The Sacraments of the Covenant of Works

Throughout redemptive history, God has used external signs and seals in all of His covenants to confirm His promises and remind man (the other party in the covenant) of his duty and obligation to his Creator by way of covenant. God has appointed the use of signs, which the Church has called "sacraments", for a number of reasons. 1st, that He might strengthen our faith in His promises. For, though the Word is an infallible foundation for our faith, yet God has confirmed our faith further by giving outward signs, since what we see with our eyes often feels "more real" than what we might see with our ears. 2nd, the sacraments remind us of our duty that we owe to God. 3rd, through these outward signs and sights, man has, in essence, a foretaste of the reality that he will experience in heaven, which is what is signified in the sacraments. 

This He did in the covenant of grace by way of sacraments such as circumcision, baptism, and the Holy Eucharist. However, lesser known amongst many of the Reformed today are the sacraments of the covenant of Works made with Adam, who represented the human race by way of federal headship. These are what we must consider now in this section. 

There were four sacraments contained in the covenant of works, 1st, Paradise; 2nd, the Tree of Life; 3rd, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; 4th, the Sabbath. In discussing the first three of these, we will learn what each of them signified and how they reminded man of His duty to God. 

Paradise

The garden of Eden, which most grant was located near Mesopotamia, is what we intend by the name "Paradise" here in this discourse. This signified to Adam and Eve, in all of its enjoyments, a reflection of the ultimate source of joy, goodness, and beauty; namely, God Himself. It also moved man to expect a more delightful place in the future, where he would enjoy God in a more intimate and immediate way than at that time. This is shown from the places in Scripture that the use the term "paradise" to signify heaven, which is obviously the most blissful state of human and spiritual existence:

"And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. " (Luke 23:43)

"How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:4)

There is indeed, as Witsius says, a "suitable analogy" between heaven and the garden of Eden. 1st, Both heaven and Eden were made by God Himself for the residence of man, who was created in His image. Though heaven is more particularly made for man who been restored in the image of God, after having lost it in the fall (cf. Colossians 3:10). 2nd, Paradise was far greater in its splendor and beauty than all other places of the created Earth. This is especially shown forth by that glorious promise of Isaiah 51:3 - "For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." 3rd, there were rivers in Eden (Gen. 2:10), which fertilized the entire garden, just as in heaven there is a "pure river of the water of life" (Rev. 22:1). 4th, there were many precious minerals, stones, and other materials to be found in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:11-12), just as in heaven there will be spiritual treasures with which no material wealth could ever compare. 5th, when man fell into sin, he was expelled from this garden (Gen. 3:23). In the same way, nothing sinful or defiled can enter heaven (Rev. 21:27). 

Paradise also set forth to man the duties which God required of him; since man was commissioned by God to care and maintain the garden, as well as the animals living therein (Gen. 2:15, 19), this reminded him that God sought from active and willing obedience, and not sloth. 

The Tree of Life

The second sacrament of the covenant of works which we must now inquire into is the Tree of Life, which was planted in the garden. There has been some debate amongst the Reformed divines as to whether the Tree of Life was one particular tree, or rather a species of trees. The common opinion is that it was a single tree, but the proponents of the latter opinion, that the Tree of Life was a species of multiple trees, allege a couple arguments in their favour. First, they bring forth Gen. 1:11-12, where God gives all trees the ability to multiply of themselves. Second, they insist on Rev. 22:2, where the Tree of Life is located on either side of the river. Those who believe that the Tree of Life was a single tree respond to the argument from Rev. 22:2, by saying that the single tree extended its branches and roots to either side of the river, rather than being two distinct trees. They also allege that Moses (the writer of Genesis) did not use the universal particular כל ("all") to modify when speaking of the Tree of Life, which is what he would do if he intended to designate the Tree of Life as a species of multiple trees. But the most forceful argument in favor of the common view, in my opinion, is that since the Tree of Life was a type of Christ, and since Christ was one, therefore it should be concluded that the Tree of Life was also a single tree, rather than a species of distinct trees scattered throughout the garden of Eden. 

The Tree of Life was a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. However, this is not respect of Christ as Mediator, since that is a part of the covenant of grace, but the tree signifies Christ as the fountain of all life and happiness (Revelation 22:1-2). Just as the tree of life was in the midst of the garden (Gen. 3:3), so also the Lord Jesus is in the midst of His church (Rev. 2:7). 

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

There is some debate amongst divines as to whether or not the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil should be considered a sacrament of the covenant of works or not. Witsius is in favor of it being designated a sacrament and gives the following reason; that all the components of the sacrament are to be found in this tree; an external sign, the thing signified, and the analogy between the two. 

The external sign was obviously the tree itself, which was located in the middle of the garden (Gen. 3:3), and was "pleasant to the eyes" (3:6). 

The thing signified is twofold, containing both the promise and threatening of the covenant of works. It is called "the tree of the knowledge of good", because it intimates that if man obeyed this command, he should come to the full knowledge of that which is truly good; it is called "the tree of the knowledge of evil", because man, upon his disobedience and sin, would experience the full knowledge of evil and wretchedness. 

This tree also reminded man of his duty, in several ways; 1st, man was only to endeavor after the chief good in the way(s) prescribed by God; 2nd, that God was the supreme Creator and Ruler of man, who was bound to render loving obedience to Him. 

As for the analogy and relationship between the sign and the thing signified in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I can think of no better to put it than Zanchius did, one of the most learned divines of the Reformed church: "Moreover, these two trees, in the midst of Paradise and near each other, were very evident types of the law and Gospel, or of Christ. The law declares what is good, and what is evil: Christ is the true and eternal life. Both were in the midst of Paradise, because the law and Christ, in the midst of the church, are always to be proposed to the posterity of Adam. One near the other, because the law leads to Christ." (Jerome Zanchius, De Creat. Hom., 1.1.8, cited by Herman Witsius)