Introduction
To understand the framework of Scripture, one must understand how covenants work. Covenants are the way the Scriptures explain how an infinite God can relate to finite creatures. Herman Bavinck says other religions cannot solve this dilemma because they “either pantheistically pull God down into what is creaturely, or deistically lift him endlessly above it.” Covenants solve this dilemma. The historical Reformed position of what Scripture says about the covenants is a bicovenantal approach. Starting in the Garden of Eden with Adam, God made what theologians call the Covenant of Works which promises eternal life to Adam and Eve for perpetual obedience. This covenant is highly conditional since it asks for perfect obedience to God. Unfortunately, Adam failed to keep this covenant with God, plunging the rest of humanity to come after him into sin. Instead of deserting humanity, God initiates the beginning of the Covenant of Grace in Genesis three when He promises that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. The different covenants throughout redemptive history are dispensations of this one covenant of grace because they all point to Christ or are fulfilled by Christ as in the New Covenant which is the culmination of the Covenant of Grace. Christ lived out the covenant of works perfectly on our behalf so that we might become part of the Covenant of Grace. These two covenants explain the drama of redemptive history (copied from my blog on the Covenant of Redemption, a covenant made in eternity). In this article, I will show that God made a covenant with Adam and how this applies to Christ’s work.
What Essentials Does a Covenant Need?
For a covenant to exist, there are many necessary elements. Firstly, there must be two contracting parties. This contract has conditions attached to it, accompanied by blessings and curses. Moreover, there are sacraments that are signs and seals of the covenant which procure blessings and curses. Finally, there needs to be a representative principle, whereby an individual represents multiple people. All of these elements essential to a covenant are seen in Genesis 1-3. The two parties are Adam and God with the condition that Adam cannot eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, showing obedience or disobedience in a contract. Blessings and curses are obviously present in the Genesis account. If Adam had perpetual obedience, his blessing would be eternal life, and by disobeying the covenant, the curse of death came upon the world. The blessings are tied to the Tree of Life, while the curses are tied to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Finally, the representative principle is Adam, who was the federal head of all humanity (see Romans 5). So, all the elements necessary for a covenant are emphatically on display in the Genesis account. Also, Hosea 6:7 explicitly says there was a covenant with Adam that he had transgressed. This transgression is compared to the Israelites breaking the Mosaic Covenant. Scripture is clear that God made a covenant with Adam that he broke.
Exposition of the Covenant of Works
A covenant with Adam being proved, what exactly does the Covenant of Works mean and what is its purpose? This covenant has many different names: the Covenant of Works, the Covenant of Nature, and the Adamic Covenant. The name Covenant of Works expresses the idea that perfect obedience is needed to receive the blessings attached to it. The term Nature portrays the natural relationship between Creator and creature and the Adamic Covenant obviously shows that it was a covenant made with Adam. Some people push back on the name Covenant of Works because it is too legalistic or judicial, leaving no room for grace; however, this is simply false. The fact that God condescended to mankind to make any covenant entails grace being involved. God is completely independent from man, so for Him to reward obedient man is an act of grace. With the first party, God, inacting the covenant, he made the obligations for staying in the covenant, acting as a legislator and rewarder which is His divine prerogative. Making this covenant with man in a state of innocence, Adam had the power to fulfill the obligations and acted as the federal head of the human race (naturally and legally). The duty of man to God was perpetual perfect obedience which includes sincerity, following all stipulations, obeying to the highest degree, and the time is forever. The sanctions of this covenant blessed Adam and Eve with eternal life by obeying and cursed Adam and Eve with eternal death by disobeying. But there is another highly neglected part of this covenant which is the role of the trees.
The Trees as Sacraments
A Sacrament has four parts: the external sign, the thing signified, the union between the two, and a covenantal backdrop. Both trees have all of these parts. The names given are not arbitrary, because then Moses would not have given them a name, and they do not efficiently give what they are called, for a finite creature cannot immediately give infinite life. So, their names are given sacramentally. Regarding the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, it was a sign and warning of experiential knowledge of evil equally with good. Adam of course knew good because he knew God and sought to obey him, and he knew evil because he knew disobeying brought curses. This knowledge of good and evil preceded his eating of the tree so it must indicate experiential knowledge rather than just knowledge of precepts. When Adam ate from the tree, he truly experienced the difference between good obedience and evil disobedience which before he had not experienced. By partaking, the curses (the thing signified) attached to the sign came upon Adam, resulting in immediate spiritual death and delayed physical death. Thus, when Adam partook in the external sign, he received the thing signified, which shows a sacramental union between the two and all of this happened in a covenantal structure. Secondly, the Tree of Life being a sign and seal of eternal life also has a sacramental nature. It is a sign and seal of life in regards to the past because God gave Adam life, and in regards to the future because, on the condition of perpetual obedience, he would have eternal life and happiness. Breaking the covenant, Adam no longer had a right to the sacrament (Genesis 3:22). So, the first tree is a sacrament of trial (prescription) while the second tree is a sacrament of reward. All of this exemplifies strong covenantal themes throughout Scripture such as commands and promises, law and gospel, and blessings and curses. These themes seen in the Genesis account also typologically show Christ and the New Covenant promises.
The Second Adam
Adam, being the federal head of the whole human race, plunged all his posterity into sin (Romans 5). Therefore, under Adam, we are subject to the covenant of works. The Covenant of Works is a perpetual command by God, so if one were to have perfect obedience, he would inherit eternal life (Romans 2:7). God still demands humanity to be perfectly obedient which is why those under Adam, subject to sin, curses, and death, justly deserved eternal damnation. By Adam partaking of the tree, we all partook of the tree, since he is our representative. However, God does not leave all humanity to suffer under the Covenant of Works because of their sin. He sends a second Adam, who lives out the Covenant of Works on behalf of his people (the elect) perfectly. In order to partake in eternal life, we need to be under a new representative. These broad covenantal themes are essential to understanding why we are saved. Regeneration gives us the infused virtue of faith, faith gives us union with Christ, union with Christ gives us his righteousness, this imputed righteousness justifies us, but that which God declares just, he makes just (sanctification, becoming more Christ-like), and finally, the consummation is glorification where we are perfectly made just. By being unified with Christ, he becomes our federal head and thus all the blessings flow to the body, the main promise being eternal life. Christ is the true heavenly Tree of Life (Revelation 2:7, 22:2) procuring a new sacrament for us, the Lord’s Supper, where we feast on Christ’s body and blood, receiving the fullness of the second Adam. As I am writing this, I realize that I cannot sufficiently show how beautiful Christ and Scripture truly are; if this does not excite joyfulness, thankfulness, humility, and love for the word of God, I do not know what will. I cannot express in words the true beauty of these broad Scriptural themes.
Conclusion
Covenant theology is a framework that explains Scripture through a redemptive-historical lens. With the Covenant of Works being broken by Adam, a new Adam had to come and do what the first Adam did not. Christ is this new Adam, and under his federal headship we are made partakers in eternal life which was before promised to Adam on account of his own righteousness with the sacrament of the Tree of Life, but now with the Covenant of Grace we are promised eternal life on the account of Christ’s righteousness with the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper where the fullness of our union with the second Adam is explicitly on display. So, don’t be a dispensationalist. Guy Waters put it this way: “When God graciously transfers a person from being in Adam to being in Christ, God brings that person from the realm of sin, curse, and death into the realm of righteousness, blessing, and life.”