In her fall Eve failed to keep her position but became one who assumed the headship. However, she kept her position in receiving the promise of God’s redemption; she followed Adam, her head, and received God’s promise. God promised that the seed of woman would come. Adam believed this promise, and Eve followed him and believed it also. After giving birth to Cain, Eve said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen. 4:1), for she considered the child the seed of woman promised by God. This proves that she followed her husband and received the promise of God’s redemption.
By following her husband and receiving the promise of God’s redemption, Eve returned to the position in which she was created. In this way she was delivered from the position of death and became the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20), the begetter of all those who have life and are living. Out of her, millions of descendants have been produced. Hence, the human race has been able to multiply endlessly to replenish the earth. This has made it possible for God to continue to carry out His purpose in creating man and to thereby fulfill His eternal plan.
Adam and Eve were created by God as the first couple among the human race and as the first ancestors of all mankind. Adam was created according to God’s inward image and outward likeness. He was God’s image for the purpose of declaring God. God established Adam as His deputy, one who would exercise His authority, especially to have dominion over the earth in order to deal with His enemy, Satan, and restrict Satan’s movement on earth. Adam, who was created as the head of mankind, is a type of Christ as the Head over all things. Adam was the first man; Christ is the second Man and also the last Adam. When Adam was created, all mankind, being included in him, was created as God’s vessel that man might receive God as his life and content and become God’s expression. However, Adam ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and thereby included all his descendants in his sinning and becoming fallen. Thus, Satan and the sinful nature entered into all mankind, and all men were constituted sinners. Immediately after Adam sinned and fell, God came to seek him and to give him the promise of redemption. Adam believed and received this promise and was then able to continue to live on the earth. Through Eve, whom he considered as one who was qualified to have life and live, Adam begot generation after generation of descendants. However, he, including all his descendants, was driven by God out of the garden of Eden and was separated from the tree of life, until Christ came to accomplish God’s redemption.
Eve was made out of a rib taken from Adam’s body and was unto Adam to be Adam’s counterpart and to be one flesh with Adam. This signifies that the church comes out of Christ and is unto Christ, and that the church is the counterpart of Christ and is one with Christ. Since Eve came out of Adam, she was part of Adam; she was the overflow of Adam as Adam’s increase. This signifies that the church is part of Christ as Christ’s increase. However, Eve did not keep her position in God’s creation and did not take her husband as her head. Thus, she fell into the devil’s scheme and violated God’s prohibition. Moreover, she seduced her husband to follow her in eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Thus, all mankind was brought into sin and death. However, Eve kept her position in receiving the promise of God’s redemption; she followed Adam, her head, and received God’s promise. In this way she was delivered from the position of death and became the mother of all living.