Jesus and the Undoing of Adam by theologian C. Baxter Kruger is a deep, passionate, and revolutionary look at the work of Jesus Christ and its implications for humanity. The central thesis of the book is that the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are not isolated events to fix a broken system, but rather the outworking of an eternal purpose rooted in the relentless love of the Triune God-Father, Son, and Spirit-for humanity. Kruger dismantles popular legal and punitive views of atonement and replaces them with a vision grounded in relational, Trinitarian theology.
Drawing inspiration from early Church fathers such as Athanasius, and modern theologians like T.F. Torrance, Kruger paints a picture of a God who is not distant, punitive, or transaction-oriented-but a God who is radically for us, determined to include us in the life and joy of the Trinity from before the foundation of the world. The book confronts the entrenched Western theological frameworks shaped by legalism, Calvinism, and modern evangelicalism, which Kruger argues distort the gospel by focusing on sin management and penal substitution rather than relational restoration and ontological healing.
Kruger explains that the true problem of humanity is not simply rule-breaking (as legal theology often teaches), but a deep spiritual disease-an alienation from God rooted in fear, anxiety, and a false perception of who God is. The Fall of Adam is presented not primarily as a legal offense but as a distortion of human perception and relationship. Humanity projects its own brokenness onto God, thereby creating a mythological deity-a god who is angry, distant, and must be appeased. In contrast, Jesus enters into the fullness of our brokenness, not to appease a wrathful Father, but to heal our fallen nature from within.
Jesus, as the eternal Son of God, steps into the quagmire of fallen existence, takes on Adam's distorted mind, and undoes it through a life of perfect communion with the Father in the Spirit. His entire life is a journey of saying "no" to the lie of alienation and "yes" to the truth of union. On the cross, Jesus penetrates to the depths of human estrangement, experiencing the existential hell of feeling forsaken, but even there, he does not yield to the lie. He entrusts himself to the Father, thus reconstituting human existence around love, trust, and fellowship. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus then become the exaltation of humanity into the very life of the Trinity.
"Jesus and the Undoing of Adam" is not just a theological text; it is a call to reimagine the gospel, to repent-not in shame, but in joy-as we awaken to the truth of who God really is and who we are in Him. Kruger invites readers to put on new lenses, to reinterpret not just Scripture but all of reality through the lens of Christ's relationship with the Father. The implications of this vision are vast: salvation is not merely an escape from punishment but participation in the divine life. The Church is not merely a moral community but a living expression of the union between heaven and earth. And evangelism is not coercion, but proclamation of our inclusion in Christ.
With vivid imagery, theological depth, and pastoral heart, Kruger leads readers into a life-altering encounter with the real Jesus-the one who has never been separate from the Father, and who has never been separate from us.
