Sermon Idea: The creation covenant reveals God’s purpose for humanity, who were created to represent God on earth as his image bearers. God makes this covenant with Adam, promising life & rest in God’s presence for obedience and death for disobedience.
Introduction: The most crucial part of any structure is the foundation. When the foundation is flawed, the structure will be flawed—this is true not only of architecture, but also of our spiritual lives. Jesus makes this connection in Matthew 7.
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Mt 7:24-27)
The foundation of our understanding of the Bible and the foundation for understanding ourselves is the doctrine of creation. In Genesis 1-2, we come to know God, ourselves, and the purpose of the world. A thorough understanding of human dignity, human sexuality, work, marriage, and many other topics is found in these two chapters.
I want to mention this because my purpose is very particular this morning. I want to set the scene of creation only to focus on God’s covenant with Adam and the purpose of the world. That means there are many good things I cannot discuss.
My purpose this morning is to discuss creation in general and the covenant God makes with Adam in particular.
The Bible assumes and takes for granted the existence of the one, true, and living God.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Ge 1:1)
In one verse, the Bible establishes what the Christian tradition has referred to as the creator-creature distinction. God transcends creation, not being part of it nor in any way dependent on it. All that exists is from him and for him. He gives creation its purpose and meaning, including, above all, the creation of human beings. The point of Genesis 1-2 is straightforward: the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the God of Israel—is the one who created all things by the power of His Word.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Heb 11:3)
As the creation narrative progresses, God declares judgment on what he has made.
Five times we read, “And God saw that it was good.” (Gen. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25)
When God creates humanity, his creative work reaches its pinnacle. It is only after the creation of humanity on day six that God looks at all that he has made and declares, “…it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31)
It is God’s creation of and purpose for humanity that results in God making a covenant. As a reminder, we defined covenant in our intro sermon as a chosen relationship in which two parties make binding promises (and obligations) to each other.”
The word “covenant” does not occur in Genesis 1-2, but the concept is undoubtedly present. Not only that, but later biblical texts also reinforce the idea that a covenant was established at creation.
1.) In Genesis 2:4, the name LORD (YHWH) is used. As later Israelites read Genesis, they would have most certainly understood this as the name of the covenant Lord (Exodus 3:13-15).
2.) Adam is not only given commands, but promises for obedience, and curses for disobedience. Had Adam obeyed God in the Garden, it would have resulted in eternal life (Gen. 3:22-24; Rev. 2:7), but disobedience would have brought the curse of death (Gen. 2:17; 3:16-19).
3.) Later Biblical texts refer to Adam transgressing God’s covenant,But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me. (Ho 6:7)
4.) In the New Testament, Paul consistently and repeatedly compares Adam and Jesus as two representatives of humanity. It is difficult to think of Christ as the head of the new covenant without also considering Adam as the head of a covenant in creation.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous (Ro 5:18–19)
The creation covenant reveals God’s purpose for humanity, who were created to represent God on earth as his image bearers. God makes this covenant with Adam, promising life & rest in God’s presence for obedience and death for disobedience.
This morning, we will study God’s covenant with Adam in Genesis 1-2 by discussing the goal of creation, the purpose of the Garden, and the promises of the covenant.
I.) The Goal of Creation (Gen. 1:26-31)
As Genesis 1 progresses, it becomes clear that what happens on the sixth day is the most significant. All of creation leads to the moment when God makes man in his image. God creates the world so that his image bearers will dwell there as faithful representatives of God’s rule and reign. Look at verses 26-27 with me.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man 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. (Ge 1:26–27)
Human beings are unique in that they are created in God’s very image and likeness. Both men and women, together—equally yet complementary—represent God on earth. This is fundamentally what it means to be created in God’s image and likeness. We are his royal representatives on earth.
This understanding of the image is reflected in the Psalmist’s interpretation of Genesis 1:26-28: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.” (Psalm 8:4)
Note that crown, glory, and honor are descriptors of royalty.
Old Testament scholars have noted a remarkable historical fact that sheds some light on this. Kings in the ancient Near East would place statues, images of themselves, in regions to represent their authority and rule.
This is why I don’t go on long vacations. I’m afraid David is going to plant a statue of himself on the front lawn and declare himself the king of Waldo Hill!
I like how one book describes the image of God.
“…when God declares human beings to be his image-bearers, he is establishing the fact that they are to be his visible representatives in the created world. As such, they are to function with a derived authority as God would act and rule over the created order as God himself would.”
The goal of creation is for God to establish his kingdom, his rule and reign, through his image-bearers. As God’s image-bearer, Adam is to exercise dominion over the fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, over the livestock, and every creeping thing on earth.
We learn something significant in verse 28, though. God’s purpose is not to have one man, or even one couple, represent and worship him on earth. He intends for the entire world to be filled with his image-bearers who worship him and describe his rule and reign on earth. God wants the whole earth to be one big temple, where God’s presence dwells with his people.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Ge 1:28)
Adam has a mission: to extend the presence of God’s rule and reign over the whole earth. To accomplish this, God graciously provides Adam with a helper for him and an institution—marriage— in which they can safely give themselves to one another for the accomplishment of that mission.
Two brief application points regarding this.
1. The worthiness of God to be worshipped.
2. The honor and dignity of human beings.
This mission has to begin somewhere. That brings us to our second point, the purpose of the garden.
II.) The Purpose of the Garden (Gen. 2:5-15)
God plants the garden to be a microcosm and prototype for what God intends all of creation to be: a temple where God rules as he dwells with his people. The garden will serve as an initial place where Adam will serve as God’s representative.
8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed (Ge 2:8)
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Ge 2:15)
Adam isn’t just to exercise dominion like a king, but he is also to worship the Lord and serve as a priest. The language and images used to describe the garden are remarkably similar to those used to describe the tabernacle and the temple. Not only that, but Adam’s job description is language used to describe the work of priests.
We hear the language “work it and keep it‘ and think that Adam was a farmer. To be sure, Adam cared for the garden, but these words, when paired together, do not connote agriculture but priestly service. An excellent example of this is found in Numbers 3:6-10.
6 “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. 7 They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle. 8 They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. 9 And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. 10 And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.” (Nu 3:6–10)
Adam is to exercise dominion and subdue the earth. By God’s authority, Adam is a king in the garden. He is to work and keep the garden as a priest. It is Adam’s job to make sure nothing unclean enters the garden. Adam does this primarily by obeying God’s command in Genesis 2:16-17.
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.” (Ge 2:16–17)
The timing of this command is worth noting. God gives this command to Adam before the creation of the woman.
God gives Adam an explicit command. It is Adam’s job to ensure that God’s Word is made known, understood, and kept by his wife and his future children. Adam is also the garden’s prophet.
It is Adam’s job to make God’s Word honored and obeyed, so that proper worship can take place in God’s presence.
Adam is a prophet, a priest, and a king.
The garden serves as a testing ground for Adam’s mission. Can he be a faithful prophet, priest, and king? Can he be a faithful representative of God’s rule and reign? God’s command not to eat of the tree puts Adam to the test.
This brings us to our final point—the promises of the covenant.
III.) The Promises of the Covenant (Gen. 2:9, 16-17)
We know that Adam is supposed to exercise dominion, be fruitful and multiply, and also be a faithful prophet and priest of God’s garden. What makes this relationship a covenant, though? The two trees in the garden symbolize the most prominent features of a covenant. One tree symbolizes the reward of eternal life and righteousness if Adam obeys. The other tree symbolized the curse of death if Adam disobeys.
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. (Ge 2:9)
The tree of life was a reminder of God’s promise to reward Adam with eternal life and righteousness. God’s exiling of Adam and Eve from the garden, the way the tree of life is used in the Revelation, and the curse of death for disobedience strongly suggest that eternal life would have been rewarded to Adam had he obeyed.
1. Adam is expelled from the garden, and a Cherubim protects the tree.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Ge 3:22–24)
2. The presence of the tree of life in Revelation reinforces is being a symbol of eternal life.
7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (Re 2:7)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Re 22:1–2)
3. Disobedience resulted in death, so obedience would have justly resuled in the reward of life.
6 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.” (Ge 2:16–17)
This covenant made with Adam is one of works. The reward is conditional upon Adam’s obedience. As Aaron will teach us next week, Adam fails this test and breaks this covenant.
God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden as a punishment for sin, but also as a means of salvation. They are not to return to the covenant of works. They are to look forward to a covenant of grace. Adam doesn’t need to lift his hands to eat of a tree. He needs to lift his eyes in hope of the one who will die on a tree.
None of us can achieve eternal life by a covenant of works. We can only receive eternal life by way of a covenant of grace. Jesus brings that covenant of grace by his life, death, and resurrection.
Everywhere Adam failed, Christ succeeded. He is a true and better prophet, priest, and king who faithfully represents God as the image of God. I love the opening verse of Christ the True and Better which teaches us exactly that
Christ, the true and better Adam
Son of God and Son of man
Who, when tempted in the garden
Never yielded, never sinned
He, who makes the many righteous
Brings us back to life again
Dying, He reversed the curse, then
Rising, crushed the serpent’s head
Give a clear gospel call and response.
Nathaniel R. Martin 