The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God. One God, yet three distinct persons. Therefore, if Adam and Eve placed faith in God, they are in heaven now. If they failed to place faith in God, then they would be in hell.
Adam was the first man created, and Eve was the first woman created. They were responsible for the fall of mankind because they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. God had told Adam and Eve they could eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden except the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Since Adam and Eve disobeyed God and caused the fall, many of us wonder if they will be in heaven.
Adam and Eve
As mentioned, Adam and Eve caused the fall of mankind because of their disobedience. Due to their sin, they were exiled out of Eden and could never return. God had given them paradise, yet they chose to disobey God and sin against Him. The serpent tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by saying, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). In this way, the serpent was telling Adam and Eve that if they ate from the fruit, they would be like God. This tells us Adam and Eve wanted to be their own “god.”
With such terrible disobedience, it can be hard to come to terms that Adam and Eve will be in heaven. God pronounced curses on both Adam and Eve, to which both men and women are still under today (Genesis 3:16-19). Even though they had sinned against God, God loved them. We can see this by God providing garments for Adam and Eve to wear once they had discovered they were naked (Genesis 3:21). From this, we can see how God still loved Adam and Eve and wanted a relationship with them. The same rings true for us today because, despite our sins, God still desires a relationship with us.
Redemption in Jesus
Most of us at one time or another have thought that we wouldn’t have done the same thing Adam and Eve did, but we have all disobeyed God and sinned against Him at one point in our life. Since this is true, we are all equally guilty of sinning against God. Ever since the fall of man, God has desired to have a restored relationship with us. This was completed through the saving grace of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world to die for our sins and restore our relationship with the Father. When anyone places faith in Christ, they are given forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and a restored relationship with God.
Jesus repairs what Adam and Eve broke in the beginning. Through placing faith in Jesus, all people can go to heaven. Since this is true, how could Adam and Eve be in heaven if they were alive before Jesus came to the earth to redeem mankind from their sins? Jesus is God, which is how He was able to redeem mankind and give us eternal life. Adam and Eve wouldn’t have known about Jesus, but they would have known God because they walked with Him and He was the one they disobeyed. If Adam and Eve trusted in God, they would have gone to heaven when they died.
All throughout the Old and New Testaments, the condition of salvation was trust and faith in God. After Jesus’ earthly ministry, we knew we needed to place faith in Jesus to be saved; however, in Old Testament times, if a person placed faith in God, they would be saved. As we can see, this is placing faith in the same person because Jesus is God. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all God. One God, yet three distinct persons. Therefore, if Adam and Eve placed faith in God, they are in heaven now. If they failed to place faith in God, then they would be in hell.
Heaven or Hell?
One cannot be dogmatic to say whether Adam and Eve are in heaven or not because the Bible doesn’t tell us. There could be arguments on both sides. However, if Adam and Eve are not in heaven, it is not God’s fault, just as it is not God’s fault that people today go to hell when they die. Our eternal destiny is in our hands. Will it be in heaven or hell? The simple answer to this is if we place faith in Jesus as our Savior and Lord by believing that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again (John 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
If we place faith in Jesus, we go to heaven when we die, but if we fail to place faith in Him, we will go to hell. It is not God who sends us to hell, but rather ourselves. Everybody has the option while they are alive to place faith in Jesus. There are numerous ways God tries to grab our attention to accept His Son. This could be through a car wreck, a terminal illness, or the death of a loved one. God is always trying to lead us to place faith in His Son, Jesus.
In the same way, God would have done numerous things to bring Adam and Eve to place faith in Him during their earthly lives. Whether they accepted Him and placed faith in Him, we don’t know for certain. It would be interesting to meet Adam and Eve one day in heaven; however, we cannot know with certainty that they placed faith in God during their lives. Since they walked with Him in the Garden of Eden and knew Him, they would not be able to deny His existence. They also may have felt extreme guilt from their sin and desired to change their ways. While these are only ideas, they are reasonable and could lean toward the idea that Adam and Eve are in heaven, but as stated, we cannot know with certainty because the Bible simply doesn’t tell us.
Adam and Eve are interesting people, and they were the first people God created. All of us can trace our ancestry back to Adam and Eve because we all come from them. While knowing if Adam and Eve are in heaven right now is a popular subject, we cannot know if they went to heaven when they died. It depends on if they placed faith in God during their earthly lives. Both Adam and Eve lived extremely long lives, therefore, they would have many chances to accept God and place faith in Him.
In the same way, we need to make sure that we place faith in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior and Lord. Salvation is only found in Jesus as He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). We all have the decide if we will believe in Him or not. It is up to us to make that decision for ourselves, just as Adam and Eve made their own decision of if they were going to place faith in God or not. We would be wise to place faith in Jesus and live a life in obedience to Him.
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