GOD the FATHER's COVENANT of WORKS with GOD the SON A

COVENANT THEOLOGY PART 3 - GOD the FATHER’S COVENANT of WORKS with GOD the SON

A PREVIEW

In Part 3 we see the disastrous fallout from Adam’s failure in breaking his Covenant of Works with his Creator. Then we see another Covenant of Works made with another Adam figure.

RESOURCES

This series of lectures is based on and in many instances taken directly from the works of Meredith Kline, Lee Irons, Gordon Hugenberger, Rick Lints and many conversations with pastor friends and fellow covenant theologians.

A REVIEW

God made a covenant with Adam at creation. A covenant is “a divinely sanctioned commitment.” And this covenant that God makes with Adam is a particular kind of covenant: a Covenant of Works.

There are commitments imposed on Adam: - long range - multiply, fill and subdue the earth - more immediate - guard the garden. Don’t eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

There are sanctions tied to the fulfillment or breaking of these commitments -curse - the day you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you die = hell -blessing - the Sabbath day = the invitation by God to Adam to do his work and enter into his heavenly rest and glory. The tree of life! Which implicitly offers the promise of life to live forever = heaven

And the whole thing of course is sanctioned by the Divine One, God himself who promises to reward or punish the fulfillment or breaking of these commitments with his sanctions of blessing and curse.

GENESIS 3

So what happens with Adam in Gen 3?

We’ve clearly read man is like God, that man is made in the image of God in ch.1and so he is supposed to imitate God. THEN, after the fall, after Adam and Eve have eaten that forbidden fruit, it says in v.22: “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil…” After the fall, you’d expect God to say, “Man has become UNLIKE one of us.” But God says that now, somehow, even in connection with the fall, man has become more like God than ever before.

THIS IS WHAT WE’VE BEEN BUILDING UP TO!

Gen 1 and 2 prepare us for the climactic showdown in Gen 3: the trees, man, woman. Gen 3 introduces us to the devil who immediately tries to deceive Adam and Eve. HERE is the enemy Adam is supposed to guard against in the garden. AND the crucial point is that guarding the garden involves judgment. Guarding the garden involves discerning between good and evil. And, it all takes place at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil!

ILLUSTRATION OF DAVID

Remember King David and King Solomon, David’s son, the wisest man who ever lived? In 2Sam 14 and 1Kgs 3 these kings are rendering judgments, “discerning” between good and evil and it says that this discerning identifies them as being like God. Discerning between good and evil is a God-like task that God’s image bearers perform.

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

The tree of knowledge of good and evil has a negative aspect: Adam and Eve could not eat its fruit. It was forbidden. Not because it is intrinsically evil; it’s not “a bad tree.” But, because God said that it is forbidden. This is a test of Adam’s love and obedience.

And, this tree had a positive aspect too: Adam and Eve were to perform a God like task in relation to it. The devil shows up blaspheming God’s name, calling into question God’s goodness and his trustworthiness. There is war in heaven between God and the devil and here Adam’s job in the image, in the likeness of God, as guardian and king of Eden is to render a judgment and declare the devil to be evil and God to be good and to condemn the trespass of this blasphemer in God’s holy place and kick him out of Eden.

If Adam had done this he would have: 1) rightly judged between good and evil 2) with the tree of knowledge of good and evil standing undefiled 3) and he would have earned a righteous judgment for himself.

Instead Adam wrongly judges between good and evil. BUT he judges and he picks a side and so in that sense God says in Gen 3:22 after the fall that man has engaged in this God-like functioning of judgement more than at any other moment of his life.

THE DEVIL TEMPTER AND ACCUSER

Adam and Eve should have led the way into God’s eternal Sabbath rest. Instead they bring sin and death for mankind into the world. After the fall man comes under the dominion of the devil. The devil holds God’s curse over man. This is the power of the devil that he wields over man.

The devil is The Tempter. He tempts Adam to side with him over God. Adam succumbs to the devil’s temptation.

Satan then becomes The Accuser of man and his sin before God: “he’s guilty and he justly deserves that curse you threatened him with.” And because we all come from Adam, because he was our representative before God for good or bad - we’re all guilty.

And the devil does the same thing to each of us personally. We’ve all succumbed to temptation. The devil is right. He has a case against us. By ourselves, we stand accused before God deserving eternal condemnation. That’s the Devil’s power of death and dominion over man. He’s guilty and there’s NOTHING he can do about it.

THE SPIRIT OF THE DAY

Adam and Eve know they’re guilty. God shows up and they try to hide from him. There’s no hiding from God. After Adam and Eve’s failure God shows up to render his own judgment. Look at v.8. The ESV reads, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” That’s a bad translation. It makes much more sense to use the more prominent meaning of the Hebrew here and render it not, “cool” or “breezy” but “Spirit”. So it actually reads, “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the Spirit of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

The first people to hear Genesis are the Israelites who’ve been freed from slavery in Egypt by God and Moses. And remember it’s the Holy Spirit in a local visible manifestation of this giant pillar of smoke and fire leading the Israelites through the desert. So the Israelites hearing Gen 3 for the first time would understand this is God coming in his storm theophany. This is the Spirit’s Day. This is Judgment Day and Adam and Eve run for it absolutely terrified.

God shows up in judgment and he pronounces his curse BUT his condemnation falls on….the devil!

Gen 3:14,15: “The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

And this curse that we read in vv.14,15 is at the same time THE PROMISE of salvation for God’s people through a Second Adam, a serpent-trampling Savior. The first promise of grace and salvation for sinners comes in the form of a declaration of war against our enemy.

This task of battling the devil is still something that must be done because this was the big command, the big condition, the big obligation in God’s original covenant with man. The way to get the eternal blessing is to fight this battle on behalf of God, AND fulfill the long range obligations of filling and subduing the earth. This is how heaven is earned. And the first Adam failed and we can’t earn it at this point by ourselves. Adam screwed everything up as our Representative and we don’t do any better - we screw it up ourselves.

A SECOND COVENANT OF WORKS WITH A SECOND ADAM

There’s another Covenant of Works between God and a Second Adam figure. When Adam fails, the Son of God agrees to do the work that Adam failed to do and God the Father agrees to reward the work of God the Son.

“-Before the foundation of the world a covenant was made in heaven between God the Father and God the Son. -God the Father covenanted to [give] God the Son a kingdom of glory as the just reward for the accomplishment of an earthly mission. -God the Son committed to undertake through the incarnation the [role and the work] of a second Adam and fulfill all righteousness in behalf of his people, and secure for them salvation and earn for them heaven itself. (Rom 5:12-20; 1 Cor 15:45-49) -By the obedience of this One, the many were to be made righteous (Rom 5:19) and Satan vanquished” (paraphrased MG Kline GIOM 106).

This covenant has traditionally been called “The Covenant of Works” and the “Pactum Salutis” which is Latin for “The Covenant of Redemption.” One OT commentator, Meredith Kline, makes the point that the fuller language of “God the Father’s Covenant of Works with God the Son” brings out the parallel that both Adam’s Covenant and The Son of God’s Covenant are covenants of works with representative heads.

So what came first, God’s Covenant of Works with Adam or God the Father’s Covenant of Works with God the Son?

God is outside of time and space which are his creations. So God the Father and God the Son make this covenant of works from eternity. Which means we should not think of this arrangement in terms of chronology. Think of it in terms logically. Logically God

makes this Covenant of Works with Adam and it fails. Then God the Son steps in and says, “I’ll do it.”

-Jesus of Nazareth, some 2,000 years ago, speaks of his earthly mission as one already laid out for him according to a heavenly commission, John 6:38: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

-He goes on and on about this arrangement in Jn 17: 4 5 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

-In passages in the OT God the Father reveals the plan to reward the obedient work of the Son, his Anointed One where it seems like God is talking about David, but he’s only a picture of the ultimate reality, a foreshadowing to the true fulfillment of these verses which is found with Jesus and his work: Psa. 2:6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psa. 2:7 I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Psa. 110:0 A PSALM OF DAVID.

Psa. 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

-Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper about his heavenly inheritance that his Father covenanted to him and that he is going to share in turn with them and covenant with them in Lk 22:29,30. In the ESV the translation begins, “And I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me…” But that word translated “assign” is the word that means “to make a covenant” and that is how it is translated in all the other instances it appears in the NT (cf. Acts 3:25; Heb. 8:10; 9:16-17; 10:16). Lk 22:29, 30 is correctly translated:

“And I covenant to you, as my Father covenanted to me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The context in which Jesus says this is the last Passover, or the first Lord’s Supper, which is the institution of the New Covenant.

ACTIVE DIMENSION

Like Adam’s Covenant of Works, God the Son’s Covenant of Works has an active dimension. Jesus the Son of God must engage and withstand and overcome the devil in conflict and battle.

Luke 3 gives us a genealogy of Jesus. It begins and ends this way, Lk 3:23 “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli....38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”

Right before this passage Jesus has just been publicly proclaimed in his baptism by the Father to be the Son of God and with the Holy Spirit descending on him. Then Luke begins his genealogy of Jesus as alleged to be the son of Joseph and traced back through David, Abraham, Noah and back to Adam, the son of God. How does Luke 3:38 describe Adam? Adam, the son of God. For those waiting for the Gen 3:15 seed of the woman to come and crush the serpent’s head he is here. The son greater than Adam has arrived in Jesus. And in this context Jesus begins his ministry in a testing period face to face with Satan in Lk 4.

Consider the parallels between Lk 4:1-13 and Gen 3 between Adam’s and Jesus’ encounter with the devil:

-Here Jesus is placed in the wilderness, his test takes place in the wilderness the context of the curse that resulted from Adam’s failure from his rebellion. -Adam and Eve are sent out of the garden into the wilderness as part of the curse for disobedience. So here’s Jesus in the wilderness with the odds totally stacked against him. Adam and Eve had every advantage in their battle against the Serpent in the garden. Here Jesus is in the wilderness, alone, starving to death. -And it’s then that they go toe to toe and Satan comes tempting Jesus. Over and over Satan says, “If you are really the Son of God then do this…” = again the Devil is calling into question God’s goodness, God the Father’s love for Jesus, his trustworthiness = “Jesus, you know your Father is leading you down a path of doom. Don’t trust him. Trust me.” And Jesus continues to appeal to the word of God saying “it is written, it is written,

it says,” he appeals to the word of God. Jesus obeys doing what the first Adam failed to do. When tempted and challenged by Satan to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Adam did not appeal to the word of God, to the word given, “you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil” but he listened to this unholy Tempter. Jesus, however, stands in resolute obedience to his Father’s will and word. This is the climactic showdown of Jesus’ active obedience. He throws Satan down!

PASSIVE DIMENSION

Is the battle over?

No! God the Son’s Covenant of Works differed from Adam’s Covenant of Works in that the Cov of Works between God the Father and Son also demanded passive obedience.

Jesus must also take the punishment incurred by Adam for his disobedience, which for Jesus was suffering God’s wrath on the cross. Jesus not only had to do what Adam failed to do but he had to pay the penalty for Adam’s failure = all to uphold justice. Jesus had to bear the penalty that was due to our sins to suffer the wrath that was due to our fallenness and sins = this is the ATONEMENT = the sacrifice that accomplishes salvation.

At the end of the book of Luke we hear someone else say, “If you are the son of God, or the king of the Jews…come down from the cross.” Here again on the cross at the last moment Jesus is tempted by Satan to rebel and leave his work, tempted as the Second Adam to do what the first Adam did and what does Jesus do? He stays on the cross. He obeys. He stays on the cross and suffers the wrath of God, all our hells in our place.

So we distinguish in Jesus’ obedience between his active obedience in his life and his passive obedience in his death and resurrection. What we usually think about when we think about the gospel is Jesus’ death and that is good! It is the heart of the gospel BUT it doesn’t take you all the way. If that’s all the gospel is then it’s just a clean slate and we’re right back at the beginning where Adam was before the fall still needing to merit heaven and eternal glory. It’s only as Christ fulfills that eternal covenant and merits it by both his active and passive obedience that he can bestow it on us by grace.

APPLICATION

SO WHAT? Why do we care?

We are saved by works. But not by our works. We’re saved by the works of Christ, the second Adam.

After the fall we are all still today under this Covenant of Works with Adam unless we are saved by Christ under his covenant. Those are the only two possibilities. You are either in Adam or in Christ. You stand related to God through one of two kings. Through the first Adam through whom came death and condemnation. Or you stand related to God through the second Adam through whom comes life and salvation. No third option.

This is why the church should be absolutely concerned with preaching Christ and him crucified every chance we get. Rom 10 says, “14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Jesus is a THE example for us. BUT so much more - He is our King and Savior.

And what does Luke record right at the end of Jesus dying on the cross? The conversation with the thief who asks Jesus to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. And Jesus tells him he will be with him that day in paradise. This is the heavenly paradise, the 7th day rest, to which Jesus opens access to his believers because he obeys as Adam should have and he takes the ultimate penalty as Adam and all of us should.

Because of his successful accomplishment of his Covenant of Works, Jesus gets to dispense this reward to his people through another covenant - a covenant not of works, but of grace.

COVENANT THEOLOGY FOR KIDS PART 3 - GOD THE FATHER’S COVENANT OF WORKS WITH GOD THE SON

TWO MAIN POINTS: What does Gen 3 tell us? -The first Adam has a big showdown with the devil and loses. -Jesus comes as a “Second” Adam and has a big showdown with the devil and wins.

MAIN POINT 1 - Adam’s Showdown with the Devil

Remember Adam is supposed to guard the Garden of Eden from an enemy. And the enemy shows up in Gen 3. Who is the enemy? This serpent who is the devil (confirmed beyond shadow of a doubt at the end of the Bible in Rev 12:9 and 20:2).

What does the devil try to get Adam and Eve to do? To eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why couldn’t Adam and Eve eat the fruit? Is it a “bad” tree? No, in Gen 1 it says everything God made he said it was good. Adam and Eve could not eat its fruit simply because God said that it is forbidden. This is a test of Adam’s love and obedience to God.

AND, the good thing about this tree is that Adam and Eve were given a big job to do with the tree. The devil shows up and he obviously doesn’t like God. Tells Adam and Eve they can’t trust God and that God doesn’t really love them. So there’s a big fight going on between God and the devil. And the job God has given Adam is to beat the devil.

Adam is the guardian and king of Eden so he is supposed to give his judgment and declare the devil to be evil and God to be good and then he’s supposed to kick the devil out of the garden.

So the devil says, “Hey Adam, I know God told you not to eat this fruit from this tree but God is a liar and he doesn’t like you. I could be like your new god if you’ll just follow me.” When the devil says that Adam should have said, “Hey devil, you’re the liar and you’re like the worst angel ever. You’re not welcome here so get out. Oh and you’re in big big trouble. Here comes God.” And God would have come in judgment and put the devil in hell and Adam and Eve would have earned the reward of heaven!!!!

Is that what happened? No. What happened?

Adam and Eve lose the fight with the devil because they listen to the devil. Then what happens?

God shows up. And he’s there for judgment. Now what do you think God is going to do? What do you think the devil thinks God is going to do? The devil thinks he’s gotten Adam and Eve in big big trouble. The devil thinks God is going to show up and send Adam and Eve not to heave but to….? To hell. God is going to show up and the devil is going to tell on them and say to God, “You have to punish them like you said you would if they ate that fruit.”

Instead what does God do? God shows up in judgment and he pronounces his curse BUT his condemnation falls on….the devil!

And this curse that we read in vv.14,15 is at the same time THE PROMISE of salvation for God’s people through an offspring of the woman, a serpent-trampling Savior. Isn’t that awesome that the first promise of grace and salvation for sinners comes in the form of a declaration of war against our enemy?

MAIN POINT 2 - Jesus’ Showdown with the Devil

So what we read about in the rest of the Bible is that when Adam fails, the Son of God agrees to do the work that Adam failed to do and God the Father agrees to reward the work of God the Son.

Like Adam’s Covenant of Works, God the Son’s Covenant of Works has a big job for Jesus. Jesus the Son of God has to fight the devil in conflict and battle. And it happens really in the same way it did with Adam. Have you guys heard the Bible story about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert for 40 days. The devil comes saying the same thing basically, “Jesus, your father in heaven doesn’t love you. He’s a liar. You don’t have to die on a cross. Just listen to me and follow me and I’ll be like your god.” And does Jesus give into the devil’s temptation?

No! So Jesus obeys the way Adam was supposed to. So is Jesus’ work done? No.

Jesus also has to take the punishment that Adam earned for his disobedience, which for Jesus was suffering God’s wrath on the cross. Jesus not only had to do what Adam failed to do but he had to pay the penalty for Adam’s failure. Jesus had to go to hell on the cross to pay the penalty for Adam’s sins and our sins.

APPLICATION

SO WHAT? Why do we care?

We have to believe that we are saved by works. But not by our works. We’re saved by the works of Jesus. After the fall we are all still today under this Covenant of Works with Adam unless we are saved by Jesus under his covenant. Those are the only two possibilities. You are either in Adam or in Christ. You stand related to God through one of two kings. Through the first Adam through whom came death and condemnation. Or you stand related to God through the second Adam through whom comes life and salvation. No third group, option. You can know that Jesus has done everythign already to save you. You just have to believe.