Foundation Of The Resurrection (Genesis And The Fall)
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, February 27, 2026 (Donate)
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is essential. But how many
people realize that the resurrection cannot be understood apart from
Genesis. The very reason for Christ’s death in in the first place is founded in
Genesis 3. Death entered the world through sin, and resurrection is God’s
answer to that man’s punishment.
“And the LORD God commanded the
man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16–17, NKJV)
Death was not part of the original creation. God declared
His finished work “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and it was perfect (Deuteronomy
32:4). The entrance of death came as the correct judgment for man’s high
treason and rebellion against God.
The Holy Spirit, through Paul, later explains:
“Therefore, just as through one man
sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12, NKJV)
The resurrection is predicated on the Fall of man into sin
with Adam and Eve. If death is “natural” and not judicial, then resurrection
loses its redemptive meaning. Scripture teaches that death is an enemy:
“The last enemy that will be
destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26, NKJV)
Genesis also provides the first promise of victory over
death in what is often called the protoevangelium (i.e., the first
prophecy of Christ being the seed of the woman):
“And I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV)
Here we read about the promise of the coming Seed, who is
Christ (Galatians 3:16). Jesus, according to this prophecy, will have a decisive
victory over the serpent and his offspring (consider Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:33;
Luke 3:7; John 8:44). The bruising of the heel implies suffering; the crushing
of the head implies final triumph. Resurrection is implied because the
conquering Seed suffers yet ultimately destroys the serpent.
In light of later Scriptures, we know that the Messiah would
be put to death (e.g., Isaiah 53; Psalm 16:10, 22; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah
12:10; Hosea 6:2)—Christ Himself even predicted it plainly and alluded to it
being the cross:
“…saying, “The Son of Man must
suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” Then He said to them
all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:22-23, NKJV, emphasis added)
Thus, the resurrection is not an afterthought in redemptive history. It is the necessary overcoming of Adam’s actions that lead to sin and death and a curse (Genesis 3; Revelation 22:3).
The first Adam brought death;
the last Adam brings life (1 Corinthians 15:45). The gospel presupposes a
literal Fall, a historical Adam, and the entrance of real, actual death where
we return to dust.
From a presuppositional standpoint, Genesis provides the
framework that makes the resurrection coherent. Without the Fall, there is no
need for redemption. Without the curse, there is no need for resurrection. The
resurrection is God’s covenantal answer to the catastrophe of Genesis 3.
Bodie Hodge, Ken
Ham's son in law, has been an apologist since 1998 helping out in various
churches and running an apologetics website. He spent 21 years working at Answers
in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and researcher as well as a founding
news anchor for Answers News. He was also head of the Oversight
Council.
Bodie
launched Biblical Authority Ministries in 2015 as a personal
website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a 501(c)(3). He has spoken
on multiple continents and hosts of US states in churches, colleges, and
universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a
Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught at SIUC for a couple of years as a
Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of undergraduate engineering and
running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did research on advanced ceramic
materials to develop a new method of production of titanium diboride with a
grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test Engineer for Caterpillar,
Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science
was coupled with a love of history, philosophy, and theology. For about one
year of his life, Bodie was editing and updating a theological, historical, and
scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over
25 years of experience in writing, speaking and researching in these fields.
