God Planted a Garden

Please open your Bibles to Genesis 2.

Welcome 4th grade students.

Parents, consider what is happening here.

Read Genesis 2:8-17.

Pray.

Psalm 8.

In a text that is so man-centered, we find God receiving the praise.

How have we historically understood the garden of Eden? From which perspective have we looked at it?

How have we seen it from man’s perspective?

Put ourselves in the shoes of Adam and Eve. What is this garden that we are being given?

How might we see it from God’s perspective?

1. The garden as a temple.

Perhaps one way that we could look differently at the garden is to see that it is given not only as a beautiful garden, but it is given also as a temple.

Stated just a bit differently, we could say that the coming tabernacle and temple of Israel were laid out to reflect the garden in which Adam and Eve find themselves.

Biblical support:

The OT temple was the place of God’s presence, where Israel had to go in order to experience the presence of God.

Remember the priests- High priest entering the Holy of Holies.

In Eden- Adam walks and talks with God.

Hithpael- walking back and forth

Genesis 3:8- “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.”

Same word used in Deuteronomy 23:14- “Because the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.”

The tasks given to Adam- Gen. 2:15- work (abad) and keep (samar).

Usually translated as serve and guard.

When these two words used together in the rest of the OT, Israelites serving and guarding God’s Word.

More often, priests serving God in the temple and guarding the temple from unclean things.

Adam fails in the task given to him by God- he fails to guard the garden and allows for the evil to enter.

Many priests would follow his example of failure as well.

Israel’s temple had wood carvings that created a garden-like atmosphere.

1 Kings 6:18- “The cedar within the house was carved in the form of gourds and open flowers. All was cedar; no stone was seen.”

1 Kings 6:29- “Around all the walls of the house he carved engraved figures of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers, in the inner and outer rooms.”

1 Kings 7:18- “Likewise he made pomegranates in two rows around the one latticework to cover the capital that was on the top of the pillar, and he did the same with the other capital.”

The Temple was created according to the specifications given by God, and those specifications included a lot of garden imagery.

Tree of life was likely the model for the lamp stand outside the holy of holies.

Consider what the lamp stand would have looked like. One trunk going up the middle with a lot of branches stemming off.

Each branch lit with the light of life, much like the fruit of the tree of life.

The ark, containing the law echoes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Touching either would bring death.

Z and the other kids touching the ark.

Reconsider Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

Notice something interesting- fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion.

Mankind was not intended to be glued to the garden, but were to spread out what the garden was.

G.K. Beale- “As he was to begin to rule over and subdue the earth, he was to extend the geographical boundaries to the Garden of Eden until Eden extended throughout and covered the whole earth. This meant the presence of God that was limited to Eden was to be extended throughout the whole earth. God’s presence was to ‘fill’ the entire earth.”

And this was a task that had been given to man.

Now, let’s fast forward.

Abraham.

Genesis 12:1-3- “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

This is the purpose of Israel. What was the Temple and the Tabernacle to be for Israel? Among other things, a constant reminder of the promises given to the patriarchs.

Fast forward even more. What is God’s temple now?

1 Peter 2:4-5- “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:16-17- “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

We are the temple, where God’s presence dwells. The same tasks given to Adam are given to us. Work and keep. And the same command is given- Fill the earth.

Acts 1:8- “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Here is our task. Here is what our lives are to be about. The spreading of the glory of God.

2. A new paradigm for all of life.

Here is what struck me when I read this text.

This task of spreading the presence of God in all that we do and in all places we go is a big one.

Many dangers that will distract and poison our desire to accomplish such a task.

One particular danger that I find not only in others but also in myself is the constant turn inward.

We are all about knowing ourselves better.

The question of our age- Who Am I?

Personality tests, facebook quizzes, iq tests, enneagrams. Our search inward is a constant one.

Who am I? Who do I want to be? Where do I want to go? What do I want to do?

When we are able to get outside of ourselves, it is often to ask the question- Who do they see me to be?

In reading Genesis 2, something stuck out to me.

God created man and woman, and gave them everything that was needed for them to accomplish everything to which He had called them.

Their entire identity was wrapped up in knowing God, in being with God, and in obedience to God.

Rather than asking the question of our age (who am I), I would put forward a much better question- Who am I created to be?

What has God called me into? How is God equipping me with what is necessary to fulfill the purpose that He has given to me?

Philippians 3:12-14- Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Everything is a moving toward a goal. What do our lives testify of our goal?

If we have the purpose of spreading the presence of God throughout the entire earth, won’t that change where our vision has been cast?

Rather than looking inward, won’t we begin looking upward and outward?

Arguments.

Hasn’t God given me a new and good heart? Isn’t it good that I know what is good inside me?

Yes, but everything godly within us is foreign to us. Our righteousness is a foreign righteousness. It is not of us.

2 Corinthians 5:21- For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God...

But shouldn’t I know myself well as sinner?

Sure, but wouldn’t you rather know your salvation?

Terminal illness with an available cure. I’d like to be an expert at the cure.

Colossians 3:1-3- If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Friends, haven’t we had our eyes on ourselves long enough?

If we want to be serious about living the purpose for which God has created us, namely spreading the knowledge and glory and fame and salvation of God, we cannot be obsessed with self.

Know God and know Him well. Give Him your love, your affection, your passion, your zeal.

If we know God, such knowledge will push us outward.

See how your life will change in the coming weeks, months and years. Watch the Kingdom of God expand.