You Were Born Into A World That’s East of Eden (Covenant of Works part 2)

So, you can please turn in your Bible to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

All the way back at the beginning, Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

We're beginning this semester a series on covenant theology.

So, it's an approach to understanding and interpreting the Bible

that focuses on how God has made a relationship or a covenant with people.

The divine covenants throughout the scriptures.

The first covenant that we're looking at, it's how we received it in God's word.

It's how the story is told in Genesis 1, 2, and 3.

And over time, the church has come to call it the covenant of works with our first king, Adam.

So, last week was part one on the covenant of works.

This week is part two.

Our sermon text today begins with Genesis chapter 3, verse 6.

Genesis 3:6

I'll try to call out where we're reading next,

and we'll catch the key verses through these chapters.

As I read this, remember that this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.

It's God's very own word for you and me, His people.

So, after we've heard God's word, let's respond with the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

All right, Genesis chapter 3, verse 6.

Genesis 3:6

Verse 7.

Now look at verse 17.

To Adam, God said,

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,

you shall not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground because of you.

In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you,

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground.

For out of it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Look at verse 23 next.

Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that returned,

I'm sorry, a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis chapter 4 verse 1.

Genesis 4:1

Now Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,

I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

And again she bore his brother Abel.

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,

and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for Cain in his offering he had no regard.

So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry?

Why is your face fallen?

If you do well, will not you be accepted?

If you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field,

Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother?

He said, I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

And the Lord said, What have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground,

and you are now cursed from the ground,

which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.

Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground,

and from your face I shall be hidden.

I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth,

and whoever finds me will kill me.

Then the Lord said to him, Not so.

If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord

and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The Bible says that the grass withers and the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Let's pray.

O Lord, your word is effectual.

When your word goes forth, what you declare happens.

You spoke this world into existence,

and your word goes forth and it regenerates.

It does not return to you void, but it does prosper in your purpose.

May your word go forth today, Lord, for your glory.

May all who have an ear to hear from their creator hear your word clearly.

Please guard my lips,

and may your Holy Spirit press into the souls of each one today your truth.

We ask this in Jesus' name and for your glory alone.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, some call winter restlessness cabin fever,

but it doesn't get better.

We get to the spring and then we complain about spring fever.

Mark Twain pointed something out about the human soul that's insightful.

He says, when you've got it, you want, oh, you don't know quite what you want.

You do know you want something,

and it just fairly makes your heart ache that you want it so badly.

That's what it is.

It's a restless heart.

We saw last time how the Lord God created this world.

He said it was very good, and then the Lord rested.

So the Lord rests.

He sits enthroned over his creation,

but yet we, his creatures, even though we were made good,

we are so restless.

Why is that?

I feel like today the purpose is really to answer that question.

We are in a broken curse.

You know, the covenant with Adam was a tripwire,

and all of the effects are still at play

on those born into this fallen, broken world.

We were created to share in God's rest,

but we know that we don't have that fully yet,

and we desire that, don't we?

Some days we desire that more than anything else.

So one way to describe this restless state

that all the world is in

is that we are east of Eden.

We saw last week how the garden was the temple,

presence of the Lord.

Did you pick up on that phrase that was repeated twice

in our sermon text today?

Look at chapter 3, verse 24.

Therefore, God drove out the man

east of the garden of Eden.

And then look again at the very end of our sermon text,

chapter 4, verse 16.

The next generation,

Cain went away from the presence of the Lord,

and he settled in the land.

What direction?

East of Eden.

So in Hebrew narrative,

when we get a phrase like that repeated,

it bookends a passage.

That's why our sermon text is a bit longer,

because it all goes together.

We're supposed to pick up on that clue.

That means something.

And as God's word unfolds,

we know that the temple

was to face a certain direction,

the same direction as the tabernacle.

What direction does the door of the temple face?

It faced east.

So to the extent that the garden of Eden

was a prototypical dwelling presence of God,

it's facing east,

and man is being driven out of that holy presence of God.

So as we walk through that,

I want to try to answer for you

Covenant of Works Part 2,

what are we born into?

You were born into a world

that's east of Eden,

and it affects everything.

Number one,

God's holy presence filled Eden,

leaving no room for sin.

God's holy presence filled Eden,

leaving no room for sin.

Eden was a garden temple,

but when Adam and Eve sinned,

it changed their relationship

and their standing

and even their inner being.

So first,

sin makes you feel exposed

before the holy God.

Take a look again at chapter 3, verse 6.

They ate.

Verse 7 then says,

their eyes were opened.

They knew that they were naked.

That's because sin makes you feel exposed

before the all-knowing,

omniscient God.

And then what comes next?

Well,

feeling exposed,

man works to cover himself up.

They sewed fig leaves together

and made themselves loincloths.

They get to work.

We got to make this right.

Sinful man tries to then hide himself from God,

but notice where they're trying to hide.

They're trying to hide within God's own temple.

It's in Eden.

Look at verse 8.

They heard the sound of the Lord God,

and where was the Lord God walking,

so to speak?

He was walking in the garden

in the cool of the day.

The man and his wife hid themselves

from the presence of the Lord God,

and where did they try to hide?

Among the trees of the garden.

They're still inside Eden.

Now that word,

the cool of the day,

the word is ruach,

and that means wind,

spirit,

or breath.

Literally,

verse 8 is translated this way,

Yahweh Elohim

walking

in the wind,

the spirit

of the day.

So here's the temple presence of God

in the garden of Eden,

and here comes the great wind

that they hear.

It's rustling the leaves and the grass.

And this represents the presence of God

filling up his temple,

leaving no room for their sin.

That same word is used

associated with new creation.

Remember at the very beginning,

the spirit of God hovered.

There's the picture like a great eagle

hovering its wings,

the flapping in the wind,

hovering over the waters of the deep.

And then we're told later

in Genesis chapter 8,

Genesis 8 · chapter mention

after the world had been destroyed,

a ruach,

a wind,

spirit,

breath,

blows away the waters

of the flood.

And this allows them

the dove of peace

to settle

and bring back

life to show

there's going to be

a new beginning for mankind.

We can go all the way

to the new covenant.

Remember in Acts 2,

there's a wind,

a ruach,

that fills up

the early church.

And the spirit of God

says,

these people

are my temple.

I dwell with them.

And Adam

gives a priest's report

of what he experienced

in verse 10.

Look at that.

He said,

I heard the sound

of you,

God,

in the garden.

And what effect

did it have on Adam?

I was afraid.

Why?

Because I was naked.

What did you do?

I hid myself

anywhere I could,

even within the temple,

garden of Eden.

Do you see the curses

of this broken covenant

of works

changing

these humans,

these image bearers?

man is afraid.

Man feels naked.

He's working

himself

to cover up

his own shame.

And he feels like

he's got to

get out of here

and hide somehow,

somewhere,

from this glory

presence

of God.

Well,

east of Eden,

God still makes

the weight

of his glory

known.

Without God,

we know

we are lost.

we know

we need to hide

when we encounter

him,

the sacred creator,

without a mediator

to stand between us.

We can look at

our own lives,

our own past,

and many buildings

that call themselves

churches of all

different,

you know,

sects that are

working to make

things right

for themselves

with God.

It's a religion

based on man's

work,

man trying to

cover up

the shame

of sin.

2 Corinthians

4.17

says that this

light,

momentary

affliction

that Christians

in this world

east of Eden

experienced,

it prepares us

for an eternal

weight of glory

beyond all

comparison.

sin.

This first point

is that God's

holy presence

filled Eden,

leaving no room

for sin.

The best

illustration I've

ever heard

is from

Newton's first

law of motion.

To paraphrase it,

it says that a

greater external

force will move

in to set

lesser things

in motion.

So let's

try to

visualize this.

If we had a

big cylinder

right here

full of water,

let's put

something of

lesser weight

in there.

Let's put

petals,

flower petals

in there.

And then we

took something

a little bit

heavier like

raisins.

We dropped

raisins in.

As that

raisin goes

down,

you'd be able

to see those

petals being

put in motion

because the

raisin is a

little bit

more weighty

and it sets

those lesser

things in motion.

Now picture

a great boulder,

rock of ages,

cleft for me

dropped in here.

That rock,

the weight of

God's glory,

as it pushes

down,

it sets

everything into

upheaval and

into motion.

And then when

it's settling,

it's the

weightiest thing

upon which

everything else

will find its

rest.

So here's the

temple,

Garden of Eden.

And as the

glory presence

of God moves

in,

Adam and Eve

are like those

petals and those

raisins set in

motion trying to

cover themselves

and hide

wherever they

can,

the weight

of God's

glory so

fills His

dwelling place

that there's no

room for sin.

It's going to be

drawn up and

stirred and

pushed out.

So when you

and I as

saved sinners,

if you're a

believer,

when we encounter

the Holy God,

it's that same

weight of God's

glory filling

His temple,

leaving no room

for sin in us

His people.

Praise God,

right?

It's slow and

gradual,

but we want

the weight of

God's glory to

push everything

else into its

proper place.

Number two,

in Eden,

Adam broke

God's moral

law that was

written on his

heart.

We're trying to

understand what it

is to be east

of Eden, in this

world, east of

Eden, but we

got to start back

in Eden.

And what was it

that was in the

conscience and the

heart that so

stirred up Adam?

Well, let's shed

some light on this

shadowy part of the

Bible from Romans

Romans 2:14

chapter 2, verses

14 and 15, which

say,

lawless pagans, so

those east of

Eden that know

nothing about God,

they do by nature

what the law

requires.

You got to stop

right there and ask

yourself, what law

is this?

What law is it that

pagans do by nature?

It's not the

ceremonial law of

killing a lamb on

a Passover or

something like that.

And it's not

necessarily the

civil law.

It's referring to

what the church has

called over time

the moral law.

It's the law that

is attached to the

character and the

attributes of God

himself.

It's what has

always pleased God

and always will

please him.

It's the moral law

of God.

And this shows,

says Romans

Romans 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, that

the work of the

law is written

on their hearts.

while their

conscience also

bears witness.

So in the inner

man, the heart

and the conscience,

God has written

his moral law.

Well, we can take

that truth and we

can try to make

more sense now of

what was it on

Adam's heart that

was written.

The church has

wrestled with it.

I think there was a

really helpful clarity

in the 1800s in

Scotland.

It was called the

Marrow Controversy.

And in this little

book on law and

gospel, one author,

showed how this

could be true.

And Romans chapter

Romans 2 · chapter mention

2 could be true of

Adam.

How was it that

Adam broke the

moral law as they

were expressed and

codified in the

Ten Commandments

given later in

redemptive history?

And here's what the

Marrow of Modern

Divinity, that little

book from the 1800s

in Scotland, said.

Let's walk through

the Ten Commandments

with Adam in mind.

Number one is to

have no other gods.

Well, Adam obeyed

the servant's word

instead of the

Lord's word.

And instead of his

creator, he chose

Satan as his God.

Number two is have

no idols before God.

Philippians 3.19 says

that man has made

his belly his God.

So Adam's lust to

eat the forbidden

fruit was an idol.

It was idolatry.

Number three is the

name of the Lord.

By taking Satan's

bait, which was

did God really say,

Adam took the name

of the Lord in vain,

undermining God's

goodness attached to

his name.

That's who God is.

Number four is to

keep the Sabbath day

as a day of rest

made for man to

worship the Lord.

And Adam did not

keep the rest in

which God had set

him.

Number five is to

honor your father.

Adam dishonored his

heavenly father and

therefore his days

were not prolonged

in that land, Eden,

that the Lord had

given him.

Number six is don't

kill.

But Adam murdered

himself and all his

posterity.

Number seven is don't

commit adultery.

And both in his eyes

and his mind, Adam

committed spiritual

adultery against his

Lord with whom he was

in the covenant of

works.

Number eight is don't

steal.

Well, Adam trespassed

the boundary God gave

him and he unlawfully

stole that one thing

that God said was not

his to take.

Number nine is false

witness.

In obeying Satan, Adam

bore witness against

God.

And number ten, don't

covet.

Adam coveted that one

thing God said he may

not have.

So in the words of

Romans chapter three

verse 19, we know

that what the law

says it saith to them

who are under the law

that every mouth may be

stopped and all the

world may become

guilty before God.

So we ask the question,

how is it that the

whole world could become

guilty before God?

How is it that the

world deserves the wrath

of God?

It's because in Adam's

fall sinned we all.

We are born under the

curses of the broken

covenant of works.

But that moral law,

those ten commandments,

God has still put in the

heart and the conscience

of all mankind east of

Eden.

So in Eden, Adam broke

God's moral law that was

written on his heart.

Number three, the weight

of God's glory in Eden,

it exposed the sins of

both the body and the

soul.

My point here is that this

is so pervasive.

It affects every aspect of

a human being, this fallen

sinful nature.

Well, we know that Adam

and Eve, they sinned with

their bodies.

They saw the fruit with

their eyes.

They saw that it was

pleasing to the eye.

They ate the fruit with

their teeth, their mouth.

And then they saw that

they were naked.

So their bodies are

exposed as being sinful.

But notice where God's

three questions to Adam

go.

God uses his three

questions to deal not

with the outer man.

God gets always.

He's getting at the heart.

God goes after the inner

man.

Look at verse nine.

Here's the first question.

The Lord God called to the

man and said to him.

Notice who the Lord is

addressing here.

He's going to the federal

head.

He's going to Adam, who

represents that type of a

federal head who, you know,

his works, obedience or

disobedience, will affect all

of his posterity.

And the first question is,

where are you?

Where are you?

The second question is in

verse 11.

God said, who told you that

you were naked?

And the third question, have

you eaten of the tree in

which I commanded you to

eat?

We saw in Sunday school,

referring back to last week

as well, there are three

offices in the Old Testament

that are anointed.

You know what they are.

prophet, priest, and king.

I think there's a connection

between those three offices

and these questions that the

Lord is asking.

See, Adam was the viceroy.

He was the first king of

mankind.

And the Lord asks him, where

are you?

In other words, Adam, you

forgot.

You were in God's kingdom.

I made you the first king of

mankind, but you're a

vassal servant.

God himself is your

covenant lord.

Where are you, Adam?

You're trying to hide in the

temple behind the trees

inside of Eden?

This is my garden, says the

glory of God.

And the presence filling up

the whole temple.

Where are you?

You're in my temple.

You're in my kingdom.

Adam had received the word

of God directly from God.

Adam did not Eve.

So Adam was a prophet to Eve

and his family and his

posterity.

He was the one to declare

the truth of God.

God asked him, Adam, who

told you otherwise?

You failed as a prophet.

Who told you?

You know what I told you,

Adam.

So you failed as a king,

Adam.

You failed as a prophet.

In Luke chapter 3, verse 38,

Luke 3:38

we're given the reverse

genealogy that goes all the

way back to Adam.

And then Adam is described

as the son of God.

And Adam, as God's son,

did not love God with all of

his heart, soul, mind, and

strength.

Nor did he love his neighbor,

which is his wife, and all

mankind as himself.

So Adam broke God's positive

law.

He failed to represent well his

posterity.

And the Lord asks him,

who told you you were naked?

So he's exposed now.

He's laid bare before God.

I don't want to force this too

much, but it made me wonder,

like, the role of a priest,

you know, of all those

anointed offices, that was the

only one that was clothed in

special garments.

And we know that in the New

Testament, we are clothed with

the righteousness of Christ.

And Christ is depicted in

Revelation as being that great

high priest whose, you know,

whose robes shine like precious

jewels adorning him.

And that's the picture we're

given in the Old Covenant with

the ceremonial law, the high

priest, those from the line of

Aaron, they had to wear these

jewels representing all the

tribes.

But Adam is not clothed like a

glorious high priest.

There's no glory bouncing off and

radiating the beauty of God to

the people.

Instead, he's naked.

He's failed as a priest.

He's exposed.

And God's justice requires that

the first federal head and

all those under him received the

curses of breaking this

covenant of works.

Adam had been put in the Garden

of Eden as a probationary period

of testing.

And instead, he failed in his

appointed office, prophet,

priest, and king, transgressing

the whole moral law that God had

put in his heart.

So the consequence we read in

verses 23 and 24.

Therefore, the Lord God sent him

out of the Garden of Eden to work

the ground from which he was

taken.

He drove the man out at the east

of the Garden of Eden and placed

the cherubim with a flaming sword

that turned in every way to guard the

way to the tree of life.

And that's the world we are born into,

the world east of Eden.

You picture a glass of water that has

just one drop of something else.

And that something else is poison.

The whole cup is poisoned.

So all of us born east of Eden are

under these effects of sin.

We're not as wicked as we could be

because God is showing preserving

mercies.

But every aspect of us has the taint or

the poison of the original sin.

So number three, the weight of God's

glory in Eden, it exposed sin,

both in the body and in the soul of

man and mankind.

Number four, east of Eden is a world

under this curse of sin, but it's also

under the providence of a merciful

covenant Lord.

And if you pay attention to the

language that comes next, you get on

almost every verse you get both.

You get, here's the effects of the

curse and here's some preserving

mercy.

You get that all the way through.

Let me give you some examples.

Look at Genesis chapter 3 verse 17.

Genesis 3:17

God says, cursed is the ground

because of you.

In pain, there's the curses part, but

now look at the preserving mercy.

You shall eat of it all the days of

your life.

Now the curse of covenant breaking is

death, but God's still giving them

some days of life and he's still

giving them food to eat to preserve

them longer.

You see both there?

Curses of the sin, but also preserving

mercy.

They shall eat, but it shall be in pain.

Now look at verse 18.

Thorns and thistles it shall bring

forth to you.

In other words, your work will bring

forth bread.

You'll be able to survive, but only with

thorns and thistles.

You shall eat of the plants of the

field, but only, verse 19, by the sweat

of your face shall you eat bread.

So you will live on for some days in

life, but only until you return to the

ground.

You are dust and to dust you shall

return.

What does this mean for all of us now?

East of Eden, under the curses of the

covenant of works.

Because of Adam's breach of the covenant

of works, all people are doomed to

perish in the state of sin and misery

into which Adam fell.

We are born spiritually dead, spiritually

detached from God.

Adam fell out of communion with God into

a depraved, defaced, and enslaved

nature.

And that's what we're born into.

We're not as corrupt as we possibly

could be.

The imago Dei, the image of God is

still on all people, but it's defaced,

it's scratched.

Picture taking a penny, you can see

Abraham Lincoln's silhouette, and then

you scratch it with rocks.

That's what we are, born under the

curses of sin.

There's no part of us in the state that

we're born into that is untainted.

He says that you will die and you will

return to dust, but I will mercifully

allow you to work and to eat and so

live on.

So that's the providence of God over all

of mankind.

The days of man are numbered.

Every single soul, the Lord knows how

many more days he will give them.

Then we read in Genesis chapter 4 verse

Genesis 4:1

1 that Adam knew his wife and she

conceived and bore Cain, saying,

I have gotten a man with the help of the

Lord.

There's God's preserving mercy.

We deserve death.

We deserve for our line to be cut off.

But the Lord, with his help, has given us

children.

This fulfills and shows us what Romans

Romans 2:4

chapter 2 verse 4 describes as the

riches of God's kindness, forbearance, and

patience.

His kindness, the kindness of God in

dealing with them in the curse this way,

Romans chapter 2 says, is meant to lead

Romans 2 · chapter mention

you to repentance.

All of the curses are in effect, but God

is patient and kind.

Why?

So that man will repent and see God's

goodness.

Turn to Genesis chapter 5.

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

I want you to see something really cool with

the genealogy.

Genesis chapter 5.

Genesis 5 · chapter mention

We're given the line of Adam's descendants

all the way to Noah, which is important for a

few reasons, but what I want to point out to

you is this pattern and the way that it's

recorded.

Look at verse 5.

Genesis 5 verse 5 says,

Genesis 5:5

So in all the days that Adam lived, there's

God's preserving mercy, giving him many days.

They were 930 years.

God is patient for man to repent.

But then what does it say next?

And he died.

So the curses are still in effect.

Now look at verse 8.

So all the days of Seth were 912 years.

God is patient for man to repent.

And he died.

The curses are in effect.

Verse 11.

So all the days of Enosh were 905 years.

Because God is patient for man to repent.

But he died.

Because the curses are still in effect.

Last one, verse 14.

So all the days of Kenan were 910.

Because God is patient for man to repent.

And he died.

Because the curses are still in effect.

So dear friends.

In our 18 months or so as a church plant here.

We haven't had to do a single funeral.

But the day is coming.

And it will be heartbreaking.

Let's think about that.

Each one of us.

We don't know our days.

You will live blank more days.

On earth.

Every day is a gift from the Lord.

Because God is patient.

For you and me to repent.

To behold his kindness.

Then you and I one day will die.

Because the curses are in effect.

Don't be found on that day.

Under the curses of the covenant of works.

There's more good news coming.

Let's look at number five.

So to recap.

Number four is that east of Eden is a world.

Under the curse of sin.

But also under the providence.

Of a merciful covenant Lord.

Number five.

East of Eden man must work hard to survive.

But no amount of work will earn your return to the tree of life.

East of Eden man must work hard to survive.

But no amount of work will earn your right to the tree of life.

We see in verse 23.

Chapter 3.

Therefore the Lord God sent them out from the garden of Eden.

To work the ground from which he was taken.

He drove out the man.

And at the east of the garden of Eden.

He placed the cherubim.

With the flaming sword.

Lord.

We cannot earn God's favor.

We cannot earn eternal life.

By keeping the moral law.

Even though it's written on our heart.

New Testament makes this very clear.

No man is saved by his own works.

That none should boast.

We are saved by grace alone.

For the glory of God.

Then we have to ask the question.

If the moral law of God is written on all of man's heart.

Even after we've been banished from God's presence.

We're living east of Eden.

What purpose does it serve to have the moral law?

The ten commandments known in our conscience and our heart.

The Westminster Larger Catechism answers it this way.

What use of it is?

The moral law is of use to all men to inform you.

Of the holy nature and will of God.

And of your duty to walk accordingly.

To convince you of your inability to keep God's law.

It exposes the sinful pollution of your nature as Adam's heir.

And God's law humbles you.

To sense how real your sin and misery is.

The law of God is put on our hearts.

Even before we're saved.

To drive us to the cross.

To show us that we cannot merit life for ourselves.

And this is good because it helps us to get a sight of our need for God to condescend.

To come to us in mercy and in saving grace.

We need the perfect obedience of Christ in our place.

So East David and man must work to survive.

But it's never going to be saving work.

Isaiah 24 5 says the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.

Because they have transgressed the laws.

They have changed the ordinance.

Broken the everlasting covenant.

Romans 2 2 says the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things.

For God shows no partiality.

And Romans 2 6 says God will render to each one according to his works.

So the covenant of works was between God and Adam as the first federal head.

But the effects of the covenant of works are for all of us.

And God will render now to us our works.

However much good you do.

Is that going to be enough to save you?

And under the curse of Adam there is no access to the tree of life.

Our works cannot save us.

We have fallen.

We have been too far broken.

We are hopeless unless God himself will save us.

Number six.

East of Eden all God's image bearers still owe their creator right worship.

Our bookends where it's described as being east of Eden.

It starts with Adam but it doesn't stop there.

It includes that next generation.

That has to be for a reason.

What are we supposed to learn from this contrast between Cain and Abel?

Well there's a lot to learn from Abel but that's not our focus on the covenant of works.

Let's stick with Cain for today.

Cain knew God exists as the ruler over all creation.

And how would Cain and Abel both have learned to bring offerings and give a sacrifice to God?

How would they have learned that?

It would have been from their parents.

So Adam and Eve knew what pleases the Lord and they taught their children that.

But each child has to respond for themselves.

So Cain knew that he owed worship to God because his parents had trained him.

We can infer this.

And also because Romans 1 chapter 20 says,

For God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature,

have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world.

In the things that have been made.

So they are without excuse.

Cain had no excuse.

You and I have no excuse.

God has made himself known since the creation.

So we read in chapter 4 verse 2 that Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain a worker of the ground.

Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground.

In verse 4, Abel brought a blood sacrifice.

A lamb, the firstborn of the flock.

As their parents had taught them that God requires.

And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering.

But Cain in his offering God had no regard.

I have questions about this.

I'm sure you probably do too.

John Milton in a classic book.

He was also a Puritan.

It's called Paradise Lost.

He wrote,

Neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible except to God alone.

And when the Lord did not accept Cain's offering, Cain was very angry and his face fell.

Galatians 3.10 says that all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written, Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law.

And do them.

Your own works, the work of your hands, cannot please God.

You must obey everything, the entire moral law, in order to merit any favor for yourself.

And the Lord was merciful.

He said to Cain, look in verse 7,

Cain, if you do well, will you not be accepted?

Cain knew what was pleasing to God.

He knew what it was to do well.

As Aldous Huxley mocked, he said,

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.

And so Cain gets mad.

He knows the truth.

Do well, and God will be pleased.

Romans 1.28 says,

Since we did not see fit to acknowledge God,

and this is Cain's sin,

God gave us up to a debased mind to disobey the law of God.

And that's exactly how it pans out.

Cain kills Abel.

East of Eden, sin inside man is deadly.

The world is dark and dangerous.

The world east of Eden is a scary place.

Amen?

And that's the world we are born into.

East of Eden, though,

all of God's image bearers still owe the Lord God, their creator,

right worship.

We owe that to him.

Let me see if I can pull this together.

Covenant of works for today.

Our only hope of life rests in a new federal head

who can fulfill the covenant of works now,

east of Eden, on our behalf.

We need a federal head

to come into this fallen, dark, scary world,

east of Eden.

And we need him to fulfill this covenant of works

that the righteous and just God requires.

Not because he lacks anything,

because we need that

to be done for us

on our behalf.

The Son of God himself

must enter this cursed world

east of Eden.

His whole life,

he would delight in good,

and he would never know evil.

As prophet,

the Son of God would preach God's word truthfully.

As priest,

he would be clothed in true righteousness.

And as king,

he will rule with true peace

within his kingdom

on this broken world.

God the Son, the Creator,

would submit himself

to the corrupt judgment

and unjust condemnation of man

in the manly temple.

And he would be driven out

east of the temple.

He would be sent out

away from this earthly temple.

He would have to exit

those courts.

And he would have to go stand

in the cursed land,

the hill of the skull.

He would be surrounded by

bones and flames.

Golgotha,

with the valley behind,

east of the temple in Jerusalem,

a picture of death,

corruption,

and curse.

It's the polar opposite

of the Garden of Eden,

the temple garden.

John Milton again wrote,

long is the way

and hard

that out of hell

leads up

to light.

And so the Son of God

would bear the curse

of covenant breakers,

the full wrath

of the Holy God

on the tree

of death.

death.

And so God

himself

would fulfill

the demands

of his own justice

to inaugurate

his new creation,

he himself

becoming

the tree

of life.

Brothers and sisters,

we were born

east

of Eden

in a restless

world.

Augustine

of Hippo,

he had chased

pleasure in his life,

he had chased money,

and he had chased fame.

But as an old man

writing to the church,

he confessed,

Lord,

you created me

for yourself,

and my heart

was restless

until it found

its rest

in you.

So the good news

for us

is that Jesus Christ

fulfilled that

covenant of works

east of Eden

on our behalf.

And he says,

come unto me

all you

who are tired

and heavy laden.

And I was born

east of Eden

for this purpose,

to give you rest

in God.

Let's pray.

From Romans 6, 12.

Lord, we find

our rest

in you.

We are no longer

in this perishing

world

as slaves.

We are now here

as adopted children.

We belong

to the kingdom

of heaven.

And we ask,

Lord,

by the power

of your Holy Spirit,

therefore,

for sin to not

reign

in our mortal body

so that we

obey its lusts

and to not go

on presenting

the parts

of our body

to sin

as instruments

of unrighteousness.

But help us,

Father,

to present ourselves

to you,

God,

as those who are

alive from the dead

and your body parts

as instruments

of righteousness

for God.

We thank you

that sin

shall no longer

be master

over those

who you purchased

and adopted.

We are no longer

under the covenant

and the curses

of law-breaking,

but now in Christ,

by faith alone,

through grace,

we are under

the covenant

of redemption.

We belong to you

because you loved us

before the foundation

of the world

in Jesus Christ,

our Savior.

To him be all glory

and honor,

now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.