The Adamic Covenant: A Tale of Two Men by Pastor Paul Becker

Gen 3:15 & Rom 5:12-21

In the depths of every living soul, there is a sense that the world is broken. Because the world is broken - including people -  many political ideologies, philosophies of education, worldviews, and religious systems have attempted to create a more perfect world with more perfect people living more perfect lives. Human history is the story of the failures of these fixes. So how does this change?

Let's start with this: God created everything and called it good. When he created humanity, he said it was very good. God made humans in His image, male and female, to be one flesh, as Eve was made from Adam's rib. He placed them in the Garden of Eden to tend it and to name every creature. God commanded them to be fruitful and multiply. God placed two trees in the Garden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They could eat from the Tree of Life but were forbidden from the second tree, with the warning that eating from it would bring death. The world was perfect, with unbroken purposes of helping each other, tending the garden, having children, and enjoying companionship with God and each other, along with the means to preserve life through the Tree of Life.

All that was good was shattered when Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. By eating the forbidden fruit, they learned good and evil. Their eyes were opened to their disobedience of God, and they saw that it was not good but evil. And by eating the tree, they also saw that a good God is a God of justice. Death was their just and right consequence.

Because God is just, he pursued Adam and Eve to bring their sin into the light. He drew them out from hiding, spoke with them, and declared the consequences of their sin. They were expelled from the Garden, Eve would have greater pain in childbirth, and Eve would be ruled by Adam, now a fallen man.  Adam would work much harder to grow and make food until the day he died.  God also cursed the ground from which Adam was made. On this last point, the earth was cursed as a consequence of Adam’s sin. Hence, it has also fallen from perfection.

God's justice was declared because he is a good God, but he also revealed that he is gracious and merciful.  Acting justly, God turned to the serpent who tempted Eve. He cursed the serpent, saying it would crawl on its belly and face ongoing hostility with humans. And now for the good news! God said that an offspring of Ever would crush the serpent’s head, though the serpent would strike his heel. This offspring is Jesus.

Let’s stop here to say two things: 

1. Adam is the leader of sinful humanity. He represented all people, and when he disobeyed in the Garden of Eden, it brought sin and its effects to everyone who came after him. 

2. Jesus is the leader of redeemed humanity. He is the one who would defeat Satan, even though Satan would bite at Jesus’ heels throughout his earthly ministry and pierce his heels with a spike that fastened him to the cross. Jesus redeems everyone who believes He is God’s Son, who came to die for sinners so that, by faith, they can be forgiven and have eternal life with God, free from sin, guilt, shame, and death.

   
   

The Adamic Covenant is a beautiful promise that points to Jesus as the Redeemer of sinners. The Apostle Paul reinforces this truth in Romans 5, clearly connecting Adam and Jesus as a tale of two men:

• Adam in Rom 5:12 - Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned.

• Jesus in Rom 5:15 - But the gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man’s trespass, the many died, how much more have the grace of God and the gift which comes through the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflowed to the many.

• Adam and Jesus in Rom 5:18 - So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is justification leading to life for everyone.

  
  

Dear Reader, for your own sake, answer this question:  Who is your leader, Adam or Jesus? To follow Jesus: Acknowledge your sin and your need for a Savior; believe Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins on the cross and was raised to life again; turn away from your sins to follow the commands of Jesus in the company of other redeemed sinners; publicly declare Jesus to be your Savior and Lord; receive the Holy Spirit to teach and transform you to follow Jesus; be humble when you stumble in sin by calling out to Jesus to draw you close to him again; commit your life to these things. Amen.