Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Reflect on Week 1 thoughts and items

What is a Covenant?

Secular definition of a covenant is a formal agreement between 2 parties… biblical definition is deeper as it is a promise rather than a contract.

It legally brought these parties together and initiated them into a relationship with action rather than a contract with legal wording.

In a contract whenever someone disobeys their part, it’s easy to rip up the contract and find a different provider.

There are some people who immediately try to look through a contract in hopes of finding a loophole to break it.

This is true for TV, Phone, and Internet providers who agree to provide you with a service as long as you pay for it… but what happens whenever you fail to actually pay for the service?

They’re going to cancel your service because you have broken the terms of your contract.

A covenant is different as the other party seeks to restore the one who broke the terms rather than simply terminate them.

Why is it good that God makes covenants with His people instead of contracts?

What we see in the Bible is that God not only makes covenants but that God is the One who initiates the covenants.

This means that God is the one who promises to remain faithful, regardless of the unfaithfulness of the other side.

Last week we began this study by looking at the truthfulness of God’s faithfulness from Eden to Eternity - God is faithful because that’s His character.

It is impossible for God not to be faithful to His promises!

Last week we looked at a couple of covenants found early on in history: Covenant of Redemption and Covenant of Works.

What does the Covenant of Works require?

Perfect obedience to all of God’s commands

Which comes first, the Covenant of Redemption of the Covenant of Works?

Covenant of Redemption!

This was God’s plan to redeem sinners and involves each 3 members of the Trinity

This is found in Ephesians 1:4 as we see that Jesus was God’s plan A before the foundation of the world

This blows our minds and its impossible for us to fully grasp… yet it’s the truth of Scripture.

God is a covenant making and keeping God and in His perfect plan, He made a covenant with the 3 persons of the Trinity to redeem sinners even though He knew full and well that we’d fall woefully short of His perfect standard, so the Father planned to send the Son, the Son submitted to this plan to die on the cross for sinners, and the Holy Spirit submitted to this plan to apply the benefits of Christ’s death on behalf of all who believe in Christ as Lord!

In a perfect world, perhaps the Covenant of Works is sufficient as everyone would keep God’s commands and never fall short - but we know that’s not the story of the Bible.

Tonight as we get into week 2 of this study, we’re going to look at 4 key things:

Problem with the Covenant of Works

First Gospel in Genesis 3:15

Jesus fulfills the Covenant of Works

Introduction to God’s Covenant with Noah

Problem with the Covenant of Works

In Genesis 1-2, we see that God created the world and it was good.

God gave Adam a positive command to rule over this earth and as far as we read in Genesis, the only negative command we read in this section of Scripture is in chapter 2 as God said this

God made a covenantal promise even though the word covenant is not in the text, we see it there in principle and we see in Hosea 6 that the Biblical writers believed there to be a covenant between God and Adam

What was this covenant of works in the Garden?

Obey God and live in the Garden in this relationship with the Lord and rule over His creation

Disobey God’s commands and experience death / separation from God

Obey and live, disobey and die - this sounds exactly like Deuteronomy 30:19 from Sunday!

What ends up happening for Adam and Eve?

We know that in chapter 3 they fall and break the covenant as they sin against God

Our book does a great job on page 37 of telling us that God gave Adam and Eve exactly what they needed to obey and God does this for us today as well!

Yet, Adam and Eve are tempted to believe a lie in chapter 3 and we fall victim to this lie today as well!

All parties are guilty here as the serpent deceives the woman, the woman breaks God’s command, and the man fails to protect the woman from deception and he too eats of the fruit!

Based on God’s covenant, what do Adam and Eve deserve in this moment?

Death!

Now, doesn’t that seem a little harsh for just eating a little apple or banana?

Society might argue this, but the significance is WHO they disobeyed and sinned against instead of WHAT they ate

Questions about this disobedience

Who suffers the results of this original sin?

Just Adam and Eve?

All of Humanity?

See Romans 5:12-21 as God makes this very clear

The Bible tells us that we’re all either in Adam or Jesus.

For our purposes right now, we’re going to look at the Adam side of this passage

Many people think that it’s not fair that Adam’s sin impacted us thousands of years later - have you ever felt this way or had someone express their displeasure about this truth?

It’s common!

We don’t think that it’s right to be guilty whenever we weren’t there… but we know that this is simply what the Bible tells us.

Adam’s sin also cursed his offspring and their offspring and so on.

Some fight against this and say that we curse ourselves whenever we break God’s law and that’s what eventually makes us guilty but it’s our own actions.

That’s a novel idea but think of the implications of personal sin versus our inherited sinful nature.

We think that at times if we don’t break the law, then we’re innocent and we apply this same principle to sin.

In the Garden and in Romans 5, what is the consequence for breaking God’s covenant or law?

Death.

Question, why did people die between Adam and Moses?

The people didn’t have the Old Testament law… they didn’t have a covenant with God like Adam and Eve broke… why do seemingly innocent people die?

Because that’s how far reaching sin is.

Look at Romans 5:12

Their disobedience not only impacts themselves but it impacts people today.

Without sin, there would be no death.

Yet, we see death of all people of all ages… why?

Why do seemingly innocent people die?

Because that sinful nature has spread to all of us and even if you haven’t had the opportunity to consciously break God’s law, you have inherited a sinful nature from Adam.

This is incredibly bad news for all people of all ages of all nation - we’re born sinful and this might not seem fair!

First Gospel

Yet, even in this chapter of failure, God makes a promise that also isn’t fair.

Could someone read Genesis 3:15 for us

God pronounces judgment on the people for their sin, but even in judgment, God provides grace!

You see in Day 2 that this is called the proto-evangelium or the First Gospel.

Sin must be punished and the people are kicked out of the Garden, but God promises to send a Snake Crushing Savior who will in turn Reverse this Curse.

This is what we see unfold throughout the Old Testament as well… we see types of this Savior but we don’t see Him arrive until the New Testament.

We see people like Adam, Isaac, Joseph, David, and others who are compared to Jesus in some way in the New Testament but all of these people in the Old Testament fall short.

Yet, they help point us to Jesus in some way or another because God promised to send a sinless Savior - a true and better Adam, a true and better Isaac, a true and better David.

How does seeing the seed of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15 impact how you view the Old Testament?

It helps us better understand what the theme of the Old Testament is about

You can see the cross in the story of Joseph - you meant this for evil but God meant it for good!

Covenant of Grace

So, if the covenant of works required perfect obedience and we cannot perfectly keep God’s law, what do we all need?

A new covenant!

We disobeyed the law that was written on tablets of stone… therefore, we need the law someone else to keep it for us

Men, this is God’s grace!

Jesus perfectly fulfills the Old Covenant and He dies for sinners.

He also establishes a new covenant not founded on works but founded simply on grace.

Many people believe that humans receiving a sinful nature from Adam is not fair… Is receiving God’s grace through faith in Christ “fair” or what we deserve?

Absolutely not!

What is required in this new covenant?

Faith!

Everything else falls upon God

God is responsible to save sinners - we are not responsible to uphold our own salvation!

He began this work in us as Philippians 1:6 tells us - and He will complete it too!

We are saved through the finished work of Jesus on the cross - this is the ONLY way that people have ever or will ever be saved, even saints in the Old Testament