Canon, Covenant and Christology: Rethinking Jesus and the Scriptures of Israel by Matthew Barrett

Author:Matthew Barrett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Scripture;Bible;divine inspiration of scripture;inspiration of the bible;doctrine of scripture;Paul's letters;inspiration of scripture;divinely inspired;is the bible divinely inspired;canonical context;nature of scripture;trustworthiness of scripture;New Studies in Biblical Theology;NSBT;Biblical theology;theology;Bible;Scripture;Christian;Christian theology;silver;silver series;D.A. Carson;DA Carson
ISBN: 9780830831876
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2020-02-27T16:00:00+00:00

Matthew

Covenant obedience and Adamic sonship

In chapter 2 it was concluded that Adam acts within the framework of a covenant (i.e. covenant of creation/works). Created by God and made in God’s very image, Adam is a son, and one God designs to live in covenant relationship with him. This covenant relationship, like all covenants, has certain stipulations; for example, Adam can eat from every tree, but is not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This command or word from God put Adam to the test. Would he listen to the word of God or to the word of the serpent?

The reader of the whole canon also knows, as Paul reveals (Rom. 5:12–21), that Adam is not an isolated actor in this drama near the beginning of creation. He acts not just for himself but for all humanity. He is, in other words, humankind’s first and most important father. In that moment of testing Adam represents his progeny. Given the covenantal nature of the relationship in the garden, it is appropriate to say that Adam is federal head to all those born in his wake. His covenant unfaithfulness results in the downfall not only of himself but all to come. His guilt, his corruption, will now be that of all humanity.

The disaster and curse Adam’s disobedience creates results in a humanity desperate for a new, second and last Adam, one who acts just as vicariously as Adam did but this time to obey the word of God and remain faithful to the covenant on behalf of the ungodly. As Calvin comments:

Accordingly, our Lord came in order to take Adam’s place in obeying the Father, to present our flesh as the price of satisfaction to God’s righteous judgment, and, in the same flesh, to pay the penalty that we had deserved.3

In that sense, all of history can be summarized by two Adams: a first Adam, whose covenant representation resulted in the condemnation of humanity, and a second or last Adam, whose covenant representation results in the justification of the ungodly. Eternal life hangs in the balance of Adam’s choice: if he obeys, he will for ever enjoy a Sabbath rest, eating indefinitely from the tree of life. His disobedience to the word of God, however, necessitates a second Adam who can win back the life Adam and his fallen race forfeited. In the last Adam paradise lost is paradise regained.4

The Genesis account is not lost on the Old Testament authors. They too will retell the history of Israel through an Edenic and Adamic lens. Scholars from G. K. Beale and Brandon Crowe to N. T. Wright, despite certain differences, have all recognized the many ways creation imagery is utilized by Old and New Testament authors alike.5 This much is seen, for example, in the continual command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 9:1, 7; 35:11–12) or the way the land of promise is painted in new creation vocabulary (Lev. 26:6–12; Jer. 3:16; 23:3; Ezek. 36:11).6 What is

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