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Covenant with Adam Obey and Live And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.—Genesis 2:16,17 Tim Thomassen A covenant is “a mutual contract or agreement between two parties, each of .. which is bound to fulfill certain engagements to the other. In Scripture it is used … to denote certain relations between God and man.” (Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, McClintock and Strong, vol. II, p. 543) At the outset Adam was holy, pure, and free from sin, with every favorable prospect. He started with a “clean slate.” Although perfect, he was also innocent and inexperienced. The agreement under which he was placed when he was created was between God, the moral governor, and Adam, a free moral agent and representative of all his future, natural posterity. Adam was asked to obey God’s instruction. The test was to not eat from the “tree of knowledge.” The penalty was death (Genesis 2:16,17), the reward for obedience was life without end. God planted a beautiful garden with colorful flowers, shrubbery, trees and edible foods of all kinds, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was put in the garden “to till it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15, RSV). After his treasured companion ate the forbidden fruit, Adam had to make a difficult choice: to whom should he be loyal, Eve or God? To this day, loyalty to family or friends, at the expense of faithfulness to God and his word, sometimes costs dearly! As Moses said, “The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day” (Deuteronomy 6:24). God wants the best for his children. That applies to us just as it did to father Adam. As Paul Mali wrote in his book The Bible as a Rising Civilization: “A covenant relationship means two parties have come together, established agreed-upon terms and consented to abide by these terms. The covenant binds both parties. If there is a default on either party, the benefits of the relationship are lost. It’s no secret that God will give life to any and all, but only on his terms. This is to say, one set of terms is balanced by another set of terms. Justice is intrinsically created when these two sets of terms are balanced. God said, if you will do this, then I will do that. If you will conform to my laws, then I will give you life. God gives life to those who follow the agreed upon terms of a covenant relationship.” According to Mali, “the first phase of this covenant … given to Adam might be called the ‘Edenic Covenant.’ God said propagate the human race, subdue the earth, have dominion, care for the garden, eat fruit and vegetables and abstain from eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis, chapters 2 and 3). If you comply with these terms, you will have life in an Edenic paradise. The pair defaulted. Adam and Eve broke their covenant with God, lost life, and were expelled from the Garden of Eden.” Again, quoting from Mali: “God said to the woman: propagate children in pain, live motherhood in sorrow and accept your husband’s headship. To the man, God said: the earth’s yield will be hard and filled with struggles. Live life, even though short, with death as the end. If you do this, I will give you a promise of a seed (the Messianic Redeemer) who will come to save you. He will bruise the serpent’s head.” Depending upon which translation is consulted, this is the only Scripture that directly links Adam to a covenant: “But they like Adam have transgressed a covenant,—there have they dealt treacherously with me” (Hosea 6:7, Rotherham). The Hebrew word translated “Adam” is a generic name for “man,” the word used in some other translations. The name “Adam” was not confined to the father of the human race, but was applicable to woman as well (Genesis 5:2). When searching the Bible for the word “covenant,” one will find references to covenants being made with Noah, Abram, Isaac, David, the house of Israel, and others, but not Adam. Nevertheless, it is obvious Adam shared a special and unique relationship with his creator and understood what he had to do to maintain his life on a perfect earth. Although he may not have signed his name to the bottom of a legal document, he knew what was expected and what would happen if he violated God’s all-wise arrangement. Nevertheless, he picked the course of action that proved more disastrous than he ever imagined. Some feel God’s punishment was too harsh, too extreme, given the nature of the offense. Why so severe a punishment for what was essentially a trivial offense? After all this wasn’t murder! However, a divine principle was at work, a principle succinctly summarized by Jesus: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10). “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny” (Samuel Smiles, 1887, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, pp. 922-923). Adam sinned by doing what Eve wanted him to do rather than following God’s divine commandment. In disobeying God, he became the first man, but certainly not the last, to experience harm by putting his wife before God’s word and will. We also have many choices to make, and we have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes that not only we have made but from those of others. We can learn valuable lessons from Adam’s fatal decision and the reasoning that led up to it. As a free moral agent, Adam’s sin was not committed ignorantly. He had ample opportunity to make a wise decision, but he chose to exercise his will in this matter. As an innocent creature, there was no sinful tendency within him to dictate or influence his decision. Eve listened to the tempter; Adam listened to his wife. After they sinned, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked (Genesis 3:7). They now knew evil experientially, with all of its accompanying guilt, sorrow, shame, and misery. The age of innocence had ended and a new set of experiences was beginning, one marked by conscience and moral responsibility. Paul provided some helpful insights into the results of Adam’s transgression: “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned—sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man’s disobedience [the] many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience [the] many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:12-19, RSV) Sin and death “entered the world through one man” and that man was Adam. The impact of Adam’s disobedience has been immense, it has been deadly! Verse 14 speaks of “Adam’s transgression.” The word “transgression” means “the breach of a definite, promulgated, ratified law” (Strong’s Greek word #3847). The word “trespass” or “offence” in verse 15 suggests “a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness” as well as “a sin,” or a “misdeed” (Strong’s #3900). Verse 16 speaks of “judgment” and “condemnation” and verse 17 uses the word “disobedience” to describe Adam’s action. These words do not make a quality résumé! Because of Adam’s deliberate choice, his offspring have paid a high price. The conditions all have inherited from Adam will continue until God’s kingdom is fully established.
There are a number of valuable lessons we can learn from an examination of Adam’s relationship with God. 1. The commandments of the Lord are not burdensome (1 John 5:3), but they must be obeyed. If we love God, we will keep his commandments. “They are the expression of the most exalted virtue, the noblest benevolence, the purest love, and all the beauties of holiness” (Reprints, p. 2093). 2. Titus 1:2 says God cannot lie. What he says, he will do. We can count on it! God’s word will not return unto him void, but it shall accomplish that which he pleases and it shall prosper in the thing whereto he sent it (Isaiah 55:11). 3. God is faithful to his word. We should be faithful as well (1 Peter 4:19; Hebrews 10:23). 4. Obedience and life go hand-in-hand: obey and live, disobey and die. “Moses said, The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren as he raised me up. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul that does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.” (Acts 3:22,23, RSV) 5. Adam reaped what he sowed. So shall we as we are told by the apostle Paul: “For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:8, RSV). Adam was not deceived (1 Timothy 2:14). “With full knowledge, Adam willfully and deliberately chose to disobey and then … he tried to hide. When brought to trial, instead of showing sorrow or regret or asking for forgiveness, Adam attempted to justify himself and pass the responsibility off on others, even blaming Jehovah for his willful sin: The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and so I ate it.” (Aid to Bible Understanding, p. 33) May we take more careful heed to God’s word and learn the lessons it contains, knowing that “Every Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, and for instruction in right doing; so that the man of God may himself be complete and may be perfectly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16,17, Weymouth). The serpent deceived Eve by his cunning (2 Corinthians 11:3). Let him not deceive us by his cunning. Let us not be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. May we look to the Lord for his promised grace to help in every time of need (Hebrews 4:16)! |