Lecture 4 Flashcards
What is the Cultural Mandate?
At the end of Genesis 1 After God created all things, he blesses man and gives them a series of commands.
- Be fruitful
- Multiply
- Fill the earth
- Subdue it
- Have dominion
These five commands make up the cultural mandate.
God gives the same command to be fruitful and multiply to the animals as well as to man. What is the difference between the two?
God created living creatures on the fifth day, man on the sixth day. He blessed them both saying, “be fruitful and multiply,” and “fill.”
In verse 22 the divine imperative is said over creation (God said), where in verse 28 we are told “God said to them.”
• God spoke his command directly to the man and the woman.
This shows the idea of a close personal relationship between God and humanity.
We are told in verse 27 that man is created in God’s image.
He is a God who speaks and reveals.
Why is it an important note in Genesis 1 that God spoke directly to the man and woman?
It reveals that God is a God who speaks.
We have a basis for communication and revelation.
The idea is that of a close personal relationship between God and humanity.
Our existence is defined by our submission to his word.
What is the significance of the last two commands of the cultural mandate? (Subdue, have dominion)
Man is created in God’s image. We are to rule over creation in God’s stead and as his representative.
Man serves in 3 capacities (offices)
1. Kingship
2. Prophet
3. Priest
Describe the office of kingship given to man as God’s representative to subdue and have dominion.
As image bearers, Man is to uphold God’s character in exercising kingship over the domain.
We are to uphold and execute God’s will.
Note: these offices are given only to humans.
Describe the office of Priest in man’s responsibility to subdue and have dominion over the earth.
Man is to exercise the priestly function by tending to God’s garden.
Genesis 2 says Adam is to work (abad) and keep (shamar) the garden.
• a priestly function as we see the priests are to work and keep the temple.
Describe the office of prophet in God’s command for man to subdue and have dominion over the earth.
Man holds the prophetic office by speaking God’s word.
How does the Cultural mandate relate to the fall?
The fall is a failure of man to execute the cultural mandate.
It is not just a breaking of the covenant of works, but a breaking of the covenant with a failure to subdue the garden.
In failing Adam served other gods and rebelled against the word of the Lord.
How does the Cultural Mandate develop after the Fall?
Man is below God, above creation, and equal to one another.
Genesis 9 reaffirms man in the image of God after the fall and establishes the Noahic Covenant and thus the Cultural Mandate.
How does the Noahic Covenant reestablish the Cultural Mandate?
The Noahic Covenant is a covenant of common grace.
(See Van Drunen vs Robertson)
• it is a means by which God enables creation to be subdued in a fallen world.
God establishes in chapter 9 that the creatures will fear man and will be food for man.
What is the primary difference between how Van Drunen and Robertson view the Noahic Covenant?
Van Drunen sees the Noahic covenant as common grace to all.
O Palmer Robertson sees it as an administration of the covenant of grace.
The covenant to Robertson relates to the particularity of God’s redemptive grace.
• Noah stands in need of God’s redeeming grace.
Three characteristics of the Noahic Covenent according to Van Drunen:
1.) It is universal- it encompasses the whole world.
• therefore common grace
2.) it is preservative.
• not to provide salvation from evil but to sustain and maintain the world.
3.) God promises to not flood the world again.
• this only postpones judgment until Christ’s return.
Although Van Drunen and Robertson have nuanced views of the Noahic Covenant as it relates to the Fall, what are we to take away from fact that we are still commanded to subdue the earth?
It stresses that after the fall the ability to fulfill the command to subdue creation is difficult.
• we do not possess the ability within our own resources to subdue the earth.
• yet God gives grace that we might be able to preserve creation for human society and the well-being of others.
What are the two views of the Cultural Mandate as it relates to the New Covenant/the great Commission?
- The church has the responsibility to transform culture.
• God’s holy ordinances will be established in the home, school, and state for the good of the people. - Two kingdoms view: says the church is ultimately a spiritual charge and the transformation of culture is the responsibility of the state.
What does the term “sabbath” mean?
Means to cease or to stop.
It does not mean non-activity.
• it means the cessation of one thing and the replacement with something else.
