The Faith Of Adam

Adam plunged the entire human race into sin, death, and hell. And after God asked him what he did, instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he replied, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12 NKJV).

Adam not only blames his wife, he also blames God for giving him his wife. Adam was a scoundrel.

But after God rebukes Adam, Adam responds in faith.

How do I know Adam responds in faith?

Adam means dirt. God makes Adam out of the dirt, and the name sticks. When God gives Adam a bride, Adam receives her with a poem (or perhaps he sings it as a song):

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23 NKJV).

Hebrew uses repetition for its superlative. Instead of saying God is the Mightiest King or Most Powerful Lord, the Bible calls God the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Adam uses the Hebrew superlative to say his bride has the best bones and the best flesh. Her bones are better than his bones and her flesh is better than his flesh. Adam may be the king, but his bride is the glorious crown (Proverbs 12:4).

Adam also names her Woman. The Hebrew word here is Ishshah and it means fire. And Adam renames himself. The word Man here is Ish and it also means fire. After receiving his bride, Adam is no longer dirt. Woman-Fire transforms Dirt into Man-Fire.

After the Fall, God makes a promise to the man and his wife while speaking to the Serpent:

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15 NKJV).

Did Adam believe God’s promise? Did Adam, after being the scoundrel of scoundrels, have faith that God would do what He said He would do?

Or to repeat my original question: How do I know Adam responds in faith?

Adam’s first action after hearing God’s promise is to give his bride a new name:

“And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20 NKJV).

After Adam brings death into the world, God says the Seed of the woman will bruise the Serpent’s head. Through the woman’s Seed the wrongs will be made right, death will swallowed up in life.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22 NKJV).

By naming his wife Eve, Adam looks forward to God’s promise. Adam believes that God will bring life through her Seed.

What do you think?
Joseph