John Currid begins chapter four of Covenant Theology: Biblical, Theological, and Historical Perspectives by examining the consequences of Adam’s sin. 1. Human nature becomes totally depraved, and this depravity was passed on to Adam’s descendants. 2. The creation mandate is “warped by sin” (100). 3. “Man has been alienated from God” (101). And, “man and woman have been alienated from one another” (101). 4. “Adam and Eve…are alienated from their original, perfect physical environment” (101). 5. Man is “alienated from eternal life (102).
Currid follows this with a section labeled “Commencement of the Covenant of Grace.” However, there is no argument made in this section in defense of the heading. Currid simply quotes O. Palmer Robertson to the effect that in Genesis 3:14-19 “God chose to obligate himself to the sinner” (103).
In the final section of the chapter, Currid provides exegetical insights into Genesis 3:15. In the course of his exegesis he claims that in the statement “I will put enmity…,” “God is acting as the king in a suzerain-vassal covenant.” However, this assertion is not developed or defended exegetically.
In the end, though containing numerous exegetical insights into Genesis 3, Currid does not provide an exegetical defense of the covenant of redemption. Currently, the best recent exegetical defense that I’ve encountered is by Stephen Meyer in God to Us.