The Gospel of Eden Part V: Faith in the Garden

This will be the final post in this series on the gospel in the Garden of Eden narrative.  We will examine the last element of our "gospel outline" we have been developing, and then close with some concluding thoughts.

As it has already been demonstrated, the gospel is a message about God, man, and Christ, all of which have been shown to be present in the Garden of Eden narrative.  Yet the fourth and final element is necessary as well: the gospel is also a message about faith and repentance.  For the gospel to be said to be present in the garden it is therefore necessary that faith be located within the narrative.  There are two key texts in this regard.

First, there is 3:20:  

The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  

What should first alert the reader that a reaction has occurred to the events of 3:15 and 3:21 is that Adam chooses for his wife a name associated with life rather than death.  It was the woman who ate first of the tree that led to death, yet he names her Life (Eve).  This reveals his understanding that although in Adam all die, through Eve one would come who would bring life.[1] This “naming” on the part of Adam can be understood as a faith response.  At this point in the text, Adam has heard the divine prophecy of 3:15.  He has thus heard the Messianic promise, and it is in this context that he gives his wife her significant name.[2]

The objection could be raised that his naming of the woman “Eve” simply serves to state that all men are physical decedents of these two first parents.  One might say that to label this event a “faith response” is stretching the bounds of credulity and responsible exegesis.  Yet the second of the two key texts under this heading only reinforces the previous conclusions about the faith of Adam and Eve.

In 4:1 Cain is born to Eve and she says 

I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

No such pronouncement accompanies the birth of Abel.  It would appear that Eve sees some special significance in the birth of her first son.  Could it be that she believes he is the promised champion of 3:15 who will destroy death?  Is this simply the normal praise of a mother witnessing the miracle of birth for the first time?[3]  The text is admittedly ambiguous.  Thankfully, a similar yet more explicit and developed statement is made upon the birth of her third son, Seth.  4:25-26 reads

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has appointed me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh.  At that time people began to call upon the name of the LORD.

Eve trusts in the promise of 3:15.  She is looking to the LORD God in faith that he will provide the promised offspring who will win the victory over evil.  It can be inferred from a comparison of 4:1 and 4:25 that Eve was looking expectantly to her own children for this coming “champion.”  She most likely assumed that the promise would be fulfilled in or from her firstborn Cain.  When his brother’s righteousness far exceeded that of his older sibling, she shifted that hope to Abel.  This hypothesis seems to explain why she first highlights Cain’s birth, yet then praises God upon the birth of Seth for replacing her lost “offspring” Abel.[4] 

The faith response of Adam and Eve is therefore evident in the naming of Eve in 3:20, and the expectation of the coming “offspring” in 4:1 and 4:25.  These are not simply minor details in a larger narrative; these are deeply significant elements of a theologically rich portion of God’s Word.  Adam and Eve have had the gospel preached to them (in Seed form) in the promise of 3:15 and the grace-picture of 3:21.  By God’s grace alone, they evidence a simple faith and dependent trust on the covenant fidelity of their LORD to fulfill His promises of a greater hope.      

Conclusion

 

It was the purpose of these posts to demonstrate that the gospel is present in the Garden of Eden narrative, a purpose which has been accomplished by showing that all the essential ingredients of the good news of salvation are indeed present and accounted for in the text.   Eden therefore establishes a Biblical pattern of redemption, a pattern which will be recapitulated throughout Israel’s history in many forms.  Through the many stories of the ancient patriarchs, liberations from slavery, the conquest of new lands, the triumph of kingdoms, the building of temples, heart wrenching exiles and merciful restorations the LORD crafts a mosaic of grace which tells one unified story: God saves sinners by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  It is in the person and work of Jesus Christ that God’s story of redemption is fully told, yet it is the same story he had been telling all along.  And he told it first in the gospel of Eden.

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[1] 1 Cor 15:21-22

[2] “…Adam in effect declared his confessional ‘Amen’ to the Genesis 3:15 promise of restoration from death to life through the woman’s seed.  This he did by naming the woman ‘Life’ (Eve) (Kline, ibid, 150).”

[3] The very first time! 

[4] While Gonzales does not seem to completely agree with the current writer’s thoughts regarding 4:1 (see note 3 on page 58 of Where Sin Abounds) his comments on 4:25 lend strong support to the faith response of Eve and the connection to 3:15 (note 48, page 70, ibid).