God’s People

Adam and Eve in God’s Image

The story of the Bible stretches from Genesis to Revelation. Yet what makes this story so compelling, so audacious, is the biblical authors’ attempt to tell not just the story of Israel but the story of the cosmos. And at the heart of this cosmic drama is a God who pursues communion with his creation. Genesis 1-3 sets the trajectory for the remainder of the Bible. Indeed, every verse in Scripture, in some way, goes back to Gen 1-3. The task before us is to trace the people of God, created in the divine image, from Genesis to Revelation. Our goal is not simply a biblical-theological task—to study God’s dealings with his people in Scripture—but to relate our own lives to this covenant community. 

We begin with the opening chapters of Genesis, where God creates the cosmos to be his house, his sanctuary. Psalm 78:69 succinctly expresses this reality, “He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever.”¹ The cosmos reflects the same tripart structure of Israel’s tabernacle/temple: the invisible heavens symbolize the holy of holies, the visible heavens or sky symbolize the holy place, and the earth symbolize the outer courts. Yet there is also a discernable tripart structure of the earth itself, as Eden appears to be atop a mountain that waters the garden (Gen 2:10). Eden represents the holy of holies, the garden represents the holy place, and the territory beyond the garden represents the outer courts. Mapping out the gradations of holiness on the earth illuminates Adam and Eve’s divine commission to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth” (Gen 1:28). It also explains why God “placed” Adam “in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it” (Gen 2:10). And, finally, Adam and Eve’s marriage in 2:24 is how the divine commission in 1:28 and 2:10 will be fulfilled—through god-fearing offspring. In a word, God commands the first couple to create a community of faithful image bearers to extend the borders of Eden, the holy of holies where God dwells and rules, by cultivation and subjugation.

Imaging God on the earth contains two facets: imitating God’s function and character in heaven and refracting these realities upon the earth.² Adam, for example, rules as God rules. Of course, Adam doesn’t rule in precisely the same way as God. He’s a viceregent—someone who rules on behalf of another. So, by creating Adam and Eve in his image, God designs the first couple to function as kings, priests, and prophets. As kings, Adam and Eve must extend God’s heavenly reign to earth by ruling over all forms of hostility (e.g., the unclean serpent!). As priests, Adam and Eve must extend God’s glory from Eden to the ends of the earth.³ As prophets, Adam and Eve must preserve God’s decrees and pass them on to their children. If Adam and Eve and their progeny succeed in filling the earth with the glory of the Lord, then God will join heaven and earth into one location and dwell with glorified humanity face to face for all of eternity. Even before the fall, Gen 1-2 looks toward the future time when heaven and earth will be joined together. 

The Fall of Adam and Eve and the Promise of Redemption

We should view the serpent’s temptation of Eve as a full-blown attack (Gen 3:1-7). The battle is not waged with physical weapons, though, but with words. And the serpent hurls these deceptive words at Eve’s threefold function in bearing the divine image as king, priest, and prophet. Instead of Adam and Eve executing judgment on the serpent at the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen 2:17; cf. 1 Kgs 3:9), they partake of the tree in an attempt to rise above their status of bearing God’s image and become gods themselves—to possess “knowledge of good and evil” and become arbiters of right and wrong. 

The fall results in death and decay in Adam and Eve’s mind and body. The cosmos itself becomes infested with sin, and the serpent’s victory leads to his succession as “ruler of this world” (John 12:31; cf. 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2), although he still operates under Yahweh’s sovereign control (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Luke 4:6). Yet amid judgment and despair, God promises that he will raise up a pristine image bearer, a consummate king, priest, and prophet, who will “strike” the serpent’s “head” with a fatal blow at the very end of history and guarantee that God’s glory will cover the earth (Gen 3:15).

The Nation of Israel as a Corporate Adam

Sin and death remain pervasive in the world, yet the Adamic commission remains in place. The commission is reiterated in the lives of Noah (Gen 9:7), Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 17:1-9), Isaac (Gen 26:3-4), Jacob (Gen 28:3-4, 13-14; 35:11-12), and Joseph (Gen 48:3, 15-16), but with a twist: God promises to go “with” his people to ensure fulfillment (see Exod 1:7, 10-12). 

After God rescues his people from the clutches of Egyptian bondage and brings them to Mount Sinai, he fashions Israel in his image as a corporate Adam to function as a collective king, priest, and prophet. The commission that God gave Adam in the garden is formally passed on to the nation at Sinai (Exod 19:6). As kings, they must bring all forms of sin and hostility in Canaan under the reign of God. As priests, Israel must bring the light of God’s glory to the nations that dwell in darkness. As prophets, Israel must keep and proclaim God’s law.

In many ways, Israel’s worship of the golden calf rehearses Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit (Exod 32:1-35). Both brazen acts were an attempt to de-god God,⁴ to pull God down and to elevate oneself to the position of God himself (see Exod 20:3-4; Deut 5:7-9). One concrete effect of Israel’s rebellion at Sinai is the splintering of the threefold office into three formal offices. Uniquely “anointed” individuals will occupy the three offices of king, priest, and prophet (Deut 17:14-18:22).

The fall of Israel did not bring an end to the Adamic commission (Gen 1:28; 2:10; 2:24), though. The Old Testament predicts through prophetic patterns and explicit prophecies that a redeemer will arrive on the scene. This figure will conquer Israel’s enemies (e.g., Gen 49:8-10; Num 24:17; 2 Sam 7:12-13; Isa 9:6-7), function as a priest-king (Ps 110:1-7; Zech 6:13), and become a prophet par excellence (Deut 18:15; Isa 11:2-3; 61:1). This messiah will bring about physical and spiritual renewal to Israel and the nations. “All of God’s people will, at the very end of history, possess a perfected image. They will rule, worship God, and embody truth, like Adam and Israel should have ruled, worshiped God, and embodied truth.”⁵

Jesus as the Last Adam and True Israel

The four Gospels present Jesus as Yahweh incarnate. Jesus is God and man. And in his humanity, he consciously patterns his ministry after Adam and Israel. He succeeds in accomplishing the commission God gave to Adam, the Patriarchs, and Israel. But there is more, Jesus also pays the price for humanity’s failure for not functioning as perfect kings, priests, and prophets. He secures righteousness for his people yet takes upon himself the unrighteousness of his people on the cross in their stead (2 Cor 5:21).

At the outset of Jesus’ ministry—his baptism—God commissions him as a faithful image bearer. The Lord announces in Mark 1:11, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased,” alluding to three Old Testament texts. “My beloved Son” blends Gen 22:12 and Ps 2:7. Genesis 22:12 refers to Abraham offering Isaac upon the altar, and Ps 2:7 harkens back to the Davidic covenant in 2 Sam 7, where God promised David that one of his descendants would assume the throne and establish an everlasting kingdom. By combining Gen 22:12 and Ps 2:7/2 Sam 7, we learn that Jesus will ironically fulfill the Davidic covenant in his death upon the cross.

The third allusion evokes Isa 42:1: “This is my servant…in whom my soul delights” (my trans.).⁶ This “servant” figure in Isaiah embodies true Israel (Isa 42:1–9; 50:4–9; 52:13–53:12), by proclaiming the oracles of God that concern the new age (Isa 61:1-3) and becoming a “light for the Gentiles” (Isa 49:3, 6). In sum, the Spirit anoints Jesus as the long-awaited king, priest, and prophet to undo the effects of the fall and achieve what Adam and Israel should have accomplished: subduing God’s enemies and filling the earth with the glory of God by creating a community of faithful image bearers.

Jesus’ success over the devil at the end of his forty-day testing in the wilderness, an event that recalls Adam and Eve’s testing in the garden and Israel’s grueling testing in the wilderness, inaugurates the eternal kingdom and begins the overthrow of Satan’s cosmic reign (Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13). Jesus is the long-awaited king of Israel and the nations. Yet, his reign encompasses more than a parcel of land. He rules over the cosmos itself. 

Jesus’ priestly status comes to the fore in his actions in the temple when he expels the moneychangers and condemns Israel for idolatry (Matt 21:22; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-25). But, Jesus is more than a priest—he is the fullness of the “glory” of God on earth, where he “dwelt” (lit. “tabernacled”) with his people (John 1:14). Jesus doesn’t simply mediate God’s glory, as priests were responsible to do; he is God’s glory. Finally, Jesus’ prophetic ministry becomes obvious in his parabolic speech and actions. Jesus is, however, more than a prophet; he speaks and acts as God himself. 

The Church as the Last Adam and True Israel 

Christ obeyed the divine commission that God gave to Adam in the garden and Israel at Sinai. The Spirit unites believers to Christ and his work, so believers should be considered little last Adams and true Israelites. Christians benefit from Christ’s work. We are what he is. He is the perfected image of God, the church is the corporate perfected image of God.⁷

The book of Acts opens with the pouring out of the Spirit upon the church at Pentecost that fulfills Old Testament prophecy (see Joel 2:28-32). It is no coincidence that Luke patterns the event after the creation of Adam: “Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying” (Acts 2:2). The word for “wind” (pnoē) is the same word that’s found in Gen 2:7 when God “breathed” into Adam the “breath [pnoēn] of life.” The prophet Ezekiel picks up on this creational activity and applies it to Israel’s resurrection at the end of history: “He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord GOD says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live! (Ezek 37:9).’” Luke taps Gen 2 and Ezek 37 to explain the significance of the pouring out of the Spirit upon the church. At Pentecost, God fashions the church as a corporate, restored Adam figure and gives them resurrection life. 

Each believer in the new covenant age enjoys a restored image, possessing the threefold office of king, priest, and prophet. This threefold office, however, operates in a greater degree or capacity than what Old Testament saints enjoyed, because this threefold office is tied to Christ’s perfected image through their union with him by the power of the Spirit. 

The church’s identity as kings manifests primarily itself in ruling over sin and temptation (Rom 6:14; 16:20; Eph 6:10-17; Rev 2:7; 11:7; 12:11). The church’s identity as priests can be discerned in a multitude of passages that identify the church as the temple (1 Cor 6:19; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:19-21; 1 Peter 2:5) and a lampstand (Rev 2:1, 5; 11:4). Revelation 5:10 even states that the Lamb established the church as “a kingdom and priests to our God.” The church’s prophetic ministry is obvious as it heralds the gospel to the nations (Acts 1:8), obeys God’s Word, and embodies the ministries of Moses and Elijah (Rev 11:3-6). 

The Church in the New Heavens and Earth

When Christ returns at the end of history and transforms this present cosmos into a glorified cosmos, heaven and earth will be joined together. God will dwell with his people on the new earth for all of eternity. And while the Bible doesn’t answer all our questions about the nature of the eternal state, it does supply a great deal of information about the church’s identity. For example, John depicts the church as a pure and righteous bride (Rev 21:10) and the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:11-21), two symbols that refer to God’s people as true Israel and the end-time temple. The entire cosmos is one gigantic temple, wherein the triune God dwells fully and finally with the covenant community (Rev 21:22). One symbolic description in Rev 22:3-4 is worth considering: “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” John envisions each person of the redeemed community as bearing God’s “name…on their foreheads.” Such a description is staggering, as only the high priests enjoyed that privilege: “You are to make a pure gold medallion and engrave it, like the engraving of a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. Fasten it to a cord of blue yarn so it can be placed on the turban…It will be on Aaron’s forehead…It is always to be on his forehead” (Exod 28:3-6). The point is that every person in the new creation will have continuous and intimate access to the presence of God for all of eternity. Believers will also rule over and manage all of creation and embody God’s righteous decrees in all of life. 

In a world that is relentlessly pursuing identity, the Bible equips believers with a true understanding of who we are and why we exist. God created us in his image to bring him glory and to proclaim him to the ends of the earth. To do anything less is to be unhuman.