Are Adam and Eve Metaphorical or Historical?

Are Adam and Eve metaphorical or historical? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, hi, I'm Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites and feel free to email us at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to David calling in from Kansas City, Missouri. David, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hey, David, great question. I mean, I would just say who's who's better at counting, you know, like who's better with the money? There's there's no sort of biblical rule that says, OK, you know, married couple men, you have to handle the finances.

Women aren't allowed to touch that. Just to be honest with you, you know, like in our household, which I'm happy to be the spiritual head of them. We have a great relationship. My wife is way better with handling the finance, paying the bills, those kinds of things. And so that's that's what she does.

And again, there's no sort of rule in scripture. This is exactly what it needs to look like. I think this is something that you guys hopefully, you know, in your relationship, as you communicate about these things, you guys are on the same page and you're able to think about how you're spending money, how you're being generous, meeting the needs of others within the church, you know, contributing to the life of the local body that you're you're a part of. But this is something that you guys you guys want to do together. I think it's I think it's I'm usually a little bit concerned when I hear, you know, situations where it's like, no, you know, one person handles all the finances, the other person is just totally in the dark. And that's how the other spouse wants it to be.

I'm just going to keep you in the dark and you're not allowed to know. I don't think I don't think that that's how it should be. And so I would say, you know, think about just wisdom, you know, think about who's who's, you know, going to be more able in terms of handling this specific part of your guys's of your guys's lives. And I think if that's your wife, then then great.

And if that's what you've agreed upon, wonderful. So, yeah, but don't don't feel like, you know, I'm breaking God's law or something like that by by doing this or I'm or I'm not taking the responsibility that I need to take as the husband if my wife is handling the finances in in our in our household, because that's just not that not the case. Thanks for your question. What about cleaning the toilets?

Is that in Ezekiel or where does that mention? Yeah, I think that's no, actually. Now, Bill, I want to who does the who does the finances at your house, Bill? I do most of it, but my wife, we actually share some of it like she writes the hard copy checks and I do the online stuff.

So, OK, it's kind of a mixture. Yeah, teamwork. We keep each other informed. And yeah, it works out really well.

So far, we haven't gone into debt. So that's that's good. Oh, yeah. Good. Good. Good. Well, wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. An area of Christian liberty, I would say so. There you go.

All right. This is core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to TJ, who is calling in from Arkansas. TJ, what's your question for Adriel? Hey, there.

Love the show. So this is my question, Pastor. I'm actually a worship minister in my church. We attend the Pentecostal Church of God and I'm sort of on the front end of doing some research. And I turned on the radio the other day and then heard heard the show.

And I thought this might be a good opportunity to ask it. There's a lot of apostolic churches kind of in our region of Arkansas. And I started to do a little bit of research about apostolics and watch several videos. And one thing I find interesting is that the ladies grow their hair long and and they refer to their long hair as their glory. And then I've also found that they don't like men to wear beards. And so my question today was just, you know, how how is that justified? And and is it is it biblical? Just kind of curious your opinion of that?

Yeah. Some of us, TJ, just can't grow good beards. And so I don't know about the guys out there in Arkansas, but I'm one of those men. In fact, if you if you saw the YouTube of me a few months ago, you could tell that I cannot grow a great beard. But a lot of times, here's the thing, man, people will go to texts like the only passage that I think people would refer to in order to make the case that you're referring to. They would go to to talk about the First Corinthians chapter 11, which I'm guessing as you've been studying this is a text that you've spent some time in because this is where it talks about head coverings. It talks about women with long hair.

It doesn't say anything about about beards here specifically. But Paul is talking about worship and how worship should be conducted beginning here in in chapter 11, going all the way through First Corinthians chapter 14. And he ends in First Corinthians chapter 14 talking about the importance of everything being done decent in decency and in order or decently and in order. So not not just a sort of free for all in worship, but God cares about order. He cares that there's understanding that his word is being clearly and faithfully taught.

That's what we need to focus on. And then in chapter 13, you know, before he launches into a discussion about spiritual gifts, he talks about the priority of love and the fruit of the spirit in our worship assemblies. But here, you know, just to just to get at the text that you're bringing up, Paul says in First Corinthians 11 verse 2, I commend you because you remember me and everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

He says to the Corinthians. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ. The head of a wife is her husband and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

Now, why why is that a thing? Well, in the ancient world, shaved head, a shaved head was a sign of grief or disgrace. And you see this in places like Isaiah chapter 7 verse 20. This is why, you know, when individuals be lamenting, they would shave their beards. They would, you know, put on fat cloth and ashes. They would cut their hair. It was just this picture of grief as opposed to rejoicing and glory. So that's a part of it.

Just understanding the context, the context of the ancient world, the context also of the ancient Near East in the Old Testament. For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her hair short. But since it is disgraceful for a wife to cut her hair or to shave her head.

And again, keep that context in mind. Let her cover her head. For a man ought not to cover his head since he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.

Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. This is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. And what's going on there? Well, again, I mentioned this is Paul talking about what's happening in the context of corporate worship. We're joining the church in heaven, surrounding the throne of God together with the angels. You get a picture of this in Hebrews chapter 12. I think that's why he brings up the angels there in verse 10. Nevertheless, in the Lord, he goes on, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman. For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman, and all things are from God.

Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it's a disgrace for him? But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory.

That's where that language comes from, TJ. For her hair is given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be contentious, he says, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God. That's all of 1 Corinthians chapter 11 that I just gave to you.

I think we need to understand the immediate context. In that day and age, in particular in Corinth, Corinth was a Roman colony in the ancient world. Greeks and Romans had differences of opinions with regard to head coverings.

You see this in ancient sculptures and paintings. Romans were keen on head coverings, whereas Greeks typically weren't. There was probably this issue of division within the church that the apostle Paul is trying to resolve because Corinth was this Roman colony.

You almost have this clash of cultures. On the basis of what they were wearing, something was being communicated. That's why Paul is addressing them the way that he is.

I think the takeaway for us, looking at the broader context of 1 Corinthians 11-14, is worshipping the Lord with decency and order in the way that he is prescribed in his word. I've spent quite a bit of time already talking about this, but hopefully that's helpful for you in terms of unpacking that text specifically and some of the questions you had. I appreciate you giving us a call. God bless, TJ.

Thanks, TJ. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adrian Sanchez. I want to say thank you to a very special group of people. We call them our inner core. These are folks that really believe in this ministry, so much so that they're willing to make a monthly donation to help us to meet our financial goals and keep this radio program on the air.

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That's all it'll take, a monthly donation of $25 or more. It really is encouraging for us, and it helps us to continue to do what we want to do here in serving you and in serving the broader body of Christ. It's a way for you to partner with us, and as a thank you for partnering with us, we'll send you a copy of the book, Core Christianity, written by Dr. Michael Horton, which we think is just an excellent book, something that everyone should read, regardless of where you are in your walk with the Lord.

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That's corechristianity.com forward slash inner core. As Adriel said, we'd love it if you would prayerfully consider being part of that team, and we'd love to send you Dr. Michael Horton's book, Core Christianity, which really was the impetus for this program to launch a few years ago. Well, let's go back to the phones. We have voicemails that come in all day long, and we'd love to hear from you. If you can't call during the live program, feel free to call on our voicemail system, and we will review our voicemails. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Debbie.

First, thank you so much for the show. It has taught me so much. And more importantly, it teaches me how to respond to people when they ask questions, and I'm grateful for that. The question is, I go to a church. They believe that Adam and Eve were just like a parable. You know, I was always taught that Adam and Eve and all of those Bible stories that we learn in school were true. And so it confuses me, and I don't know how to respond to them when they say that.

And this is coming from a pastor. I'm quite confused. If you could help me out with that, that's great. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for your kind words and your encouragement.

And I definitely want to help you with this because I think it's a really important question. Of course, there are parables in the Bible. Jesus spoke in parables. You see parables in the prophets specifically. The prophets had this parabolic speech often indicating judgment that was coming on the people of God. But the question is, is Genesis, the early chapters of Genesis, is this a parable?

Is this just a big allegory? Did Adam and Eve really exist as historical individuals? And I believe that if we're going to take the Bible seriously, we're going to have to say that the answer is yes. Genesis 2, verse 7, then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. You have this immediate creation of Adam. And then, of course, God creating Eve out of Adam. And the confirmation that we get in scripture that we're talking here, not about some parable or allegory, but that we're talking about two real people is given to us from Jesus himself, who treated Adam and Eve as real historical people. I'm thinking of places like Matthew chapter 19, verse 4.

He answered, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? There Jesus is responding to the Pharisees' questions pertaining to divorce and said, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh. Adam, as an individual, as the representative of humanity there in the garden, the head of humanity, if you will, fell into sin, and we fell with Adam. Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 5. And then Paul talks about the second Adam, Jesus Christ, the head of a new humanity. Romans chapter 5, he talks about Jesus as the second Adam, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

And so there's a real issue. If we reject the historicity of Adam, well, what does that mean for the Bible's discussion about the first Adam who fell into sin? And the last Adam, Jesus, a real historical person, the second person of the Holy Trinity, come to earth for us and for our salvation. Well, does that mean one of them was real and historical, but Adam wasn't, Jesus was, but Adam wasn't?

No, they both were. We fell in Adam, and we experienced redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ. And so it doesn't seem to me like there's any room for saying, based on what Jesus says, based on what the apostle Paul says, based on even just the language that we get related to God creating Adam and Eve there in the garden, there's no room for rejecting the historicity of Adam and Eve. And so if I was in a church where the pastor was calling this into question and just sort of saying, oh, it's not that big of a deal, I would have some questions for the pastor and maybe bring some of those things up.

That text in Matthew 19, Paul's discussion in Romans 5, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, but even just what we read from Moses there in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 pertaining to the creation of man. So again, thanks for your encouragement and pray that God blesses you and blesses those conversations if you do get to have them with your pastor. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We have a YouTube channel, and you can watch Adriel Live each day at 1130 a.m. Pacific time on YouTube. You can also send us a question through our YouTube channel, and here's one that came in from Anthony. He says, doesn't the Bible say that anything of the flesh cannot enter the kingdom of heaven? I'm confused. If Jesus was resurrected as flesh, then how could he ascend?

That's a great question. So you're referring, I think, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 where Paul says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the discussion is surrounding the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul is making a case for the resurrection because it seems like there were some people in Corinth who were denying the resurrection of believers. Maybe they just thought it was a spiritual resurrection, you know, that we're not really bodily going to rise again from the dead. And so Paul ties together the resurrection of Jesus with our resurrection.

This is why the resurrection of Christ is so important. It's the hope that we have that one day our bodies too will be raised through faith in Jesus Christ, through our union with him. And so we look forward to not just dying and going to heaven, but we look forward to new and restored bodies that are perfect, that are glorified. And I know someone, you know, who's listening right now over the radio just said, amen.

I can't wait to get that body because it is. It's a part of God's redemptive work. It's the consummation, if you will, of God's redemptive work.

The resurrection of the dead, the life of the world to come, the glorification of this created world that God is not just going to abandon, if you will. No, he's restoring all things through his son, Jesus Christ. And so in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul goes on to say in verse 50, again, I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit imperishable.

Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. In other words, our bodies marked by this present evil age are going to be changed, transformed, glorified, for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory, O death. Where is your victory, O death?

Where is your sting? So right now, in this state, we can't inherit the kingdom of God, if you will, the age to come. But that's not because of our bodies in that they're fleshly, if you will. The body of flesh is that they've not yet been glorified.

The perishable has not yet put on the imperishable, which happens at the resurrection. In the new creation, we're going to inherit the earth, this glorified world. Earth is going to be, as some have said, heavenized. Heaven is going to come down to earth. This is what you see at the very end of the book of Revelation, so that we're going to live in this glorious new creation with resurrected, glorified bodies. And in that way, we're going to inherit the kingdom of God, not with these perishable bodies, these mortal bodies.

And that's what Paul is getting at there. And so, great question, and I appreciate you reaching out to us. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. You can call us anytime and leave us a voicemail with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

Here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Jessica. My question is, I think the once saved, always saved doctrine computes this many and quite possibly pulls people away from desiring to walk with the Lord. Many churches and believers believe this, and I don't believe it. I think the Bible is clear that the path that leads to destruction is wide, and we need to be on the narrow path. So my question is, your thoughts or what the Bible says about the once saved, always saved doctrine. Thank you.

Well, I think depending on how it's articulated, it can confuse people. If we're treating salvation as this sort of fire insurance, you know, ask Jesus into your heart, and if you do, you're sealed for eternity, and it doesn't really matter what you believe or how you live. You're going to die one day, and you have that free pass into heaven because you said a prayer and asked Jesus into your heart. Tragically, there are many people who think that and live their lives in rebellion to God and will die one day and stand before the Lord and come to realize, I actually had no relationship with Christ, and I didn't even really believe in Jesus.

I was going through these motions, saying a prayer, trying to give myself this assurance, but in reality, I have no part in or with Christ, and so that's a serious issue. But the question is, can someone who truly is in Christ, who has been born again, justified by the grace of the Holy Spirit through the gospel, can that person lose their salvation? And I think that on the basis of scripture, the answer is no, that if someone truly has been united to Jesus Christ by faith, that God is going to preserve them. Now, that doesn't mean that we don't struggle, that the path isn't narrow, as Jesus said, and as you were referring to Matthew chapter 7, the path isn't narrow, that the way to life isn't difficult, as Jesus said, but it means that we're kept by God and by the grace of the Holy Spirit. One text that I would point to is what Paul says in Romans 8, verse 29, those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined he called, and those whom he called he justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. In other words, those who are called, those who are predestined, those who are justified are also glorified. It's like Paul says in Philippians chapter 1, I'm confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will be faithful to bring it to completion, and so if you're trusting in Jesus Christ, I think that you can have confidence, not that you're by your own works going to keep yourself saved, but that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is going to keep you, and that he's going to continue to work in your life by the grace of his Spirit, sanctifying you, and completing the work that he started in you. But if you're trusting in your works, or a prayer that you said many years ago, well then I would say you need to repent, and look to Christ, turn away from yourself and look to Christ, and receive his grace by faith, and enjoy it. Praise the Lord. Together.