When God placed him in the garden, Adam was in a covenant relationship with his Creator. Adam had wonderful privileges. “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely” (Gen. 2:16). The garden was his to enjoy.

The animals were his to supervise and rule. “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name” (Gen. 2:19).

God also gave Adam responsibilities. There were positive duties: “The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15). There were negative obligations along with certain consequences. “From the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (v. 17). Such is the nature of a covenant.

A driver’s license is a form of covenant. The license gives you the privilege to drive. You also have responsibilities. You must follow the rules for driving. failure to do so can lead to death.

Adam was the son of God (Luke 3:38). Adam’s Father was also his God. Adam commonly “heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the clay” (see Gen. 3:8). God was with Adam in the garden. Such was the nature of covenant fellowship. When Adam broke communion with God by violating the covenant, “the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.”

The great theme of the remainder of Scripture is the restoration of fellowship in covenant with God. God promises to renew covenant fellowship. He declares of each of His own children, “I will be his God and he will be My son” (Rev. 21:7). This covenant embraces the totality of Scripture, Genesis through Revelation. This covenant therefore embraces the totality of life.

The way to this restoration is Jesus Christ. Christ, the Son, keeps covenant with the Father. Where Adam failed to keep covenant with his Father, Jesus Christ succeeded. He passed the test (Matt. 4:1-11).

Based on the work of the Son, God the Father renews us. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will he made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). When the Spirit applies the blood of Jesus to us in the forgiveness of sins, we are washed in the blood of the covenant (1 Cor. 11:25). We trust the covenant keeping of Jesus Christ as our way to heaven, not our own stained obedience or tainted righteousness.

As disciples, in covenant with God through Jesus Christ, we learn to do and observe all that Christ commands in Scripture (Matt. 28:20). We confess with the saints of old, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” (Ex. 24:7). We become sons and daughters of the living God. The Spirit of adoption is in us (Gal. 4:4-7). Jesus Christ, our Emmanuel, is with us (Matt. 1:23).

When we come to Christ, we receive covenant benefits, forgiveness, and new life. We pledge allegiance to Christ and willingly take up covenant service in His kingdom. When we come to Christ we therefore agree with the terms of the covenant. We have the comfort of God’s great and precious promise. “They shall be My people, and I will be their God” (Jer. 32:38, Heb. 8:10).