Gen 2:15–17 — The Commandment of Life

The title of the sermon today is “The Commandment of Life.” That term, that phrase, is taken from the Belgic Confession, Article 14. This is the Belgic Confession’s description of our text, that when God gave this command to Adam and Eve, he was giving this commandment of life, that is a commandment that, if kept, would have led to life and to eating of the tree.

Another label for this commandment of life that is found in the Westminster Confession is the title, the Covenant of Works. The Covenant of Works is just another way of describing this same idea. The Covenant of Works and the commandment of life are the same.

Now as we have been going through the opening chapters of Genesis, we have been studying this foundational doctrine of creation. God created all things, the heavens and the earth, in order to be the theater of his glory. This foundational doctrine of creation is critical to the entire unfolding of Scripture. All of Scripture is found here in seed form in these opening chapters.

In Genesis 1 to 3, the doctrine of creation, the doctrine of man made in the image of God, the doctrine that man disobeyed God and plunged the human race into sin and the curse, but also the wonderful doctrine that God did not let sin have the last word, but that he made a promise in Genesis chapter three, verse 15, a promise that he would put enmity between the serpent and the woman and between her offspring and his offspring, that he would bring about a fulfillment of his purpose for creation.

Everything is found here. The entire Bible is unfolded from this. It is like an acorn. And then once the acorn is planted in the ground, it begins to sprout and bring forth this great tree, the whole oak tree of the whole story of the Bible, the whole plan of redemption leading forward to Israel and to the coming of Christ. It is all found here at the very beginning.

Creation and Its Unrealized Potential

Now one of the key things that we saw is this idea that as God is forming and fashioning this world, as he is bringing order to the formless and void and populating each of the spheres of creation, as he is ordaining man to be the vice-regent under God to exercise dominion over creation, it is as if he is setting up everything to be able to move forward to a greater goal and a greater unrealized potential.

It is almost as if it is like a spring-loaded trap. Everything is set. Everything is ready. But there is something greater that is going to happen. Something has to occur. Everything is set in place. All the pieces of the puzzle are there. You have God. You have the cosmic temple. You have man as the vice-regent.

But there is something more glorious to happen. There is an eschatological potential to creation. Some of the things that hint at that in our text would be things such as the fact that God rested on the seventh day. And when he rested on the seventh day, he then ordained the Sabbath day to be a day for Adam to enter into God’s rest. And so this was setting before Adam a hope that there was something greater to come, that one day he too would be able to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath rest.

Another feature of the text that shows this idea that everything is just waiting, waiting for this glorious future to unfold, is the fact that there is a river in the midst of the garden. We talked about how the Garden of Eden is actually on a mountain. It talks about that in Ezekiel chapter 28, the mountain of God in the garden. And how from that mountain flows this river, which is the river of God. And the river is a river of life that then breaks forth into four separate rivers, and those four rivers go to the ends of the earth, implying what?

That God’s life that is clearly seen there in the garden is going to spread throughout the whole world, the entire globe. The number four is symbolic for the four corners of the earth. And so this fourfold river of life is going to the ends of the earth in every direction of the compass, north, south, east, and west, until the whole globe becomes a glorious garden of God for God to dwell in the midst of his people. Although it is there not yet. The garden is still localized in this one particular place, but here is Adam being placed in the garden to work it and to guard it in order to expand that garden to global dimensions. And this fourfold river is showing us that is the direction things are going. As the water of life spreads, life will spring up throughout the whole world.

So there is a spring-loaded idea here in our text. As creation has been set in place with every piece of furniture in place, the heavens, the earth, man, the garden, the tree, all of these things are preparing us for this idea that this creation as God has made it was not intended to just be a static, stable thing that would just continue on as it is forever.

Not only does that fact that the river breaks into four parts and four subordinate rivers that flow out to the ends of the earth, not only does that show this idea, but also the fact that God gave a mandate to Adam. Remember in Genesis 1 verse 28, God blessed the man, or God blessed them, Adam and Eve, and said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and every living thing that moves on the earth.

At this point in the story, all we have is the man and the woman, Adam and Eve, but they do not have any children yet. And we do not yet have this human family, this human race that is envisioned here, there to be fruitful and multiply and have children, and their children are to have children. And as the human race grows, then they will begin to expand and they will build civilization as it grows out from the garden to encompass the whole world, to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. With little image bearers that represent God’s glory upon the earth.

So there is great potential here. There is great hope and expectation. Everybody’s on the edge of their seat just waiting for things to happen. It is almost like, we have just been through the World Series. It is almost like when you are at that moment where before the first game starts, you see the roster, you see everything that is about to happen, and you are full of expectation and anticipation. You cannot wait for the first pitch because you know something great is going to happen. That is the way the story is here for us in Genesis. We have everything set in place. We have the roster. We know the rules of the game. There is the covenant, the commandment of life that Adam has to keep. But we are waiting for the kickoff. We are waiting for something to happen. We want to see this glorious eschatological fulfillment. We want to see Adam and Eve be fruitful and multiply. We want to see Adam pass the test and eat of the tree of life. We want to see the glory of God fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. We want to see this potential happen. We want to see the spring of the spring-loaded trap be triggered and then see the glorious fulfillment of what is to happen.

So creation has huge unrealized potential as it was created. But here is the key. In order for that to happen, in order for that eschatological goal to be fulfilled, in order for that unrealized potential to be fulfilled, Adam has to pass a test. And that is our text here. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it. We pointed out that word guard there is a priestly term that is used to protect the sanctuary. The Garden of the Lord is a holy place. And his job is to protect it from that which should not belong there, the intruders that might come in.

And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you shall surely eat. You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. In order for this glorious unrealized potential to be fulfilled, Adam must first pass a test. Because if he passes the test, then he will be able to eat of the tree of life. Of course, we know that there is also a threat of death if he fails. If he fails the test, the text says, in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. And so there is life and death being presented before Adam. Life, if he obeys, if he passes the test, he will be given the right to eat of the tree of life and live forever. And death, if he disobeys and fails the test.

Of course, we know the answer, we know what happens. We will see it in a few weeks in chapter three that he will fail the test. But the wonderful good news of the gospel is that Christ is the one who has passed the test and won eternal life for us. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, the second Adam, who has done what the first Adam failed to do.

But you see how important it is for us to truly appreciate the work of Christ, to understand what Christ has done for us, We have to go back to Genesis 1, 2, and 3 and see what Adam was supposed to do. And what Adam failed to do is not simply the context for Christ to come and undo what Adam failed to do, but rather it is that He is the one, Christ is the one, who is going to cause that spring-loaded trap to be released and to bring about the full creation goal that was intended from the beginning.

The Covenant of Works

This doctrine is called the Doctrine of the Covenant of Works. In order for the unrealized potential of creation to be achieved, Adam has to obey God under this Covenant of Works. He has to pass the test in order to be given the right to eat of the tree of life.

Now you might be saying, where do you get this idea that it is a covenant? I do not see that word covenant here in our text. It does not use the word covenant in verse 16. It just says the Lord God commanded the man. It does not say the Lord God made a covenant with him.

Well, the answer is that even though the word covenant itself is not used here, all of the features of a covenant are present in our text. A covenant is simply a commitment. A commitment that has some kind of sanction attached to it. A sanction is like, for example, in criminal law. If you break the law, there is a sanction. There are penalties attached to the breaking of a law. Various terms of whether, certain number of years in prison are associated with the breaking of each particular law. That is on the books. There is a law, a commandment, and then there is a sanction that enforces that law.

Of course, in human society, who is it that enforces the law? Well, it is the judicial system, and the prosecutors, and so on. But in the Bible, in biblical covenants, who is it that enforces the sanctions of the covenant? It is God Himself.

A covenant is simply a commitment that has sanctions attached to it. And we see that here in our text. Even though the word covenant is not used, we see the idea. We see the commandment to not eat of the tree, and then we see the sanction attached to it. And the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.

Now in the Bible, there are two main types of covenants in Scripture. There are covenants in which God is making a commitment that is guaranteed and does not depend upon man’s obedience. Commitments in which God promises blessing. And he will see to it that the promises are fulfilled.

At the very beginning of this service, we sang Psalm 105, and Psalm 105 is a glorious reflection upon that kind of covenant, a covenant that is absolutely certain. That is the covenant that God made with Abraham, a covenant of grace, and Abraham simply believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. It is a sure blessing. It is a guaranteed blessing. And God is the one who enforces it. There is no conditionality that if Abraham or if we as believers fail to keep that covenant, then somehow we are under the curse of God.

That is one type of covenant in the Bible. Commitments in which God makes a guaranteed promise of blessing and we simply receive it by faith.

But there is another type of covenant in the Bible, and that is commitments in which God makes promises of blessing, but they are conditional upon works. They are conditional upon the human partner in the covenant keeping the condition. And that is the type of covenant we have here in our text, very clearly. There are two outcomes depending on how Adam does. If he obeys, if he passes the test, he will eat of the tree of life. If he disobeys and fails the test, he will receive the curse of death. Life and death have been set before Adam.

So that is the first point to argue. How do we know this is a covenant? Well, because we see the features of a covenant. We see there is two main types of covenants in the Bible, promises of guaranteed blessing and conditional promises based upon works, based upon obedience with the dual outcome of life or death. And clearly this fits that second type of covenant. And that is why this covenant here is called the covenant of works. Although it could also be called the covenant of life, indicating that if Adam had obeyed, he would have obtained eternal life.

Another point, a second argument to show us that this is a covenant, is not only that we see the features of a covenant there, commandment followed by sanctions, life or death, but also we have the fact that later on in the Bible, as the Bible is looking back upon the story of Adam in the garden, the Bible looks at this scenario of Adam and his relationship with God in the garden as a covenant.

For example, in the book of Hosea, in Hosea chapter six, the context is that the prophet Hosea is confronting the people of God, Israel and Judah, with their sin, with their failure to keep the covenant, which is they were worshiping idols. They were breaking faith with God by worshiping other gods instead of being faithful to God himself. And Hosea says in Hosea six, verse seven, like Adam, they, referring to the people of Israel and Judah, like Adam, they transgressed the covenant. So the fact that Israel disobeyed the covenant and Israel then would be sent into exile is being analogized here to Adam in the garden. Just like Adam, they transgressed the covenant too. And therefore this implies that Adam also was under a covenant. And this idea of connecting Israel with Adam is very significant.

Remember, as I said before, that Moses is communicating this content of this deep theology of creation and the founding of the whole plan of God’s purposes for creation and then how it is going to lead to the fall and the work of the new creation, that Moses is the one who is writing this information about Adam and creation. He is writing it and communicating it to the people of Israel.

Now we do not know exactly when, was it when they were at Mount Sinai or was it when they were in the wilderness after Sinai? But somewhere in that period of time, Moses was having his people, having the people of God in Sunday school class, in catechism class, and he was teaching them the ABCs of God’s whole purposes. Why did God bring Israel out of Egypt and make them into a holy nation? Why did God make a covenant with them at Mount Sinai? Well, because it is related to what happened with Adam in the garden. In Genesis 1 and 2, and specifically here in our text, concerning this commandment that was given to Adam, Moses is communicating this information to Israel.

And so when they heard this statement here that the Lord God commanded the man, saying, you may surely eat of every tree, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. They would have immediately resonated with that because they have heard the same thing. Remember, they have heard the same words from Moses.

For example, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, when Moses said to the people, I set before you today two options. Life and death. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, then you will live long in the land. But if you disobey, if your hearts turn away from the commandment, then you will surely die. And so he says, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse, therefore choose life.

I am sure you have heard that statement, that one snippet there, choose life, taken out of context and applied to the whole issue of the pro-choice versus the pro-life argument and saying therefore we should choose life. That may be a legitimate secondary application, but the life that is being offered here is eschatological life. And so the promise that God is making to Israel belongs to that second type of covenant. It is not the first type of covenant of a guaranteed blessing. It is a conditional covenant in which they must obey in order to receive life, to live long in the land that God is giving them.

Now, of course, we know that God was not telling the Israelites that they could be saved by keeping the law. That is not what he was saying to them. Because we have the whole context of the Mosaic Covenant that included the opportunity for the offering of sacrifices when the Israelites sinned. And so the true message of Moses here is not simply saying you have to obey in order to be saved and to obtain eternal life. The message is you cannot do this on your own and that is why you need a substitutionary sacrifice in order to have life and to live in the land.

But my point is this is a second argument The first argument was all the features of a covenant are there, so therefore it is a covenant. But the second argument is that there is this biblical theological analogy between Israel and Adam. In fact, we could say that the whole storyline of the Bible is Adam, under this commandment of life, this covenant of works, and of course he failed. Then Israel, who is like a corporate second Adam, Also given this commandment of life, but they too failed. And then Christ.

Adam, Israel, and Christ

Adam, Israel, Christ. Christ is the true second Adam. Christ is the true Israelite who has obeyed God’s law and won for us the right to eat of the tree of life. What a wonderful thing that God is making this covenant of works with Adam in the garden. The garden was a home for man to dwell in. It was also the dwelling place of God. It was like a temple, a sanctuary. But it was also a perfectly stocked, blessed paradise for man. Provided all of his needs. He had everything he wanted. He had no needs at all in that garden. It was a place of refreshment and delight. God was showering his benefits upon him. And that showering of benefits upon man laid claims upon him. Now he must obey God. He must submit to God.

It is very similar to with Israel. After Israel came up out of Egypt, God says to Israel, look what I have done for you. I have delivered you from the house of bondage with my mighty hand and my outstretched arm. Therefore, you are obligated to obey me. You are obligated to serve me in loving obedience and commitment to me. And so this is what God is doing with Adam here. He is making this covenant of works with him, this commandment of life. In order to show that in order for this glorious eschatological future for creation to be fulfilled, he first has to pass this test.

If he passes the test, if he does not eat of the tree, even though he might be tempted to do so by the serpent who is intruded in there, if he passes that test, then he will be able to eat of the tree of life and be confirmed with immortal life. And ultimately to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath rest, which is the goal of creation.

Man was created with a desire to achieve eternal life. He was created with this inbuilt aspiration to move forward, to move beyond the place in which he was created, from which he could fall. A place that was not a guaranteed life of immortality, He was created with this in-created aspiration and desire to be confirmed in righteousness and to be able to dwell with God forever with immortal life in the eternal fulfilled creation.

These two trees in the center of the garden were special. Remember in verse nine, we looked at this last week, it says that the tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two trees were in the very center of the garden because they were showing that these are the key elements pointing to man’s covenantal test.

The tree of life itself, of course, was nourished by that river. Just think an ordinary human experience of the way trees and rivers interact. Usually when there is a river, there is lots of foliage right beside the river on both sides of it. So this tree of life is being fed by the river of God. And so the Tree of Life symbolizes not only life, but it symbolizes divine life, the life of God himself, immortal life. The Tree of Life promised to man, and if he had passed the test, would have sealed to man the idea of a higher type of life, glorified, eternal life. And that would have been the reward of his passing the test.

That tree of life shows up again at the very end of the Bible in Revelation 22. In Revelation 22, we see again the tree of life on both sides of the river of life, and that tree of life is for the healing of the nations. The tree of life, of course, is Christ himself. He is the one who we come to in faith, and we eat of the fruit of Christ himself, and we receive eternal life from him.

The pattern is Adam, Israel, Christ. Adam failed. Israel failed and did not pass the test. Only Christ, the second Adam and the true Israelite, has passed the test. For as by a man came death, by a man has also come the resurrection of the dead, as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Later on in that same chapter, he refers to Christ as the last Adam. He says the first Adam became a living being, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. He is the source of eternal life.

How wonderful it is that Christ has done what the first Adam failed to do. And that means that you, brothers and sisters in Christ, you are reckoned in the eyes of God as if you too had passed the test. Now we are kind of in this weird situation where on the one hand we have already passed the test in Christ and we are already guaranteed to have eternal life forever with God in the new creation, but we are still living in fallen mortal bodies and we still struggle with sin and with the effects of the curse. With bodily ailments and death itself. We are caught in this weird tension between the already and the not yet.

In one sense, we are already in heaven. Christ has already passed the test for us. By faith in Him, we have already eaten of the tree of life, which is Christ Himself, by faith. We already have immortal life. We already have eternal life. But yet, we are also waiting for the fulfillment of that. We are waiting for the fullness of that. But it does make a difference in terms of how you view the Christian life.

No Longer on Probation

Many Christians view the Christian life as if we are still under a test, as if we are still on probation, as it were. You know how like when a new employee is on probation for a few months before they are confirmed to be a full employee? Many people view the Christian life that way, as if we are still on probation, and God is kind of waiting to see, are you going to bring forth the fruit? Are you going to be obedient or not? Well, if you are still on probation, then that means that anytime you sin, you are lost. Anytime you sin, you are doomed. You are going to die, as the text says. In the day that you eat of the tree, you will surely die.

Thank the Lord that in the Christian life, we are not still on probation. Because in union with Christ, we have already passed the probation. We have already passed the test in Christ. He has kept the law for us. He has already gone beyond that test. And he has already been raised into resurrection life. He is now exalted at the right hand of God. And we are in Him. We are represented by Him. And so when God looks at us, He looks at us as we are in Christ. As those who have passed the test already. As those who already have immortal life in Christ. As if we are already there in the new creation. And that is what Paul says. In 2 Corinthians 5. He says, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Sometimes we translate that as, He is a new creation. Most of the English Bibles translate it that way. But in Greek, it is a little bit more subtle than that. It does not say He. It is more the idea of, if anyone is in Christ, There is the new creation. The new creation is not like each individual person. You are a new creation, you are a new creation. The new creation is Christ. He has already entered into the new creation by his resurrection and exaltation. And so if anyone is in Christ, there is the new creation. And that new creation reality is already at work within us, even now, as we live in this fallen world.

Yes, we struggle with suffering, with tribulation, with physical difficulties as our bodies themselves waste away and are headed towards the grave. Yes, we struggle with remaining sin and sinful desires, but all of that is temporary. All of that is destined to be overturned. All of that is just this passing moment before the fullness of what has already been achieved in Christ is made known.

Think about it. It is an amazing thing to think about. That already in this world that we now know, in this space-time world, in this physical creation that God created at the beginning, already within this world, somewhere in this world, there is a glorified, resurrected man. Christ Himself. He is at the right hand of God. Of course, you do not know exactly where that is. But within this creation, the new creation has already started in seed form. Christ has already inaugurated it.

It is almost like, I do not know if you think of a nuclear bomb going off. And if you think about that first millisecond before it expands into the great devastation, that first millisecond, in principle, has already happened in Christ. And we are just waiting for the ripple effects to finally catch up and for us to finally be brought into that place where we are free from sin and free from the effects of the fall and the curse in this world.

It is hard to believe that because it just seems so unbelievable. It just seems so difficult to grasp, but it is true. The new creation has already happened. The spring of that spring-loaded trap has already gone off. And the fulfillment of God’s purpose for creation has already begun in Christ. That is why Paul uses this language of Christ being the firstfruits. He is the firstfruits, just like when the Israelites would bring in the very beginnings as they are doing the harvest, before they bring in the fullness of the harvest, they would go and they would get the best part. The first initial crops would be brought into the Lord and offered as an offering to the Lord in the temple. And that would then guarantee that the rest of the harvest would come. It may take a few more months for the rest of the harvest to come out and to be brought in. But the firstfruits, the initial, the cream of the crop has already come out and has already been dedicated to God.

Christ is the firstfruits. He has already entered into that eschatological fullness. He has already entered into the Sabbath rest. And he is already there at the right hand of God as our great high priest and as our king and as the tree of life for us. And we have already eaten of that tree of life by faith in him. That is why Jesus says in John six, whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. We have eternal life in Christ because he is life. In him was life and the life was the light of men.

And so that affects them, that changes how we live the Christian life. If we live the Christian life with that idea in mind, with that confidence that we have already passed the test, that the new creation has already been accomplished, at least in principle, and it is just a matter of time before it gets completed, that then changes the way we live the Christian life. We are no longer under probation, always wondering if we are acceptable enough to God. It gives us the strength to fight against our sinful deeds and desires. Because we have the Spirit of God within us. We have the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwelling within us. And the Spirit of Christ who is dwelling in you is more powerful than your sin. And more powerful than your suffering. The Spirit of Christ is in you. And the Spirit of Christ is transforming you. And transforming and working within you, helping you more and more to put to death your sinful deeds and desires, helping you to live for Him when you sin, to repent and get back up on your feet and desire to serve the Lord and to obey Him and to honor Him, not in order to eat of the tree of life, but because you already have eaten of the tree of life. What a wonderful assurance we have in Christ. This is the gospel power of sanctification.

And that same spirit that is currently working within you and transforming you and helping you, that same spirit will one day transform your body and this whole creation so that we will be with the Lord forever in the new creation with the glory of the Lord filling the cosmic temple as the waters cover the sea.

And we will have unbroken communion with God forever and ever in that glorious day. So let us live like it now. Let us live with our hope set upon that, and with the confidence that it is true.

And in the strength of that assurance, in the strength of knowing that we have the Spirit within us, that Christ the firstfruits has already been raised from the dead, guaranteeing our resurrection, let us live in a way that pleases the Lord. Yield up our bodies as instruments of righteousness. Our bodies, our whole being as a living sacrifice of praise to the Lord in honor of Christ and all that he has done for us.