Chapter 2: Glory Offered in the Covenant of Creation

Scripture Passages

Genesis 1:1-2, 26-28
Genesis 2:1-17

Creation as Revelation of God’s Kingship

The main thing that stands out in the creation account is God himself. God is the only actor in the scene. Practically every verb in Genesis 1 is a verb of action with God as the one performing the action. God said, God made, God created, God rested. God is the dominant central figure in this drama, exalted above all else. He is the Great King of creation. God’s sovereignty as King is highlighted by the fact that he does not fashion the creation out of pre-existing materials, as in the pagan creation myths. When God created the heavens and the earth, he did so out of nothing, by his mere word of command. After the universe springs into existence, the Great King issues his creative fiats by which he fashions the formless and uninhabited world into a formed and habited world. They are sovereign, royal decrees. There are eight royal decrees of fiat creation in our text. And after each decree, we are told that it was fulfilled. “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” and so on. The royal decree in heaven is translated into actual fact in the visible realm below. God’s work of creation reveals his lordship and kingship.

Creation as Cosmic Temple

What is the Great King of creation accomplishing by issuing these royal decrees? God is fashioning the formless and void creation in order to make the creation his royal temple. We see this in the opening words of the creation account: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). “The heavens and the earth” refers to the invisible and the visible realms of creation (cp. Col 1:16). The heavens are the invisible realm where God dwells. Were we to be granted access to that realm we would see “the Lord sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him” (1 Kings 22:19). “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool,” says the Lord (Isa 66:1). If heaven is God’s throne, then it is also God’s palace. And if it is God’s palace, then it is also his temple (1 Kings 8:27; Acts 7:49-50). “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” asks the Lord (Jer 23:24), using the same Hebrew verb used to describe how his glory “filled” the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple (Exod 40:34-35; 1 Kings 8:10-11).

But what about the earth? The earth is the visible realm that includes not only the planet earth but the entire visible cosmos. Although the visible realm of creation was initially “without form and void” and covered with darkness (Gen 1:2a), it was not to remain in that formless and dark state, for “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2b). The word “hovering” is used later in the Bible in connection with the physical Glory-Cloud that accompanied Israel at the exodus from Egypt: “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young” (Deut 32:11 NIV). This suggests that “the Spirit of God” in Gen 1:2 is a theophany in which the Spirit was manifested in a visible manner.

Why was the Glory-Cloud hovering over the earth in its formless and empty state? It was in order to replicate the invisible realm (“heaven”) in the visible realm (“earth”), making the visible realm a replica of heaven. Kline argues that there are two registers: the upper register and the lower register. The upper register is the archetype or paradigm, and the lower register is a replica modeled after the upper register.

As the six days of creation progress, we see the formless and empty state of the visible realm being progressively fashioned into a formed and filled state. God separates the light from the darkness, the waters above from the waters below, the waters from the dry land, and then he fills each of these realms with the creature kings that rule over each realm.

CREATION KINGDOMS	CREATURE KINGS
Day 1. Light	Day 4. Luminaries
Day 2. Sky Seas	Day 5. Sea Creatures Winged Creatures
Day 3. Dry land Vegetation	Day 6. Land Animals Man
THE CREATOR KING Day 7. Sabbath

The visible realm, “the earth,” is itself divided into two realms corresponding to “the heavens and the earth” of verse 1 with an “expanse” separating them. When we look up at the sky and see the clouds or the stars, we call the visible upper region “the heavens” (cp. Ps 19:1). But this is the visible heaven not to be confused with its higher archetype, the invisible heaven where God dwells. God set it up this way so that the visible phenomena we associate with the visible heavens—e.g., the clouds, especially when illumined by the glory of the sun—can be used in later biblical revelation as analogues for describing the invisible heavens. When we mentally picture the invisible heavens above, we do so using the visual metaphors provided for us by their lower register, visible analogue. When Jesus ascends into heaven, he is taken up into a bright cloud. When he comes again at the end of history, he will come with the clouds of heaven and the glory of his Father.

Kline also sees the cosmic temple motif in the conclusion of the creation narrative (Gen 2:1-3). God created the heavens and the earth to be his cosmic temple (Isa 66:1). When he finishes the construction of the temple in six days, the King then takes up his residence in the temple by resting on the seventh day. The seventh day of creation is a royal rest. It is the rest of the King of Creation, who has taken his seat upon the throne of the universe in heaven, and his royal glory fills the cosmic temple, both heaven and earth (Isa 6:1-3). If God is pictured as the Great King enthroned in his cosmic temple exercising his sovereign power, then Genesis 1 is describing the first coming or initial installment of the kingdom of glory.

Man as the Image of God

The Spirit of God (or the Glory-Cloud) hovering over the face of the waters in Gen 1:2 is the key Kline uses to unlock the Genesis creation account. The theophany of the Spirit is not only present at the creation in order to make the visible realm a replica of the invisible. It is also present, by implication, in the creation of man on day six. For just as the earth is the image of heaven, so man is created to be the image of God. This again is the creative work of the Glory-Cloud. Since the Glory-Cloud is a heaven-replicator, and since heaven is a judicial arena—God seated on his throne surrounded by his angelic council—man’s creation in God’s image means that he has a judicial authority. In the plural “let us make” we hear the voice of God speaking to the angelic council (1 Kings 22:19; Ps 82:1). The making of man in God’s image grants him authority over creation as God’s representative. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion” over creation (Gen 1:26). Man has dominion over the visible created realm, just as God has dominion over all creation, both visible and invisible. Man is a creature king, just like the other creature kings that God appointed to rule over the various realms of creation (e.g., the luminaries and the birds). God is the Great King, and man is the vassal king under God, ruling as a vice-regent to extend God’s kingly rule and authority over creation.

The Garden of Eden

Man’s starting point for exercising this dominion was the garden of Eden. But what Kline points out is that the garden of Eden was a temple. It was a place for God to meet with his people. We can see this with the geography of Eden. At its center is a sacred mountain, “the holy mountain of God” (Ezek 28:13-14, 16), which is the vertical axis connecting heaven and earth, similar to the ziggurats that the ancients built to allow the gods to come down from heaven or for man to ascend up to heaven. “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden” (Gen 2:10), just as there is a sacred river of life flowing from the throne of God in the eschatological temple (Ps 46:4; Ezek 47:1; Joel 3:18; Zech 14:8; Rev 22:1). The reference to the good gold of Havilah and its precious stones (Gen 2:11-12) has cultic associations. Gold reminds us of the radiance of the sun and is a vivid picture of God’s shekinah glory that fills the tabernacle and the temple, and brilliantly colored precious stones are used in the vestments of the high priest.

In addition to the sacred geography, several other elements recall temple imagery. One of the main ones is that Adam is pictured as a priest whose task is to guard the sacred space. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). The verb “keep” is the same verb that Moses later uses to describe the role of the Levites in guarding the holiness of the tabernacle (Num 1:53; 3:7-8). If Adam is a priestly guardian of the garden, it follows that the garden is a sacred space. After Adam is expelled from the garden for disobeying God’s command, God stations cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life, taking over Adam’s guardian role. Cherubim appear later in the Bible as guardians of both the heavenly temple and its earthly copies. The fact that the garden of Eden is a primitive temple is further confirmed when we notice that the sacred artwork of Solomon’s temple contains features that recall the garden, such as cherubim, palm trees and open flowers (1 Kings 6:29, 35).

The Eschatology of Creation

It is crucial to recognize that for Kline the creation is not static but dynamic—that is, it was not finished but was created on route to a glorious eschatological destiny. This is implied in the fact that man was placed in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it (Gen 2:15) and given a commission to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:28). Man’s commission is rooted in his identity as the image of God. Just as God filled the various realms of the visible creation, so man is to fill the earth. Just as God exercises his kingly authority over all creation, so man is to exercise kingly dominion under God.

But what is God’s intended plan for the garden and for all creation? What is the destiny of creation? If we have been following the logic of the text so far, with its focus on the Glory-Cloud replicating heaven on earth, then we must deduce that God’s plan is for the garden temple to become a cosmic temple where heaven and earth become one, a glorious cosmic temple of God dwelling with his creation, and most of all with man as the pinnacle of creation. God’s intention was for the entire cosmos—visible and invisible—to become God’s kingdom of glory.

God’s intention for creation to become a cosmic temple would unfold in two stages. There would first be a time for Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. This would involve procreation, having sons and daughters. Presumably it would not be limited to one generation only but would involve a multi-generational process of creating the human family. The cultural mandate that God gave to Adam not only involved procreation but also the cultural activity of subduing the creation. This would include manipulating the physical environment and creating human culture, e.g., clothing people and building cities. There would be mining, agriculture, harvesting all the potential of the earth to bring it into subjection to human authority and for the advancement of human culture. Technology and science are included in this.

As the human family grew, it would also expand territorially and eventually cover the earth. The garden of Eden was not intended to remain a small isolated place, but was to be extended through the cultural mandate to cover the entire globe. The garden would become a city, or polis. At some point, God would be satisfied with mankind’s cultural labors and would consider man’s work done. He would declare that the cultural mandate was complete—both in terms of the formation of a population and of sufficient development of the physical environment for the human race in the form of the city. Then God would crown man’s labors with a sovereign, eschatological consummating act akin to the original creation, a divine act of glorification. The distinction we currently experience between heaven and earth would be erased and earth itself would be “heavenized.”

Kline coined two terms to describe these two phases of the cultural mandate: humankind and its global city in its completed but not yet glorified state he termed “Megapolis,” that is, “the great city.” Humankind in its glorified state he termed “Metapolis,” that is, “the after city.” The term “meta” in Greek implies not only temporal sequence (“after”) but also transformation, as in “metamorphosis.” Megapolis is the chrysalis that forms after the larva has finished feeding. Metapolis is the eschatological butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis. In the redemptive fulfillment, Metapolis is called “the New Jerusalem” (Rev 21-22).

The Creator’s Covenant of Works with the First Adam

How would this grand eschatological goal be achieved? God’s intention was to do so through the obedience of his vassal king, Adam. Although Adam as created had an in-built eschatological hope—the hope of receiving a glorified body—it was not to occur all at once, nor would it be automatic. It was conditioned upon man’s successful passing of a test or probation. This is clear from the fact that God gave Adam a very specific test: “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 shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17).

This is a covenant of works, since the curse of death is threatened if man disobeys and breaks the command. The initial prohibition only mentions the negative sanction of death, but the positive sanction of life is implied by the presence of the tree of life. If man passes the test, he will then be allowed to eat of the tree of life which would function as a sacrament, a sign and seal of eternal life. How do we know that the “life” offered by the tree of life is “eternal” life? This is implied by what God says after Adam and Eve ate: “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever – ” and God’s speech is interrupted at this point as Moses narrates that God sent the man and the woman into exile outside the garden (Gen 3:22-23).

If man had passed the test, he would have been allowed to eat of the tree of life “and live forever.” As he was created, man did not possess eternal life. He was not yet confirmed in righteousness and was therefore mortal. Of course, prior to sin he was not yet mortal in the sense of being destined to die, for death is the wages of sin. But he was mortal in the sense that he was not yet granted immortality or glorification.

The tree of life conferred eternal life to the one who ate of it. Notice the statement that he would live forever. This is important. Compare this with Genesis 2:7: “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” Adam was initially created as “a living creature.” He had life, but not eternal life. According to Genesis 3:22, that initial life and eternal life are not the same thing. The life that Adam had at the beginning was the kind of life that could be lost and forfeited by sin. Only by passing the test revealed in connection with the other tree, would Adam be able to advance to eternal life with God.

That is what eternal life means in Scripture. It doesn’t mean immortality of the sort that elves possess in Norse mythology. Tolkien’s elves in The Lord of the Rings have immortality of a sort. They are immortal in the limited sense that they are not subject to death and destined to die. Normally, elves live forever. Nevertheless, they aren’t truly immortal since they can die if they are killed in battle. (Recall Peter Jackson’s depiction of the slain elves at the Battle of Helm’s Deep.) Eternal life in Scripture doesn’t mean that kind of immortality. It means that you are actually incapable of ever dying. You will never come under the judgment of death. It is one thing to be immortal in the sense that you are not condemned to die but in theory you could die. Adam had that kind of immortality from the outset. It is another thing to be immortal in the sense that you can never sin and never be subject to judgment and death. That second kind of immortality is the eternal life that God offered to Adam if he passed the test and kept the covenant of works.

The Sabbath

Kline argues that the observation of a weekly Sabbath rest is also connected to the covenant of works and to man’s identity as God’s image. Just as God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh, so must man who is made in God’s image. The image-bearer must imitate the One in whose image he is made. God’s work-then-rest pattern sets the example for man. If God only rests after he has finished his works, man can only rest (and enter God’s rest) after he has finished his works. The works of Adam and mankind were the cultural works of multiplying and subduing the earth.

Moses places the account of the creation of man in God’s image on the sixth and final day of creation, and then moves immediately to the seventh day, in which God’s Sabbath rest is revealed (Gen 2:1-3). God’s Sabbath rest was more than a temporary cessation from activity, or “taking a break.” It was an eternal rest, as the author of Hebrews argues in Hebrews 4. When God entered into his rest, he wasn’t taking a break, only to return to work on Sunday. His work of creation was finished. Thus, if Adam had imitated God and entered God’s Sabbath rest, that would have meant that his works were finished as well. He would have finished doing the works that God has commanded him to do during his time of testing, and he would have entered into the permanent status as one who had passed the test. He would then be able to rest assured that the kingdom was his as a permanent possession, and that it could never be lost or forfeited by sin. When the creation account says that God wanted Adam to imitate the divine pattern by working first and then entering the divine Sabbath rest, that’s another indicator that God offered Adam eternal life on condition of perfect obedience.

Kline’s theologically rich interpretation of the creation account in Genesis 1-2 is crucial for understanding the rest of the biblical narrative. This is the starting point and everything else in the Bible relates back to it. In the next chapter we will see that due to Adam’s tragic failure, mankind will be expelled from the garden temple and the glorious hope of a cosmic temple (God’s kingdom of glory, heavenized earth) will be seemingly lost. But the rest of the narrative is that God’s plans will not in fact be thwarted by Satan’s temptation of Adam into sin and that God will find a way, in the mystery of his grace, to bring about the ultimate eschatological goal in spite of man’s failure. Satan will not succeed. God will be glorified in the end, and the cosmic temple, headed up under the Second Adam, will be achieved and the kingdom of glory will be consummated.

Kline References

Kingdom Prologue

Pages 14-21, 103-117 (the covenant of works)

Pages 33-40 (Sabbath enthronement)

Pages 42-46, 92-93 (man as image of God)

Pages 47-51 (the garden of Eden as temple)

Pages 96-101 (Megapolis and Metapolis)

Images of the Spirit

Pages 13-34 (man as image of God)

Discussion Questions

What is a temple?
In what ways are the garden of Eden and the whole cosmos God’s temple?
What does it mean for man to be made in the image of God? Is the image of God merely what distinguishes man from the animals?
Do you agree that the Bible presents Adam as under a probation that he could have successfully passed so as to achieve eschatological advancement to eternal life?
Read Hebrews 4:1-11. Is the Sabbath merely a day of rest or is there something more to it than that?
What would have happened to Adam and the entire cosmos if he had not sinned but had passed the probation?