Vicki: This month, I’ve been doing a Bible study called “He’s Where The Joy Is” by Tara-Leigh Cobble that unpacks the complex doctrine of the Trinity. This study has deepened my knowledge and understanding of the different Persons that comprise the Triune God, as well as the oneness that exists between them, and encouraged greater intimacy and joy in my relationship with Him. 

 

Shelley: It can be easy to overwhelm myself with all the things I think I should do in my walk with Jesus. I should read my Bible. I should pray more often. I should, I should, I should. All of this striving in my own strength when 2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us God has given us all we need to lead a godly life – His holiness. The grace of God meets us each time we enter into a spiritual rhythm with Him, sharing with us a bit of God's divine nature each time. We don't have to exhaust ourselves trying to earn God's grace or prove ourselves worthy. Instead, we delight in our Father with every verse we ponder and each conversation we have with Him.

 

Leslie: The past few weeks have marked a new chapter for our family – my girls have started high school, and I’ve stepped into a new job working four full days a week. But this season came after months of uncertainty. Last May I was laid off from a job I loved, and for over six months I applied and interviewed, only to hear “you were great, but…” again and again. It was discouraging, yet I kept reminding myself that the right door would open in God’s timing. And it did – unexpectedly, through a simple connection, a job was offered almost immediately. Then just last week, when a major fire broke out at my girls’ new high school, I realised both of them had randomly stayed home sick that day without me even knowing. In both the waiting and the unfolding, I’ve been reminded that God’s faithfulness isn’t always loud – sometimes it looks like closed doors, unexpected provision, or quiet protection. He is steady and when I stop and reflect, I hear His promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). 

 

Fiona: God has been speaking to me a lot about Sabbath rest. It's an ongoing conversation as He shows me how and what I need to put down and what He is leading me towards, as I'm in a season where my calendar seems very full of responsibilities. The verse that keeps coming up for me is John 4:14, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and He tells her, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It’s that beautiful reminder to keep coming back to Jesus because He is where our strength and sustenance is found.

 

Aimée: I'm currently reading through 1 Corinthians and have been struck by how often Paul asks the question: "Don't you know?" or “Do you not know?” Everytime he poses this question, he follows it with a fundamental and profound truth that he obviously thinks the Corinthians should not only know, but should also be allowing to shape their behaviour. It's been a reminder of how quick we are to forget the truths of Scripture and that if we want to live aligned with God's ways, we need to be constantly in the Word so that His truth is at the forefront of our minds guiding the way we live.

 

By Aimée Walker

 

 

The opening pages of Scripture are filled with echoes of covenant. You might not pick it up on your first read, but underpinning the creation story is the formation and breaking of God's foundational covenant with man. Known as the Adamic covenant, each of the covenants that follow seeks to redeem some aspect of what was lost in Eden. Pastor Stephen Wellum refers to this progressive unfolding of God's redemptive plan as “plot movements,” with each new covenant moving us closer towards God's ultimate redemption in Christ and the eternal new creation.

 

The Adamic covenant begins with a dual statement of blessing and purpose: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground’” (Genesis 1:28). From the outset, God chose to partner with men and women as His image-bearers to perpetuate His likeness in all creation, filling the earth with His glory. 

 

God then positioned Adam, and later Eve, in the Garden of Eden, giving them a specific place to begin to outwork this mission and entrusting them to work and care for it (Genesis 2:15). However, there was one limitation on man's authority to rule, one covenantal condition Adam had to keep: he could not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he did, death would enter the Garden (vv.16-17).

 

And this is where the plight of humanity begins. God required obedience and Adam could not give it; he could not keep himself from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This aspect of the Adamic covenant is often referred to as the covenant of works in that it required man to ‘work’ for God's blessing, but it is this very inability of humanity to live up to God's standard that ushers in the covenant of grace, for even as God is setting out the consequences for Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 3), He is also revealing the path back to Eden, back to unbroken relationship with Him where we live out our purpose as His image-bearers. That path is the “seed” of the woman, Jesus (3:15).

 

The New Testament teaches us that Jesus is the “last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) and that just as the first Adam's disobedience allowed sin to enter in and permeate his entire lineage (Romans 5:15), so the second and the last Adam's obedience released grace upon grace allowing mankind to once again “reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (v.17). When we place our faith in Jesus Christ our lineage is forever changed and the authority that was lost in Eden is restored as is our ability to reflect the image of God (1 Corinthians 15:49).

 

The world continues to navigate the consequences of Adam's sin, but the hope we have as believers is now and still yet. Now, we have the very Spirit of God dweliing within us, enabling us to live a life of obedience to the Father and to reflect His image of love and grace to a hurting world. Still yet, we know that a new Garden is coming where God will once again dwell fully with us, and all will be made new (Revelation 21-22). May this hope propel us forward today.

 

 

Want to dig deeper for yourself? Here are some resources to get you started:

 

Read the Scriptures, Genesis 1-3, Romans 5:12-21, and consider how you see the elements of covenant (partnership, purpose, blessings and curses) play out and God's nature as the Covenant-keeper revealed.

Lisa Lorraine Baker, Bible Study Tools, The Adamic Covenant. Read it here.

Stephen Wellum, The Gospel Coalition, The Story and Message of the Bible. Read it here.

Modern Reformation, Jesus: The Second and Greater Adam. Read it here.

 

 

 

Father,  we thank You for the incredible privilege of being Your image bearers and for entrusting us to tend to Your creation. We acknowledge that sometimes this responsibility feels overwhelming and too big. But we thank You that we are not alone in it, that Your very Spirit dwells within us enabling us to serve Your purposes in our generation. Today, we choose the power of simple obedience. We commit to be present to You and what You are doing and to partner with you in it. Continue to fill us with Your love by the power of Your Spirit that we might love You and others well in all that we do. We ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.