The older book
Virgin Earth
There is something strange about where Adam came from.
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground.
Genesis 2:4-7 · Psalm 139:13-16 · Luke 1:26-38 · Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 32-33
The scene
Before Adam is formed, we're told that there was no man to till the ground. Then God forms him from the dust of that ground and breathes life into him.
I'm not the first person to stop at that detail.
In the second century, a Christian called Irenaeus described Adam as formed from "virgin earth," and put that beside Christ being born of the Virgin Mary.
There is an interesting bit of language in Psalm 139:
"You knit me together in my mother's womb."Psalm 139:13
Only a couple of verses later:
"woven together in the depths of the earth."Psalm 139:15
Then we get to Jesus. He is going to enter the world as a man, but there will be no human father. Mary asks how this can happen because she is a virgin, and the angel tells her:
"The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."Luke 1:35
Put that beside Adam. Adam is formed by God from ground that no man has worked. Jesus takes his humanity from a virgin womb, without a human father.
Irenaeus noticed another reversal too. Eve knows God's command and disobeys. Mary hears God's word and answers:
"Let it be done to me according to your word."Luke 1:38
There is another resemblance here, although I wouldn't put as much weight on it. The first woman comes from a man without a mother. Jesus comes from a woman without a human father.
So let's follow the pattern one step further. Before Eve is made, Adam falls into a deep sleep, and God takes something from his side.
The point
Paul told us to put Adam and Jesus beside each other.
Genesis keeps giving us things to look at.
Sit with this
What happens at his side?