Will Adam be in Heaven?

(3 Minute Read)

I can’t answer this question definitively, because the Bible does not answer it. Yahweh alone knows who will be in heaven or hell.

Nevertheless, there are some clues in Scripture that lead me to think that we will see Adam in heaven.

First, look at Adam’s response to his own sin. Prior to eating the Forbidden Fruit, Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their nakedness (Genesis 2:25). After sinning, however, they were ashamed; they made loin coverings with fig leaves, and hid themselves from God (Genesis 3:7-8). This shame over disobeying God’s command indicates recognition of having done wrong. This is the first step of reconciliation with God.

Second, Adam received early hints of the gospel. Adam heard Yahweh’s somewhat cryptic indication to the Serpent (Satan) of a coming Savior Who would resolve Adam’s trouble:
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. (Genesis 3:15 NASB)
Biblical authors usually refer to male seed. This passage is unusual, because it refers to the seed of the woman, presaging the Virgin Birth in which Jesus of Nazareth was born of a woman without the agency of a human father. This was the first intimation in Scripture as to how Yahweh would rescue Adam and his progeny from the disaster that Adam had set in motion.

Third, it appears that Adam participated in blood sacrifice which foreshadowed Christ’s redeeming death. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve and clothed them (Genesis 3:21). Where did He get the skins for their clothes? Surely from the first sacrifice for sin where He taught Adam about blood sacrifices for sin. These pointed to Christ’s death for sin when the Serpent bruised the heel of the seed of the woman and He bruised the Serpent’s head.

Adam understood all this and apparently practiced sacrificing for forgiveness of sin, because he passed this information on to his sons Cain and Abel. As grown men they offered sacrifices (Genesis 4:3-5).

We learn from a verse in the Hebrews Hall of Faith chapter that Abel had true faith and offered a sacrifice pleasing to God through which he was made righteous:
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4 NASB)

Abel must have learned about the importance of faith in God and sacrifice for sin from his father Adam. Thus it is likely that Adam too had faith through which he also was made righteous. This would mean Adam also will be in heaven.

Fourth, Adam is used as a positive example in the New Testament. Both Jesus and the Apostle Paul refer to the marriage of Adam and Eve as setting a standard for all subsequent marriages (Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9; Ephesians 5:31).

Luke places Adam at the head of Jesus’ genealogy and calls Adam “son of God” (Luke 3:38). This is the same term the angel Gabriel ascribes to Jesus earlier in Luke’s gospel (Luke 1:35). Would Luke call Adam a “son of God” if Adam were bound for hell?

The Apostle Paul refers to Christ using Adam’s name. He calls him the “last Adam” and the “second man” after calling Adam the “first man” (1 Corinthians 15:45-47). Would Paul use Adam’s name for Jesus if Adam were bound for hell?

Although I cannot say for certain that Adam will be in heaven (because the Bible does not explicitly say so), I think the above indications strongly suggest that he will be there.

Questions for Adam

Here are some questions I hope to ask Adam in heaven:
– Where was the Garden of Eden?
– What did Yahweh say in His evening talks with you in the Garden of Eden?
– How long did you live in Eden before Yahweh drove you out?
– How did Eve entice you to eat the fruit Yahweh had forbidden?
– Why did you choose to eat the fruit and disobey Yahweh?
– How many sons and daughters did you and Eve have?
– Which animals could talk in Eden?
– What is the most interesting and useful technology you or your descendants invented or discovered that post-Flood men never re-discovered?

Questions to Ponder

1. If you meet Adam in the new heaven or new earth, what questions will you have for him?
2. What questions would you like to ask Eve if you meet her?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the 32nd of a series of weekly blog articles on Adam.
Read the prequels:
1. Was Adam in the Garden of Eden?
2. Did Moses Believe in Adam?
3. Did Jesus Believe in Adam?
4. Did Paul Believe in Adam?
5. Does Belief in Adam Matter?
6. Adam and Puppies
7. Why Did Adam Sin?
8. What Should Adam Have Done?
9. What Did Adam Cause?
10. What Was Adam’s Forbidden Fruit?
11. How Long Was Adam in Eden?
12. Was Adam’s Garden of Eden Real?
13. Christmas & Adam (with videos)
14. Where Was Adam’s Garden of Eden?
15. Did Adam Wear Clothes in Eden?
16. Was Adam Backward or Brilliant? (with video)
17. Who Was Mrs. Adam?
18. Adam’s Dream Girl
19. Adam’s Prolific Princess
20. Adam’s Problematic Princess
21. How Many Children Did Adam Have?
22. Whom Did Adam’s Sons Marry?
23. Did Adam Ride a Unicorn?
24. How Long Did Adam Live?
25. Did Adam Swat Mosquitoes in Eden?
26. Did Adam’s Garden Have a Talking Snake?
27. Why Should Adam’s Sin Affect Me?
28. Did Roses Have Thorns in Adam’s Garden?
29. Adam the Image-Bearer & Harambe the Gorilla
30. Did Adam Ever Return to Eden?
31. What Was Adam’s Tree of Life?

Read the sequels:
33. Did Adam See the Big Dipper?
34. Did Adam Know Earth Is Round?
35. Did Jesus Say When Adam Was Created?
36. Did Adam See Dinosaurs?
37. Did Adam Like Steak?
38. Could Adam Read & Write?
39. Did God Use Evolution to Make Adam?
40. Adam & the Olympics
41. Adam and the Gospel
42. Adam and the Genesis Road

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday June 29, 2016 A.D.

The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 2:16; 3:1-6 NASB)