Eachmonth the "Cross-Examination"

column presents a smnrnary statement

of a Reformed and Reconstmctionist
conviction in theology or ethics, and
then offers brief answers to common
questions,objectionsorconfusionswhich
people have about that belief. Send
issues or questions you would like ad-
dressed by Dr. Bahnsen to the editor.
WEBEUEVE
What we know about God we know
b=use of His awn self-disclosure to us.
As men, and especially as sinful men, we
have no ability and no prerogative to
determine foronrselveswhatGod would
be like. He must reveal Himself to us --
which He has clearly done through the
created order, the words of Scripture,
andsupremelyin HisSon, the LordJesus
Christ.
We leama great deal about God from
His revelation of Himself in the Bible.
We learn that He created all things, that
He is personal, and that all men depend
upon Him. We learn of His omnipo-
tence and etemality. We learn of His
holinessandjustice. WelearnofHislove
and mercy -- and many other things.
When theologians gather together all
that the Bible teaches us about God and
offer a summary of it, theyusua1lyspeak
about His person and attributes, as well
as about His works. The works of God,
such as creation, redemption and con-
sumrnation,areproperlyunderstoodouly
in the light of God's peISOn and at-
tributes; likewise, the auributes of God
areillustratedandexplainedinHisworks.
Of the many things which we can
know about God frOin the scriptures -
something which is too often ignored or
played down by evangelical theologians
-- is that He is a covenant-keeping God.
This is one of the primary auributes of
God which the Bible reveals, an attribute
which is intimately involved with what
Godhas doneandcontinuesto do-with
His works. Thus to know God as He is
specifically revealed in His word -- to
know the God of the Bible -- we must
think of Him in terms of His covenant.
Prom the very outset of the Bible we
find God, the Creator, in a personal
re1ationshipwithman,thecreature. This
relationshipwasnotarbitraryorhaphaz-
ard; it had a specific character and con-
tent. God sovereignly established and
trans;lcted the relationship, in virtue of
.. 't THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 't October, 1992
beingrnan'sCreator. In this relationship
God granted blessings to man which
were not, strictly speaking, "earned" or
meritorious.
The blessings of existence and provi-
dential sustaJning were not somehow
earned by Adam and Eve. The very first
thing God did after creating Adam and
Eve, according to the Bible, is this: "And
Heblessedthem" (Gen. 1:28). God'sfirst
word wasaword of promise or favor, not
oneofdemandorjudgmem. This was a
gracious relationship, one which blessed
onr first parents before they had done
anything good orevil. Further, the bless-
ing of walking and talking with God in
intimate communion did not wait until
Adam had accomplished cenain merito-
rious works, but was granted from the
momem of his creation. And even if
Adam had perfectly obeyed God'ssubse-
quem commandments (e.g., Gen. 1:28;
2:16-17,24) he would not have merited
any spedal favor from God -- any more
than a watch which works properly de-
serves anything from itsrnaker(itis, after
all, only doing what it is made to do).
Adam was called upon to trust the
word of the Lord, and to trust it simply
on the authority of God. This rclation-
. ship of trustentailedsubmission to God,
seen in obedience to His command-
ments - s u h ~ the prohibition of eating
from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil. God's command cartied the
sanction of blessing (continued com-
mullion with God) and curse - "in the
day that you eat from it you will surely
die"(Gen.2:17). Godwasboundtothis
compactasmuchaswereAdamandEve.
God's justice would not allow Him to
reverseHisword,condemrtingobedience
but overlooking (or even blessing) dis-
obedience. When our first parents
transgressed the prohibition of eating
from the tree, they separated themselves
from the Source of life (in all its facets:
spiritnal, physical, etc.). According to
God's word and character, they had to
die. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom.
6:23) .
The Bible tenus the kind of relation-
ship or arrangement which existed be-
tween God and Adam a "covenant." We
can define "covenant" as a mutually
binding compact between God and His
people, sovereignly transacted by the
Lord, wherein a promise ismade by God
which calls for trust on the part of His
people and entails obligations of sub mis-
sion which are sanctioned by blessings
and curses. By checking the preceding
discussion we can find all of these theo-
logical elements of the concept of a cov-
enant in the relationship between God
and Adam.
Moreover, the Bible explicitly speaks
of Adam's relationship to God in mv-
enantaltenus. Forinstance, inHosea6:7
the prophet indicts the rebels of his
generation by likening them to the first
man, Adam, who rebelled against God.
Notice what Hosea says Adam trans-
gressed: "But they like Adam have trans-
gressed the mvenant." Scripture speaks
of Adam being in "mvenant" with God;
like Hosea's contemporaries, Adam
proved to be a covenant-breaker, rather
thanamvenant-keeper. In fact, the Bible
teaches us that all men are
covenant-breakers, where presumably
the covenant which they violate is the
one transacted between God the Creator
and their first parents, Adam and Eve.
Isaiah 24:5-6 says: "The earth also is
polluted under the inhabitants therefore
because they have transgressed the laws,
violated the statutes, broken theeverlast-
ing covenant. Therefore has the curse
devoured the earth, and they who dwell
in it are found guilty."
The point to be made here is that
from the very outset of the Biblical story,
we find God revealed as the God of the
covenant. From a literary standpoint,
anybody reading the Bible from the start
-- from the book of Genesis forward --
should not miss this important aspect of
God's character and actions. God is the
covenant-keeping God. Justa few chap-
ters beyond the account of man's cre-
ation and fall, after the crisis of the flood,
we read that "Godspokeunto Noah, and
to his sons with him, saying: 'And I,
behold I, establish my covenant with you
and with your seed after you and with
every living creature" (9:8-10). Then in
the days of Abraham God calleda people
to be His own, from among the other
families on earth. God appeared to
Abraham and uttered both a promise
and demands (12:1-3), which are later
explained in these words: 'jehovah ap-
pearedtoAbram and said unto him, lam
God Almighty; walk before me and be
perfect. And I will make my covenant
between me and you ... " (17:1-2).
God kept covenant with Abraham,
Isaac,andJamb. Their family eventually
went down into Egypt and multiplied
greatly, but at last came undermiserable
slavery. What is it that sets up the story
of the exodus and conquest of the prom-
isedland? WereadinExodus2:24, "And
God heard their groaning, and God re-
membered His covenant with Abraham,
with Isaac, and with Jacob." The back-
ground fonhe redemption from Egypt--
and the rest of the Biblical story -- is
precisely the covenant-keeping charac-
ter of God. He is the God of the covenant.
Accordingly, whatGodrevealedthrough
Moses was the law, but specifically the
law "of the covenant" (Ex. 34:27-28).
Andas Israel prepared to enterthe prom-
ised land, Moses reminded God's people
of the basis and character of their bless-
ing: "Know therefore that Jehovah your
God, he is God, the faithful God who
keeps covenant and lovingkindnesswith
them that love him and keep his com-
mandments ... " (Deut. 7:9).
As we read through the Bible this
feature of God's character and actions
continually comes to our attention. God
made a "covenant" with David and his
seed (2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 89). Many years
later, in the days of Isaiah, Jehovah de-
clared "I will make an everlasting cov-
enant with you, even the sure mercies of
David" (55:3). When Jeremiah the
prophet ministered to God's people, God
revealed the coming of that day when all
ofHis previous promises would come to
realization and fulfillment -- in the days
Gust as you would expect) of a "new
covenant" (31:31-34).
We cannot properly understand the
saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ
without a covenantal perspective. The
birth of Jesus was an open declaration
that God had remembered "his holy
covenant"(Luke 1:72). Before going out
to be crucified for the sins of His people,
Jesus ordained the cup of the "new
covenant" (Luke 22:20). His resurrec-
tion and redemptive work were specifi-
cally the blessing of "the covenant God
made with your Oewishl fathers" (Acts
3:25-26). The New Testament explicitly
calls Jesus "the Mediator of the New
Covenant" (Heb. 12:24) and views His
work of salvation in covenantal terms:
"Now the God of peace who brought
again from the dead our LordJesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, through the
blood of the everlastingcovenant. .. " (Heb.
l3:20). CONTINUED NEXT MONTH.
Further Investigation
For further studies regarding God
or covenant theology on tape - espe-
cially "The Distinctives of the Re-
formed Faith" - write for a catalog
from Covenant Tape MiniStry, 24198
Ash Court, Auburn, CA 95603.
To receive Dr. Bahnsen's free
monthly newsletter, Penpoint, write
to Southern California Center for
Christian Studies, P. O. Box 18021,
Irvine, CA 92713.
October, 1992 " TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 5