Adamic Covenant

What is the Adamic Covenant

The Adamic Covenant can be thought of in two parts: the Edenic Covenant (innocence) and the Adamic Covenant (grace). The Edenic Covenant is found in ; . The details of this covenant include the following:

Edenic

Mankind (male and female) created in God’s image. Mankind’s dominion (rule) over the animal kingdom. Divine directive for mankind to reproduce and inhabit the entire Earth. Mankind to be vegetarian (eating of meat established in the Noahic covenant: ). Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil forbidden (with death as the stated penalty).

The first part of the Adamic covenant, the Edenic covenant, consists of blessings and a warning to Adam. He and Eve are created in God's image, and given dominion over the animals. They are given the gift of relationship with one another and the ability to bear children and expand the race over the whole Earth. They are vegetarian, so no slaughter of animals is necessary. Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is forbidden. God makes it clear that "in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (). Adam broke the Edenic covenant when he took the fruit that Eve gave him, and ate it, defying God's command and bringing the penalty of death on the whole race ().

Romans 5:12–14 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Adamic

After Adam broke God’s initial covenant and fell, God made a specific covenant with Him related to what conditions would be like for man and how He would restore creation.

The Adamic covenant is sometimes called the covenant of nature, the covenant of creation, and the covenant of works because the blessings of the covenant depended, in part, upon the works of Adam and Eve in the Garden.

In the Adamic covenant, Adam represented all people. The phrase "in Adam" is a term of federal headship which designates that he was our representative. This is why the Bible says that sin entered the world through one man (). Furthermore, the Bible tells us that "in Adam all die..." (). Therefore, the Adamic covenant was not just with Adam, but is also representative of those who were in him, his descendants.

The Adamic Covenant is found in

The Adamic Covenant is found in

Genesis 3:15–19 ESV

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 3:16–19 ESV

16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

This time the covenant involved God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent. God addressed each of them individually in the covenant with man, both male and female, collectively bearing the weight of their sin.

As the result of Adam’s sin, the following curses were pronounced:

Enmity between Satan and Eve and her descendants. Painful childbirth for women. Marital strife. The soil cursed. Introduction of thorns and thistles. Survival to be a struggle. Death introduced. Death will be the inescapable fate of all living things.

Only the serpent he said cursed are you verse 14

Grace wasn’t extended to the serpent

Redemption was secured in the Adamic Covenant when God cursed the serpent. The curses are inescapable, but a great promise of grace and forgiveness was issued. It was not wrong for Adam and Eve to want to be “god-like,” that is to mirror His characteristics, and that is a good and worthy goal. But to want to become “God” and take His place is rebellion against God. We would be attempting to place ourselves above Him. Beware of Satan’s deceit and lies. God is supreme and sovereign and cannot be outdone.

It was not wrong for Adam and Eve to want to be “god-like,” that is to mirror His characteristics, and that is a good and worthy goal. But to want to become “God” and take His place is rebellion against God. We would be attempting to place ourselves above Him. Beware of Satan’s deceit and lies. God is supreme and sovereign and cannot be outdone.

Although these curses are severe and inescapable, a wonderful promise of grace was also included in the Adamic Covenant. is often referred to as the “Proto-Gospel” or “First Gospel.” Speaking to Satan, God says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, / And between your seed and her seed; / He shall bruise you on the head, / And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Here God promises that one born of a woman would be wounded in the process of destroying Satan. The “seed” of the woman who would crush the Serpent’s head is none other than Jesus Christ (see and ). Even in the midst of the curse, God’s gracious provision of salvation shines through.

1 John 3:8 ESV

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

Matthew Henry said by faith in this promise we have reason to think our first parents and the patriarchs before the flood, were justified by Grace

Galatians 4:4 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

Gospel

Today we need to thank God for Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross.

The Devil thought he won the victory when Christ died on the cross but as the songwriter sang

Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!