Will Adam and Eve be resurrected to eternal life or are they dead forever? Ge 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (KJV)


The penalty for sin is death.


  Ge 3/19 In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.”


Death means going back to the dust of the ground.

Ao, Will Adam and Eve be resurrected to **eternal life [1] ** and why do you answer that way?

This question  is for mainstream evangelicals.




  [1] John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (KJV)
The answer to your question, I believe, is found in 1 Corinthians 15. 


  20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come . . ..


Notice the words "in Adam all die." That means all God's image-bearers have this in common with the first man, Adam: They sin, and they die. Just as Adam became subject to death because of his disobedience (see Romans 5:19), we too are subject to death for our disobedience. By default, all of humanity is in Adam.


  . . . for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). 


Since all of God's image-bearers, including Adam (and Eve!), are all sinners, we all are in need of the regenerative grace of God. Once regenerated--though each of us will die physically, we will then be in need of the resurrection power of God in order to live forever. The clear teaching of Scripture is that "in Christ, we all shall be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22).

Perhaps a better question for you to ask would be this: Why wouldn't Adam be resurrected to eternal life? True enough, "the guilty pair, bowed down with care" couldn't believe in and receive Jesus Christ into their lives, since the Lamb of God ("the seed of the woman") would not come onto the scene for thousands of years. Yet God did prefigure the atoning death of his Son when he clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals--animals whose blood had to be shed to provide a temporary covering for sin. 

Regarding sin, the Bible makes clear that until Christ's atoning work had been accomplished on the cross at Calvary, the sins of all God's children were covered (see, for example, Psalm 32:1; Psalm 85:2; Romans 4:7; Proverbs 10:12; Proverbs 17:9; and 1 Peter 4:8). 

Moreover, Christ's blood, shed at the cross, was efficacious for the forgiveness of sins committed both prior to and after his crucifixion. His atoning death was a fait accompli as far as God was concerned, since in the eternal counsels of God, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world (see 1 Peter 2:19-20; Revelation 13:8; Colossians 1:17-18; and Ephesians 1:11). 

No mere mortal can ever truly know whether or not a person is a possessor of eternal life. The Scriptures tell us clearly, 


  . . . the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and "Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness" (2 Timothy 2:19 NASB Updated, my emphasis). 


Was the first man Adam saved? Was he a possessor of eternal life? I believe he was. There are no passages in the Bible of which I am aware that indicate Adam remained under God's condemnation for having disobeyed God's clear command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. That Adam's son, Abel, sacrificed to God the firstlings from his flock indicates to me that Adam may have taught his son the significnce and importance of blood sacrifice (Genesis 4:4). 

Jesus referred to Abel as righteous (see Matthew 23:35), and the apostle John referred to Cain in 1 John 3 as follows:


  For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous (vv. 11-12).


In conclusion, I see no reason why Adam would not be counted among the righteous children of God. Not that Adam was any more or any less deserving of redemption than any other child of God. Whether before or after Calvary, the fact remains that Adam, and all who are "in Adam" were, are, and will be dead in trespasses and sins. What is required for each of us to pass from death to life is the blood which Jesus interposed between sinners and a holy God.