In the middle of garden, in a place we can not enter in a place probably destroyed by the flood, stood a tree.
This tree was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The garden was Eden.
God commanded Adam not to eat from this tree. But Adam and Eve ate from the tree anyway. This is how sin entered the world.
Since all of us have sinned we can relate to the shame, guilt, and the emptiness that Adam felt after his sin. Adam was separated from God, as we are because of our sins.
But we praise God for providing a way for us not to be separated forever. I pray this morning that you will realize the results of your sin, and to know of the blessing of the cross.
Look with me at Gen 2:8-9
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:8-9 ESV)
Let Us Pray
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He formed man in His own image and planted a garden in Eden.
“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”
Adam was surrounded by the wonderful and diverse choices for food. But there were two trees that were different. They were the Tree of Life and the Tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The purpose of the Tree of Life is uncertain, but according to John’s Revelation it will be a factor in the end times.
The other tree was the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil.
Gen 2:16-17
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17 ESV)
God had made every tree grow that was not only appealing to the eye. Their fruits tasted good. Adam and Eve could walk through the garden and pick from any tree and be filled.
They were banned from only one tree.
Genesis 3:1-5
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5 ESV)
Out of all the trees that were in the garden, Adam and Eve were tempted to eat from the one they are not to eat from.
The serpent began to ask questions and give arguments to the answers. Eve listened. How much different is this from the temptations of Jesus?
Luke 4: 3-13:
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'”
And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.'”
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
to guard you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.'”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4:3-13 ESV)
Jesus stopped the devil in his tracks. Three separate times Jesus gave the answers and the argument. While the Devil tried to twist scripture, Jesus gave a counter defense.
The devil tempted him with Bread, Jesus reminded him of God’s Word.
The Devil tempted with Authority, Jesus reminded him of worship God.
The devil tempted him with safety, Jesus reminds him who was God.
Eve was presented a choice.
Genesis 3:6
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6 ESV)
In their choice they went against the law of God and sin entered the human race.
The question maybe asked; “If God knew we were going to sin, why did he plant the tree? He planted the tree to give us a choice. For without the opportunity to reject, there would be no love for him at all. And God desires for us to love him and to have fellowship with him.
But, we are all presented with choice.
Cain chose murder Abel.
Moses chose to kill the Egyptian.
Samson chose to give away his secret.
Saul chose to sacrifice against the law of God.
David chose to commit adultery and murder.
Solomon chose to build an altar to foreign gods.
Ahab chose to build an altar for Baal.
All of us are presented with choices. Everyday we must ask if we are choosing right or wrong.
Do you fight temptation like Christ? Or like Eve?
Christ was victorious over sin. But, let’s look at what happened with Eve’s choice.
Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:7 ESV)
Instantly, both Adam and Eve were aware of the change. They began to cover themselves in their shame. God spoke specific curses on each of them, the serpent, the man and the woman.
Then the Lord God said;
in Genesis 3:22-24:
“Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24 ESV)
The man and woman were separated from God.
They were separated, first, temporally; they were pushed out of the garden.
The garden was a place where God walked. The garden was a place where God freely spoke. The garden was a place where God had fellowship with man.
The sin of Adam and Eve destroyed that fellowship. They were now driven out of the garden and God placed cherubim and a flaming sward to guard the way to the tree and the garden.
They were separated from God. I think of it as a child growing up and moving out of the house. That relationship is never the same after that point. The arms of protection has changed. The dependence of the children has change. The emotional connection ahs changed. The communication has change. The child and the parent are separated.
In a child’s case is natural and encouraged, but if the case of Adam and Eve this separation was not natural and the problems of both nature and with humanity began at this point.
They were also separated from God eternally, from the moment sin entered the world men and women were condemned to spend eternity in hell, the place of separation from God for eternity.
Adam and Eve are no exception, if not for the sacrifice made by Christ they too would spend eternity separated from God. All sin requires the payment of death – Temporal and eternal. Both results are real and definite.
And we are all subject to the same condemnation. Our sin separates us from God – Temporal and eternal.
2 Thessalonians 1-9 says;
They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, (2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV)
And this means separation from God for eternity.
Temporally, we are separated in our relationship with him. As being separated from the Garden of Eden.
Now, we focus so much on the eternal aspects of the separation.
Jude teaches in his Epistle that we should have compassion and pull others from the fire. We are to help others know that Jesus is the payment and encourage them to trust in him.
But let us think a moment about what it means to be separated from God, Temporally.
When we sin our relationship falters. The Bible says: Sin leads to:
Shame in Romans 6:21
Unrest in Psalm 38:3
Disease in Job 20:11
When you have a friend and you are ashamed to speak to him/her?
Doesn’t that affect your relationship?
What about unrest?
What about when you leave this earth early because of your sin and you are unable to effectively build a relationship?
The same apply to our relationship with God our father in heaven.
When we are living in sin, we naturally become full of shame as we approach a Holy God. We also become, slowly, full of stress—because sin works against the natural order of life and there are consequences that occur. Then, we get to the point of our sin that we can know longer live. The consequences get too great for life to bear. This shortens the opportunity of knowing God personally each day.
We are not to allow our sin to degrade our relationship with the Father. We are to avoid sin—that we may grow closer to him.
But the fact remains-that we continually sin, it is in our nature. Our nature which is rooted in Adam’s sin of eating the fruit from the tree.
We are separated in many ways when we sin.
But, and this is key – there was another tree. Not in the Garden of Eden, but
On a hill far away.
Stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old Cross
Where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
While we are separated from God because of our sin, Jesus paid the penalty for us.
God allowed himself to be hung on a cross to be the substitute for us. He was God’s provision for us. We don’t have to be separated because Christ was separated for us.
On the cross, Jesus asked God, “Why have you forsaken me.”
The Greek for “forsake” could also be translated as abandoned. And the definition of forsake is to turn away entirely.
Jesus was separated from God, even to the point of enduring hell for our sake – in our place.
And we can accept this payment as the payment for our sin. And can accept this payment today.
We surrender ourselves completely to Him and his will, so that we may remain in him and not be separated.
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross.
And exchange it someday for a crown.
Let us pray.
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This sermon was preached at Warrior Chapel, Camp Red Cloud, Korea, on 25SEP16
All scripture marked ESV: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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