Are Adam & Eve in Heaven?

I was recently asked, “How can Adam and Eve be in Heaven since they died before Jesus Christ came and died for their sins.”  This is a very good question and can be applied to all Old Testament saints of God.  Scripture is very clear that all mankind are sinners and that they stand in condemnation for their sin.  We will all go to hell as the penalty for our sins unless we are cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ came as the only acceptable sacrifice that could wash away the sins of the world (Romans 5:12-21).

Prior to Jesus Christ, mankind was called to offer to God a blood sacrifice through animals as atonement for their sin (Heb. 9:22).  These sacrifices would be repeated over and over again until one day Jesus Christ would come and serve as the final sacrifice, “once and for all” (Heb. 10:10).  Although God’s people did not fully understand the full redemption story, they did act upon what God called them to do and they were promised a Messiah who would come and serve as their Redeemer.  Their obedience was credited to them as righteousness.  Christ’s blood provides forgiveness for all sins for all times (past, present, and future). 

In Hebrews 11 we are told that Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and many others had faith in God’s promises of what was to come—the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Although they did not fully understand in detail about Jesus Christ, they understood that they had a Holy God that demanded their unrighteous deeds (their sin) be accounted for by a blood sacrifice.  Verses 39-40 of that chapter tells us that they were commended through their faith even though Christ had not yet come—He was on His way to the cross.  Their faith and obedience to what God asked of them was credited to them as righteousness.

Adam and Eve’s own son, Abel, must have understood about a blood sacrifice.  We are told in Hebrews 11:4, “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts.  And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.”  We are not told specifically that Adam and Eve are in Heaven but I believe that the Bible shows that it is a good possibility based upon the fact that they understood the need for a blood sacrifice.  Abel was Adam and Eve’s son and it seems that the only way he could have learned about God was from his parents.  After all, they walked with God and talked with God. They were the first two humans ever created.  They were the first to sin and that sin started the practice of making sacrifices to God for the forgiveness of sins.

According to Scripture, Abel knew how to offer a sacrifice that was pleasing to God. He offered that sacrifice with a heart that believed in God through faith, and he probably learned that from his parents, Adam and Eve.  If all that is true, then it seems as though Adam and Eve knew the truth as well, and if they did, we will probably see them in Heaven.  Remember, not every man and woman of God are listed in Hebrews 11 but those that are, serve as great examples of trusting God by faith alone for their salvation.