Thursday, 16 May 2024

The Covenant of Works - Genesis 1:26-2:17


We’re beginning a new series based on covenants in the Bible and their importance in shaping our faith. We’ll take time out to reflect on Ascension Day and Pentecost over the next two weeks before returning to this series. Our denomination is a covenantal and confessional church. We have confessions which are summaries of Biblical teaching that help us understand who God is through Scripture, which is why we’re called confessional, but we are also covenantal, meaning we understand that the covenants build on each other and help us understand the God’s plan of redemption.

One Bible dictionary defines a covenant as, “A sacred kinship bond between two parties, ratified by swearing an oath… serving as a means to forge sociopolitical bonds between individuals or groups. God’s covenants are prominent in every period of salvation history. Divine covenants reveal the saving plan of God for establishing communion with Israel and the nations, ultimately fulfilled by the death and resurrection of Christ.” We hear more talk about covenant in the Old Testament than in the New, mostly because, as one writer says, covenants are “a story in search of an ending.” That ending is found in Jesus who turns covenant language into family terms with God as our Father and we’re his children; we’re part of God’s family.

Our passage this morning is the first covenant in the Bible. In all the covenants, God reaches out to us. In this covenant, called the covenant of works, God reaches out to Adam. This covenant is not called covenant of works because our call is to work, but because perfect obedience is its foundation. All the rest of the covenants point us to grace as their foundation.

The story this morning begins with God saying, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” We’re created to be God’s stewards of creation in relationship with him, to carry out the work of realizing and developing the potential God has placed within creation, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” God creates us to be his co-workers, co-creators, and co-caregivers of creation. God trusts us with creation, calling us to be fruitful in building the human race, and faithful in our work, in our character, and in imitating God. We’re created to be workers for God’s glory.  

In the covenant of works, we live into the image of our creator God. He creates beauty and wonder out of chaos; he creates humanity to carry on his work of creation and bring order out of chaos. Work’s a sacred calling, there’s no secular work versus sacred work; everything we do, we do for the Lord, whether its washing dishes, farming, working in business, working at home, caring for others, or anything or everything else; it’s all God’s work. Our world’s a place that needs keeping care of in order to realize its fruitfulness, it cannot develop its potential on its own, it needs us to be who God created us to be, his stewards of creation. As Paul writes to the Ephesians, In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” We need to remember that our identity doesn’t come from our work, it comes from following Jesus and the image of God in us.

We’re called to govern and care for creation, to help it realise its potential. This is why God created us in his image; to carry on his work. Yet God does place limits on us, we don’t claim creation for ourselves, we’re always under the rule of God, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” In the covenant, the terms are: God gives us the responsibility to care for creation, he provides us with all that we need to carry out our responsibilities, he places limits on us and calls us to obedience, and he lays out the consequences of not obeying him.

It doesn’t take long in the biblical story to see this covenant break down. Satan comes to Eve, with Adam right there, and tempts them to ignore the covenant, both its promises and relationship with God, and its punishments. Eve and Adam both eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and this leads to the need for God to rescue his people from their disobedience, leading to a series of covenants through Scripture with his people. God comes to his people again and again, making more covenants with them: all pointing ahead to the great victory of Jesus on the cross over Satan and the blessings of God in Jesus’ resurrection, return to heaven, and gift of the Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve were not obedient to the covenant, thankfully, Jesus, who is the Second Adam, perfectly lives out the covenant, obedient, as the Bible says, even to death. That’s obedience! The new covenants don’t replace this first covenant, but instead build on it. We’re still called to be stewards of creation, helping to develop the potential God’s placed in creation and caring for it. We’re still called to obedience; the big difference is that the punishment has been placed on Jesus in our place and we’re freed from fear and strengthened by hope, knowing that death is now a doorway to God’s presence.

This still leaves us with the call to work. Our work’s been impacted by sin and can be really hard at times, but it’s also been shaped by Jesus. Work’s not a burden, but as one writer says, “Our personal concept of vocation should be an adventurous undertaking as part of our life of obedience. A study of the biblical material can show us that life and work are integrated by God's design.” Paul tells the people in Colossians 3:23–24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Jesus gives us an image of what work looks like in the kingdom of heaven in a parable in Matthew 25.

A master is going away and calls his servants together and gives them talents according to their abilities. He calls them to use their abilities and talents to carry on his work while he’s away. Two of the three servants take their talents and abilities and put them to work for their master’s sake. The master’s pleased when he returns and acknowledges their work on his behalf, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” The third servant though, whether out of fear, laziness, or simply not caring, takes his talent and buries it rather than using his skills to the best of his abilities to carry on his master’s work. The master’s frustrated, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus is telling us there’s accountability for our work, or lack of work, for the kingdom of heaven, but there’s also the adventure of discovering our own potential and being fruitful, in small or large ways. In obedience, we’re called to carry on the work Jesus began and handed over to us on Ascension Day to build his kingdom, using our talents for his purposes. Our work is part of our stewardly obedience to God and brings him joy. The covenant of works reminds us that our work flows out of our relationship with God who creates us in his image, calling us his children through Jesus. May you be faithful in all your work, remembering it all contributes to the kingdom of heaven.

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