1Gen 2:8, 15–16; ²Gen 1:28; ³Gen 2:18; ⁴Gen 1:26–29; Gen 3:8; ⁵Gen 2:3;
⁶Gal 3:12; Rom 10:5; ⁷Gen 2:9; ⁸Gen 2:17.

While there is relatively not much we can say about God’s providence toward angels, there is so much that need to be said about God’s providence toward man that it is impossible to cover in one catechism question. The fact is, the whole Bible is a description of God’s providence towards man.

WLC 20, take note, is not about God’s whole providence toward man, but about His providence towards man "in the estate in which he was created." It is about God’s provision and dealing with man prior to his Fall.

In this original estate, man was placed in a perfect environment known as the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:8, 15). Our catechism calls it a "paradise" based on an allusion to it in Revelation 2:7, and we need have no doubt that it is an appropriate description of this pristine habitation.

Several instructions and ordinances were appointed for man in that estate:

a. Firstly, he was appointed to "to dress it and to keep" (Gen 2:15) the garden. Adam in other words was given work to do. He was a gardener. Work is not a punishment for the Fall! It is a creation ordinance. The only difference between pre-Fall and post-Fall work is that the former must have been always pleasant and enjoyable, whereas the latter involves toil and pain (see Gen 3:17-19).

b. Secondly, man was given the liberty and privilege of enjoying all the fruits that grow in the garden, save one (Gen 2:16-17). Adam was not created to be an ascetic!

c. Thirdly, Adam was given dominion over all the creatures (Gen 1:28). He and his descendants,—not lions, elephants, whales, or even the T-Rex,—were to be kings in the earth. By inference, the earth and all its resources were assigned by God to man’s stewardship. Man, of course, is answerable to God for how he exercises this charge.

d. Fourthly, Eve was created for Adam as a help-meet, and marriage was instituted (Gen 2:18-25). Marriage is a creation ordinance and good in the sight of God. It is not merely a social or cultural phenomena, it is part of God’s providence for man, so that when it is disdained, the fabric of society crumbles.

e. Fifthly, man was given the privilege of communing with God (cf. Gen 1:26-29; Gen 3:8). Man’s chief end includes enjoying God; he can find no real satisfaction in his soul unless he is able to enjoy fellowship with God.

f. Sixthly, the Sabbath was instituted for man. The Sabbath was instituted by God both by divine example ("He rested on the seventh day"—Gen 2:2), and by a positive declaration ("God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it"—Gen 2:3). God, of course, need not have taken six days to create, but He did so, so that He might be seen as resting on the seventh day. He did this, obviously for man’s sake (cf. Mk 2:27) that man may learn to rest from their labours according to the pattern He laid down. The Sabbath, then is a creation ordinance obligatory of all man. It is not given only to the Jews.

Seventhly and most importantly, God entered into a covenant of life with man wherein man may enjoy life everlasting upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience. This covenant is also known as the covenant of works in distinction to the covenant of grace because whereas man may attain to life only by grace after the Fall, he might have life before the Fall, if he kept God’s commandments perfectly.

The fact that God had entered into a covenant with Adam might not be immediately obvious from the Genesis account, be we know that there was such a covenant for two reasons: (1) Hosea 6:7 reads: "But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against me" (marginal reading, emph. mine). The KJV main reading has "men" for "Adam." The Hebrew can be translated either way, but if it is translated as "like men", this verse would be a tautology: for how else could men transgress the covenant but as men? (2) The New Testament compares between Christ our covenant head with Adam (Rom 5:12-21) and even speak of Christ as the second Adam (1 Cor 15:45, 47).

We have not doubt that Christ, the second Adam came to fulfil the covenant of works on behalf of the church in order that we may have life according to the terms of the first covenant. In other words, Christ died to pay for our guilt as covenant (of works) breakers, and procured life for us by his positive obedience in which he accomplished what Adam failed to do.

When we so understand the covenant of works, we will understand why our catechism seems to put less emphasis on the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, than one might expect from reading Genesis 2 and 3. The fact is that what is really required is perfect, personal and perpetual obedience. The prohibition against eating the forbidden fruit is but a representative commandment. The fruit from the tree is probably harmless by itself. But the prohibition provides a pure test of obedience. A failure to obey this simple prohibition would be sufficient to demonstrate without a shadow of doubt that Adam had failed the covenant requirement of perfect and perpetual obedience. Therefore Adam was warned in no uncertain terms: "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Gen 2:17).

What about the tree of life? The tree of life was a pledge to the everlasting life (Gen 3:22) that man could have if he had kept the covenant. This tree itself is not magical, but it probably had sacramental properties so that it might only be eaten by those who were enjoying everlasting life and conversely any who ate of it by faith might enjoy such a life.