Are Adam and Eve in heaven?
The Bible is very clear that in order for one to go to heaven they must be saved, which means they must put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. We know that Adam and Eve needed to be saved for we read of Adam’s sin and its consequences in Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:6, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil YOU SHALL NOT EAT, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die…So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of it fruit AND ATE. She also gave to her husband with her, and HE ATE.” The moment they ate the DEATH SENTENCE was enforced, for they DIED SPIRITUALLY (see Ephesians 2:1) and they began to DIE PHYSICALLY (see Romans 5:12).
Because they were now spiritually dead towards God, they were not fit for heaven, but God immediately promised a Savior that would defeat the Devil and bring men (starting with Adam and Eve) the offer of salvation. The promise was actually given when God pronounced judgment on the serpent (i.e. the Devil, which is Satan…Revelation 20:2), “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15). In this short message God promised to bring the Savior into the world through the woman, for the “Seed” would be the Lord Jesus Christ (see Galatian 3:16). We know that Adam BELIEVED the gospel message for even though they were given a DEATH sentence we read, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all LIVING” (Genesis 3:20). By naming her Eve he was putting his faith in God’s promise of a Savior that would bring them deliverance through “the woman’s seed.” Even though the Savior wouldn’t be born to Eve; it would be through Eve and her descendants that the Savior would eventually be born. We read in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, BORN OF A WOMAN, born under the law, to REDEEM THEM who were under the law…” We read next in Genesis 3:21, “Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” Based on Adam and Eve’s faith in the gospel proclamation of the coming Savior, God covered their nakedness (verse 7) with “coats of skins.” Where did God get them? They no doubt came from animals that had to die and thus they foreshadow the coming of Jesus Christ, the “Lamb of God” (see John 1:29), who had to die as the sinner’s substitute for sin in order to give man salvation and eternal life (see John 3:16-17; 10:9-11; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The very moment a sinner believes the gospel they are clothed with God’s righteousness, which Isaiah calls “the garments of salvation” and “the robe of righteousness” (see Isaiah 61:10). Thus we believe Adam and Eve were indeed saved because God clothed them with “coats of skins.” This means they were now FIT FOR HEAVEN!
Are Adam and Eve in heaven? I believe all who have died believing in God’s promise of salvation through the “Seed of the woman” are in heaven, including those who died before Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. In Luke 16:19-30 Jesus told the true story of two men who had died. One of them was a poor beggar who “died, and was carried by the angels to ABRAHAM’S bosom.” The other man was a rich man who “also died…and being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and SAW ABRAHAM afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” Abraham was IN HEAVEN and he represents all Old Testament believers who had believed the gospel and who went to heaven when they died, which would include Adam and Eve. Besides that scripture passage, we read in Hebrews 12:22-23, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the HEAVENLY Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the SPIRITS OF JUST MEN MADE PERFECT.” This passage speaks of all who are in heaven and the “spirits of just men made perfect” refer to all those who were “justified by faith” before Christ’s birth, death, resurrection and ascension to heaven (see Romans 4:1-5). So, yes, I believe Scripture teaches us that “Adam and Eve ARE IN HEAVEN.” (445.1 – DO)