Is Incompatible with the Teachings of the New Testament.” Pages 879–926 in Theistic
Evolution: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Critique. Edited by J. P. Moreland et al. Wheaton: Crossway, 2017.

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