Who Is Working In Your Garden?

Genesis 3:1 KJV 1900

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:8 KJV 1900

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Title: Who Is Working in Your Garden?

We have been working on this idea that our lives are a garden to grow things…

In the first message we made the point that while we all have many many gardeners that influence our gardens (parents, elders, teachers, bosses, pastor…)

I am the first gardener!

Last week I posed questions that God has been asking me (along with some I felt to ask as pastor).

Today I am going to wrap this up, on this the last Sunday of 2025 with another question: “Who is working in your garden?”.

So many things affect your garden:

Nutrients in the soil

pH balance

drainage

Sun exposure

Water

Pollinators

In the garden of our lives, this are no less true.

There are always things at work to either strengthen or weaken who we are.

There really is no middle ground!

What we do, what we allow to grow, what do with our time - will either make us stronger or weaker!

AND so seeds into the lives of those that watch us!

I find the first garden ever planted to be the perfect allegory for our lives.

God had created everything

Gen 2.7 created and breathed live into man

Gen 2.8 Planted a garden in Eden and plants man there to grow.

In Genesis 3 - we read about the influencers of the garden.

First worker: Adam and Eve

Placed there by God for one purpose: Genesis 2:15 “15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

We don’t know what this really means…

Weeds, thorns and thistles did not appear until the next chapter…

Death did not visit the garden until the next chapter…

BUT they were the first and greatest gardeners of Eden.

It was there job to rule with dominion over the Garden, naming the animals and dressing and keeping the garden.

I WONDER IF PART OF THEIR JOB WAS TO KEEP THE SNAKES AWAY!

Second worker in the garden was the creator!

What a relationship this was…

The architect and the keeper working together as one!

Imagine with me for a moment: Adam and Eve strolling together hand in hand through the garden…

What a beautiful day it had been! And the highlight was about to happen…

As the sun burned the mist away, they had started with a stroll along the river Pison (Pishon).

They had ended up in a beautiful mountain valley where animals began to come to them and Adam had named them.

They had an incredible lunch of this fruit that they did had not know what to call it until Adam said they were peaches!

But the most important part of the day was upon them!

Was that the wind in the trees?

Was that an the newly named squirrel jumping from branch to branch?

Then it came… almost a whisper on the wind - “Adam, Eve..”

Then they would rush into the embrace of their father and creator!

And a perfect day was made better!

BUT there was a third worker in the garden!

Third worker we see in the garden was the Serpent.

Genesis 3:1 “1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Subtil: crafty, shrewd, sensible.

This spirit makes sense… This is a spirit that is at work today!

Two questions that this spirit asks:

How could a loving God send someone to hell?

Why would anyone choose hell over a loving God!

Does that really matter?

The fact that the question is being asked, MEANS THAT IT MATTERS!

Now Adam and Even have a choice to make…

Who are they going to allow to work and influence them…

Because they were the primary workers, gardeners - the choice was theirs!

If they listen to what makes sense, the deceiver - the the serpent will come close and his work is validated.

BUT if the listen to their father, he will come close and with work and purpose with be done.

You know the story… the chose the work of the serpent and everything changed.

Now sin is running ramped!

Man is cursed! Man is hopeless!

The Fourth worker in the garden: the Goat!

Don’t forget the Goat!

The Goat was just a goat…

Nothing special - just an innocent goat

But would give his life and his blood for Adam and Eve’s sin!

Because of Adam, we are in constant turmoil…

But because of the innocent blood that was shed, we can deal with the deceiver that works in our lives!

Conclusion:

On Tuesday night, I plan do deliver a “State of the Church” address…

Talk about he past year and the new one.

Spoiler alert: I feel like we have had a good year and will prove it Tuesday night… BUT I feel like we are ended in a spritual battle!

We are driving through a spritual fog…

This is why January is going to be so important! RESET.

Today is day 27 of Fasting and Prayer - WE ARE GOING TO CONTINUE AND PUSH

I am praying peace and unity on us in January and moving forward!