Lecture 4 - Cultural Mandate & Sabbath Rest

Question 1

The Image of God

Answer 1

1) Structural image
2) functional image
3) liturgical image (all in covenantal framework)

Question 2

The blessing of God

Answer 2

1) Gen. 1:28
2) God bestows Himself, His goodness, & His smile on His people
3) God will do whatever it takes to bless His people

Question 3

The command of God

Answer 3

1) cultural mandate (Be fruitful & multiply, fill the earth, subdue it & take dominion)
2) Man receives God’s blessings in order to work & worship
3) Man was created to work & worship

Question 4

Be fruitful, Multiply, and Fill

Answer 4

1) We are to fill the earth with image-bearers
2) Existence defined by submission to God
3) Developing creation

Question 5

Subdue, Have Dominion

Answer 5

1) Harnessing creation (rule as vice-regent)
2) Reflect God’s character. Uphold His word, execute His will to extend God’s kingdom
3) God rules the garden through His image-bearers

Question 6

Liturgical aspect of the blessing

Answer 6

1) work (Heb. abad) and keep/serve (Heb. Shamar)
2) garden a prototype of the tabernacle
3) God’s word regulates His worship

Question 7

After the Fall

Answer 7

1) the mandate remains post-fall
2) Noah; Gen. 6-10
3) Noah - in need of grace, involved in recreation

Question 8

Covenant of common grace

Answer 8

1) universal
2) pervasive/preservative (sustain the world)
3) temporary (God will come and judge the earth)

Question 9

“In spite of world opposition, God’s holy ordinances shall be established again in the home, in the school and in the state for the good of the people; …until the nation pays homage again to God”

Answer 9

1) Abraham Kuyper, Lectures on Calvinism
2) Every sphere be brought under Christ’s rule
3) a theonomist view

Question 10

“Only after the fall in the garden is the gospel announced,
creating a new community within the human race. Nowhere in the New Testament is the Great Commission fused with the cultural mandate. . . . Believers and unbelievers continue to share equally in cultural vocations, by God’s common grace.
However, Christ’s kingdom of grace is advanced in the Great Commission, by God’s saving grace”

Answer 10

1) Michael Horton, Systematic Theology
2) This explains the two kingdom view
3) The cultural mandate is distinct from the great commission

Question 11

Creation ordinance for the Sabbath

Answer 11

1) Gen. 2; Ex. 20, 31
2) First day God blesses
3) a perpetual reminder of our dependance on God

Question 12

Redemptive ordinance for the Sabbath

Answer 12

1) Duet. 5
2) Reminder of our redemption in Christ
3) Reminder of Christ’s work (resurrection)

Question 13

Eschatological ordinance for the Sabbath

Answer 13

1) Heb. 3 & 4
2) We remember who we really are (fully human)
3) Outpost of Heaven, looking forward to glory

Question 14

Ordinances for the Sabbath

Answer 14

1) Creation ordinance
2) Redemptive ordinance
3) Eschatological ordinance