Who was Adam?

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Who was Adam:

According to Scripture, Adam (meaning: “red earth”) was the first human and first man. Initially, Adam had no concept of sin. The only law given to Adam by God was not to eat from one particular tree in the Garden of Eden; called “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”

When Adam chose to eat from the tree of knowledge, he willingly violated the laws of God. This violation of God’s law gave Adam an understanding of what it was to sin. Once receiving this understanding, Adam was no longer sinless or capable of avoiding sin. His corrupted condition forbade him from remaining within a paradise such as the Garden of Eden.

It is Adam’s understanding of sin that was passed on to his descendants; which includes all people that exist today. Therefore, according to the story of Adam all people are aware of sin and are therefore in a state of corruption.

Key Biblical Passages Regarding Adam:

God created Adam in his image:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1:26

Adam was instructed not to eat from the tree of knowledge:

The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 2:9,17-16

Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil:

When the woman [Eve, Adam's wife] saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to [Adam], who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Genesis 3:6-7

Adam was punished for violating God’s Law:

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden:

So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3:23

Adam is the source of man’s sinful nature:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned

Romans 5:12