The Prophecy About the Second Adam and the Second Eve
Creation of Eve as a Prophecy of the New Creation of Men and Women
Through the Death and Resurrection of a Better Adam

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Did you know that the Bible describes the first surgical procedure?
According to the Bible, when God created the first woman, he put Adam into a deep sleep, he then surgically removed Adam’s rib, and used that rib to create Eve.
Although God’s surgical skills far surpass today's methods, God still used an image that people associate with pain and bleeding.
At that time everything was perfect - man had not yet disobeyed God. And despite the foreknowledge that sin would arise, God still decided to create a woman from the rib of the first man.
The question arises, why is it that in this perfect world God chose to spill Adam’s blood to create woman, if He could create Eve painlessly from the dust of the ground as He did Adam?
Another question is why all living beings are created in pairs, but only with human beings God created Adam first, and then Eve, in a completely different manner than all other creatures?
By creating Eve in the way He did, God showed that He made a plan for mankind.  If they chose to reject God's principles and become mortal:
God would send His second Adam - the Messiah, through whom He would re-create a new generation of people who would stay on God's side, regardless of circumstances and temptations.
In the Bible, the woman is a symbol of God's church, a people who sincerely worship God; and the manner in which Eve was created, points towards a new creation of mankind. Let's look at the arguments to confirm this.
 Details of Eve's creation foreshadow the Messiah, who as the second Adam, will enable people to return to God and be re-created to live eternally with God.
 
Creation of Adam
The creation of Adam was already different from the creation of animals. Humans were not created as a group like the animals species, by God’s spoken word.
Instead, God used the dust of the earth and created only one being – Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Also, the incarnation of Jesus Christ was a unique way in the history of the world for a man to be created. He later become the firstborn from the dead, the new man whose character will be a model for a new humanity.
So, the creation of the first Adam was unique, as is the creation of a second Adam - the Messiah, the only such in the history of the world.
The first Adam was not born naturally by a woman as all other men, and the second Adam was not conceived as everybody else.
Neither the first nor the second Adam had a man as a father.
They both came into the world pure, without sin.
Both were tried and tested, and the consequences of their temptation were reflected on the whole human race.
As it was not good for the first Adam to be alone, so the second Adam did not come to this world to remain alone.  He came to find a people who would want to live with God for all eternity.
Not only the creation of the second Adam was prophesied, but also the creation of another Eve - the symbolic bride of Messiah.
The creation of Eve was a prophecy of the new creation of God's people.
 
Dream - death
"So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep..." Genesis 2:21
 The question is, why did God have to put Adam to sleep when He created Eve?
God is all-powerful, and He could create Eve „ex nihilo“ or from nothing,
he could just say the word, as He created animals, or from the dust of the earth, as He created Adam. However, in a world where there was no pain or sin, God choose surgery - for which he had to put Adam into a deep sleep.
In the Bible, the dream is a symbol of death.
For Lazarus, who had died, Jesus said that he fell asleep ("Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." John 11:11).
For people who have rejected God, the prophet says, "...they will sleep forever and not awake," Jeremiah 51:57
So when Adam fell asleep during the creation of Eve, it was a prophecy that when people sin, God will send the Messiah, who will go to sleep - in other words, He will die.
Adam’s sleep foreshadowed the second Adams death.
The second Adam did nothing wrong.
Even though the first Adam did not commit any sin, one of his ribs was taken!
The first Adam was without sin at the time of the creation of Eve, but he had to fall asleep as if he was dead (Genesis 2:21).
This was a prophecy that the second Adam would be without sin on the cross when he fell asleep by dying, to give God's people not just life, but eternal life.
When Jesus died on the cross, His sleep was not a harmless sleep, like Adam's.
Through this entire process, God allowed for the deadly effects of sin to be reversed for all who desired to return to God.
The first Adam had to go through a deep sleep, because God wanted to take a rib from Adam's chest with to make the woman.
Thus, the death of Christ provided the material for the life of God's people.
 
Wound below the chest
"So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man." Genesis 2:21,22)
God broke Adam's chest on the side, and made his wound.
From this wound, God took the material from which He made the bride for the man, and then healed the wound of Adam.
 As Adam sacrificed his rib to get his wife Eve, so Jesus on the cross was stabbed between the ribs to get his bride - the people of God.
The sinless first Adam had a wounded chest, and sinless Jesus had a wounded chest.
The second Adam received a wound by the soldier’s spear while he hung on the cross, as the first Adam received a similar wound in Paradise:
"One of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water." John 19:34
Jesus did not die because of wounds, but because the Heavenly Father turned his face away from him for sins Jesus took upon himself to save people.
Just after Jesus died, as well as after the first Adam fell asleep, then a soldier with a spear pierced his ribs, when his body could not register pain anymore: "but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead... one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. "John 19: 33,34
As Eve was created from Adam's wound on his chest, so God's people will be cleaned by the material taken from the wound on Christ's chest.
The first Eve was created from the rib, and the second Eve, or God's people - repentant sinners, have to be cleansed of sin by the blood and water from Christ's wound. Blood and water are biblical symbols of cleansing from sin.
As proof of his resurrection, Jesus showed his disciples the wound on his chest: "After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." John 20:20
Adam lost his rib to get his wife Eve, and Jesus on the cross lost his life to get his bride - the people of God.
In other words, hurting Adam to create Eve was the Gospel proclaimed during the creation of the world, before sin even came to be.
As the first Adam had a scar and one rib less in his chest, so the Second Adam also carries a scar on his chest, because he had something taken from his body while slept, to receive His bride (John 20:27).
 When Adam was asleep, Eve was created from his bone, from the rib.
Jesus died on a place called Golgotha, which in Greek means "skull". It was called by this name because of the bones and skulls that were left of convicts who died there.
"Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." John 19:17
God did not create woman from Adam's head to command him, nor from Adam's foot to be trampled by him, but from his rib to be close to his heart.
 
Scar
It appears important that God’s choice was to create Eve was from Adam's rib.
God is all-powerful and certainly could perform a miracle, so that Adam's rib would come out of his body without opening the skin, without pain or blood.
 However, the text does not mention such a miracle. If God wanted to perform a miracle, He would have created Eve out of nothing, or He would used some other process that did not exist in nature.
Instead, God gave us a picture that reminds us of a surgical procedure, and consequently the suffering of Christ on the cross.
Even in the perfect conditions of Paradise, God could have left a scar on Adam, at least the lack of one rib, to reminded Adam that through this traumatic experience, he got his bride.
Adam certainly wondered why God wounded him in a perfect world so he could create his bride.
We know now that the fact that Adam was innocent, that he did not sin, represents the prophecy for the second Adam who was also innocent, but had to die on the cross.
Looking at the lack of one rib and at possible scar on Adam, Eve was the first to figure out that a possible disobedience to God brought serious consequences to people.
As the first Adam, the second Adam also carries a scar on the side of his chest to remind everyone of his pain and the deadly sleep meant to revive his bride (John 20:27).
The people of God can see, in Christ’s scar, God's promise - that He will re-create us to live with Him (see John 20: 24-28).
Seeing Adam’s scar and lack of rib is supposed to be a warning not to take fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
 Lack of Adam's rib was a constant reminder to Eve that God had given her life through Adam's wound.
 Much later, the second Adam did the same for all people.
 Jesus' scars remind us that the bread of life is broken. He died that we might live. His love is sealed by the scars on his body.
 
Awakening - Resurrection
In the Bible, sleep symbolizes death, so waking-up from sleep represents resurrection.
It is interesting that the resurrection of Christ occurred at dawn, when people usually wake up, and he died or fell asleep in the evening, when people go to sleep.
After the first Adam suffered his chest wound, God healed him in the garden, woke him up and gave him a suitable bride.
Likewise, God healed the Second Adam after he suffered a chest wound, woke him up from death/ sleep, resurrected him, and as a reward He will receive his bride.
Now is the process of creating Christ’s "bride" from the materials taken while Jesus slept: blood and water that came from His body when He was pierced with a spear between the ribs.
Both the first and second Adam fell asleep, and both were awakened. They both received a bride, and without this death or sleep, the bride would not exist.
 The phenomenon of sleep and waking is a unique characteristic of people and animals.
However, Psalmists says that God does not slumber or sleep (Psalm 121: 3-4).
However, when God's people were in distress, the Bible writers were repeatedly sent a call God to "wake up" and deliver them:
"Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever... Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness." (Psalm 44:23, 26).
It sounds contradictory to say that God, who is always awake, sometimes sleeps. God is always awake and always hears our prayers.
 However, it seems that the Bible writers, apart from the obvious meaning of the text, also make an allusion that the incarnate Son of God will die, and wake up to give salvation to his people!
 Our reasoning skills are not great enough to understand the possibility that the immortal Word of God - who created the universe - took a human body, died and came to life again. Because Jesus rose from the dead, he has the legal right to advocate for us when we are judged before God's throne, and to give us forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
Bride
Both the first and second Adam fell asleep, woke up and material for their bride was taken from their chest.
The Bible begins and ends with a marriage. In the beginning, Adam received Eve, and at the end Adam, who symbolize Messiah gets the bride - New Jerusalem. Adam received his bride, and he called her woman.
"The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” "(נשׁים אשּׁה'ishshâh nâshıym = feminine noun of man, that is a woman)
 "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2.23,24)
John the Baptist called Jesus 'groom,' as Adam was the bridegroom in Eden.
John said that Jesus came to seek his bride (John 3:29), that he was a friend of the groom who came to prepare his way:
"You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice." John 3: 28-29
John the Baptist described himself as a friend of the bridegroom, and he described Jesus as the Bridegroom.
Jesus himself said, referring to his own death: "Jesus answered, "The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast." (Matthew 9:15).
It is interesting that in the garden where the tomb was, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, but he did not call her by name,
But he used a common noun "woman": "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" John 20:15
It seems strange that out of all women with better reputation, Mary Magdalene was in the garden, but remember that God comes to cleanse His people from sin, as Mary Magdalene - a sinner, came to Christ to be released from sin.
 It should be noted that this is only symbolism, because Mary only symbolically represents sinful people who asked God to be cleansed from sin, Jesus took sinner’s death penalty to return the repented sinner to a state of perfection.
We emphasize this because some people distorted the relationship of Jesus and Mary, to show the Savior of the world as a common man.
Jesus is called the Son of God, but the Son in terms of our family relationships.
Likewise Christ's bride does not have a literal marriage with Christ, but in terms of common goals, common purpose and the covenant relationship of respect and loyalty.
God did not randomly create Adam alone first, and later create Eve.
This order of creation was a prophecy that the other Adam – Christ, will be the firstborn from the dead, and later He will get his bride, because of wound on his chest while he was at the cross.
In God’s provision, by the Messiah’s suffering, He will get His bride.
The creation of „bride“ is a long process, because it requires cleansing of sin by water and blood from Christ's wound on his chest.
Revelation describes „the wedding of the Lamb,“ a covenant between Christ and New Jerusalem:
("Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." Revelation 19.7).
"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Revelation 21: 2
As it was not good for the first Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18), it is not good for the second Adam to be alone.
The first Adam had Eve, and this is what the second Adam is going to get:
"...and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." Revelation 21.3
 
Temptation of the first and second Adam
Adam ate the forbidden fruit, and every human being has a toothache.
What both Adam and Christ have in common is that they were tempted to reject God and God's principles. Adam was tempted in ideal conditions, in the Garden of Eden, while Christ was tempted in the most extreme conditions in the desert.
The temptation of the first Adam was to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, even though they had an abundance of the most delicious food.
The temptation of the second Adam was that, after 40 days of fasting, he would turn a stone into bread.  So, they were tempted by food in both cases.
Jesus said that "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4.4
Jesus did not use his power to make it easier for himself, but he resisted temptation with the power available to all of us through prayer.
Adam was surrounded by tame animals before his fall, and Jesus was surrounded by wild and potentially dangerous animals. ("and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals..." Mark 1:13)
God told Adam that he would die if he eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
However, when Satan said to Eve they would not die if they eat from that tree ("You shall not surely die"), Adam also took it and ate.
However, God was right. Disobedience and lack of faith in God brought death to the human race.
In a similar manner, Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, and falsely promised that he would not die if he jumped from the top of the temple. He wanted to tempt Jesus to show lack of faith and disobey God.
The second Adam - Jesus, was not afraid of death. He told his disciples that he would die soon (apparently for the salvation of people).
Apostle Peter, instead of encouraging him to save humankind, said: "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"" Matthew 16:22
Jesus, as the second Adam, went to die to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind, and Peter encouraged Jesus to do the opposite.
In a similar manner, Satan tempted Adam and Eve when he said:
"You shall not surely die," but they decided to do the opposite from the interests of humankind.
Peter asked Jesus not to die, even though it was an interest of all sinners to be saved.
Note that Peter said this directly, just before they went to Jerusalem where the second Adam died and woke up on a third day, as it was prophesied.
While the first Adam fell into temptation, another Adam told Peter:
"Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." Matthew 16:23; Mark 8:33.
Jesus recognized similarity with the first temptation Adam had in Paradise: "You're not going to die" – in this case to save people.
However, Jesus did not give up his mission to save those who sincerely seek God.
God placed the first Adam as master of all living beings and matter on Earth, but Adam chose to disobey God, thinking that he and Eve should be more than just managers. He wanted them to "be gods" as Satan falsely promised.
This way Satan, who used the serpent as a medium, took over dominion over our planet.
The second Adam, Messiah, incarnated Word of God, through which the universe was created, the ruler of the universe, had a similar temptation.
The Devil offered him power over kingdoms of this world if He would worship him. Jesus told him: "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Matthew 4:10
Although the first Adam had abundance to fulfill all his needs, still he disobeyed God and brought death to mankind.
On the other hand, the second Adam lacked basic needs, but He remained on God's side, and resisted every temptation.
Jesus recognized that He was tested in a similar manner where the first Adam sinned, so Jesus did not step away from God’s instructions.
After the Fall, the first Adam covered himself with fig leaves to hide the shame of sin he did.
Notice that a few days before his death, Jesus cursed the barren fig tree where there was no fruit, but only leaves (Mark 14: 11-14; Matthew 21:17), and that this happened just a short time before the crucifixion.
Of all kinds of fruits, in both cases the writer mentioned just a fig and its leaves, which symbolizes the hypocritical disguise of Adam’s sin, and hypocritical religious people in Christ's time.
Adam become naked because of sin and lost his dignity, and the second Adam came to return the lost dignity of human beings, and give them his righteousness.
One of the consequences of Adam’s sin, was that food would not be easy to collect: "To Adam he said, "...Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life." Genesis 3:17
Because of this, even the second Adam ate only when hospitable people gave Him food, or if he collected food from the field. So he sought a fig tree by the road, but there was no fruit on it.
Because of disobedience to God, an angel - cherub did not allow Adam and Eve to return to Eden, but angels helped Christ who resisted his temptation.
The first Adam saw his Eve would die, and he chose to die with her, while the second Adam – Jesus chose to die for his bride, so God's people could have eternal life instead of death. The first Adam could not save Eve by his death, but he pointed to a better Adam, who would save His bride by His death and resurrection.
The snake led Adam and Eve to disobey God, and they "opened their eyes" just to see that they started doing evil deeds (Genesis 3: 5,7).
However, Jesus opened minds of His disciples to understand the Scriptures, and to do good.
Understanding that the Old Testament foretold the suffering and resurrection of the Messiah, changed their lives. Luke 24: 45,46.
The first Adam introduced evil to people, and the second Adam brought people to do good again.
 
Snake
The first Adam was deceived by Satan to disobey God. God gave a prophecy that the snake, which is Satan, will bite the Messiah's heel, but at the end Christ will step on his head:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15
Knowing this prophecy, Satan tried to do the reverse – through the traitor Judas, he lifted his heel against Christ:
"And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve. And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and officers how he might betray Him to them." Luke 22:3,4
"... But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me’.“ John 13:18
This is a prophecy written in Psalm 41: 9 „ Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me “
The second Adam reversed this Satan's counterfeit, even took upon himself the punishment people deserved after they rebelled against God: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life." John 3:14,15
The second time He comes, Jesus will finally stand at the head of the serpent.
 
Clothing Removal
Before sin, Adam had holiness as his cover, However, after he sinned, that holy cover was taken away and he was ashamed because he had nothing to cover him. 
After the fall, Adam did not want to be naked, and he made clothes from fig leaves. Still he could not hide the nakedness and shame they brought to humanity (Genesis 3: 7).
Jesus had no reason to be ashamed because he was without sin. However, soldiers shamed him, removed his clothes and divided his garments among themselves:
"They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him... And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among themselves by casting lots." Matthew 27: 28,35; John 19:23).
The second Adam took our shame upon himself and gave us His righteousness.
While Adam hid from God when he sinned, Jesus did not hide from people when they came to arrest him. He had no guilt, and He was accused unjustly.
Christ went through similar situations as the first Adam, but Christ won in every situation where Adam failed.
 
He took, gave, and they ate
Adam’s fall and deliverance through another Adam happened in a manner that someone took food, he gave others, and they ate.
Eve took the fruit of the knowledge of evil, gave it to Adam, Adam ate, and that caused death to mankind.
"When the woman 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 her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.“ Genesis 3:6
At the Last Supper, Jesus reversed the process. He used the same words in the same order as with the first Adam.
Jesus as the second Adam took the unleavened bread that is symbolically represented His body, which has suffered for us, gave it to his disciples and they ate.
"...Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
"Take and eat; this is my body... given for you." Matthew 26:26 Luke 22:19
Someone took, gave, and they ate - this is the sequence of events through which sin came into the world, and the second Adam decided to remove sin from the people of God in the same manner.
The same manner in which Satan deceived mankind, the second Adam used to save mankind.
Eating the forbidden fruit brought death and eating bread of life brings eternal life.
"This is the bread that came down from heaven... but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." John 6:58
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:51
 
Two gardens and two trees
The key events for both first and second Adam happened in a garden, with a tree that brings death and life.
The first Adam lived in the garden of Eden, where God later created Eve.
The first Adam, and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden because of disobedience to God, and they died outside the garden.
Also, during Christ's crucifixion in Jerusalem once again at the same place we see the same elements: a garden (John 18.1; 19:41) the new Adam (Romans 5:14) and two trees that bring life or death.
The most important events for the second Adam also took place in a garden.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus made His final decision to take upon himself the sin of mankind,
In this garden soldiers arrested him and against his will took Him out of the garden to be sentenced to death (John 18: 1)
In the same way Adam and Eve had to leave the garden of Eden, because they were sentenced to death.
It should not be a surprise that Jesus was buried in the garden, because this brings a suggestion that God is about to reverse the death sentence for Adam and Eve, and everyone who wants to live with God ("Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid... they laid Jesus there."  John 19: 41,42).
The second Adam was resurrected in this garden to restore descendants of Adam and Eve and give them life they lost in the Garden of Eden.
Notice that at first Mary Magdalene thought that Jesus was the gardener, because the tomb was in the garden ("...Thinking he was the gardener, she said..." John 20:15).
Information that Jesus is called the gardener sounds redundant, unless we understand that the intention of the Gospel writer was to remind us of the first gardener – the first Adam, whose job was to maintain God’s garden of Eden.
("The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Genesis 2:15). Jesus became the second gardener who will bring God’s people back to the garden of Eden.
These two gardens had a tree, and this tree can make a change between the life and death of every human being.
In the garden of Eden, two of the most important trees for the first Adam were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The last one is responsible for all the evil in our planet (Genesis 2:9).
Moses said that someone who is hanged on a tree is under God's curse (Deuteronomy 21:23).
For the second Adam, cross was the tree of God’s curse, because Christ took the guilt of all sinners on himself, so He can give the tree of life to those who repent.
His tree of death became our tree of life! He took our curse and replaced it with His blessing!
The cross was the tree of death for Jesus, but it became a tree of life for people.
Adam's expulsion from the Garden of Eden turned the planet into a graveyard for humanity, but the second Adam, by his resurrection in the garden where He was buried, will bring people back to the Garden of Eden.
 
Location of the tree
Paradise was a place with abundant life, while Golgotha, which means "Skull", was a place of death.
Notice that Jesus’ wooden cross was in the middle between two thieves
"There they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle." John 19:18
Note that the tree of life was in the middle of the garden: "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." Genesis 2:9
However, Eve said that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was also located in the middle of the garden: "but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" Genesis 3:3
Some people think this was a wrong perception of Eve, because she was confused by seeing a talking snake.
Another possibility is that the middle of the garden was not just one single spot, but the area in the middle of paradise.
In any case, rejection of God's authority meant that Adam and Eve could not access the tree of life.
On the other hand, Jesus as the second Adam, provided access to the tree of life to every person who recognized God’s authority:
"...they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city." Revelation 22:14
Adam was cursed and expelled from Eden because of the tree in the middle of the garden, comparing to a thief that repented on the cross and to whom Jesus promised to be with Him in the Paradise.
The choice of words used in the Bible underlined that Jesus' cross was in the middle between two crosses, and the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil were also in the middle of Paradise, so it is not difficult to guess where will God set the tree of life on the New Earth:
"...To him that overcome will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Revelation 2:7 KJV - Greek: μέσος – mesos - middle
Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, placed in the middle of Paradise, the second Adam had to die on a cross in the middle, which was in the midst of wooden crosses. Also, the tree of life on New Earth will be also in the middle of the Paradise.
 
The Curse: thorns and plants
Even the curses that came as consequences of Adam’s fall, were parallel with Christ's sufferings.
Righteous God judged unjust Adam, and unjust people judged the righteous second Adam.
Righteous God did everything to save the repentant Adam and his descendants, but the unjust people killed the second Adam. However, they could not keep him in the grave.
"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
Instead of easy cultivation of Paradise's plants, after the fall thorns and weeds began to interfere with the cultivation of plants.
Exactly at the time foretold, Jesus took upon himself the curse of the first Adam, but evil men have crowned Him with thorns (Mark 15:17; John 19: 2,5).
The crown of thorns indicates that the second Adam took upon himself the curse of the first Adam and his descendants.
Do you know any other man who was crowned with the crown of thorns, and died innocent for the sake of other people?
This detail is very specific and it is difficult for anyone else to accidentally go through similar sufferings and to be resurrected.
The fact that Jesus was crowned with thorns before execution rarely happened in the history.
Also, after the fall, the consequence were that people would eat lower quality plants, which remind us of the bitter herbs Israelites ate at the Passover with unleavened bread, and Jesus ate with his disciples at the Last Supper
So they ate bitter herbs before Jesus' arrest, which we are supposed to associate with original sin and consequences, but also with deliverance from slavery in Egypt when they ate bitter herbs, as God told them.
Another consequence of Adam's sin was that work will become hard, so people will sweat to provide bread and life's necessities (Genesis 3:19).
In order to deliver people from the curse of sin, Jesus' „...sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." Luke 22:44), This way Jesus gave us bread of life.
The first Adam was tempted by food and failed, and the second Adam, Messiah, symbolically by food at the last supper offered sinners to return to God.
Eating unleavened bread symbolize acceptance that Jesus died for us and our willingness to be re-created and to live without sin through eternity.
Note that Biblical symbols and imagery can be used in multiple layers as a network of associations, rather than a straight line connecting the two events.
This should not surprise us. We should expect from God, who in His wisdom created an incredibly complicated and precise DNA, galaxies and the entire universe.
Satan promised to the first Adam that his eyes would be opened if he ate the forbidden fruit, and Adam’s eyes opened to see that he did evil for the first time.
Jesus, as the second Adam, offered to really open our eyes („I counsel you to buy from me... salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.“Revelation 3:18)
When we open our eyes, we can see our condition, and how can we go back to live with God. Jesus provided a means to cancel the curse the first Adam brought to humanity!
In the Garden of Eden, righteous God sentenced Adam and Eve to death (Genesis 3: 8,9), but in His grace He showed them a plan of how He will save those who repent.
On the other hand, in the garden of Gethsemane, soldiers came to unjustly arrest Christ, who did not commit any sin (John 18: 4-8) and took Him out of the garden to condemn him to death without mercy.
God justly judged the first Adam, His creature; and sinful creatures unfairly judged the second Adam,
God, who breathed the breath of life into nostrils of the first Adam (Genesis 2: 7)
Let people take the breath of life of His Son at the cross in order to save repented sinners.
"Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.“ Luke 23:46
Jesus is greater than Adam (Romans 5:17). When God asked Adam why he sinned,
Adam accused Eve to be responsible for his sin ("The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Genesis 3:12).
On the other hand, Jesus took upon himself the guilt of his bride, He kept the law of God and redeemed his bride.
 
The order is reversed
 Note that all these parallels between the first and second Adams happened in reverse order. The first Adam begins as a perfect being in Paradise where the tree of life is,
- He governs over all creation,
- He fell asleep, had a chest wound and woke up to get a bride
- his wife sinned against God and
- all human beings are under curse of death.
The second Adam came to reverse the curse of death brought to human race by the first Adam:
- The human race lives in a state of rebellion against God,
- The second Adam lived without sin, but
- had to fall asleep, to die, to receive a chest wound, and to wake up - to be resurrected and to clean his bride with blood and water that came out from his chest.
- So HE can regain authority over all the earth
- To bring people back to a state of perfection, to live in the Garden of Eden and eat from the tree of life.
 
Apostle Paul about the second Adam
(Apostolic interpretation of the creation of woman (Genesis 2.18-24))
The apostles also understood that both A dam and Christ are representatives of the human race.
The first Adam was a representative of people who rejected God and lived under the sentence of death.
While the second Adam is a representative of mankind, who took upon Himself the punishment of mankind, offered new creation and restoration of the original purity.
 "Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come." Romans 5:14
Greek word used here („a pattern“) is tipos, τύπος which means: analogy, figurative similarity, similar style, pattern or model of some other phenomena, antitype or template.
So, the first Adam was a model according to which the Savior will appear.
Jesus Christ stood in place of the first Adam as a representative of the human race, and succeeded where the first Adam failed.
The Apostle Paul said that through the disobedience of the first Adam many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the second Adam many will be made righteous.
The disobedience of the first Adam brought sin and death, and the obedience of the second Adam brought the opportunity to restore righteousness by God's grace. Romans 5:19 (5.12-21)
"...For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
…For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
…just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.“ Romans 5: 15-21
Throughout 1 Corinthians chapter 15, apostle Paul speaks about the resurrection of Christ, and in this context, he mentioned Adam through whom death came, while through the second Adam will come eternal life.
The first Adam was made of earth, carnal, natural body, and the second Adam gives life, he is heavenly and spiritual.
Paul Jesus called the last Adam, the ultimate Adam (1.Corinthians 15:45)
The first Adam gave us the value of dust from the ground, while the second Adam represented heavenly values.
Paul points out the differences between the first and second Adam: one perverted his nature by being disobedient to God, while the second Adam remained a perfect spiritual being.
The first Adam is a prototype of sinful men, while resurrected Jesus, as perfect man, becomes the prototype of spiritual men.
"it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven.
As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have been born in the image of earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man." 1.Corinthians 15: 44-49
In Ephesians, the apostle Paul creates a link between the marriage of Adam and Eve with the covenant relationship of God and His people, which confirms that the creation of Eve from Adam is a type of creation of God’s people:
"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Ephesians 5:25
"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church." Ephesians 5.31-32.
Paul quoted a phrase from Genesis 2:24, which describes creation of woman, that man will leave his father and mother to become one flesh with his wife, as God's people give up everything to live with God.
Adam was created in God's image ("So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.“ Genesis 1:27).
The apostle Paul says that Christ "is the image of God" (Greek: eikon = image, likeness) (2.Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Philippians 2:6)
Which is an allusion to the first Adam created on God’s image. Apostle Paul says that the Messiah is better Adam, the perfect Adam, who will bring people back into the state of perfection, in harmony with the Creator of the world.
Adam and Eve ruined the image of God in them, but through the second Adam, mankind will once again be created in God's image.
Adam was created in God's image to reflect some of God's attributes, such as freedom of choice, creativity, justice and love for all other creatures.
By disobedience, the first Adam corrupted his original perfection, but the Messiah came to restore the image of God in us.
 
The literal and symbolic interpretation
This symbolic / poetic / allegorical interpretation of the Bible text does not change the literal / historic understanding of the text. Creation literally happened the way it was written.
Adam and Eve were real, they were the first created couple. The fall into sin was a real event, but besides the literal meaning, there is also a particular symbolic meaning of the text:
that the creation of Eve is also a prophecy telling us that God will re-create His people.
 
Why is this important?
The last parallel between the first and second Adam is that both were given authority over all of creation.
"God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Genesis 1:28
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." Matthew 28:18
"…He taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.“ Matthew 7:29
"But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Matthew 9:6
God who has the power to condemn or forgive showed us an outline of what He will do when people choose to reject His commandments.
Events in the life of the first Adam are also a prophecy for the Messiah - the second Adam, who will re-create human beings to respect God and live forever with Him.
The first Adam brought death to humanity, and the purpose of the second Adam is to restore human beings and to eternal life.
God, who planned all this before the trouble with sin began, is worthy of our absolute trust.
God has an answer for whatever human beings decide to do. The Lamb was slain even before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1.19,20).
I do not know what the future holds, but I know who brings the future!