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We can thank the Lord with hearts continually full of gratitude that our hope is sure
and certain and based upon true historical facts whether we are dealing with the O.T. or
the N.T. for both these rest squarely upon a crucified and risen Saviour.
There are three more references to Adam in N.T. to complete the tale:
"Adam was first formed, then Eve."
"Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression"
(I Tim. 2: 13, 14).
How much better and safer it is to believe the facts of God's Word, than to be
deceived by the fallible opinions of men living nearly two thousand years after Christ, yet
are sure that their pronouncements concerning Adam are right and the Lord Jesus (Who
claimed to be the Truth, John 14: 6), and the apostles are wrong. These people are blind
leaders of the blind and their false ideas must be completely rejected.
Jude, knowing that the son of Cain was called Enoch, wrote in his epistle "Enoch, the
seventh from Adam" (Jude 14), and Paul refers to the temptation of Eve by the serpent in
II Cor. 11: 3. If Adam is a myth, we have no God-given Redeemer, but are stranded
without chart or compass with but one thing to do, namely `to eat and drink for tomorrow
we die'! What a prospect!
The Two Coverings.
The first reaction to the consciousness of guilt, as recorded in Gen. 3: 7 is that of
seeking and providing a covering. The guilty pair `made themselves aprons', and
although these man-made coverings were stripped off, being completely insufficient,
nevertheless coverings were provided by God, but these were of skin and so were
sacrificial (Gen. 3: 21). Psa. 32: 1 says "blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven, whose sin is covered", yet Prov. 28: 13 tells us "he that covereth his sins
shall not prosper".
There is no contradiction here. Sin must certainly be covered, but if it is merely
`covered up', in contrast to being `confessed' and `forgiven', it is wrong. If it is covered
because `lifted up' and borne away (Heb. nasa `forgiven'), it is blessed indeed. The word
nasa translated `forgiven' is rendered `bear' 156 times, beside `be borne' and `carried',
and is employed in such passages as "Surely He hath borne our griefs" and "He bare the
sin of many" (Isa. 53: 4, 12). The cry of Cain, according to the A.V. of Gen. 4: 13 is
"my punishment is greater than I can bear", but the margin reads "mine iniquity is greater
than that it may be forgiven", with a reference to Gen. 19: 15 where `iniquity' in the
text is `punishment' in the margin. So interwoven in the Hebrew conception is sin and
punishment, forgiveness and sacrifice, that the words used are as it were the reverse and
observe of a coin. One side cannot exist apart from the other.
We have no information as to how far our first parents were instructed in the
symbolism of this provision of a sacrificial covering made by God. But we who have the
complete Scriptures and can see both type and fulfillment set before our eyes, have no