What special act of providence did God exercise towards man in the estate wherein he was created?
When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life 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.a
- aGalatians 3:12; Genesis 2:17
Beddome's Scriptural Exposition 12 questions answered from Scripture
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Did God make man perfectly holy? Yes.
“God made man upright” Ecclesiastes 7:29
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And perfectly happy? Yes.
“For he blessed him” Genesis 1:28
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Did he give him a law? Yes.
“The Lord God commanded the man” Genesis 2:16
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And was man as God’s creature obliged to obey that law? Yes.
“Remember, O Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed thee” Isaiah 44:21
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Was the covenant which God entered into with Adam, a covenant of life? Yes.
“For the law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them” Galatians 3:12
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Was there a special command given him by way of trial? Yes.
“Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat” Genesis 3:17
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And was death threatened in case of disobedience? Yes.
“In the day thou eatest thou shalt surely die” Genesis 2:17
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Was he under any natural necessity to break this law? No.
“For of every other tree of the garden he had liberty to eat” Genesis 2:16
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Was this covenant made with Adam as a public head? Yes.
“For he was the figure of him that was to come” Romans 5:14
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Was Eve included in it? Yes.
“For God said unto the woman, what hast thou done” Genesis 3:13
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Was this law worthy of God? Yes.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25
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Is the second covenant better than the first? Yes.
“For Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant” Hebrews 8:6
Benjamin Beddome (1717–1795), pastor at Bourton-on-the-Water. Verses from the King James Version.
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