Adam and Eve in the New Testament

1.) In Corinthians 15:21-22, the author saw similarities between the stories of Adam and Jesus Christ. He argued that because "all die in Adam," all will live in Christ. Thus, Adam brought death to humans, while Christ brought life. As such, the author interpreted Genesis 2 based on the context of the time period, a time after Christ died, in which many people were trying to find answers to questions left by him.
2.) In Galatians 3:27-28, there were two references to Genesis. One that might not be so obvious was the mentioning of Christians "cloth(ing) yourselves with Christ." Much like Adam and Eve clothed themselves with leaves, Christians were told to cloth themselves with Christ. Also, the reference to "male and female" had much greater significance. The author was referencing to the differences in the sexes that Genesis had left. Genesis had influenced many cultures to have the women be inferior to the men because of the punishments God gave Eve. However, the author believed that because of Christ, this inequality was balanced out, and all were equal under Christ. Thus, despite the story of Adam and Eve, men and women were equal.
3.) In Colossians 3:9-11, a clothing motif was mentioned once again. However, this time the image was much more powerful. "seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its Creator," was a clear reference to the book of Genesis, in which Adam and Eve clothed themselves first with fig leaves, and then God gave them knew clothes. Thus, this image used in Genesis was also used to symbolize an acquiring of new knowledge and also redemption for ones "old self." The author called Christians to strip themselves of the old clothes God had given them (the knowledge Adam and Eve had), and to take on the teachings of Jesus Christ, "the new clothes." The authors proposal clearly reflected the changing times that this text was written.
4.) In I Corinthians II: 3-12, Genesis was referenced once again in order to validate a new teaching or belief. It was believed that men should not wear hats, but women should. The author argued that this was because women was made for the sake of man, and thus, deserved a symbol of authority on her head. Also, the author attempted to use a reference from Genesis to make men and women seem less divided. "For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman, but all things come from God." (I Corinthians II: 11) Thus, because all things come from God, it does not matter who comes from what. In the end, woman and man are equal. As such, this passage clearly reflected the time period, in which the gender gap was slowly closing. Despite making women inferior, the author pointed out that women had authority over men in some aspects of life.
5.) In 2 Corinthians II: 2-6, the author specifically referenced the book of Genesis. "But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere devotion to Christ." Thus, the author used the symbolism of a cunning snake to represent the non-believers, those who preached religions and beliefs other than those by Christ. Just as the snake told Eve to disobey, there would always be people tempting Christians to sin. Thus, the author once again referenced Genesis in order to deal with an issue that was prevalent at the present time.
6.) In Ephesians 5:21-6:9, the author made a very clear concept of family by using Christ's relationship with the Church as a metaphor. Wives were to love their husbands and respect their husbands as they respected God (Much like the church loved God.) This was clearly a reference to Genesis. Also, husbands were to love their wives, as Christ loved the church. Christ died in order to save the church, and thus, husbands were expected to equally love their wives. Another reference to Genesis was, "husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies." Since women were created from men's bodies, men were expected to love women just like they loved their bodies. Christ also loved his body, and his body was the church. Genesis was exactly quoted, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." Thus, just as the Christ became one flesh with the Church, men and woman would become one flesh. As such, the author clearly referenced Genesis (a Jewish scripture) to emphasize a Christian teaching, since most Christians were originally Jews. The author goes further to establish a child's relationship with their parents. They were to respect their father and mother, and the parents were expected to teach and discipline their children.
7.) In Timothy 2:8-15, the author explained what women were supposed to wear. This reference to clothing was very important to establish the distinction of sexes. Women were to dress modestly. Women were not allowed to teach or have authority over a man, "For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor." Thus, the author believed their was a definite line between man and woman, but she would be "saved" by having children and teaching them love, faith, holiness, but with modesty. Thus, women were to contain themselves. As such, the author clearly believed that men were superior to woman according to the book of Genesis, when woman was created second and deceived.
In Matthew 19: 3-12, the author referred to the second book of Genesis in order to answer a more modern question. Divorce and marriage were not specifically established back in the beginning of mankind, but because the question of divorce was such an issue at the time the New Testament was written, many had to refer back to Genesis or Exodus to argue for or against divorce.The Pharisees asked Jesus if divorce was lawful, and Jesus answered with the text, "a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh' [Gen 2:24]?" (Matthew 19: 5) Here, Jesus believed that "becoming one flesh" meant marriage. He also interpreted this verse as a message that explained the sacredness of marriage. "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." (Matthew 19:6) Thus, the New Testament attempted to solve the mysteries of the Genesis text. The author clearly believed that the Genesis story suggested that man and woman should be married and this marriage should never be broken. The second part of this text included a rebuttal from the Pharisees. They believed divorce was lawful because Moses said it was lawful. But Jesus explained that Moses did this against his will, and "from the beginning it was not so." (Matthew 19:8) He elucidated further that "whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery." (Matthew 19:9) Here, Jesus explained that because Genesis came before Exodus (the book that included the life of Moses), Genesis was the dominant scripture. This idea that "coming first" gave one person, text, or event superiority over the others has been prevalent in multifarious parts of Christian/Jewish tradition. For instance, in the Vita, Lucifer believed that he had superiority over Adam because he had been created beforehand. In Matthew, Jesus pointed out that because Genesis came before Exodus, contradictions between the two would favor Genesis. In other words, according to Jesus and Satan, seniority rules. However, one must be careful with this interpretation, considering Adam was created before Eve in the second Genesis story.
In I Corinthians 6:13b-17, the author interpreted Gen 2:24, which stated "The two (man and woman) become one flesh." They argued that becoming one flesh meant the physical act of sexual intercourse. As such, they believed that "the body was not meant for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." (I Corinthians 6:13b) Their interpretation of Genesis 2:24 led them to the conclusion that sex was an act that united the bodies of man and woman. Because the author believed that humans were physically "members of Christ," it was important to make sure that one would unite their bodies with someone who was not sinful. Thus, sex with a sinner (prostitute) was unlawful since the Lord was not meant to be united with a sinner. Prostitutes did not exist back in the time of the Garden of Eden, but because it was an established vocation in the time of Jesus Christ, scholars argued against it by referring to the book of Genesis. As such, becoming one flesh did not involved every woman, but a single woman, as the author of I Corinthians 15 would believe.The author also concluded that anyone united with the Lord would be spiritually connected with God. All of the explanations posed by this author were interpreted from a single phrase in the second book of Genesis! The story of creation drastically effected the beliefs of Christians and Jews. Because the text said "become one flesh," fornication was seen as unlawful and marriage was a sacred union that was only breakable by a sinful act of divorce.
In I Corinthians 15: 35,39,42,44-49, the author interpreted Genesis 2 based on a question asking, "How are the dead raised?" This was an issue at the time Corinthians was written because Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Since many believed that Genesis described the origin of death, the New Testament authors decided to find answers within its text. The author noticed many similarities between Adam and Jesus Christ, since they both were made in God's image. God had close relationships with both these men, and thus, the last Adam, as the author called him, was Jesus. Jesus Christ, known in Christian tradition as the son of God, was crucified, died, and rose from the dead. The author interpreted this Christian belief as not the physical body coming to life, but the spiritual entity within humans that came to life. From this, the author elucidated that the sources of these two men indicated much about human beings. Because Adam, the first Adam, was made from dust, all humans start out as dust, living with the dust (Earth). And since the final Adam, Jesus, came from heaven and had a spiritual body , humans will also be apart of heaven and bear the image of the final Adam (a spiritual body). From this, the author decided that humans have both a physical and spiritual body, the spiritual being the one that lives in heaven when the physical body of humans "returns to the dust from which it was created." Thus, in the end, humans may return to dust, but their spirits will return to heaven.