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Disciple at 13:41, 2 August 2011

2011-08-02T13:41:10Z

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[[Category:Notes]]
'''These are notes for an ''incomplete'' "Concept" page.'''

:Information is being added as the Bible Pages are added. In the end, everything will be compiled, further information added (as necessary), broken links connected, etc.

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=== Cross-references ===
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===== Parent Topic =====

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==What is it?==

The term "Creation Mandate" (or "Cultural Mandate") is used to describe the commands given to Adam and Eve in the garden - and by implication, their offspring. Most of these commands are given in direct statements; though some may be stated indirectly or implied. They can be summarized by the following:

===Marriage and Procreation===
:(These could also be described as ''separate'' commands.)

These two activities were given as ''commands'' to Adam and Eve. They were given as moral obligations - things to be done in obedience to God! Furthermore, God ''defined'' the nature of marriage in terms that reflect the "unity-plurality" aspect of what it means to be made "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:26).

Sin has complicated things, but has not negated these commands. The only exception is that celibacy - remaining unmarried and sexually pure - has become a legitimate option.

Because of sin, humans now have inborn inclinations to ''distort'' these commands in all sorts of ways. Doing so is sin, not only against other humans, but also against the ''God'' who's image we were created to bear.

*This mandate is related to "[[Love for Neighbor]]."
*This mandate is related to the [[Seventh Commandment]] (sexual purity), and the [[Fifth Commandment]] (parental authority); and to some degree, some of the other commandments (including the [[Tenth Commandment]], about desiring something that isn't ours, such as another person's spouse).

===One Day in Seven Set Apart as Special===

God ''defined'' the seventh day as being different from the other six days of the week. Though there is no direct spoken ''command'', the obligation is implied, since ''God's'' definition of reality is to influence ''our'' definition of reality.

It is our duty to set aside time each week, moving our focus ''away from'' the daily activities of life, and ''toward'' worship and service to God. We are to ''rest'' from our daily activities, and reflect on who we are, who God is, and what that means (including how it applies to the rest of the week).

Note that God defined the seventh day at ''creation'' - long before he gave a command to Israel about it. The command to Israel was a specific application of this definition, within the context of a specific covenant (what we today call [[Old Covenant|"the Old Covenant"]]). Today, though we live under a [[New Covenant|new covenant]] and may apply the principle differently, the intent of the original definition has not changed. (Today, many followers of God set aside the ''first'' day of the week, in commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one who makes all things - even creation - ''new''.)

*This mandate is related to "[[Love for God]]."
*This mandate is related to the [[Fourth Commandment]] (devoting to God part of our time); and to some degree, the other three commandments that focus on our relationship with God.

===Labor (Work)===

This is what we are to do the other six days of the week. Even before sin entered the world, work was an ''obligation''. Sin didn't ''cause'' work to exist; it just complicated work and created the drudgery often associated with it.

Work, like ''all'' aspects of life, is to be done as an expression of ''obedience'' to God. This fact is to influence the very manner in which we do our work. We must do it "to the glory of God," the way we are obligated to do ''all'' things in life (1 Corinthians 10:31).

*This mandate is related to "[[Love for Neighbor]]."
*This mandate is related to the [[Eighth Commandment]] (the need to have a productive life, rather than taking resources away from others, in order to provide for one's self); and to some degree, the all other commandments that focus on our relationship with other people. It is ''indirectly'' related to the [[Fourth Commandment]] (by showing us what we are to do during the days of the week that are ''not'' devoted totally to God).
*See: [[Labor (Work)]] for more about this issue.

==Its Significance==

This group of commands - this mandate - was the revelation of God's moral law to Adam and Eve. It has ''never'' been canceled. It still applies today. More than that, it is the ''foundation'' for all expressions of God's moral law that came later - the Law, the prophets, and the New Testament. Though many of the commands and teachings given at later times are not visibly present in this mandate, they are all a logical extension of it.

==Scripture Pages that Link to Here==

'''[[Genesis 1:1 - 2:3]]'''
:Gives us some of the commands of the creation mandate

'''[[Genesis 2:4-25]]'''
:A focus on the command related to marriage/procreation.

'''[[Genesis 9:1-29]]'''
:Certain parts of the creation mandate reaffirmed (marriage and procreation).

'''[[Isaiah 24:1-23]]'''
:Comments about the "everlasting covenant" (v. 5): This may be a deliberately ambiguous phrase, not referring to any specific covenant, because different people have received different amounts of revelation from God. (It may include this covenant/mandate.)

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