Covenants Lesson 2: The Adamic Covenant

This is Lesson 2 of a series...
http://drytheology.blogspot.com/2011/03/covenants.html

Intro

Last lesson we talked about the nature of covenants in general. Recall that “covenant” is a biblical term referring to a relationship between two people. Covenants have promises, stipulations, relationship, representative headship, signs, and seals. Covenants can be between man and man, God and God (i.e. between persons of the Trinity), or between God and man. This lesson will focus on the aspect of covenant between God and man, particularly, the first covenant between God and man.

The First Covenant

When we think about a covenant between God and man, what do we think of? Recall that last lesson we talked about the distance between God and his creatures being so great that there’s nothing necessitating Him to enter into covenant with them. God could have created man and never offered anything higher than enjoyment of what God had made. In free grace God did enter into a covenant with man and he did so with the first man, Adam.

Adam’s First Nature

How was Adam different from us in the way he was created? There are many ways! Two ways in particular are critical to understanding the first covenant between God and Man. The shorter catechism helps identify them:

WSC Q. 10. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
Gen. 1:26-28; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24.

• Scripture teaches us that God made Adam (and all things) very good. Adam was sinless. He retained the fullness of God’s image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Put it this way, if God commanded Adam, “Be righteous”, Adam had ability to do it. If God instructed Adam, “Be holy”, Adam would be able to; he was already both righteous and holy! Contrast that with us, if God told us, “be perfect”... can we? No!

WSC Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
Gen. 2:16-17; Rom. 5:12; 1 Cor. 15:21-22.

• Adam was a representative head. Consider that if the King of Spain entered into a treaty with the Emperor of China, the King’s actions would have implications for all the subjects of Spain. In the same way, what Adam did in this covenant had implications for everyone who he represented.
  

Covenant Entered

So, we’ve established that Adam is able to do what God might command of him and that whatever he does he does for all of his natural descendants after him. So, does God in fact enter into covenant with Adam? Yes!

Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 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.”

What is the significance of God’s placing Adam in the garden with the two trees? What should we notice about the specific command God had given Adam?

WCF 7.2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience.
Rom. 5:12-20; Gen. 2:17

WSC Q. 12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?
A. When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.

What would be Adam’s reward if he kept the covenant? Life abundantly for himself and all mankind (Symbolized in the tree of life).
What would be Adam’s curse if he broke the covenant? Death for himself and all mankind.
The difference between the reward and curse was Adam’s work. That is why this first covenant is referred to as the covenant of works. Recall that Adam was fully capable (due to his pristine, unfallen nature) of keeping the command. Did he do so? What was the result? Read Genesis 3.

Covenant Broken

Adam broke the covenant God had made with him by eating the forbidden fruit. So doing he earned death for himself and all of his descendants. Paul tells us this in Romans 5.
Romans 5:12-14,17-19
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
...17 ... because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man...
18 ... one trespass led to condemnation for all men, ... 19 ...by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, ...

Recall also WSC Q. 16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

The situation following Genesis 3:6 is incredibly bleak. Because of what Adam had done he would die. Not only that but Eve would die, Seth, Cain, and Abel would die. This continues today: our parents will die or may have died already, each of us will someday die. Why do we all die? It is because we are descended from Adam - who broke the covenant! If Adam is our covenant head and he merited death, we too will die!

The problem is twofold. First, Adam’s sin alone was enough to condemn the whole human race. Furthermore, every natural descendant of Adam’s has inherited the inability to not sin. Man’s whole nature is no longer righteous and holy but corrupt (this is called original sin).

Hosea 6:7
But like Adam [or a man] they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.

A Covenant Promised

Is that the end of the story? We’re all doomed to die; no hope in the world? No. NO! That’s not the end.

Genesis 3:15
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, ...
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [seed] and her offspring [seed]; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

In the middle of pronouncing judgment, God speaks of redemption. Note these 2 things:

• “I will put enmity...” God will change the disposition of the heart. He will change their affections from serving Satan to serving God.
• “he shall bruise your head...” The promised seed would strike Satan in the head... he would give Satan a mortal wound. This is the promise of a coming savior: Jesus Christ.

Look back at Romans 5:12-20. Adam’s role as representative head is typological of Christ. Adam merited death for himself and all his natural descendants. Christ, on the other hand, merited forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, adoption as sons, and eternal life for all his spiritual descendants.

The question that we all must ask ourselves: who is my representative head? Am I under Adam or under Christ? Is my representative before God the one who was disobedient or obedient? The difference is to be under the covenant of works (which was broken and cannot be kept by us) or the covenant of grace (which is fulfilled in Christ).

1 Corinthians 15:21-22
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

Covenants Lesson 1: What is a Covenant?

This is Lesson 1 of a series...
http://drytheology.blogspot.com/2011/03/covenants.html

The Significance of Covenant
Did you know that the English Standard Version of the bible uses the word “covenant” in 301 verses? (The Hebrew word berith, covenant, occurs over 280 times in the Old Testament. The translators of the OT into the Greek Septuagint chose the Greek word diatheke in place of the Hebrew berith. In the NT diatheke occurs 33 times.)

Did you know that the Reformed Presbyterian (RP) Church has a history of calling themselves “Covenanters”? (The major covenants in our history would be the Scottish National Covenant of 1638, the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 and the American Covenant of 1871)

In this lesson, we’ll explore the idea of covenant in general. In future lessons, we’ll look at specific covenants in theology, the bible, and in Church History. So first, what is a covenant?

The Definition of Covenant
Though not in the larger or shorter catechism themselves, the question is asked in the catechism for young children:
Q. 22. What is a covenant?
A. An agreement between two or more persons.

O Palmer Robertson calls a covenant “A bond in blood sovereignly administered”#.

Covenant consists of 2 parts,"The 1st without the 2nd is no more than a promise: the 2nd without the first is no less than a law." - John Ball

What does the word “covenant” make you think of?

* Promises - Covenants are a way for someone to promise to another they will perform something.
* Stipulations - These are requirements for those within the covenant.
* Contract - The idea of covenant has legal implications. When a covenant is made between two parties there will either be covenant keepers or covenant breakers.
* Relationship - Recall that marriage is called a covenant.
* Representative Headship - Kings would sometimes enter into covenants. The covenants they entered had implications for all of their subjects. In the same way, we see that when God enters into covenant with this or that man.
* Signs and Seals - The sign and seal for marriage is the wedding ring. God often signifies his covenant relationships with signs (e.g. rainbow, circumcision, etc.)

Covenants between Men

• Covenants between husband and wife

Marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman. Both of these are equals in the covenant of marriage. The promise is made by the man to be a ‘loving and faithful husband as long as the both shall live’. He submits himself to stipulations that he will remain faithful to her. She makes similar promises and commitments.

Though they knew each other before the wedding day as boyfriend and girlfriend; fiancée and fiancé, their relationship takes a whole new turn at the formal inauguration of their marriage. Here they exchange their vows and seals of the marriage covenant. From this time forth they are to fulfil the promises and stipulations throughout their relationship. They are to love and serve one another until they die.

• Covenants between suzerain (or lord) and vassal

Sometimes covenants are entered into between two parties which are not equal. A suzerain, or lord, is a strong political power and may exercise dominance over a weak vassal state. This would be done by entering a covenant. The suzerain would offer to “be nice” to the vassal in return for the vassal to perform some service to the suzerain. The vassal would accept the offer and perform the service. It is important to remember that it is the suzerain who initiates this relationship. It would make no sense for a weak nation to say to a strong one, “here are the terms of the relationship between us two”. It is always the right of the suzerain to offer the relationship and the vassal to accept the terms offered.

Covenant between God and Man
The idea of a covenant is very foundational not just to RP’s but to how God deals with mankind in general.

Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) 7.1
The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.

What is the WCF saying?
Basically, it is saying that when God created the world, He didn’t owe them anything. Just that something exists does not entitle it to anything except that God voluntarily chooses to bless it. This reminds us that in some ways God’s covenants with mankind are like that of a suzerain to a vassal. We cannot make up our own terms of relating to God and offer them for Him to accept or reject. To relate to God and receive blessing and reward we must accept the terms of relating with Him that He has offered.

Covenants

Prepared for Sabbath evening instruction for Covenant Youth of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Shawnee

Resources
Constitution of the RPCNA
The Christ of the Covenants - O. Palmer Robertson
A Treatise on the Covenant of Grace - John Ball

1. http://drytheology.blogspot.com/2011/03/covenants-lesson-1-what-is-covenant.html
2. http://drytheology.blogspot.com/2011/04/covenants-lesson-2-adamic-covenant.html