The Covenant of Works and the Tragedy of the Fall
This is the third part in the series of articles about the relationship between biblical counseling and God's covenant with mankind. You can find the first two parts below:
Since we are done with two preliminary considerations, let me now introduce the concept of covenant as used in the Bible, and the appropriate starting point is to understand the covenant of works.
What is the covenant of works?
The Westminster Confession of Faith is very brief in its description of the covenant of works. It is described as the “first covenant” made with Adam as mankind’s representative, “wherein life was promised to Adam; and in him to his posterity, upon condition of perfect and personal obedience” (Chapter 7, Section 2).
The Third Millennium materials explain this covenant in more detail. Despite the denial of some theologians that God made a covenant with Adam in Genesis 1-3 because of the absence of the Hebrew term berîth and the Greek word diatheke in the Septuagint (LXX - the early Greek translation of the Old Testament), taking into consideration parallel biblical passages, this strongly suggests that God made a covenant with Adam, and with the rest of humanity through him. All the normal covenant elements are present in God’s relationship with Adam.
One parallel text is Genesis 6:18, where God told Noah that He would establish His covenant with him. Here, instead of using the Hebrew word karath, which is the commonly used word in creating a new covenant, Moses used qum. The latter is better translated as “confirm” instead of “establish.” The Hebrew verb qum assumes that a prior covenant has been in existence for it to be confirmed. This is how thirdmill.org explains it:
So, when God said that he would 'establish' his covenant with Noah, he meant that he would confirm with Noah a covenant relationship that already existed. And God’s relationship with Adam is the only relationship in Genesis that would appear to be in view here.
The above interpretation is corroborated by the prophet Hosea when he said,
Like Adam, they have broken the covenant—they were unfaithful to me there (6:7).
Romans 5:12-19 validates the foregoing interpretation when the apostle Paul used God’s covenant with Adam as a parallel to His covenant with Christ.
The covenant of works has been called by various names depending on the focus and the emphasis. It is described as the “Adamic covenant” if the emphasis is on the relationship between God and Adam as the head of humanity. It is also called the “covenant of life,” because of the promise of life attached to it on the condition of perfect obedience. It is named as the “covenant of creation,” because “it was made during the creation week and carries implications for the entire created order.” And finally, theologians called it the “covenant of works,” because works are required in order to obtain the promised life.
Here's how Prof. Jeffrey A. Volkmer explained the covenant of works:
In the creation account, Adam and Eve are created in God’s image not only to rule and subdue, but also to represent. They are supposed to, just like the priestly role in Israel — the priests were representations or go-betweens, mediums, between God and mankind — so Adam and Eve are made to do the same thing. They are to rule, to serve, to obey, and thus represent God on earth, which is the same thing that, when you move throughout the patriarchs, when you move into the nation of Israel and the Torah, when you move into the New Testament and the Great Commission or the Spirit coming upon us in Acts 1:8 to go be witnesses, all that is rooted in Adam and Eve’s creation as image-bearers and being made in the likeness of God, not only to rule like him, but also to show what he is like, which is the primary role of a priest.
I agree with Prof. Volkmer's observation. However, except for the priestly and kingly role of man as God's image, I think the prophetic role too is an important addition to this idea of man as God's image.
Nevertheless, the most important insight to bear in mind in surveying the covenant of works is "that God’s covenant with Adam was, and still is, binding on all humanity."
As to the impact of Adam’s sin upon humanity, Dr. Tim Foster elaborates:
Basically, Adam’s sin opened the door to allow evil enter into the world, and as a result of that, everything is infected by evil, everything is undermined by evil, and in particular, the purposes of God are derailed by evil. So, it affects humanity, our bodies, and our minds. It affects the very fabric of creation so that it is subject to frustration, longing for its own restoration. And of course, relationally, it affects our relationships with one another as humans, but most significantly, our relationship with God. And so, evil becomes the problem that needs to be solved. And while it just took one act of disobedience to open the door for evil, it’s a little bit like unscrambling an egg. It’s a big job to undermine evil, which has seeped in so deeply into the created order. That’s why the act of Adam and Eve’s sin takes just a few lines in the Bible, but the act of undoing it takes well over a thousand pages.
And this is exactly the goal in biblical counseling and personal change. We are dealing here with the task of undoing the destruction and misery caused by evil upon humanity, our bodies and minds, the environment, our relationship with God, with ourselves, and with each other.