Will Adam and Eve be resurrected to eternal life or are they dead forever?

Will Adam and Eve be resurrected to eternal life or are they dead forever?

[Note : due to the number of scriptures quoted they are mostly shown as numbered footnotes.]

• A) Eternal Life

Firstly, there is a difference between immortality and eternal life. The soul is immortal and is not annihilated, despite the judgment of God on the first humanity : the return of the natural humanity to dust in the grave after death.

Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth? [Ecclesiastes 3:21 KJV]

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. [Ecclesiastes 12:7 KJV]

The coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, resolved the matter of immortal souls in a disembodied state and their bodies returned to dust. (1)

Firstly, through faith (and by remission of sins and justification by faith) those who believe on the name of Jesus Christ receive the Holy Spirit (2) are born of the Spirit (3) they are born of God (4) and, receiving the Person of the Holy Spirit into union with their spirit, they receive the gift of eternal life : divine life which is eternal, in union with their own created spirit.

Secondly, by resurrection (or, if still on alive on earth at the coming of the Lord, immediately) they receive, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (5), a glorious body like unto Christ's body (6).

Thus 'eternal life' is much more than just 'prolonged mortality' or 'immortality'.

Those who have not believed on Jesus Christ are condemned already for their unbelief and shall not partake of that glorious resurrection (7). They shall be resurrected to damnation and their place shall be in a lake of fire : the eternal destruction of their immortal souls where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched (8).

Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction [2 Thessalonians 1:9 KJV]

• B) Adam and Eve

As to Adam and Eve there is good cause to believe that they were saved from their transgression.

Adam accepted the judgment of God and, once informed of a seed to come (of woman but not of man) that would bruise the serpent (9) from above (that is to say, humanity ascended above created spirit) he named his wife appropriately (having not done so, before) (10).

Once Adam had done this - a step of faith - God responded and clothed both Adam, himself, and his wife in coats of skins (11) denoting a sacrifice and denoting that they were 'clothed' with the skin of another : surely a sign of redemption. That is to say a sign, immediately, of eventual redemption when the humanity, through whom that redemption would come, would be manifested and raised in ascension, above the created spirit with whom they had conspired.

More than this, when Cain did not take responsibility (my 'avon' is greater than I can bear) for the death of Abel (12) he chose to 'go out from the presence of the Lord' (13). Practically, what he did was to leave the household of Adam and Eve.

Now, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, wherein they had been in God's presence. But now, banished from Eden, they are still in 'the presence of the Lord'. This would point to them being an household of faith. And, because of faith, the Lord is with them. Although God's judgment is upon the first humanity, as such, and that humanity is forever banished with a sword protecting the tree of life, yet those who believe in a sacrifice yet to be made, are in God's presence by faith.

And when God speaks to Cain in judgment, it seems quite reasonable to suppose that the words actually came from the mouth of Adam. Inspired of God, but spoken of Adam.

Thus I would suggest that Adam obtained faith, despite his transgression. And I would suggest that Adam shall, in due course be raised from the dead in a glorified body, since he is (now) a partaker of eternal life through faith.

Though all was not yet revealed, yet what was revealed (at the time) Adam believed. And of Adam (I would suggest) it is as it was with Abraham :

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness [Genesis 15:6 and Romans 4:3 KJV]

(1) Now if Christ is preached that He rose from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? [I Corinthians 15:16 KJV]

(2)Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? [Galatians 3:2 KJV]

(3) ... that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit [John 3:6 KJV]

(4) Whosoever is born of God does not practice sin [I John 3:9 KJV]

(5) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: [Romans 3:24 KJV]

(6) Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body [Philippians 3:21 KJV]

(7) He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. [John 3:36 KJV]

(8)Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. [Mark 9:44 KJV]

(9)And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. [Genesis 3:15 KJV]

(10)And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. [Genesis 3:20 KJV]

(11) Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. [Genesis 3:21 KJV]

(12)And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. [Genesis 4:13 KJV]

(13)And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the East of Eden. [Genesis 4:16 KJV]

The answer to your question, I believe, is found in 1 Corinthians 15.

20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come . . ..

Notice the words "in Adam all die." That means all God's image-bearers have this in common with the first man, Adam: They sin, and they die. Just as Adam became subject to death because of his disobedience (see Romans 5:19), we too are subject to death for our disobedience. By default, all of humanity is in Adam.

. . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Since all of God's image-bearers, including Adam (and Eve!), are all sinners, we all are in need of the regenerative grace of God. Once regenerated--though each of us will die physically, we will then be in need of the resurrection power of God in order to live forever. The clear teaching of Scripture is that "in Christ, we all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Perhaps a better question for you to ask would be this: Why wouldn't Adam be resurrected to eternal life? True enough, "the guilty pair, bowed down with care" couldn't believe in and receive Jesus Christ into their lives, since the Lamb of God ("the seed of the woman") would not come onto the scene for thousands of years. Yet God did prefigure the atoning death of his Son when he clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals--animals whose blood had to be shed to provide a temporary covering for sin.

Regarding sin, the Bible makes clear that until Christ's atoning work had been accomplished on the cross at Calvary, the sins of all God's children were covered (see, for example, Psalm 32:1; Psalm 85:2; Romans 4:7; Proverbs 10:12; Proverbs 17:9; and 1 Peter 4:8).

Moreover, Christ's blood, shed at the cross, was efficacious for the forgiveness of sins committed both prior to and after his crucifixion. His atoning death was a fait accompli as far as God was concerned, since in the eternal counsels of God, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (see 1 Peter 2:19-20; Revelation 13:8; Colossians 1:17-18; and Ephesians 1:11).

No mere mortal can ever truly know whether or not a person is a possessor of eternal life. The Scriptures tell us clearly,

. . . the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness" (2 Timothy 2:19 NASB Updated, my emphasis).

Was the first man Adam saved? Was he a possessor of eternal life? I believe he was. There are no passages in the Bible of which I am aware that indicate Adam remained under God's condemnation for having disobeyed God's clear command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. That Adam's son, Abel, sacrificed to God the firstlings from his flock indicates to me that Adam may have taught his son the significnce and importance of blood sacrifice (Genesis 4:4).

Jesus referred to Abel as righteous (see Matthew 23:35), and the apostle John referred to Cain in 1 John 3 as follows:

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous (vv. 11-12).

In conclusion, I see no reason why Adam would not be counted among the righteous children of God. Not that Adam was any more or any less deserving of redemption than any other child of God. Whether before or after Calvary, the fact remains that Adam, and all who are "in Adam" were, are, and will be dead in trespasses and sins. What is required for each of us to pass from death to life is the blood which Jesus interposed between sinners and a holy God.