Adam's Transgression

Below is a brief exploration of the state of things when God created the world.

What Happened

Adam (and Eve) transgressed God’s command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
They acquired the knowledge of good and evil
They were judged by God who cursed creation as a whole subjecting it to corruption
They were driven out of the Garden of Eden and were not allowed back in.

God ensured they could not reenter the Garden of Eden by placing cherubim on the east side of the Garden and
God also ensured that no one could get them fruit from the Tree of Life by placing a fiery sword, flashing back and forth to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

God drove man out of the Garden and made return impossible so that God and His justice would not be mocked. God said man would die but the Garden had a Tree whose fruit could impart eternal to him, if man ever ate of this Tree and, rather than die, lived for ever, God would become an object of mockery. (God will not allow himself to be mocked.)

Man’s Relationship with God

Man was still under preincarnate Christ and
Was still God’s son and people
However, his relationship with God gained a limitation as he could not enter the Garden of Eden, the Holy Place
Nevertheless, man continued to live in the land of Eden, in the presence of God, as His son and people. That is, man was living in the courtyard of the Tabernacle of God

Requirement For Glory and The Atonement

The original purpose for which we were created was that we may serve God as rulers of His creation and this purpose requires us to be glorified. Man was not created in a glorified state, but was made from the dust of the earth [1Cor 15:47-48]. The Atonement of Christ aims to bring us to glory [Heb 2:10]. Adam’s transgression brought about new requirements for glory. Hence, following Adam’s transgression, the following are the conditions for our glorification.

Adam is over all men since they all descend from him and all creation since God set him over it. Therefore, all men share, not only in his blessings and his duties to God but also in the condemnation he is under. And the creation is subject to the curse of corruption on account of him [Gen 3:17-19].

The Problem

That men descended from Adam can never be reversed or changed.

Therefore, they can never be removed from under the condemnation in Adam.

Freedom from the condemnation can only come from justification from another source.

The antithesis of condemnation is justification. Man was created righteous but that righteousness was limited by the condemnation.
Justification for glory is not possible under or through Adam because he is irrevocably under condemnation. Therefore, it has to come from another.
No man born under Adam can be so good that he will be justified enough to overcome the condemnation in Adam.

Christ

Christ is a Man

Being born to a woman, Christ Jesus is bodily a man like all other men and a legitimate descendant of Adam.
As a man,

Christ shares in all the blessings and privileges peculiar to Adam regarding the earth [Heb 2:5-6; Gen 1:26-28].
He also shares in the duties of man.
He shares also in the burdens of the curse imposed on Adam (these are however negated by his superiority and power).

As a man, it becomes possible for Christ Jesus to have rule over other men as their king.

Christ is a Son of God Apart from Adam

Our claim or hope of glory is rests on our being sons of God [Heb 2:10; Gen 1:26].
All men are sons of God through Adam therefore, as descendants of Adam, we ought to be glorified. Adam’s condemnation, however, put a great limitation on the value of our being sons of God through him. Because of condemnation, though we are sons of God in Adam, we cannot be glorified [Rom 3:23].
Jesus being the Son of God however has nothing to do with Adam but is a Son of God independent of Adam. This is just as his being the Messiah and Son of God had nothing to do with being the Son of David [Mat 22:42-45]
Therefore, Jesus’s claim to glory is unaffected by Adam’s transgression and condemnation. Rather, Jesus’ claim to glory only demands that he be righteous, it requires that he fulfills the righteous requirements of God [Mat 3:15].

Christ is Superior to Adam.

On account of his superiority, Christ is not subject to Adam.

God’s creation cannot make decisions binding on God. The people of Israel cannot bind their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to a covenant, even a covenant with God. However, the converse is true. In the same way, Adam’s action is not binding on Jesus Christ his superior and creator.
As a matter of fact, the Tree is not a prohibition for Jesus Christ. This is just as with the Law of Moses which was evidently not binding on the Lord Jesus Christ—for example, Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of the Temple, could touch leppers without observing the required rituals, could eat with unclean hands, etc.

Therefore, the condemnation Adam is under is not legally binding on Christ. Normally, Christ being born to a woman, as a son of Adam, would have been subject to the same condemnation of Adam. However, Christ’s superiority to Adam nullifies his sharing in the condemnation of Adam.

The Solution of the Atonement

Setting Men Free From the Condemnation of Adam

This then is the solution of the Atonement to the curse coming through Adam’s transgression.

Christ the Son of God becomes a man and adopts men as his own children.
Christ did not fail the test of righteousness and so was glorified [Heb 4:15]. Thus, his sonship is unlimited.
Because Jesus is the Son of God, independent of Adam, and because his sonship is unlimited, those that become adopted as Christ Jesus’ children, thus become sons of God through him and are again in a state akin to Adam’s originally state. All that they have to do is prove righteous [Rev 3:21-22]. There is for them a strong possibility of glory, if only they would prove righteous.
As demonstrated with Jesus Christ, the design of the Atonement in glorifying them will give to them a new body and put an end to the old body of Adam. Technically, they will die, yet they will be alive. Thus, once glorified, they will be completely free from the claim of death and corruption.

Setting Creation Free From the Curse

The curse on creation rests on man’s condemnation, therefore, to set creation free, man has to be set free.
Thus, the setting free of men in Christ will mean freedom for the creation.
There is however a condition this solution must satisfy to work. All of mankind, all of Adam, has to be set free.
To this end, the Atonement’s design is to save men from every tribe and language and people and nation [Gen 12:; Mat 28:18; Rev 5:9-10].

The Resultant Sate of Things

Man has the knowledge of good and evil
By the Judgement that followed his transgression

Man and Creation come under condemnation (the curse of death)—the Devil’s power,—the world came under the power of the devil
Man is driven out of the Garden of Eden/Holy Place into Eden/the Courtyard
(He is driven out of the Garden because of the blessing there which he had become
disqualified to possess. Nevertheless, man was still in God’s presence and still under Christ).
Re-entering the Garden was made impossible by the Cherubim guarding the entrance to the
Garden and the flaming sword guarding the way to the Tree of Life.

The dichotomy between clean and unclean animals began. This is really the result of the curse of corruption

However, since God, at this time, had not permitted man to eat meat, this dichotomy only mattered for sacrifices to God

Man needs

Eternal life (and freedom from condemnation) to re-enter the Holy Place, and
The Glory of God to enter the Most Holy Place (man was created for glory)

Blessings Man Still Has

Man still retains all the initial blessings of his creation—

The natural image of God
The blessing of being lord of the earth (though now it is rivaled by Satan's corruption/death authority)
The right to eat plants

Man still has the Holy Spirit [Gen 6:3]
Man is still dwelling in the Presence of God [Gen 4:14,16].

Though he had been driven out of the Garden of Eden, man was still living in the land of Eden which is equivalent to the courtyard of the tabernacle. The courtyard is where the altar of burnt offering was and where burnt offerings were offered to Yahweh.

Requirement For Glory and The Atonement

The Problem

That men descended from Adam can never be reversed or changed.

Therefore, they can never be removed from under the condemnation in Adam.

Freedom from the condemnation can only come from justification from another source.

The antithesis of condemnation is justification. Man was created righteous but that righteousness was limited by the condemnation.
Justification for glory is not possible under or through Adam because he is irrevocably under condemnation. Therefore, it has to come from another.
No man born under Adam can be so good that he will be justified enough to overcome the condemnation in Adam.

Adam, Christ & Coming to Glory

Coming to Glory

Adam & Coming to Glory

Jesus Christ & Coming to Glory