A. When God had created man, He entered into a covenant of works with him, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death. (Gen. 2:16,17; Gal. 3:12; Rom. 5:12)

INSTRUCTION

I. THE LORD GOD ENTERED INTO A COVENANT OF WORKS WITH ADAM

“When God had created man, He entered into a covenant of works with him”

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "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."

Hosea‬ ‭6:7‬ “But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.”

II. THE GENERAL CONDITION OF THE COVENANT OF WORKS WAS PERFECT OBEDIENCE

“upon condition of perfect obedience,”

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "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."

Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7:29 “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

III. THE SPECIFIC CONDITION OF THE COVENANT OF WORKS WAS THAT ADAM WAS NOT TO EAT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

“forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,”

Genesis 2:16-17 “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "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…”

IV. THE PENALTY FOR BREAKING THE COVENANT OF WORKS WAS DEATH

“upon pain of death.”

Genesis 2:17 “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis‬ ‭3:19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
- I) Natural, II) Spiritual, and III) Eternal death.

APPLICATION

I. See the love and condescension of God in bending low to enter into a covenant with man (Psalm 8:3-5)

Psalm 8:3-5
”3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.”

II. See the holiness of God in that He will only accept perfect obedience (Habakkuk 1:13)

Habakkuk 1:13 “You…are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…”

III. See the kindness of God in that the simplest command was given (Deuteronomy 30:11)

Deuteronomy 30:11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.”

IV. See where our great enemy, death, came from (Romans 5:12; 6:23)

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…“

Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death.”

V. See how foolish it is to try and get yourself to heaven by works (Romans 3:20)

Romans 3:20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight…”

VI. See how wonderful the covenant of Grace is, where Jesus perfectly upholds our end of the bargain (Hebrews 10:15-17)

Hebrews 10:15-17 “15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
    after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
    and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds,
“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”