Divine Covenants

The Adamic Covenant

It is vitally important for a good understanding of much of God’s Word to notice the relation between Adam and the rest of humankind.

Adam was not only the common parent of mankind, but he was also their federal head and representative. The whole human race was placed on probation, or on trial, in Eden. Adam acted not just for himself but he acted for all succeeding people. Unless this basic fact is clearly understood much of what the Bible has for us to know will be a mystery to us. Until the federal headship of Adam and God’s dealings with him in that capacity is clear, we are left without the key to God’s dealings with the human race. And we are unable to understand man’s relation to the divine law, and to appreciate the fundamental principle of the atonement.

“Federal headship” is a term which is seldom used today. The principle which is presented in this phrase is that of representative. There have been only two “federal heads”: Adam and Jesus. God entered into a covenant with each of them. Each of them acted on behalf of others, each legally represented a definite group of people, so much so that all of those represented by them are said to be “in” them. Adam represented the whole human race; Jesus represented those that were given to Him by the Father.

When Adam sinned his nature changed from a perfect human to a fallen human. Therefore, since he was the “federal head of all mankind”, all of those who came after him were also fallen and sinful. The wages of sin is death, so when Adam died then we also would die. The same principle was to be found in Jesus as the “federal head” of His people. For those who say that God is not fair because they are considered sinners as a result of Adam’s sin, as their “federal head”, they must remember that the other side of that coin is that, through no righteousness of their own, the elect are considered righteous because of what Jesus did as their “federal head”.

What we are talking about here is divine revelation. All we know about Adam is what we find in the Bible. So our question is not whether federal headship is reasonable or fair, but is it a fact revealed in the Word of God? If it is, then our reason has to take a back seat to it and faith has to humbly receive it. To the child of God the question of its justice is settled: we know it to be just, because it is the way of our holy, sovereign God.

Now the fact that Adam was the federal head of the human race, that he did act and behave in a representative capacity, and that the judicial consequences of his actions were imputed to all mankind, is clearly revealed in God’s Word.

· Romans 5:12-19, Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men because all sinned---for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life to all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

This passage seems so clear that no unprejudiced person could misunderstand it. It pleased God to deal with the human race as represented by Adam.

One author used a very interesting illustration that I would like to share with you. God did not deal with mankind as with a corn field, where each stalk stands on its own individual roots; but He dealt with it as with a tree, all the branches of which have one common root and trunk. If you strike with an axe at the root of a tree, the whole tree falls---not only the trunk, but also the branches: all wither and die. So it was when Adam fell. God permitted Satan to lay the axe to the root of the tree, and when Adam fell, all his posterity fell with him. At one fatal stroke Adam was severed from communion with his maker, and as a result “death passed upon all men.”

· 1 Corinthians 15:22, For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

The human race is suffering now for the sin of Adam.

This idea of the federal headship is a common one in the world. For example, the father is the legal head of the children during their growing up years. A business house is responsible for the acts of its agents. The head of a nation is responsible for the enforcement of international agreements that he makes. This principle is so basic that it cannot be ignored. A society could not exist without this concept. So why should we be so astonished that the sin of our federal head results in our fall as well as Adam’s.

Think of it this way: Who could have been a more suitable representative than one who was created perfect, in the image of God, and pronounced by His creator to be “very good”. This is a principle and method used by God. Those who reached Canaan were cursed because of the act of one of Noah’s sons, Ham, who went into Noah’s bedroom where he was laying drunk, and saw his father naked. Whether this was the extent of his sin, we do not know. Further, the Egyptians perished at the Red Sea because of Pharaoh’s wickedness. In Israel, the sins of the fathers were visited on the children. And all of Achan’s family was stoned to death because of his sin.

Now the sinner’s salvation depends on the same principle. This principle wrecked us and the same principle saved us. The cardinal fact of the Gospel is that the obedience of the last Adam and His righteousness was imputed to us!!!!

We are fallen children of a fallen parent, and as such we enter the world “alienated from the life of God”.

· Eph. 4:18, They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

That the world is critical of this principle of representation and imputation only serves to be evidence of the fact that it is of God.

There is an interesting verse in Romans 5:19 and we see here the importance of looking closely at the words used in order to properly understand what the Bible means.

· Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

It is important to notice the word “made”. It really needs definition. It does not refer directly or primarily to the fact that we inherit from Adam a corrupt and sinful nature. We learn this from other passages in Scripture. The term “were made sinners” refers to our being constituted guilty, made guilty, in the sight of God. For example:

· 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Clearly the words “made Him (Jesus) to be sin” cannot refer to any change which Jesus underwent in His nature or character. No, this was a matter of Jesus “taking His people’s place before God” and was treated as if He was guilty. Our sins were not imparted to Him but imputed to Him.

The same treatment is found in Galations3:13:

· Galations3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Judicially speaking He was considered under the law. Our guilt was legally transferred to Him. The sins we committed, He was regarded as responsible for. What we deserved, He endured and paid for.

What we have seen is Adam was in Eden as a responsible being and he was the federal head of the human race and that he legally acted on behalf of all who would come after him. Therefore, what he did, all are considered as having done.

Can you possibly imagine what it was like for Adam in the Garden of Eden? He was free from sin and misery; he had no evil ancestors; there was no evil in him; he had no illnesses; no needs for what we would call worldly things; there was nothing to cause him distress; he was made in the very image of God, indwelt by the Holy Spirit; he had complete communion with God; was in the perfect environment; was given authority over all of creation; and was given a mate created just for him. Our minds will not allow us to imagine such a perfect life.

But, he was a creature, and as such subject to the authority of the One who had created him. As one under authority, he was obligated to be obedient to his Creator. If he was required to be obedient, then there must have been some law which he was to obey. God governs all of His rational creation by law, as the rule of their obedience to Him. All are subject to the moral government of God. Even Jesus was “born under the law” (Gal.4:4). Though Adam was pronounced “very good” by God, he was on probation to see if he would obey the commands of his maker.

Now the law which God gave to Adam was three-fold: natural, moral and positive. Being created in the image and likeness of God, it was his very nature to delight in God and reproduce His holiness. By the “moral” law we mean that he was placed under the requirements of the Ten Commandments, though they had not yet been delivered to mankind. By “positive” law we mean that God also placed a certain restriction on Adam which had not occurred to him from either the natural or moral law.

So let’s follow these three-fold laws under which Adam was placed. In Genesis 2:24:

· Gen 2:24, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Any violation of the marital relationship is a violation of the very “law of nature.” Regarding the “moral law”:

· Gen. 2:3, And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.”

This passage would be hard to explain except for the fact that it provides the ground for the same practice for mankind. This is a very interesting concept and one that may be widely misinterpreted.

What do I mean by that? Well, if we take this idea in its context and in view of the fourth commandment, something interesting emerges. First, in Genesis we see that God did His creating in six days and on the seventh day He rested. Did God need to rest? Of course not. But we are to understand that we are to regularly take time off from our labors and honor God by keeping that day holy.

· Deut. 5:12-14, “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, “but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work.”

Please notice that there is no mention of Monday or Sunday or Thursday anywhere in these passages. Nor does the Bible say that God began His creative work on Monday, worked through Saturday and rested on Sunday. Then in the commandment He said, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Further, in the Genesis passage we read that God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. Well what is the seventh day? Look at you calendar. The seventh day of the week is Saturday. That makes Sunday the first day of the week. How did we get this out of whack?

Well, in the Christian tradition Sunday is typically observed as the Sabbath. There was a time when the work week was almost exclusively Monday through Saturday, then later Monday through Friday, and in some cases today it is Monday through Thursday. The point here is that God has said that we should follow His example of taking a day of rest from our work and devote it to worship. The word “sabbatical” is defined as “a break or change from a normal routine” (as in employment).

Gen. 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. This demonstrates the third legal aspect, the positive. Even in his unfallen and perfect condition man was not to be idle and shiftless.

From all of what we have just been saying it should be evident that there was a revelation to Adam of the trifold obligation which lies on man: namely, what he owes to God, what he owes to his neighbors, and what he owes to himself. These essentially cover the whole of life’s experiences. But there was still something more specific to test man’s obedience because, as we have said, he was on trial or probation. So an ordinance, or restriction, was needed so that there was no uncertainty with respect to Adam’s ability to understand it and abide by it, and that there could be no debate as to whether he was obedient or guilty of violating the restriction.

This was the case with God’s instruction regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

· Genesis 2:15-17, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

If you and I had been present in the Garden of Eden, along with all the rest of human-kind, and if God had proposed to us that we pick one of us to be our representative so that He could make an agreement with him on our behalf, is there any doubt but that we would all have picked Adam? He was the perfect man. If God had chosen him why would we complain if God chose the same man we would have chosen?

The contracting parties in this covenant were God and Adam. First, God, as goodness itself, promised communion with Himself, but God also as justice itself, threatened death for disobedience. Second, Adam was considered both as man and as representative of all who would come after him.

We have before us the covenant of works. This covenant was made on the assumption that man in his original condition---though made in the image of God---was capable of falling, just as the covenant of grace proceeds on the assumption that man is capable of being restored.

We need to remember that Adam was mutable or subject to change. There is only One who is unchangeable. While Adam was made in the image of God, the essential attributes of God are not communicable. If this were not so then if God bestowed omniscience, omnipotence or immutability on the creature, He would be raising up gods, equal with Himself. Therefore while Adam was a perfect creature, he was but a creature, mutable; and being mutable, he was subject to change and therefore liable to fall.

But being mutable, fallible, and dependent, the finest creature of all was liable to fall, and he could only be preserved by the power of the One who created him. God offered to man the opportunity to be a holy and happy creature, but He also permitted Adam to disobey. Thus He enabled the covenant of works to be broken, making way for the One who would be perfectly obedient.

Now before we get into the details of the agreement God made with Adam, it might be well to deal with an objection that some have against the idea of a covenant in the first place, since the word “covenant” is not to be found in the historical account of Genesis. You know the same thing can be said about the concept of the trinity, which does not appear in the Book either. However, there are certain inescapable elements that conclusively infer that there was an agreement.

A covenant is a mutual agreement entered into by two or more parties, whereby they stand solemnly bound to each other to perform the conditions contracted for. Applying this definition we find that:

· there is something to be done or given by the proposing party

· there is something to be done or given by the other party

· the agreement of things to be done or given must be legal

· there are penalties or consequences for violating the agreement

 So, was there any moral agreement between God and Adam where the above four principles were involved? Was there any proposition made by God of something to be done by Adam? Was what was agreed to a legal and moral matter? Were there any consequences involved for a violation?

Let’s look again at Genesis 2:16-17.

· Gen. 2:16-17, And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

There was, then, a formal agreement between God and man concerning obedience and disobedience, reward and punishment. So there was a covenant. And remember that in this covenant Adam acted not as a private person for himself only, but as the federal head and representative of all who would follow him. (He acted alone because Eve was not the federal head) In fact, we don’t even know if Eve even existed at the time the covenant was made.

In this Adam was a type of Jesus, with whom God had made the everlasting covenant, and who had been appointed the federal head and representative of His people.

· Romans 5:12-14, Therefore, just as sin entered the world through the one man, and death came to all men, because all sinned---for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the One to come.

In this passage we have what appears to be very confusing. But we must draw some inferences for it to make sense. At once it says that sin entered the world and all sinned and death reigned from Adam to Moses. On the other hand we are told that sin was not taken into account if there was no law and the law came much later. So we must infer that if men died between Adam and Moses it was because all men actually sinned.

That Adam acted as the representative of all people and that God intended that to be the case is clear from Genesis 1:26.

· Gen. 1:26, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

Now notice the language in the verse we have just read. It plainly intimates that it was speaking of the whole human race, and not just Adam, as a casual reading would lead us to believe. In it we see that what God said to Adam after he sinned, was said to all mankind when He used the plural “them”. And not only did God intend the fall for Adam and all people to follow him, but He also pronounced a curse on the earth.

Now think about this: the covenant God made with Adam demanded perfect obedience to only one command, namely, abstaining from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He had a full knowledge of God’s will concerning what was required of him. How simple and easy it was for Adam to obey this one simple requirement!

How serious the consequences of violating the command!

· What if the serpent had not appeared to Eve?

· What are we to learn from the above?

First, God is Lord of all things and we do all things by His permission alone. Second, man’s true happiness is placed in God alone and submission to Him is required for all of our desires.

Third, to be satisfied to do without our desires if they are contrary to God’s plan for us. That we have not yet arrived at the point of our greatest happiness, but we have reason to expect far greater happiness as we deal with the things of God.

What we have overlooked up to this point is that along with the prohibition that was placed on Adam was the clear promise of a reward greater than that which attracted Adam. There was a clear inference that to eat of any other tree was a better choice. So if Adam had obeyed the restriction he was guaranteed a better reward. Any time that God prohibits a certain behavior we can infer that the abstention from that behavior is a better reward.

Someone might say, how could life have been better for Adam if he had obeyed God than it was already? But remember that Adam was on probation by virtue of the test that was to be placed before him. If he had obeyed God then his standing before God would have been confirmed, and presumably taken off probation, as well as a blessing for his future fellowmen. There is great debate on this matter.

So we have seen that Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden on probation and was given a free will to be obedient or disobedient. On this basis God made a covenant with Adam. Though the word “covenant” does not appear in Genesis record of Adam, the elements of the covenant are clearly present. The central point of the story of Adam is that he was given one test of obedience. It was a matter of what would Adam do. Therefore this is sometimes called the “covenant of works” because it depended on what Adam would do. You see, Adam’s condition would continue in a state of uninterrupted happiness if he behaved according to his instructions. It was up to him. So his future condition was dependant on him. In this way the covenant differed from the new covenant where our future depends on the behavior of another. The new covenant then is the “covenant of grace”.

So God entered into a covenant with Adam to the effect that if he obeyed  the one command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that he would continue in a state of holiness and righteousness. We will see this same method of divine dealing with men again in the covenants God made with Noah and Abraham.

Now remember that there is a penalty aspect to God’s covenants. He told Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. There was no provision for restoration of Adam if he disobeyed God. There was no provision for repentance. All his blessings were lost. Will you notice that the penalty of death here in the Garden of Eden and which is now the inheritance of the entire human race is not a natural calamity for us, but a penalty resulting from our federal head’s disobedience. A lesson here is that there is no escape from the wages of sin. Unless another bears the wages in our place!!

How should we interpret the penalty, “you shall surely die”. It does not say that you will die physically. Nor does it say that you will die spiritually. So we must use a wide interpretation since there is no further modifier. So we look elsewhere in Scripture. The Hebrew meaning of this phrase is interpreted, “dying thou shall die”. Just a little imagination helps us here.

From birth our physical body is entirely unfitted for the soul to reside in eternally, so there must be a separation from it. And by this separation the good things of the body, the pleasures on which the fallen mankind dotes, are snatched away. As “life” is not just being alive, but to be happy; so death is not just to depart this life, but to languish in dread and anticipation of certain death without knowing the time that God has set for it.

“Death” in Scripture also signifies spiritual death, or the separation of the soul from God. The dead soul has no feeling; doesn’t understand truth, but wallows in evil. Eternal” death is also included in the Genesis passage.

· Romans 6:23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In this passage the word “death” involves and includes “eternal death” and this is plain from the fact that it is placed in direct opposition to “eternal life”.

What were Adam’s alternatives in the Garden to participating in this covenant? Well, he could agree to it. He could refuse to be a party to the covenant. Or he could simply disobey God. The evidence is that he voluntarily assented to be a party. It would be unthinkable for a pure and sinless being to refuse to be a party to the covenant.

There is no hint at all that Adam refused to be a party. It is evident that Eve thought the command was reasonable and she said as much to the serpent as a reason for her at first refusing the serpents idea. After his sin, Adam tried to excuse himself and place the blame on, not only the woman, but also on God for giving him the woman.

Finally, the penalty element of the covenant was clearly evident: sorrow and death and a curse on all creation followed.

It is now time for us to consider the seal which God used in this covenant that He made with the federal head of all humanity. This can be somewhat difficult, but it will help to think about what we already know about “seals” in our worship experience. For many, to speak of “the seal” of a covenant is to use a term that has no meaning. But if we fail to look at the seal of the Adamic covenant we would miss an essential element in this Genesis passage.

Let’s look again at Genesis 2:9.

· Gen. 2:9, And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground---trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now first, we have every reason to believe that these were literal trees. The fact that they were “pleasing to the eye”, and the fact that Eve picked a piece of fruit from one of the trees requires that we see them as literal trees. We must also assume that these two trees had some extraordinary significance because they were in the “middle” of the garden. Finally they must have had some symbolic significance since the Spirit singles them out by name. They were designed to give instruction to Adam.

In all of God’s covenants He has included seals, “sacred symbols”, as signs of the certainty of His promises and at the same time to remind man of his covenant duty. More familiar seals that we would be familiar with are the rainbow in the Noahic covenant that was the sign and seal of God’s promise never to again destroy the world by flooding, and circumcision which was the outward sign and seal of the confirmation of the covenant God made with Abraham that through him he would be a blessing to all the world.

A.A. Hodge gave the following definition of a seal: “A seal of a covenant is an outward visible sign, appointed by God as a pledge of His faithfulness, and as an earnest of the blessings promised in the covenant.”

The language of Genesis 2:17 not only pronounced a curse on the disobedience of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but by implication, it announced a blessing on the obedience for not eating of that same tree. The curse was death, and the blessing was a continuation of the existence in the perfect environment of Eden.

The seal of this covenant was the “tree of life” in the middle of the garden. If, as we have said, the seal is to signify the blessing promised in the covenant, and in this case the seal promises, not immortality, but eternal life. It was a pledge of that spiritual life which is inseparably connected to obedience to God. Like all other signs and seals, this one was not designed to confer the promised blessing, but was a divine pledge given to Adam’s faith to encourage his expectation of the promised blessings.

We are convinced that it is a serious error of the Roman Church to believe that the signs and seals actually convey grace in and of themselves.

· Romans 4:7-11, “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of righteousness that he had by faith, while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. The rite, instead of conferring anything, simply confirmed what Abraham already had. Circumcision was the guarantee that the righteousness of faith which he had (before he was circumcised) should come to unbelieving Gentiles.

So now we see that as the rainbow was the sign and seal of the covenant promises God made with Noah, as circumcision was the sign and seal of the covenant promises God made with Abraham, so the tree of life was the sign and seal of the covenant promises made to Adam. It was God’s pledge of His faithfulness, and as an earnest of the blessings which would come based on continued obedience.

Now based on what we have just been saying, I have this question for you. God has made a New Covenant. What is the seal of the New Covenant?

· Eph. 1:13-14, And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked by Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession---to the praise of His glory.

· Rev. 2:7, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” These words express the promise of eternal life and happiness and the words used here in Revelation remind us of those used in Genesis. Each victorious saint will eat of the “tree of life”, and be unchangeably established in heaven.

The answer is: The Holy Spirit.

Let’s now deal with an area of some controversy which arises from a faulty interpretation of Genesis 3:21-24.

· Gen. 3:21-24, The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”  So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

There are those who, with some good reason, place a literal interpretation on the part of the passage which refers to eating from the tree of life and living forever. It was not the mere eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was able of itself to impart any knowledge; rather it was by taking of its fruit contrary to God’s command that they gained a knowledge of evil in themselves.

Earlier they had experienced the knowledge of the good of God through their obedient abstinence. Both of the trees were symbolic and by seeing them Adam was reminded of the contents of the covenant of which they were the sign and seal. But now a bit of logic would lead us to conclude that God was not fearful that Adam and Eve would now go to the tree of life and eat of it so that they could live forever, because His sentence of death had already fallen on them. Adam lost more than spiritual immortality. He was banished from the perfect environment of the garden lest he accidentally eat of the tree of life; he had irrevocably lost that.

· Gen. 3:24, After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree.

Being driven out from the presence of the tree of life, and the way into the Garden being guarded by the flaming sword has several meanings for us. First, Adam was prevented from re-entering the garden. This leads to an apparently unanswerable question: Was Adam eternally lost? We cannot authoritatively answer this question. However, we can make an educated guess by making inferences from the Bible. He was mentioned only once again in Genesis, and he was missing from the list of the persons of faith in the 11^th chapter of Hebrews. And in the New Testament he is uniformly mentioned as the source of death, as Jesus is mentioned as the source of life. But that is only speculation, which is not worth very much.

But let’s take another look at the tree of life. It has deep significance as a type of Jesus. First, its very name obviously pointed to Him.

· John 1:4, In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

All life resides in Jesus---natural life, spiritual life, resurrection life and eternal life. Second, the position it occupied “in the middle of the Garden”. As we have already mentioned, Revelation makes reference to the position of the tree. Jesus is the center of heavens glory. Third, the tree has sacramental significance. It stood as the seal of the covenant, as the pledge of God’s faithfulness and as the ratification of His promises to Adam. Fourth, it was attractive, according to the Genesis description. And how absolutely true this is of Jesus. Fifth, from this symbolic tree of life, the apostate rebel was excluded; he was cast out of the garden.

· Rev. 22:14, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”

Here is the final mention of the tree of life in the Bible, quite a contrast to what is recorded in Genesis where we see the disobedient rebel under the curse of God, excluded from the tree of life. And remember, under the old covenant no provision was made for man’s reconciliation. But here, under the new covenant, we see a blessed company that have a right to the tree of life for all eternity.

As we have just seen in the covenant with Adam a requirement was made---obedience. A penalty was to be enforced---death as the penalty for disobedience. A reward was promised for obedience---confirmation in life. Adam consented to the terms of the covenant and the seal of the covenant was the tree of life, so called because it was the outward sign of the life promised in the covenant.

Adam was put to the test of whether the will of God was sacred in his eyes or whether he preferred his own will. And we know the answer. He failed to love God; he had contempt for God’s authority; and he deliberately defied Him, resulting in the fall.

Did you notice that in the 5^th chapter of Romans we read that “just as sin entered the world through one man, etc. This calls for our close attention. Eve sinned too, in fact she sinned before Adam did. Why do you suppose the Bible doesn’t say, “sin entered the world through one woman? There is only one answer. Adam was the federal head that was our representative and not Eve. He was the legal representative of Eve as well. Look closely at Genesis 3:6-7.

· Gen. 3:6-7, When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

At what point did they realize they were naked? Why did they not realize they were naked after Eve ate the fruit? My thought is that because Eve is entirely omitted from verses12-19, it indicates that it was the guilt of our federal head that sin was imputed to us, not the depravity of nature. The act of disobedience was first committed by her, so why did they not notice their nakedness after she ate the fruit? Because he was the federal head and representative of humanity. (I’m sure comedians would have a field day with this if they ever thought of it.)

In full-grown manhood, with all of his faculties perfect, in an ideal surrounding, Adam rejected the good in favor of the evil. He was influenced by his wife and he chose her rather than God. There were serious consequences to his choice, as we now know. But how wise was God! Had he allowed Adam to continue in a state of perfection and eternally happy, all who followed him would think of him as their savior and would have proclaimed how indebted they were to him, their first parent.

No, only the last Adam was entitled to and capable of the title of “Savior”. In permitting Adam’s fall, with the imputation of the guilt of his offense to all mankind, God wronged no one. He is totally righteous and everything He does is right.

Now let’s be clear about one thing. In saying that the guilt of Adam’s sin is imputed to all of us, we do not mean that the human race is suffering for something in which they had no part, that innocent creatures are being condemned for the act of another which cannot be laid rightly to their account. It must be clearly understood that God does not punish another for the personal sin of Adam. But we were legally represented by him when God instituted the covenant of works. Adam acted as a public person and as a surety of his race.

Of necessity the creature is subject to the Creator and his loyalty must be proved. Therefore, there were only two alternatives in the case of Adam: The human family must either be placed on probation in the person of a responsible and suitable representative or each individual must enter the world on probation himself.

As we have said, what God does is right. The principle of representation is an essential concept of human society. The father is the legal representative of his children while they are young. The politicians are the representative heads of a nation and represent the people in foreign agreements so that the people are bound by such agreements. This is such a fundamental principle that it cannot be ignored. By the principle of representation we were lost and by the same principle we are saved.

The experience of Adam in the Garden of Eden with God was called the “Covenant of Works”. Why?

Because it was up to Adam what he did, how he behaved. He was in control of his behavior. In what sense is the covenant of works still in effect and in what sense is it no longer in effect?

Because of Adam’s representative sin none of his descendents are able to be saved by works. Therefore it is no longer possible to fulfill its conditions. And so it is only through Jesus that salvation is offered because He has fully complied with the provisions of the covenant. But the covenant of works is still in effect for those who reject Jesus.

All that remains for us now is to point out wherein the Adamic covenant suggested the everlasting covenant. It is true that the covenant of works and the covenant of grace are exactly opposite in their character---the one being based on do and live and the other on live and do ---yet there are some striking points of agreement between them. We see this foreshadowed in the Garden of Eden.

Adam, the one with whom the covenant was made, entered this world like no other person. He was not begotten by a human father; he was miraculously created by God. The same is true of Jesus. No one other than Adam entered the world with a pure and holy nature. The same is true of Jesus. Adam’s wife was taken out of him, so that he could say, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh”; of Jesus’ bride it is said, “We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.”

Adam voluntarily took his place along side his fallen wife. He was not deceived, but had such love for Eve that he could not see her perish alone. In the same way Jesus voluntarily took on Himself the sins of His people. In consequence of this, Adam fell beneath the curse of God: likewise Jesus bore the curse of God.

The father of the human family was their federal head; Jesus the last Adam is the federal head of His people. What Adam did was imputed to all those for whom he was the federal head; the same is true of Jesus. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”