Genesis 2: 15-17 is God’s first law with humans. This devotional reading looks at how it is also a covenant.
Nuggets
- God established a covenant with Adam.
- Adam was the perfect man with whom to make the covenant.
- We fulfill our responsibilities of the covenant by believing and obeying.
We’re going to chase a rabbit for this devotion.
We know about the covenant with Abraham. We know about the covenant with Moses. Then there is the new covenant with Jesus.
We don’t always recognize the covenant with Adam. It was really simple: obey, and I will be your God.
In other words, it was a covenant of works before the Mosaic covenant of works.
It was a covenant because it was an agreement between two parties. True, they were unequal parties.
Both had responsibilities. Let’s see what they were.
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Celebrating Creation’s Story series
God of the Covenant
“But the Lord God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die’” (Gen. 2: 16-17 NLT)
God established a covenant with Adam.
Yes, God initiated the covenant. And He did it before the covenant was needed.
No, Adam and Eve had not committed the original sin — yet. God knew they would; but when it was established, humankind’s actions were in light with the agreement.
Well, maybe I misspoke a little. God set up all the responsibilities on His part before He created humankind.
How did God do that? He set up the Plan of Salvation to give us eternal life after we broke the covenant before He even created us to put the covenant in place.
- “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you” (I Pet. 1: 20 ESV)
- “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him …” (Eph. 1: 4 ESV).
- “And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain” (Rev. 13: 8 ESV).
- “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (Jn. 17: 24 ESV).
- “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come” (Rev. 17: 8 ESV).
- “Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (II Tim. 1: 9 ESV).
- “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (Mt. 25: 34 ESV).
- “For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9: 26 ESV).
God didn’t have to do that. He is powerful, pure God. He didn’t have to devise a plan to address our sinfulness.
But God is a just God.
Fletcher gave us three points of evidence to prove God’s power.
- We have no better evidence of moral proof than creation itself.
- Our faith is completed through Jesus.
- We can see God’s power working throughout history.
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God did this all of this for His glory. This covenant that God made with humankind not only shows His power, but it also shows His wisdom.
Most of all, it shows God’s love for us. Look what Boston said. He wrote,
“For though He be Sovereign Monarch of the world, and has absolute power over all creatures to dispose of them as He pleases, yet, in covenanting with man, He sweetly tempered His supremacy and sovereign power, seeking, as it were, to reign with man’s consent.”
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God has the authority to set whatever laws and punishment for disobedience that He wants. We are His. But He invites us to choose to enter into His covenant.
Adam of the Covenant
“But the Lord God warned him …” (Gen. 2: 16 NLT)
Adam was the perfect man with whom to make the covenant.
Well, at least when God first created Him, Adam was. Boston had an interesting description of Adam.
Boston’s second point focused on the fact that we were created in the image of God.
- “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1: 27 NLT).
- “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him” (Col. 3: 10 NLT).
- “Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy” (Eph. 4: 24 NLT).
- “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.” (Gen. 1: 31 NLT).
I like Boston’s first point much better than the second. He wrote, “As a righteous man, morally perfect, endued with sufficient power and abilities to believe and do whatever God should reveal to or require of him, fully able to keep the law. …”
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- “But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path” (Ecc. 7: 29 NLT).
- “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone” (II Pet. 1: 5-7 NLT).
- “For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed” (Ti. 2: 11-13 NLT).
- “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy’” (I Pet. 1: 16 NLT).
We should strive to have these describe us, also. But what does righteous mean? Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
Boston had an interesting statement. Endured with sufficient power and abilities to believe and do. What does that mean?
“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — the Jew first and also the Gentiles” (Rom. 1: 16 NLT).
God gives us this power through grace, which is a gift. “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Eph. 2: 8-9 NLT).
We get this gift when we believe. It is the reward of our faith. “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (Heb. 11: 1 NLT).
The power of God is at work so that we can grow and live out our faith and conquer spiritual challenges.
We must bring the power of salvation to every aspect of our character. It isn’t enough to only have head knowledge of God and His Plan of Salvation.
We must have heart knowledge. We must bring Jesus in as our Savior to every corner of our lives.
Boston said that Adam was perfectly, perpetually, and personally obedient. We know perfectly and personally, but let’s talk about perpetually. No, Adam – and we – aren’t going to be tested 24/7/365. That wouldn’t be a promise of a good life.
The Covenant Itself
“… ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden — except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die’” (Gen. 2: 16-17 NLT)
We fulfill our responsibilities of the covenant by believing and obeying.
We acknowledge that we are debtors to God.
- “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2: 13-14 NLT).
- “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires” (Rom. 6: 12 NLT).
- “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom. 8: 12-14 NLT).
Boston made a good point. Adam could have have received this law through revelation.
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What do I always say? God’s Word is only an introduction to Him. We have to rely on God’s revelation to grow.
Adam was introduced to God upon creation. He learned more and more about Him through revelations.
Obedience is one of God’s most important requirements of any covenant He has made with mankind.
With this law, God was saying that humankind had to observe one of the most fundamental aspects of God’s character. This law was to bind him to His Creator through the greatest commandment.
“… ‘The most important commandment is this: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength”’” (Mk. 12: 29-30 NLT).
- We show God that we love Him by obeying Him.
- We show God that we love Him with our hearts, souls, and minds by obeying Him in our thoughts and actions.
- We show God that we love Him with all our strength by living in obedience to Him daily.
If we aren’t obedient to God, following other laws and commandments are meaningless.
Making the Connections #1
Humankind can’t just accept God’s covenants. We must embrace God’s salvation and consciously choose to follow Him.
That means that we have to acknowledge our sins and repent of them. Repentance deals with our turning away from the sin and not doing it again.
In other words, our acceptance can’t be lip service only. It must be a genuine turning toward God.
Glover was correct. He wrote, “The necessary thing is to lift men’s manhood, then you lift everything about them.”
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See. Lift everything. God is looking to do a total overhaul in us to cut out the sin. We must submit all our lives to His control.
Making the Connections #2
Ooo, baby. Jacob was right, but worldview people don’t want to hear it. He wrote, “There is an obligation in man towards man, established by the law of creation, which nothing can set aside.”
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God will always be our God because He is our Creator.
We want to be our own gods. We want to have control over our own lives. We want to make our own decisions our way.
God will always be our Creator. He has not abdicated that – can’t.
Neither has God abdicated His authority over us – won’t.
It comes down to the question of what obligations to we have toward the One Who made us to fulfill this covenant?
- We have to believe in the One True God.
- We have to show gratitude to Him because of Who He is and what He has done for us.
- We are to honor and respect Him.
- We are to follow His ways and work to establish in this world His justice – His bringing order back to His creation so that all people receive the rewards He has for His children.
- We are to tell others His Gospel message.
This has nothing to do with our thoughts, opinions, or feelings. It is all about how God created it to be. We have to get back to the Garden of Eden.
Yes, this has an element of witnessing included.
Related Links
Maranatha
Our joy over what God is doing in our lives must bubble out of us to show others what God is doing in our lives.
This is part of our covenant responsibilities.
Making the Connections #3
“But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law’” (Gal. 3: 10 NLT)
If the law wasn’t going to save us, why have it?
The way I see it, the reason is two-fold. The first is that it teaches us to be obedient.
We can’t be obedient if we don’t know what is expected of us. That is where the law comes into play. It tells us exactly how God wants us to act.
The second reason stems from the purpose of the law. While it is there to show us how we are to act, it is also there to show us that we cannot adhere to all the laws all the time.
We lie. We steal. We break Shabbat.
We are still sinners under the law.
The purpose of the law is to show us our need for a Savior, and not just any savior. We need Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer.
Making the Connections #4
Look what Boston said. He wrote, “It is no wonder, that however scarce good works are in the world, yet working to win heaven is so very frequent.”
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Worldview people believe that good works should be enough to gain salvation and Heaven. Yet, Boston argued that even those works are too few.
Good works really don’t matter. Salvation isn’t about the Matthew 25 to-do list.
Yes, we show our love of God by doing the to-do list. But that doesn’t bring us salvation.
God has told Pastor Steve that too many in the Church are missing Jesus. I think one way we do that is to put too much emphasis on the Matthew 25 to-do list and don’t read and study God’s Word enough.
Pastor Steve and I are reading through the Bible together again this year (for the second time). We both are finding things we have either misunderstood before and don’t remember having it stand out to us before.
God wants our relationship with Him to be our focus. We can’t do that if we just read someone else’s words (yes, even mine!).
We have to let God talk directly to us Himself. Who better to be our Teacher?
Making the Connections #5
Okay. I have to process what Hannah said. In Elaine-speak –
- Sometimes, God’s Covenant with Adam seems odd and random.
- Adam and Eve were able to freely partake in every other blessing of the Garden, but they were forbidden to partake of the one tree.
- Some may think that eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would have explained the oddity and justify the randomness.
- The tree of life stood as an opposite of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- Adam and Eve were given access to both. It was their choice not to follow God’s law and break God’s covenant.
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Worldview people love to take verses they see as contradictory and hold them up as reasons to throw out God’s Word. They would be wrong.
We are not going to understand everything that God does. “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55: 8-9 NLT).
Bottom line, this test was to determine whether humankind would acknowledge and honor Him as Sovereign God or would we try to make ourselves gods.
We will find out in Genesis 3 that we flunked.
How Do We Apply This?
- Recognize how far humankind has fallen.
- Understand that Adam’s covenant cannot bring us salvation.
- Determine our spiritual condition with respect to the covenant.
- Accept God’s grace.
- Seek Jesus’ Covenant with humankind and strive to fulfill our responsibilities to it.
- Witness to non-believers what God’s love shown through His covenants with us.
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Father God. We acknowledge the covenant that You established with Adam. Even though You were under no obligation to even offer one to us, You chose to enter into a covenant with us. Lord, we commit to believing and obeying You. Amen.
What do you think?
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