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.

on the label "Trinitarian"

Christians are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). They are done so because they are baptized into the name of God. One might ask, then, why they are not baptized into the "names" of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This observation leads to the doctrine of the Trinity. Christians believe in the doctrine of the Trinity because it is revealed in the bible. Some have noted, however, that the word "Trinity" doesn't occur in the bible. Neither does the word "Sacrament". Words like these are used to describe an idea (indeed, all words follow this pattern). Rather than saying "the things instituted by Christ which are appealing to the 5 senses (taste, touch, sight,...) and communicate spiritual truths" we say the word "Sacrament". Indeed, we could say "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" instead of "Trinity"... but why use the definition when the word is more convenient?

The Father is God. Jesus is God. The Holy Spirit is God. These are three persons. These are one God. They are the same in substance (whatever the God part is in each is the same in the other two), equal in power and glory.

What does the doctrine of the Trinity do for us? A pessimistic person would say "it confuses us". It is true that this is a doctrine that is hard to fully understand. In the end, though we should expect doctrines of God to be beyond our full comprehension. After all, God is unlike us and also has attributes like omniscience and omnipresence. The doctrine of the Trinity helps believers to understand some things about God which would otherwise make no sense.

First, since God has always existed in three persons, it sheds some light on why God would have created the world. Some have presumed that God made the world and mankind because he was lonely. The doctrine of the Trinity helps us to see the error of this. God was not lonely, in fact, He has always been in communion: each of the three persons with each other. God the Father has always loved God the Son. The son is eternally begotten of the father and was from eternity past before the face of the Father. The Spirit has always bonded them in their love. Mankind was created to glorify God, yet this was not to give God a glory he was in some way lacking.

John 17:
17:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ... 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Second, it tells us something of God's character. God exists in relationship within himself. When we think of relationship, like that of a husband to a spouse or a father to a son, we naturally have an emotional imprint of what that relationship means. Consider, though, that our human relationships are but a picture of what a true relationship is. When man was created in God's image, I wonder if it included the way man would have relationship with others of mankind. Perhaps human relationships are a part of being created in the image of God.

Genesis 1:

26 Then God said, “Let us make man [8] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

Third, it tells us something of the unity which is desired among believers. Jesus himself prays for this unity. He does not compare it with a unity among any created thing... but instead he draws attention to the unity which exists within God. Jesus calls this unity as being "perfectly one". As the Father and Son are one, so should Christians seek to be unified. Jesus also prays a reason why such unity is sought. "That they so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me". Unity among Christians is a powerful witness for the gospel. This unity should be most clearly seen in the local body of believers. As a person sees a congregation (as a visitor or as a long time member), they should see the love of God in God's people.

John 17:
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ...
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

My Theology is Trinitarian. It is no small matter that God refers to Himself in the first person plural ("let us make man in our image"). If God so refers to Himself, we should take note. As this is the God whom I serve, it makes a difference in how I see and relate to other Christians. I believe that God the Father chose a people for himself. I believe that Jesus is God who became man to die for men and women whom the Father chose and gave to Him. I believe the Holy Spirit effectually calls men to Jesus as their savior and lord. If these believers are called by the same God I serve, and were made children of God through the same gospel, then I look upon them as brothers. I love God because of the amazing love that He has had within Himself. I marvel at the fact that He has shared this love with mere men, even me. This is the theology that drives me to love my church, which is but a part of Christ's Church universal through time and space.

on the label "Creationist"

The label, "creationist", is usually used to denote opposition to another label, "evolutionist". The first believes that God created the world and sustains it. The latter believes that the world came to exist through millions of years of random chance occurances. There are also numerous hybrid views (i.e. that God started the world millions of years ago and has guided random chance). What I will describe in this post is a very conservative view of a "creationist" (as I happen to be).

The book of Genesis gives the bible's account for how the world came to be in its first few chapters. It says clearly that God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:
1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

If God created it, then the question comes, did it take millions of years? The bible talks about it taking God 6 days to create the world and all that is in it, and that he rested on the 7th.

[G 1:5b]...And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
[G 1:8b]...And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
[G 1:13]And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
[G 1:19]And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
[G 1:23]And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
[G 1:31b]...And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
[G 2:2]And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

Some take these days to be figurative... that they refer to longer periods of time than 1 day (like thousands or millions of years each). They might even cite the bible for this claim, using 2 Peter:

2 Peter 3:
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

My objection to such a claim is a logical argument as follows. I'll demonstrate by having a conversation between a young earth model creationist (YEM, who believes that God created the world about about 6000 years ago) and an old earth model creationist (OEM, who agrees that God created the world, yet believes the world is millions of years old).

YEM: Hey, how's it goin'?
OEM: Great!
YEM: So, what are the wages of sin?
OEM: That's an odd question to jump right into...
YEM: Well, I'm trying to prove a point for a blog post.
OEM: So this is a made up conversation? Why don't you just get to the point?
YEM: OK, answer my question, what are the wages of sin?
OEM: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 6:23.
YEM: So, death is a result of sin, correct?
OEM: Yes. That would make sense with the command of God to Adam in Eden. He commanded Adam to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because "in the day that you [Adam] eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17.
YEM: So, what was the first sin committed?
OEM: The very thing God commanded Adam not to do: he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He disobeyed God.
YEM: So, if the first sin committed was committed by Adam, and death is a result of sin, how could there be millions of years of organisms living, dying, and reproducing, if Adam had not yet sinned?
OEM: hmmm...

My objection to millions of years of evolution (even if guided by God) is that it assumes millions of years of organisms evolving into higher life forms. A basic premise of evolution is survival of the fittest... the weak/old organisms die off. If death was in the world before Adam sinned, then we have to really consider the justice of God. How could he kill millions of organisms if nothing had yet been done wrong in the world? After all, God looked at all that he had created and said that it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

I know that this biblical view of creation doesn't quite fit with all the claims of scientists. They point to the fossil record. I see the fossil record and point to a universal flood in which God saved Noah and his family and 2 of every species which would repopulate the earth. I'd much rather believe what God has written (even if it sounds crazy) than to follow the whim of smart guys in lab coats. In the end, I cling to:

1 Corinthians 1:
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Applying the Label
I am a Creationist. I believe that God created the world as he tells us. I believe that God didn't have to use death to create life.

If I just dogmatically believed this, it would be a dry theology.

It means something because it tells me that God created Earth without death. I can look forward to heaven without death because death is not the natural way of things, it is a consequence of sin. I believe that God has done things the way He says He has done them because it gives me assurance that He will do things which are to come in the way that He tells us.