Genesis Types: 1. The First Adam, A Type of the Last Adam

(Genesis 1-3). Scriptural warrant for Adam as a type of Christ. "Who is the figure of him that was to come" (Romans 5:14). In I Corinthians 15:45 Paul refers to Christ as the Last Adam, and thus He is the antitype of the First Adam. In some phases Adam is a type of Christ by contrast rather than by comparison. Adam was the Son of God in a unique sense, and as such was a type of the divine Son of God. ". . . which was the son of Adam, which was the Son of God" (Luke 3:38). Because he was created without sin, Adam was son of God in a sense no human being could be. Adam is not a perfect type of Christ, for Jesus was the eternal Son of God, uncreated, whereas Adam was the created son of God. But before his sin he was a fitting type of the sinless Saviour. Adam as the husband of Eve is a type of Christ as the Husband of the Church. "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 is here quoting from Genesis from the statement made about Adam and Eve. Thus he is making them types, and Christ and the Church the antitypes. Adam was promised numerous posterity, as was Christ in a spiritual sense. "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28). Isaiah prophesied of Messiah’s posterity spiritually in Isaiah 53:10. "He shall see his seed." This was to be a result of His suffering on the cross. In Psalm 22:31 it is said that Messiah "shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born." His death on Calvary’s tree made possible the New Birth of millions of people, who through the years have trusted in His atoning death for the forgiveness of sins. Even as Adam was federal head of the human race, so Christ is the Head of the Church. Paul speaks of Christ’s Headship of the Church in Colossians 1:18, "And he is the head of the body, the church." As Adam conveyed the guilt and consequences of his sin to his descendants, so Christ conveys His righteousness to those who accept Him: as Saviour. "Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Romans 5:18). The coats of skin God made for Adam and Eve after them sinned are types of the garments of salvation. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). They had already made aprons of fig leaves. This was the best they could do to cover their nakedness. The Hebrew word atonement means "to cover up." God provided a skin covering after the death of one or more animals. The death of the animal made possible the covering. This is a type of Christ as our Substitute for sin on the cross. Thus the robe of righteousness is provided for us. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). [Old Testament Types - FHW]