Jesus in the Garden, Genesis 3:1-24

Introduction

In two days most of us will be gathered in our homes with family surrounding us celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the incarnation. For some it is a time to reminisce of years gone by, others may be trying to forget those times. To be sure it is a sentimental time of year. Each year there is an abundance of chaos in the stores as people scramble to get the shopping done and the hustle and bustle drowns out the angelic calls to sing “Glory to the newborn King.” to be sure we don’t celebrate the day, we aren’t sure of what actual day Christ was born, but we do celebrate that fact that Christ was born. That God became flesh and dwelt among us.

However, the incarnation is not the first appearance of the second person of the trinity. For that we have to go way back to the garden of Eden to the time of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. You might think this is a strange text to be preaching for a Christmas message and you might be right if we were only thinking of His birth into this world. But if we are really attempting to get an understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ this is where we must start. And so today we will visit the garden of Eden and examine the mediatorial work of Christ from the beginning. I have always been interested in finding Christ in the OT. He spoke of Himself from OT texts while he walked this earth with His disciples. He revealed Himself through the OT to the two on the road to Emmaus after His crucifixion and resurrection. The Apostles stirred up their listeners and readers by exposing Christ in the OT and now I want to do the same with you.

So to begin I want to show you Jesus in the Garden. And we will see him in three ways. I came to this idea for this sermon while reading a blog at www.desiringgod.org article titled “Where is Jesus in the Old Testament?” by Glen Scrivener, 12/20/2018). That was the seed thought that got me thinking and wanting to explore this further. So three words in my outline come from Glen, namely, presence, promise and pattern. It is those three ways that we are able to see Jesus in the garden. I have ordered it this way:

I. Chaos in the Garden calmed by the appearance of Christ-presence, vss. 1, 8, 9, 13, 14,21

II. Corruption in the garden cleansed by the gospel of Christ-promise, v.15

III. Curse in the garden cured by the sacrifice of Christ-pattern, v.21

I. Chaos in the Garden calmed by the appearance of Christ-presence, vss. 1, 8, 9, 13, 14,21

You will notice there is a lot going on in the garden in our text. Adam and Eve have been working in the garden for how long we do not know. But they are going about their business of the day when the serpent enters the scene. We are not going to examine all of this because it would take too much time and we have addressed the temptation itself in times past. The serpent enters in order to send the plans and purposes of God into a tailspin. He intends to thwart God’s intentions. But just because the serpent enters doesn’t mean that God is absent. In fact, we see just the opposite.

You ask, where do I see Christ here in the garden scene. You will notice the number of times the name “Lord God” is in the text. I have listed them for you in the outline. It is actually 9x through v.23. We are not going to take them all. They are there for you study though.

I do want to peruse a couple of these and once we do that all the rest are explained.

The chapter opens with the statement “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which THE LORD GOD had made.”

Who is this referring to? God the Father alone? Not at all. You will remember that Paul, speaking of the Son, reminds us in

Colossians 1:14–17 ESV

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

that Jesus is the creator. Hence, this one called the Lord God in our text is none other than Jesus Christ.

Once again in v.8 The Lord God is walking in the Garden calling for Adam and Eve and He has discussion with them. It is Jesus discussing with these two rebellious rapscallions what they did. He knew what they had done. It is a Judas-like event. He knew Judas would betray him to the Sanhedrin, He knew when he came to the garden what He had done.

He knew the disciples had been fishing and caught nothing in and He knew it all. Yet, He still was present with them through it all.

Look at these further confirmation this truth:

We know that the title YHWH/Lord is the “I am” of Scripture, whether on Mt. Moriah speaking with Abraham at the sacrifice of Isaac, or speaking with Moses at the burning Bush, or in the NT where Jesus declares He is the “I am” as seen in , as well as ;

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:41 ESV

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

John 6:43In he is the king seen by Isaiah on His throne. This is also in mind in in Jesus declaration to the disciples “he that has seen me has seen the Father,” or in where He is the express Image of the Father, or in

John 6:48 ESV

I am the bread of life.

I won’t list them all, but you can read through John and note the “I Am” statements of Jesus. IN those, He clearly makes the case for His being the “I Am” of the OT.

In he is the king seen by Isaiah on His throne. This is also in mind in in Jesus declaration to the disciples “he that has seen me has seen the Father,” or in where He is the express Image of the Father, or in .

Jonathan Edwards in his great work “The History of the Work of Redemption” has this to say regarding the appearance of Christ in the garden.

 “As soon as man fell, Christ entered on his mediatorial work. Then it was that he began to execute the work and office of a mediator. He had undertaken it before the world was made. He stood engaged with the Father to appear as man’s mediator, and to take on that office when there should be occasion, from all eternity. But now the time was come. Christ the eternal Son of God clothed himself with the mediatorial character, and therein presented himself before the Father. He immediately stepped in between a holy, infinite, offended Majesty, and offending mankind. He was accepted in his interposition; and so wrath was prevented from going forth in the full execution of that amazing curse that man had brought on himself.

It is manifest that Christ began to exercise the office of mediator between God and man as soon as ever man fell, because mercy began to he exercised towards man immediately. There was mercy in the forbearance of God, that he did not destroy him,

And therefore, when we read in sacred history what God did, from time to time, towards his church and people, and how he revealed himself to them, we are to understand it especially of the second person of the Trinity. When we read of God appearing after the fall, in some visible form or outward symbol of his presence, we are ordinarily, if not universally, to understand it of the second person of the Trinity. . “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” He is therefore called “the image of the invisible God,” . intimating, that though God the Father be invisible, yet Christ is his image or representation, by which he is seen.”

Edwards, J. (1974). The works of Jonathan Edwards (Vol. 1, p. 537). Banner of Truth Trust.

So amid the conflict, betrayal, outright rebellion against Him by Adam and Eve, the deceit of the serpent, right there in the midst of that is Jesus Christ. Can I go so far as to say that He even was at the helm. As Edwards so clearly points out, “He had undertaken it (Redemption) before the world was made.” Heaven had to know what was going on before man was created.

What that says to you and me and how that gives us hope right now is in knowing your chaos is no surprise to God. I know I might rustle some feathers here but I am going to step out on a limb and propose that your chaos was even orchestrated by God in order that you might see more clearly the appearance of Christ in your life. I saw Him when my life was full of disorder, discombobulation, disconnection, distortion and every other dis in my life. That is when I was most open to Him and most able to see Him clearly. And I believe that is what Christmas is all about. Him parlaying the chaos and ruin of your life so that you might see Him as clearly as you see me right now in your hearts eye. Do you see Him? As a believer He is always with you and will never leave you nor forsake you. Do you believe it?

So then we can move to the

II. Corruption in the garden cleansed by the gospel of Christ-promise, v.15

This is the second way we see Christ in the garden. The sin has been done, the dirty deed of rebellion and self exaltation has been promulgated. He questioned them and put up with their excuses and then he cursed each one of them with a curse specifically suited them. He knew the corruption of their hearts as they each pursued their own corrupt desires. They desired to know, to understand, to have a higher knowledge that would give them some higher order of insight into the deep things of the universe. But all they got was the knowledge they were naked joined with a deep sense of dread and doom. It was like they had paid expensively for a brand new car and got a brand new matchbox car instead. Only with this they also got death. They didn’t know when it would come. I think they were hiding from God because they knew He said they would die. They hadn’t experienced that yet and were terrified. The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Either you fear Him enough to obey Him now, our you will fear Him to bow before Him at your judgment.

Fully corrupt in their minds/hearts and actions. In their out right rebellion all the while Jesus is right there watching them in their rebellion. Watching them snatch the fruit from the tree, watching them take a bite out of that fruit. You may remember watching the child who said she ate her pizza later on bury it in the backyard, with a smile on your face. There is no smile here. Jesus knows what will happen to them as they bite into that fruit. The corruption of their heart bleeding, no gushing out as they take that bite. It surely grieved Him sorely, even as He grieved for Jerusalem as He stood looking at Jerusalem and woefully cried,

Matthew 23:37 ESV

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Matthew 23:37

He knew exactly, the corruption in their hearts and He was right there with them while they did. And did nothing to intervene and stop it. Their rebellion, their corruption was already counted on and planned for. and so in v.15 we read

Notice carefully, God is the one doing this, not the serpent, not man, but God look at this “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

May I quote from Edwards again on this point:

Presently upon this the gospel was first revealed on earth, in these words, . “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” We must suppose, that God’s intention of redeeming fallen man was first signified in heaven, before it was signified on earth, because the business of the angels as ministering spirits of the Mediator required it

Edwards, J. (1974). The works of Jonathan Edwards (Vol. 1, p. 537). Banner of Truth Trust.

God made it so that there will always be opposition to His seed. The world will always be at war against the Spirit and the Spirit against the world. Paul points that out clearly in

Galatians 5:17 ESV

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

Here is what I want you to see. The Hebrew word for seed is zara and it is a masculine singular. I don’t know much about biology, but I am pretty sure women do not have ‘seed’ they have eggs. This should read “between thy seed and HIS seed” and it is singular ‘seed’ as in one, not plural as in many. That is why God’s covenant with Abraham that he would have ‘seed’ is masculine singular there in when God tells him “Unto thy seed I will give this land.” Abraham understood what God was promising there and built an altar to worship Jesus, because it was Jesus in that text as it is in this one who is speaking to him.

We confirmation of this in , . In other words Abraham had the gospel preached to Him by Christ, just as we have here in our text the gospel is being preached to Adam and Eve. All three of whom believed the gospel and it was counted to them for righteousness.

So you see Jesus preaches the gospel before Adam and Eve giving them hope of restoration, of redemption. They had just blown it big time. Not just for themselves, but for all mankind. Yet, Jesus was right there with them as they took that rebellious bite and let them do it, knowing that He had a greater plan. That He would Himself be that seed that would be incarnate in this world and all who believe in Him would be cleansed from their life corrupting sin. Beloved, their sin didn’t surprise Jesus at all. He had planned for it. He knew it. Do you think for one moment that your sin, no matter who wretched, how evil, how rebellious surprises God or that He has not already planned for it in His GREAT GRAND SCHEME OF REDEMPTION? No on your life.

You are corrupt. You are just as bad as Adam and Eve were. Paul described it this way in

1 Corinthians 6:9–11 ESV

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Cor. 6:9

Oh, Beloved, there is no sin outside the bounds of Christ’s forgiveness save that of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit which is that of unbelief. He knows you are corrupt to the core. We call that depravity of man. He knows what you have done. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is being preached to you in these words. He is the Seed. Repent and believe in Him as Adam and Eve did and As Abraham did and you will be cleansed.

How is that accomplished you ask? I am glad you did. Because it where we go next.

So we have seen Jesus appearing amid the chaos of the garden bringing a calm assurance that He is right there with you in your personal chaos. We have seen that despite the corruption of your own heart before His very eyes, he promises a seed through which by faith you will be cleansed.

Now we turn to the third symbol of Jesus in the garden that of

III. Curse in the garden cured by the sacrifice of Christ-pattern, v.21

Between the statement we just talked about in v.15 and this one in verse 21 God/Jesus explains the curses that the woman and Adam will be forced to endure their entire lives. But they are not left without hope. And there is much here to be talked about and explained but that is not the point of this message. I would be glad to speak to later on about the place of women in God’s paradigm or the husband wife relationship. But not here. My point here is that even though God outlines what death looks like to them, what the consequences of their sin looks like to them terms of child birth and complementary subservience of the woman and toilsome hard labor for the man, nevertheless, it is expressed with Mercy in mind.

Adam and Eve you will remember from v.7 got the understanding that they were naked, this understanding was different than that of where it says they were both naked and they were not ashamed. Now their nakedness is coupled with shame, guilt through their disobedience. Before they did not know they were naked in the same way they know now. But in v.7 it says, “and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” or girdles, they made a covering for themselves trying to hide their shame, their guilt and sin.

the fig tree tê,enâ - Ficus carica-grows to about 12 feet high, its broad leaves are still used today to wrap fresh fruit in to take to the market. And loinclothes=apron, girdle, belt to cover up with.

loinclothes=apron, girdle, belt to cover up with.

They were trying to cover their sin as we see in the next verse when God calls to them. they hid themselves. If the fig leaves could do as they had hoped they would have had no reason to hide. But they couldn’t. Nor can your feeble attempts to cover your own sin hide you from the all-knowing gaze of the God who is most Holy. You cannot escape him.

So by the time we get down to v.21 we read what is the most comforting verse in this passage:

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

God made them coats of skins. and clothed them. Before the flood men didn’t eat meat as their common food until after the flood, it was normally the herb of the field, . These skins that clothed Adam and Eve were from an animal. The whole purpose of the slaying of the animal was not so they had food, but a covering for their sin. They were clothed at the expense of life. Beasts were slain in order to cloth them. This is a picture of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. God gave them the clothing. And so Christ was slain in order to cloth us and make us acceptable to God. to cover our spiritual nakedness. This is the first fruit of Christ’s redemptive work recorded in Scripture.

God made them coats of skins. and clothed them. It is to be noted that men didn’t eat meat as their common food until after the flood, it was normally the herb fo the field, . These skins that clothed Adam and Eve were from an animal. This is a picture of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. God gave them the clothing. They were clothed at the expense of life. Beasts were slain in order to cloth them. And so Christ was slain in order to cloth us and make us acceptable to God. to cover our spiritual nakedness. This is the first fruit of Christ’s redemptive work recorded in Scripture.

Now here is something that will even make your goose bumps pop out even more. Who was it that clothed them with the skin of the animal He had slain? It was none other than Jesus Christ. Imagine that, the One who would one day walk the Via Delarosa with the cross timber on His back after being beaten so mercilessly that those that knew Him could not recognize Him, and hang there on that cross taking the penalty for our sin, is the same one who took the life of that animal and laid the skins on their bodies as a pattern of what He would do. No one took His life, He gave His life for us.

He cured that curse. That is what Isaiah means when he states “we are healed by His stripes.” ().

That is a picture of the great transference of one animals skin onto another for a covering. As also Christ transfers His righteousness to so wicked a sinner as I or as you or in our text as Adam and Eve.

This is why Christmas is so fantastic. Because it is th

This is exactly what Jesus is talking about in synagogue in His own hometown of Nazareth where He reads from that magnificent prophecy He only reads the first 2 verses. But when you get down to verse 10 It says

Isaiah 61:10 ESV

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Now He was speaking of Himself but at the same time He is speaking of every believer. And then the Apostle Paul declare teh same thing when he states

Galatians 3:27 ESV

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

My friend, This is why Christmas is so fantastic. This is why we should celebrate with as much gusto and joy that we can muster and then some. Because He who knew no sin bore our sin on the cross so that we might be clothed in His righteousness. He took off the mantle of righteousness from His bruised, battered and bloodied back and placed it on our shoulders to cover our gruesome, grotesque, hideous, loathsome, putrefying, despicable, distorted, unsightly, ugliness. As Moses was made to wear the veil because of the holy nature of his face after being in the presence of God, so we are made to wear, by the holy great magnificent grace of God the robe of His Holy Righteousness in order to cover the ugliness of our sin.

That is why I celebrate Christmas.

Oh beloved, don’t be a grinch, Celebrate Christmas.

That is why I celebrate Christmas.

Let us pray

Thank you Lord, for coming to me in my chaos so long ago. And still being with me in my chaos now. Thank so much for cleansing me from the corruption that is in me through your own self. Thank you for wearing my sin on the cross and letting me wear your righteousness in that great exchange that was planned and accomplished in eternity past. We Celebrate You today. We are moved with hope and faith and love for you all the more in light of your words. It totally amazes me when I think that you were there when Adam and Eve sinned, and when I sin. You were there to be the promised seed, the object of their faith and my faith in the midst of rebellion, and you were the one who took your robes of righteousness and covered theirs and our putrefying sores of sin and comforted us and called us out of our rebellion into your holiness.

I am humbled. I am thankful. I will never look at Christmas or the garden in the same light again.

I praise and worship You Jesus. You were in the garden with Adam and Eve. and You are with us here today. You are worthy of our praise. Amen.