1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,560 Season two of Love in Context podcast welcomes you. Get ready for engaging unscripted conversations 2 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:14,240 with your hosts, Ben and Spencer. Our mission remains unchanged to explore the Bible through 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:19,880 the powerful lens of love. In this new season, we'll embark on a journey together, unearthing 4 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,000 fresh insights and gaining deeper understanding of how we can love God and live out our faith 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,360 in practical ways. So let's dive into this season of Love in Context, where love in the 6 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:37,360 context of the Bible intersect to transform our lives. Welcome back everyone. Love and 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:43,080 Context podcast. Yeah. So today we're going to be talking about covenants and actually 8 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,400 for the next few weeks. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And not to be confused with halo, not to be 9 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,400 confused with halo talking about the covenant. Yeah. If you grew up between like your, your 10 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:57,680 teenage years or between like 97 and 2010, yeah, you might hear covenant and you're like, 11 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,960 I'm going to be master chief. That's not what we're talking about today. Yeah. Not at all. 12 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:08,280 No. So nice try. Yeah. Yeah. I was just clarifying. Yeah. It's a good clarification. Yeah. So 13 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,120 there is a, there's a number of covenants that we're going to be covering today. We're 14 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:14,600 going to be talking about the Adamic covenant. Next week we're going to be talking about 15 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,400 the Noahic covenant. People actually do combine those covenants and I'll explain why when 16 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,080 we get through the Noahic covenant, we want to look at them both individually before we 17 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:28,640 talk about them together. Then there's going to be the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, 18 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:33,400 and then finally the messianic covenant. Yes. And so that's going to be the next few weeks. 19 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,820 And it's really important. I was actually just having this conversation with somebody 20 00:01:35,820 --> 00:01:42,560 today about, um, it, there's presumptive knowledge in the Bible, right? Yes. Uh, there's presumptive 21 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,920 knowledge that, uh, the writers are going to assume that you have. And one of those 22 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,520 things is in the ancient near East and even to this day, they still have covenants just 23 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:56,320 not in the same way. Um, covenants is a, is a, um, it's thoroughly ingrained in their 24 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:01,940 history and their culture. And so when they talk about covenants, it's not necessarily 25 00:02:01,940 --> 00:02:08,040 something that we're super familiar with in American culture. Yes. So, uh, we're going 26 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:13,360 to try to just take some high level ideas so that as you encounter them and as we encounter 27 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,780 them in the Bible, we're like, Oh, right. So this is this covenant and this has to do 28 00:02:16,780 --> 00:02:20,280 with this. What were some Jewish thoughts on this and how do we actually ingrain those 29 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:26,440 things? Right. Um, so two resources I'm going to recommend that I think are really, I'll 30 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,220 actually three resources. One is the Bible. Uh, I feel like that's going to really help 31 00:02:30,220 --> 00:02:36,200 you get into the texts. Um, another one is, uh, Sandra Richter's Epic of Eden. I'm going 32 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:40,840 to put that on the screen so people can see, uh, Epic of Eden. And then there's a, another 33 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:46,200 book called, uh, Peter Gentry's kingdom, covenants and kingdom or kingdom through covenants. 34 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:51,200 Yeah. I forget the exact title. Uh, if you look up Peter Gentry and, uh, covenants, that's 35 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:59,440 what's going to pop up. So if you are somebody who does not like big words or, um, long diagrams, 36 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,720 Epic of Eden is going to be the one for you. Yep. And if you're a person who likes to get 37 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,420 into the minutia, Peter Gentry is going to be a little bit better for you. If you're 38 00:03:06,420 --> 00:03:11,000 looking for like an overview and an entry point to have that conversation, um, Epic of 39 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,680 Eden is going to be your, be your gem. Uh, Sandra Richter is a great, uh, scholar has, 40 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:21,520 has some great input on that. Um, but if you are a nerd like myself, uh, Peter Gentry's 41 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,360 is going to be a lot of fun, but they're going to use a lot of words that once again, assumptive 42 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:31,840 knowledge. So, and I'm going to refer back to, um, their, their work on a, on a relatively 43 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:37,800 frequent basis throughout the series. Yeah. All right. So let's talk briefly on what is 44 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:42,240 a covenant, right? And so I'm actually going to pull out of chapter three of, uh, Richter's 45 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:47,360 book and she talks about how a covenant is a formal agreement or a relationship established 46 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:54,200 by God with humanity and involves commitments, responsibilities and blessings. Right. Now 47 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,440 in the biblical context, um, there's a lot of them in the old, the old Testament and 48 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,280 they emphasize the framework of God's dealing with his people and each covenant reveals 49 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:09,160 something about God's character and about his intentions for his creation. Yeah. Right. 50 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:13,280 So those are things we're going to be focusing on. Um, the major covenants I told you about 51 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:19,720 Noahic, Adamic, um, the Abrahamic, the mosaic, uh, these are really important. And then of 52 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,520 course the messianic covenant. Um, all of the covenants are meant to be relational, 53 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:30,160 relational, relational. Wow. I can say words. I can say words. They're good words. I do 54 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:38,320 need more coffee. Hold on a second. We got coffee right here. I am going to, uh, I slurped 55 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,960 a little bit so that the podcast listeners can know that I actually drank the coffee. 56 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:47,600 Yeah. Right. Um, so the covenants are going to be, uh, relational and, uh, covenantal 57 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,580 fidelity is crucial. Okay. The obligations in the agreements reflect a deeper relationship 58 00:04:52,580 --> 00:04:58,040 between God and his people. Now, um, there is a, another aspect to it because, uh, at 59 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,320 the very end, when we recap this, we're also going to talk about how we have covenants 60 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,320 with each other. Yeah. We're going to be specifically talking about the covenants between humanity 61 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,280 and God. And then the last week we're going to talk about how we exist in covenant with 62 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:15,360 each other and how those things are coexisting, especially with the church. So the first one 63 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,400 we're going to be talking about, we're going to end up in Genesis one, um, one 26, right 64 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:24,400 at the end of day one. So I don't know if you guys know that, uh, it's the first page 65 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:30,760 in the Bible and this is what's known as the Adamic covenant because it's made with Adam 66 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:37,680 and, uh, at the end of the, of the first week. So if you remember all the way back to episode 67 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,320 two of love and pot context podcast, we talked about the creation story and we talked about 68 00:05:43,320 --> 00:05:47,680 God's purpose in creation and all these different things. And so if you remember this, this 69 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:54,340 covenant is coming on the heels of this, uh, chiastic story where they talk about the purpose 70 00:05:54,340 --> 00:05:59,920 of humanity is meant to dwell with God in this place of rest and restoration. And out 71 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:04,440 of that, we're supposed to live into something, right? That's, that's the Genesis one story 72 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,800 is that we were created for purpose, not for nothing. Yeah. Right. We were created, uh, 73 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:14,240 to be something with God, not because of something that we can do, but because of whose image 74 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:20,080 we're made in. Yep. And, uh, I think we're going to start in Genesis one 26. Can you 75 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:25,920 jump in there? Yeah. The God said, let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, 76 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:31,320 uh, so that they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky over the 77 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:37,360 livestock, over the wild animals, over the creatures that move along the ground. And 78 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:42,160 so God made mankind in his own image, the image of God, he created a male and female. 79 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:47,600 He created them and God blessed them and said, be fruitful and increase in numbers, fill 80 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,040 the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea. Um, the, and the birds of the 81 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:58,680 sky and every living creature that moves on the ground. Then God said, I give you every 82 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:04,800 seed bearing plants on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit in it 83 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:11,960 and seed in it. They will be yours for food and all the beasts of the earth and birds 84 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,040 of the sky and creatures that move along the ground, everything that has breath and life, 85 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:27,560 I give every green plant for food. And it was so God saw all that they had made and 86 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:32,480 it was very good. All that God saw all that he had made and it was very good. There was 87 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:38,320 evening and there was morning the sixth day. So right in the middle of this chiasm, because 88 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:43,420 six day six is in the chiasm and God makes us pronouncement. Um, and we, we've dispelled 89 00:07:43,420 --> 00:07:47,400 this a bunch of times, but I'm going to say it one more time. Who is the covenant made 90 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:53,720 with? It's made with man, male and female. He created them. So it is not with just the 91 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:58,560 male portion of the humanity. It's made with humanity overall. Yeah. Um, we're calling 92 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:05,160 it Adamic because, uh, Adam actually would be, be like dust or man. Um, so like, please 93 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:09,440 don't get it into your head that men are the only ones held to this or inside of this covenant. 94 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:14,920 It is humanity overall. And so one of the first things he says here is he says, uh, 95 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:19,240 so we're talking about this theme. It's going to be, uh, commitments, responsibilities and 96 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:26,040 blessings, right? So what are the commitments that he says? He says, um, you're going to, 97 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,120 you need to go be, sorry, responsibilities. You need to be fruitful and multiply, subdue 98 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:35,080 the earth and fill it. And I'm going to give you all of these things for you to eat and 99 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,400 you're going to have authority over this land. Right. And the, the expectation with this 100 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:43,520 is that the garden doesn't stay just a garden, but the garden continues to expand under the 101 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:50,400 purview of humanity as they, uh, are fruitful and multiply and so do the earth. Right. Yeah. 102 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,440 Like this is the invitation with this covenant. Yes. Now, of course it doesn't end that way, 103 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:59,800 but let's, let's just stop here and talk about, um, the Adamic covenant because this is the 104 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:06,320 covenant with all people made in the image of God. This is what we're called to do. Right. 105 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:11,400 This is what we are called to do. And by the way, the Adamic covenant didn't suddenly end. 106 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,440 Now we will talk about how all the covenants are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. That 107 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:19,680 is four weeks from now. So let's not get ahead of ourselves, but that does not mean that 108 00:09:19,680 --> 00:09:24,800 they end. Uh, remember that we've talked about how Jesus says, I did not come to, um, abolish 109 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,560 the law, but to fulfill it, which means to put it on display. In other words, to actually 110 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:35,520 live it out. So this portion of the covenant is for all of humanity and it doesn't end. 111 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:40,000 Yep. So every single person we run into, which by the way that is, should give us pause as 112 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:45,720 we run into the image of God in the world with humanity. Yep. This person is responsible 113 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,760 with, um, being fruitful and multiplying. So doing the earth and filling it. And, uh, 114 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:56,360 in other words, stewarding the world that we've been given. Yes. Every single person 115 00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:01,080 non-Christian follower of Christ and non follower of Christ, we all have this responsibility 116 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:07,760 to, uh, take care of this world that God has given us. Yeah. So at this point, God does 117 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:14,040 give some specific conditions for this. So jump over to Genesis two 15, the Lord took 118 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,840 man and put him in the garden of Eden, uh, to work and take care of it. And then the 119 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:24,280 Lord commanded man, you are free to eat of any tree in the garden, but you must not eat 120 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:30,280 of the tree of knowledge and good and evil for if you eat of it, you will surely die. 121 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:34,520 Then the Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable 122 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:39,200 for him. And so now that the Lord God had formed out of the ground, all the wild animals, 123 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:45,180 the birds of the sky, uh, he brought them to the man, uh, to see what he would name 124 00:10:45,180 --> 00:10:50,680 them. And whenever the man, whatever the man called the creature, that was its name. So 125 00:10:50,680 --> 00:10:58,160 God gave man, so God, so the man gave names to the livestock and the birds of the sky 126 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:05,080 and the wild animals, but for Adam, no suitable helper was found. So the Lord caused the man 127 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:10,560 to fall into a deep sleep while he was sleeping. He took out the man's rib and closed the place 128 00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:16,400 up, uh, close the place up with flesh. And then the Lord made a woman from the rib he 129 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,680 had taken out of man. And so he brought her to the man and the man said, this is bone 130 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:28,720 of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called a woman for she was taken from man. 131 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:33,720 So and that concludes with they were both naked and they felt no shame. In other words, 132 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:38,240 this covenant has been put in place, but there is no shame in this covenant at this point. 133 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:43,360 Um, so God has said, uh, be fruitful and multiply. It's really hard to be fruitful by yourself, 134 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:48,120 right? Especially in the terms of actually having children, um, that, that doesn't work. 135 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,560 Um, not for humanity. At least there are, there are creatures in the world that are 136 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:56,600 able to reproduce by themselves, but humanity is not one. And so you can't reproduce by 137 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:02,040 yourself. Um, so part of the covenant, then he comes and gives this responsibility, this 138 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:07,360 commitment. So he, uh, says you're, I'm placing you in this garden. This is where you're going 139 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,840 to start subduing the earth. And this is where you're going to start tending and you can 140 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:17,440 eat from everything except this tree. Now, uh, one of the things we discussed, and I 141 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:23,280 believe it was episode three of the podcast. So we're going back to our roots, uh, is why 142 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:28,960 would God put a tree there that is a temptation? And we talked about, like with our children 143 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:33,640 is that when we were our children, uh, if we ask them to obey, if they never have the 144 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:39,880 option to disobey, then they also never have the option to obey. Right. And, uh, there 145 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:44,640 is this, this, uh, this tree is put here and it's a clear instruction from God. Like what 146 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,640 is good be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth and fill it. What is bad? Don't leave 147 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,480 from this tree. Yeah. Right. It's very clear guidelines of what you're supposed to do and 148 00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,280 what you're not supposed to do. So you could actually say, which is why we talked about 149 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:00,880 whether or not this tree actually is the knowledge of good and evil, or is it the ability to 150 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,560 determine good and evil on your own terms? Because they already actually know what is 151 00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:13,920 good and what is evil. Yep. Right. And, um, and so then, uh, um, pursuant to this covenant, 152 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:19,080 which is to be fruitful and multiply woman is created for man out of man, two parts of 153 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:23,440 the same hole. This commission is for both of them. Right. So this is God's covenant 154 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,320 from, from the beginning with, uh, Adam, with humanity. Now, um, I want to throw some things 155 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,240 out here that I actually researched from Jewish thought. So it's from Jewish commentary, mid 156 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,600 rosh and some other things. Um, so one of their first things that they talked about 157 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:41,520 is, uh, creation and humanity's role is that the image of God, uh, they emphasize that 158 00:13:41,520 --> 00:13:47,600 humanity is created in the lim Elohim, which is the image of God. Um, that'll just roll 159 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:53,360 off your tongue by the way, uh, which signifies a special status and responsibility in creation. 160 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,640 It's often interpreted to mean that humans are stewards of the earth. I think we would 161 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:01,800 both agree with that. Yeah. Um, I also liked the, the way they say, uh, special status. 162 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:08,320 Yeah. Um, in all of creation, there is, um, even if you look at the world today and you 163 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:13,680 have misgivings about different pieces of, um, science or whatever, there is a, there 164 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:21,040 is something different about humanity that we now populate the entire world and, um, 165 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:26,840 control the world and, or at least as what we can't control. And, uh, but they're always 166 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,840 like, humanity is finding ways to like exist in environments where they shouldn't exist. 167 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,360 I think of like Antarctica, right? Where it's freezing cold and people figure out ways to 168 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:41,360 live there. Right. Yeah. Or, uh, how often are we trying to figure out ways to go deeper 169 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:46,520 and deeper into the sea? Right. Um, there is something about humanity that there's something 170 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:51,200 special about humanity in the way that we are, we are wired that we go to places and 171 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:56,000 we start to actually, um, I'm going to say, it's not the right word, but I'm going to 172 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:00,880 say cultivate them into places that we can exist. Um, there is something special about 173 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,280 humanity and so like a hundred percent I'm on board with the Jewish thought there. Right. 174 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:10,080 Well, I mean, we live in Alaska, right? There's places in Alaska where we're like, dear Lord, 175 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:15,080 why does anybody live there? Yeah. Okay. Like, like I've been to spots in Alaska where you're 176 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:19,080 there in the winter and you're like, it's minus 50 degrees outside. Why am I here? Yeah. 177 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:23,440 We're talking about Fairbanks. Sorry. Sorry. Fairbanks. I'm throwing you under the bus. 178 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,120 I was going to call it by name, but like there's places in Alaska where like, why, why are 179 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:32,720 people here? Like why, why would you be here? There is a, there is a location Barrow where 180 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:37,880 during the winter they get very, very little sunlight. They get none. Yeah. It is, it is, 181 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:43,320 um, very, very dark for very long portions of the year. And you're like, why would you 182 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:48,160 do this? Now, incidentally, if you live there, um, stock up on your vitamin D, the winter's 183 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:54,520 coming. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but there's something about humanity that is, um, we're like, we're 184 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,480 going to figure out ways to do that. So then, um, they said that, uh, the second thing is 185 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,120 that they talk about the commandments and free wills. So they're given Mitzvot, which 186 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,560 is the commandments and there's this prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge 187 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:09,120 and it's seen as a test of their free will, right? You have free will. Now what are you 188 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:14,360 going to do with it? Yeah. Right. The consequences of disobedience, uh, then are going to highlight 189 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:20,160 the choices of moral responsibility. Yeah. Right. And, uh, so what is our moral responsibility? 190 00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,760 We have the ability to choose. That's what free will is. The ability to do right or not 191 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:28,360 do right. Yeah. What are you going to do? By the way, this also comes up in the next 192 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:33,000 story with Cain and Abel where your God says, um, why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 193 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:37,140 If you do what is good, won't you be accepted? But if you don't do what is good, evil is 194 00:16:37,140 --> 00:16:42,300 waiting at your door waiting to devour you, but you must conquer it. So the, the thing 195 00:16:42,300 --> 00:16:45,560 about this covenant and why we, why, of course it's at the beginning of the Bible. So that's 196 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:51,560 why you start with this covenant. But the intention of God from the very beginning for 197 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:58,280 humanity is inside of this covenant. The intention is for us to live once again in this Genesis 198 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:05,440 one, um, chiasm. It talks about living with God in us in a, in a kind of life, a qualitative 199 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:10,160 life, right? One that we're not defined by what we do, but by whose image we're made 200 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:16,200 in and because of that image we live in to do something. Right. Um, this reminds me, 201 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,640 cause we just recently were in the book of James, like sometimes people will say, um, 202 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:23,440 you have to do good things to be a Christian. I was like, no, you actually need to accept 203 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:29,620 Christ by faith, which is what James says. But if you have faith, it's going to be demonstrated 204 00:17:29,620 --> 00:17:34,560 in what you do. Right. It's not the things that make you faithful. It's a faith that 205 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:39,680 causes things. Right. And you can have deeds without faith, but you can't have faith without 206 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:45,000 deeds. And in the same way, like there's this idea is like, if you're made in the image 207 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,000 of God, then you're going to, uh, it's going to bring about, if you're living into that 208 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,120 image, it's going to be about bring about stewardship. It's going to bring about justice. 209 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:57,280 It's going to be about, uh, working the land and about expanding and stewarding things. 210 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:01,280 Well, you can do those things and not be living in it, the image, but if you're living into 211 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,720 the image, you're going to be these things, right? There's going to be this, this qualitative 212 00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:11,400 light diet, not defined by the quantity of things you can do, but by the relationship 213 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,840 that you exist inside of. You have to choose that though. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like 214 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,680 these, the, because we've been talking about these covenants and you have to choose to 215 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,480 live into the covenant. Correct. That God has made for you. And if you choose not to, 216 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,480 then you're not going to be fulfilling it, which ultimately is the issue with Adam and 217 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:32,800 Eve and we've, we've talked at length about it, but we'll, we'll come back to it again. 218 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:39,720 Um, they decide that they don't like the way the terms are being defined. Right. So what 219 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:46,400 do they do? It's like, nah, no, they go eat. Right. I think that what you're doing is holding 220 00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:51,580 back from me. So I'm going to define this on my own terms, right? I'm going to decide 221 00:18:51,580 --> 00:18:55,280 what is good and what's evil. By the way, is there anything more destructive than something 222 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,120 with somebody's life than they, they, then the statement where they're like, just do 223 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:06,640 what's right for you now within reason, because there is absolutely, um, uh, a certain truth 224 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,720 to that if you are living a certain way, but if you're only considering yourself and nothing 225 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:18,720 else. Well, yeah, there's gotta be, that statement's gotta be taken with some balance, right? Correct. 226 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:25,360 Like, um, cause it, if you start superimposing what's, what works for you onto somebody else, 227 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:31,680 it's not going to work. Right. Um, so there is a level of, there is a level of like, I 228 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:36,960 do what's right for you. Right. Right. Um, but there's also a level with that of make 229 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,560 sure you're not bulldozing over other people in the process, because that's what we tend 230 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,720 to do. Yeah. I'd be like, well, this is, this is what I do. This is what my life's about. 231 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:50,400 And then you kind of push people aside. There is, um, we just in our small group yesterday, 232 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:54,040 we were talking about these trees called their eight ads in the Bible. And there are these 233 00:19:54,040 --> 00:20:00,560 master trees with this, this incredibly intricate root system. Yeah. But if you have a vineyard, 234 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,800 you don't let an eight ad exist in your vineyard because you have to rip it up and all the 235 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,080 saplings and everything else. Cause the root system will suck the life out of everything 236 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:14,400 around it. Yeah. And when you, when you live only for yourself and your second life from 237 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,480 everything around you, like that, that's an eight ad. That's an eight ad. It's, it's a 238 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:24,400 tree that's literally sucking the life out of everything around it. And, um, the call 239 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:32,560 of, of the Adamic covenant is actually to cultivate, to grow, to, um, to expand, to 240 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:38,960 bring life. Yep. And, uh, and there are times like, because we just got done, this is Genesis 241 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:47,160 one, Sabbath rest, important things. Yep. And there's a rhythm to that, right? You have, 242 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:51,560 you have to be able to take time to rest in the identity of Jesus in the identity of God, 243 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:58,240 right? In the identity that you're made in. Yeah. But if, but if you're only feeding into 244 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:03,160 yourself, which is not Sabbath, then you're, you're actually going to be sucking the life 245 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,320 from everything else around you. Yep. Right. And so it's, it's, uh, I think there, there 246 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:12,520 are two ideas on opposite spectrums. And if you roll, actually, I'm not going to say that 247 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:17,000 because I think if you roll too far into embracing God in the Sabbath, that's a good thing. Right. 248 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,800 But you're not supposed to Sabbath seven days a week. No, there's balance. Yeah. There's 249 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,760 balance is what you're trying to say. Is that like, um, like if you're like, oh man, I need 250 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,520 Sabbath and you're like, and you're like, okay. And then every day is Sabbath. And then 251 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,160 you're not actually reaching your community or getting out into the world you live in 252 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,920 to share, to bring Jesus to that world. Yeah. Right. To steward that those relationships 253 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:44,480 well, um, then you're missing the point. Right. Right. So there's, there's balance. You need 254 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:48,880 that time with God, but also it comes back to the idea of loving God, loving people. 255 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,640 Right. Like you can't, you can't do those two things separate from each other. Correct. 256 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,920 Right. Like if you're loving God and leaning into what he, who he is, you're naturally 257 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:01,640 going to want to love his creation. Right. Exactly. Uh, love for God is naturally going 258 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,600 to demonstrate it in your love for the other people around you. Yeah. And that's, and that's 259 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:09,720 uh, illustrated here in the Adamic covenant where, where when God's laying this out for 260 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:15,480 them, he's, he's saying because of your relationship with me, you are now stewarding all of this. 261 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:20,400 Yeah. Right. And when we try to steward something outside of the authority of God, uh, bad things 262 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:26,680 happen or trouble happens. Right. It doesn't go as well as we think. So a couple of things 263 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,440 that I think are really foundational to understand about the, the Adamic covenant is, um, is 264 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,520 when you compare it to like the texts that are written from the, from the world around 265 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:42,400 the Mesopotamian culture and, and that area, um, it's incredibly personal. Yeah. Uh, it's 266 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,960 incredibly relational. Yeah. Uh, this is a, this is a foundational relationship between 267 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,960 God and humanity and it establishes, I'm going to use this word, an intimate connection between 268 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:57,420 God and humanity because I think that word is important. Um, not intimate in the sense 269 00:22:57,420 --> 00:23:02,400 of like husband and wife, but intimate is, is in like, it is close and interwoven. God 270 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,320 is like interweaving himself with his people. Right. And we are called the bride of Christ. 271 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:11,680 Right. I would, I would say that. Yeah. Intimate as in husband, wife would fit. Yeah. It's, 272 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,720 it's not, it's not, I, uh, I'm saying it for the weirdos out there that are going to take 273 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,440 it to weird places. Gotcha. Right. So if you're a weirdo, don't take it to weird places, but 274 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,320 it is, it is an intimate relationship where, where you, we are being bound together. And 275 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,240 that's also, if you read the first couple of chapters of Genesis, you're going to see 276 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:31,760 that God is walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening. That's a normal thing. 277 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:37,040 Uh, it's normal for him to come out and call their names. Yeah. He has gone and he's educated, 278 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:43,080 uh, and had, uh, um, Adam name every single animal that he's created. Right. This is, 279 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:48,080 this is a regular part of their relationship. So right off the bat with the Adamic covenant, 280 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,520 we understand that God is a relational, uh, intimately focused God who wants a relationship 281 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:57,420 with humanity. And I think sometimes where we get skewy as we go along into Christian 282 00:23:57,420 --> 00:24:02,880 theology is we forget that that's the foundation. God wants relationship with his people. Right. 283 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:07,800 Um, I feel like the church has been coming back to that though. I do too. I do too. There 284 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:12,600 is a lot of people who are really starting to move back, which by the way, also is being, 285 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,240 um, anytime there's a move of God moving people back towards what's happening, there's also 286 00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:24,600 going to be pushed back on both sides that are not quite right. Right. And so, um, yeah, 287 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,800 always get into the Bible and compare it to text. Yes. You know, but there is absolutely, 288 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,120 there's a lot of churches and a lot of people who are doing some really good things, especially 289 00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:36,600 I want to focus on the global church. Y'all are killing it. Like you're doing so like 290 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:41,600 God is moving and I love it, you know, and it's starting to really impact. I think what's 291 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:46,440 happening locally as they, especially as they bring their passion and their fervor back 292 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:53,640 into America. Yeah. Right. Um, the second part is so it's, it's intimate, it's relational, 293 00:24:53,640 --> 00:25:00,320 but there's also, um, there's work for us, right? We were designed for work. We're designed 294 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:05,120 for work. Right. Like, uh, and so, um, it's actually there if you, and it's interesting 295 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:08,240 cause you, if you compare this to like some scientific studies, it will actually show 296 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:14,540 things like laziness and apathy. People who lean into that have higher tendencies for 297 00:25:14,540 --> 00:25:19,560 things like depression, anxiety, suicide, so on and so forth. So like, if you lean into 298 00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:22,920 that, like, well, I'm just don't want to, like, just want to be lazy with my life. Like 299 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:29,880 you're actually going to naturally lean towards not wanting to be here. Right. And the reality 300 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:37,360 is, is we have work to do. Like when we say yes to Jesus, there are, uh, when we say yes 301 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:42,480 to Jesus, we are leaning into who he's designed us to be. And as in we are designed to have 302 00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:47,960 a job. Right. Right. Now with that said, I've also heard ministry leaders take this and 303 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:52,280 say, because we have work to do, here's the 5,000 volunteer things you need to do at the 304 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:57,120 church on top of your full-time job. And here's this list of expectations. And then when within 305 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:02,880 a year, those people are like, I can't breathe. Yeah. Right. There's balance there. There 306 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:08,720 is a regular conversation that I've had is people who come to the church and then they, 307 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:13,880 and they get used so much, right? They, they don't put balance in their life as far as 308 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,560 like rhythms and being able to take rest and different things. Right. And they're like, 309 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:23,080 man, it was really, I just needed to take a break for a couple of months, three months. 310 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,600 Sometimes people take, have to break breaks for longer periods of time, not because God 311 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:33,760 is exhausting them, but because activity is. And, uh, and ministry leaders like that is 312 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,720 a really important thing for us to understand. It's why Sabbath is so important. And we're 313 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:40,360 going to continue to always talk about how Sabbath is important, like learning how to 314 00:26:40,360 --> 00:26:46,520 rest. Um, actually we have somebody who, uh, is a, is a dynamite person and they were, 315 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:53,480 um, they were talking about needing to, um, sing less often on Sunday morning. And I said, 316 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:58,240 yeah, let's, let's figure it out. Right. And, uh, and one of, one of the things that I said 317 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:03,760 in, and I mean this with all my heart, I said, you need to be here as often as it is, is, 318 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:08,960 is ministering to you and you're not burning yourself off. Right. Cause it's not going 319 00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:13,480 to do us any good for you to be there every week and grow further and further from God. 320 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,840 Amen. Or just to exhaust yourself to the point where you're not able to do anything else 321 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:21,480 for God. The church is meant to, you know, we gather so that we can scatter so that we 322 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,360 can actually exist in the community. Um, one of the things pastor Nick said a couple of 323 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:29,880 weeks ago, and I really appreciated it. And I, I really, um, agree with him here is that 324 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:35,600 we had a, we had, um, something significant happened in town and he said that he was wondering 325 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:39,680 what our church was going to do, but then he looked and our church was everywhere, but 326 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,120 it was the people just stepping into roles. And like the church didn't have to put out 327 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:48,720 an announcement and call to call to action or anything like that. The people who were 328 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:55,320 involved because they're already ingrained in the community, living Jesus showed up. 329 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:58,120 And like, you could see people, you're like that, that person is, you know, he's in my 330 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,560 small group. He he's on the speaking team. He's on the worship team. He's, he's a guy 331 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:06,240 that is, you know, hanging out in the, in the pews. Well, we don't have pews, but, uh, 332 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,720 in the, in the chairs, you know, like we started seeing these people just showing up. And, 333 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:15,520 uh, because when God, when there was an opportunity to be stewards of what God has given us, they 334 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,360 lived into that image, right? They lived into that commitment. Now later, of course, we're 335 00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:25,200 going to talk to this messianic covenant, but they're living into right now, the Adamic, 336 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,520 which is that we were created for a purpose to actually bring that purpose into the world 337 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:36,160 and actually steward it and expand it. Right. Yeah. We're always given a choice. 338 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:40,720 Right. Uh, we're given a choice in obedience. Like you said, we have to make a decision 339 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:46,280 and there are consequences when we don't live into it. Right. Um, you know, we live in a 340 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,680 fallen world. There's a consequence of not living into the covenant. Yeah. Uh, the nice 341 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:55,640 thing that we do see in, uh, the book of Genesis, and I want to get here in the end of chapter 342 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,400 three is, um, God goes through and he talks about all these different things that are 343 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:20,400 going to happen. Um, but he makes this statement to them. Um, sorry. Okay. He makes the statement 344 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,760 to them and it's actually in the, in the, at the, the backend of the curse that comes 345 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,840 against the serpent. Yeah. And he says that cursed are you above all livestock and all 346 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,160 wild animals, you will crawl on your belly and you'll eat dust all the days of your life. 347 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:39,480 And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and them, 348 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:45,720 but he will crush your head and you will strike a seal. So there's this, this foundational 349 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:51,200 thing set up back in the book of Genesis that even though this is coming, the consequences 350 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:58,160 are here. They are not forever. And, uh, luckily we have the whole book, so we know how, how 351 00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:02,160 it's going to end. And we're going to be talking about that over the next few weeks. Right? 352 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,760 Um, so this is the Adamic covenant. This is the foundation is that you were created for 353 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:10,680 purpose made in an image. You're given a job, you're given a function and we're called to 354 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:17,680 live into that. We have a choice, live in or defined for ourselves. Yeah. Uh, both of 355 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:22,480 them have blessings and consequences, right? But even in the consequences, God doesn't 356 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:27,200 leave us there. Yeah. Yeah. And I, and I feel like, Hmm, what's the better choice? Uh, go 357 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:34,360 read, go read the Bible. It makes it pretty clear. Yeah. There is a, all throughout the 358 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,400 Bible that, that people who are faithfully living into the covenant that God calls them, 359 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:44,800 it ends very well for them. Um, and all throughout people who are not, it is usually not. Yeah. 360 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,040 It usually does not end well. Yeah. So when it turns out when you tell God, I don't want 361 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,800 to live in your house, he's like, okay, let me know when you want to come back in. Right? 362 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,480 Uh huh. It's like the, it's like the 18 year old kid was like, I'm going to make it on 363 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:01,680 my own. And then six months later, they're like, mom, help. They're like, I'm going to 364 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:06,920 go out and I'm going to live on my own. What is rent? Who's FICA? Like, why are they taking 365 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:10,840 all my money? That's a reference to a TV show that people my age would probably get, but 366 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:16,240 uh, you know, and then, yeah, there's so many things. Uh, I remember, uh, just really quick 367 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:21,680 here for at the end of the episode for people. I remember when, uh, my brother was, uh, 16, 368 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,320 17th. Um, and he bought, he was like, oh, I'm going to buy myself my first, my first 369 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:30,400 car. And he went and he bought a car that was right at the edge of what he could afford. 370 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,720 And uh, because you know, it was like, well, I have the money and then I'll be able to 371 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:38,920 do X, Y, and Z. And it was a, it was a Camaro. I forget what year it was. Um, now I'm gonna 372 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,280 tell the story and then I'll come back and tell a funny part of that. You know, what 373 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:47,040 he didn't think about was gas and insurance and, um, upkeep and you know, tires go bad. 374 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:51,080 You have to replace tires. So there's a lot of things that go into having a car and into 375 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,600 maintaining it. It's not just the cost of the car itself, right? You gotta have oil 376 00:31:54,600 --> 00:32:01,720 changes, right? And that's when gas was, you know, cheap relatively. Now it's a lot more 377 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:06,440 expensive if you have to do that for a car. Um, now the funny part of the story and, um, 378 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,320 he's he does a long time ago, so I'm not gonna feel bad about sharing the story. Um, he had 379 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:16,600 taken the car and he parked it on and it was a very small incline, but, um, he didn't put 380 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,000 the parking brake on, right? So he got out of the car and it didn't move or anything 381 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,320 like that. It was, it was in position, but, uh, where we lived, there was the road, but 382 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,840 then there was a neighbors that had like, uh, like a six foot drop from the road that 383 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:33,480 you walked down. And, uh, so he went to go show somebody his car, he looks out the window 384 00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:38,360 and the car had like gone and it was like halfway over that six foot ledge. So this 385 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:44,120 is the first day he has the car, right? That it, it had slowly rolled over and then popped 386 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,480 over there. Like he's lucky it didn't, the whole thing didn't flip over because that 387 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:55,320 would have just been, you know, totaled. But, uh, uh, yeah. So, oh man, so great. That is, 388 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,560 that is my brother who is wildly successful in his job and, uh, just one of the nicest 389 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:04,160 people you will meet. Um, but he has, he has some stories around cars. So if you ever meet 390 00:33:04,160 --> 00:33:10,080 him, like ask him some of those stories. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So that is week number one, 391 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:15,040 Adamic covenant. Yep. Until next time. 392 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:19,280 And that's a wrap for today's episode of love and context. We hope you enjoyed this engaging 393 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:24,000 conversation and gain valuable insights into the powerful message of love within the Bible. 394 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,060 We'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation. Connect with us by sending us 395 00:33:28,060 --> 00:33:33,920 your questions, thoughts, and suggestions to love and context at gmail.com. We greatly 396 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:39,360 appreciate your feedback and ideas for future episodes. Stay connected with us on social 397 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,760 media for updates, behind the scenes content, and additional resources. You can find us 398 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:48,760 on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook at love and context. Don't forget to hit that 399 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:53,260 follow button to stay up to date with the latest episodes and join our growing community. 400 00:33:53,260 --> 00:33:57,260 Thank you for being part of the love and context family. Remember love is at the heart of it 401 00:33:57,260 --> 00:34:02,920 all until next time. Keep seeking wisdom, embracing love and living out your faith in 402 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:28,120 the context of today's world.