A Mythical Adam

If Adam and Eve are mythical and we cannot believe Genesis 1, then does that affect anything else? Some have suggested that since salvation is the focus of Scripture, we are relatively free to believe that the Genesis story is somewhat less than true. As long as we believe in Jesus and have accepted Him, the rest of our beliefs are optional. (Not to be judgmental, but just frankly summarizing the position.)

If we believe in Jesus, does that drive what else we believe? We should look to Jesus Himself. What did He believe? And if He believed something, does that guide what I believe? I would suggest that it must. If I am disagreeing with the One I claim to believe, do I really belileve and trust Him? Look at what He believed.

Let’s begin with Genesis 1.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
This was what Moses wrote as an introduction to mankind. That is our foundation for thought on this. So just for reference, the male and female is Adam and Eve.

Without comment, turn to what Jesus said. Matthew 19:4
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Notice what He is quoting. That is the statement that Moses made back in Genesis. So Jesus believed Genesis and, by extension, He believed that Adam and Eve were real people. They were not mythical. How can a mythical being have babies, as they did in Genesis, and ultimately have a Seed, the Messiah, Jesus. If Adam and Eve are mythical, then Who else is mythical?

Jesus is quoted by Mark in 10:6 saying the same thing.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

But what do other writers in the New Testament believe? Start with Luke 3:38. Luke is listing Jesus’ genealogy.
...the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
He listed Adam as a real father with real children. Nothing mythical about that.

Paul had a lot to say in general, and specifically, he mentioned Adam as a real man three times. And he pinioned several theological points on the historicity of Adam. Take them in order. Romans 5:14 
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 
Adam was a type of Him Who was to come. That would be Jesus. A mythical Adam would result in a mythical Jesus. And an editorial comment is that a mythical Jesus cannot save a real me.

Paul continued his appeal to Adam in 1 Corinthians 15:22.
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
I’m not liking the ramifications of this. A mythical Adam means a mythical “maker aliver.”  (Just made that up.) A mythical guy can influence real people, and give us guidance. But they cannot have a physical effect on us. Paul appeals to this again in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
More of the same. Paul also mentions Adam and Eve in 1 Timothy 2:13 and 14.
For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
More belief that Adam was real.

Look at one last witness. Jude 1:14
It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones,
Jude, incidentally, waa the brother of Jesus. So a mythical Adam would be a mythical Jesus and he had a real brother, or else a mythical character is writing books. (Although it is a short one.)  Well, the string is stretched pretty tight here. Let’s just cut it.

Adam was real. Jesus was real. Our salvation is real. And we are really done.