[0:00] We've started our new series looking at the garden, the gospel and gardens, and we haven't quite left the Garden of Eden yet, but we're about to tonight, a title, I guess, to tonight's time, tonight's study, we could say the garden no more, gone from the garden.
[0:20] We all know what Genesis 3 contains, we all know the account of Genesis 3, and as we said with Jonah, as we said before, we have to be careful tonight not to let our over, perhaps, familiarity with this chapter cloud us and distract us from what's actually being said.
[0:42] We know what takes place in these verses, and as we sit here this evening, we are quite literally painfully aware as to the reality of this chapter.
[0:52] We are here this evening as evidence that we live in a fallen world. We are here this evening having come through the reality of a saver coming to save us, but he came to save us from, of course, our sin.
[1:10] And here we find ourselves this evening, back at the start, back at this first garden, and we spend this short time tonight, and if we're being honest, perhaps quite a sad time tonight, as we look at what took place, as we look at the transformation, but it wasn't a transformation, it was the destroying, the destroying of what man had, to now where man ends up at the end of these few verses.
[1:41] Last time we asked a question, or we pondered a question of how long they had in the garden. How long did this couple have to spend time in this pristine, perfectly made, custom made, lovingly placed, beautifully planted garden?
[2:00] And again, there's no answer for us. We don't know how long they had. Some say it was many hundreds, not thousands of years, some say it was only a few years, some say not even a year.
[2:12] We can't know, and we don't know, perhaps, some scriptures, not truly anyway. But there's a sense, perhaps, as we look at this chapter, that we didn't have all that long. In the grand scheme of things, we didn't have all that long before everything unraveled completely.
[2:30] As we begin chapter 3, we see, as we were, a new character entering the garden. We see a new voice in the garden. Up to this point, we only heard one voice, the voice of the Lord God, the voice of God speaking.
[2:45] But now in chapter 3, we hear a new voice speaking. I'm starting chapter 3. As this new voice begins to speak in the garden, we find the whole reality, the whole perfection begin to give way.
[3:01] So just looking very generally, in one sense, quite a broad look, because there's so much going on. But just to help us to leave the garden even this evening, we'll see how we get on.
[3:13] It might carry on to future weeks, but we'll see. But hopefully, we'll leave the garden this evening. And to help us leave the garden, we can look at just, I say five, and don't panic, five headings.
[3:23] But it's broad headings, so they'll all merge together eventually, all being well. First of all, we see evil in the garden. Then sin in the garden.
[3:34] Then the Lord in the garden. Then very briefly, blame in the garden. And finally, the garden, no more. First of all, then, evil in the garden, verses 1 down to verse 5.
[3:49] Although the evil in the garden carries on to the end of scripture, really. But evil in the garden, verses 1 down to verse 5. Here we first see the evidence, we could say, of evil in the world.
[4:01] The timeline isn't made known to us. And in future weeks, we'll look more carefully and look in depth as to the fall of Satan.
[4:13] And we find that in another garden in a few weeks' time. And there's some homework for you to try and guess who that garden is. There's a garden in a few weeks' time. We'll see more of the fall of Satan and of his story.
[4:25] But tonight we see he is here, in the garden. Again, the timeline isn't given to us. But at some point, the fall has taken place. And from the fall, Satan has been cast to earth.
[4:42] And now we see more clearly what we said last time. The job of Adam to guard the garden. To protect the garden. The question was asked, but we didn't answer it.
[4:52] Because we couldn't answer it in chapter 2. If Adam is told to guard and protect the garden, what's he told to guard and protect it from?
[5:04] If it's just Adam and Eve, and everything else is just a wasteland perhaps, but it's just barren, perfect garden, Adam and Eve. And Adam's told to protect, to keep, to guard. And we saw that from the text.
[5:14] The text proves that to us. Here, the unanswered question is answered. What was there to guard against? There is evil. There is evil seeking access, as it were, to the garden.
[5:29] There is evil seeking access to the place of God's holiness. There is evil seeking access, in these verses, to God's pinnacle of creation.
[5:40] To man. To man. Here is why Adam was called so clearly to protect the garden. To keep the garden. Here, of course, we see Satan appearing in a form.
[5:54] Satan, the serpent, was more crafty than any of the beasts of the field the Lord God had made. We aren't told here, really, as to why Satan chose this form to appear, or why he appears in this way.
[6:09] We'll see that, for the Lord's help, in future weeks. That's made clear to us, perhaps really towards the end of the New Testament. But Satan, nonetheless, appears here.
[6:22] And there's some, and this is not for us tonight, but just so you know, there are many who will interpret the serpent appearing here. Many who will call themselves Christians, but whose interpretation of Scripture proves otherwise, who will say that chapter 3 is not about sin.
[6:40] That's an old-fashioned, very harsh medieval understanding of things. Chapter 3 is actually about man and the animal kingdom being at odds.
[6:52] And there's some who will interpret chapter 3, and trust me, they exist. In college, we had to read some of them, not for free church coursework, but we had to read them just to show us what the other side is saying, which is sometimes wise.
[7:05] And there are many who will preach and teach that chapter 3 is just about man and the animal kingdom. And we see that that is just not true, and it detracts from reality.
[7:19] This is not just any old snake. This is not talking about man and the animal kingdom, no. This is man and the evil one. This is the pinnacle of God's creation being met face to face with fallen angels, being met face to face with one who has rebelled against God, who has been cast from glory to creation.
[7:42] And here he is, beginning his work as it were, his crafty, his hard work on earth. And here we see, as we said a few weeks ago, looking at Ephesians 6, that Satan is logical.
[8:00] Satan is tactical. Satan's work is effective. And we hate to give him credit, but Satan, in his evil, is experienced, is, as it were, good at what he does.
[8:13] If we could say that. He is effective at what he does. And right from the start, we see his tactics made clear, made plain to us. Here we see, as we were, the age-old tactic first being used here.
[8:29] Did God really say? As Satan begins his attack on the pinnacle of God's creation, on mankind, the first thing he says to this woman, did God actually say?
[8:47] Yes, he's crafty. Yes, he's tactical. Yes, he is ancient in his evil wisdom. But Satan's plans, Satan's attacks, haven't really changed, have they, from the start to now?
[9:00] For those of us who know what it is, perhaps, to be attacked, if not by the evil one, then by his minions, by his armies, we often face the same question, either in the world around us, even perhaps in our own spiritual attacks.
[9:17] Did God really say that? Is God really true in what he said there? Is God really right? Is God really just? And we hear these attacks.
[9:29] Word of different ways, but the attacks haven't changed in all these, perhaps, thousands of years. From the first time that Satan said, did God actually say?
[9:40] As our brother prayed, we even in recent weeks have seen that, have we not, in our own public sphere. The pulpit is not a place for political discussion, but we've all seen it, and have heard, and have seen the attack against even the most basic biblical worldview being talked about.
[10:01] Even the most basics of the Bible being believed in by those in authority. And we see how the world just reacts instantly against it. But worse than that, when biblical views, simple biblical views, are shared by those in authority, it's often you'll see those who are part of the church, part of our church, perhaps.
[10:26] Those who call themselves Christians, who you see and you read them in news, and are saying, yes, but God actually didn't say that. This person is saying that, that God is just, and that God has set, managed a certain way, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
[10:40] But God didn't really say that. God actually meant this. And again and again, that's the world we are seeing, isn't it? Everything we know to be biblically true, everything we know to be, the very basics, what the Bible says, the world would tell us, God didn't really mean that.
[10:59] He didn't really say that. Let me tell you what God actually meant. Let me tell you what God actually said. That's why it's so important for us, just as a side note, as Christians, that we know the word of the Lord.
[11:14] It's important for us to know the word of the Lord. And we know that, but as time goes on, and as we seek to serve the Lord in a more and increasingly more biblically illiterate world, outside these walls, your neighbours, my neighbours, our friends in this community, the reality is, many of them, even those we think might know something, many of them have no real clue as to the reality of the gospel.
[11:43] No real clue. We have to know as aware of our stuff. So we see here that that's what begins to trip Eve up. Satan says, did God actually say?
[11:57] Did God actually say? And here we see that Eve perhaps wasn't listening. Eve perhaps wasn't listening as we assume Adam has told her what the Lord said, or perhaps Adam got it wrong in his telling of Eve what the Lord said when the Lord first tells Adam not to touch off the tree, when God first tells Adam what trees he can eat from and make use of.
[12:27] It's just Adam in the garden at that point. So Adam is either mistold Eve or Eve has not listened. Either way, the word of the Lord has not been faithfully shared.
[12:38] And because God's word and its sharing has been twisted, Eve has no real attack, no real defence, as it were, against the attack of Satan. As Satan attacks what God is truly saying, Eve begins to very quickly lose ground, doesn't she?
[12:57] So first of all, Satan asks the question, the age-old question, did God actually say? Satan is aware attacks the word of God.
[13:08] Then we see a second tactic take place straight away. As Satan says, did God actually say? And so on. And Eve gives her response. Eve gives her response in verse 2.
[13:21] 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's in the midst of the garden.
[13:33] Neither shall you touch it lest you die. Don't worry, I won't quiz you. But if I was to ask you just now, where is the mistake in what she said?
[13:46] Where is the mistake in what she said? I'm sure you've probably heard texts, sermon preaching this text before, but where is the mistake? What's Eve actually saying wrong here?
[13:57] I mean, God did tell them that they can't eat of the fruit of these two trees. But God didn't say he can't touch it.
[14:12] Here we see the second tactic that Satan uses. Satan is quite happy to not correct. So first of all, he uses the tactic of asking, what did God say?
[14:27] The tactic of saying, of sticking to twist God's words. But Satan is also very happy, very happy to see God's word being added to as much as he is being taken away from.
[14:43] Again, God did not command that the fruit wouldn't be touched. And by Eve adding that in, and then by Satan as it were not correcting Eve here, God is made into a harsh God.
[14:57] God is made out to be something and someone whom he is not. the word of the Lord has been added to.
[15:10] The simple wee phrase, but still the simple word, the simple command of God, the one command of God that these people have been given, that these first people have been given, the one simple command.
[15:23] Already, they've managed to add to it themselves and twist it themselves and change it themselves and Satan is more than happy, more than happy to jump in on their mistake, to jump in on their own adding to God's word and to begin to use that to further twist and twist and attack and attack.
[15:49] Yes, there's great evil. There's great evil in the thinking of did God really say. But there's also great evil in when God's word is added to.
[16:00] If we're being very honest in our own perhaps culture and our own history, we're very good perhaps, we're very good at being precise at what God did say.
[16:13] But perhaps we fall short in the latter section here. That's like Eve, we perhaps fall into the sin at times, at least at the mistake of adding to the word of God.
[16:27] We add what God has said. It's not a sin that's particular to ourselves, it's a sin that Pharisees shared in, it's a sin that generations have shared in right back to Eve here.
[16:40] We like to add to the word of the Lord, not on purpose sometimes. In fact, more often than not it's not on purpose. But we add boundaries, we add restrictions, we increase God's law, we make it to shape our own thoughts, our own ideas.
[16:56] At times it sounds good. In one sense Eve perhaps isn't really wrong, I mean, they couldn't eat the fruit, so it made sense that they couldn't touch it either. There's nothing wrong with the instruction of don't touch it, but God didn't say that.
[17:13] Just because it sounded good, and because it sounded like something God would say, it doesn't mean that Eve had the right to add the word of the Lord, and she did. As we said before, Satan is just as happy to see God's word added to by us, unfortunately, than he is to see God's word being detracted or taken away from.
[17:41] He challenges the word of God. Did God actually say? Then he allows Eve to add to the word of God, and finally we see just lies, just plain lies from the devil himself.
[18:01] What does he tell poor Eve? Verse 4, said to the woman, you will not surely die.
[18:13] You will not surely die. For God knows when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
[18:30] You won't die. God didn't say that. He won't do it. Eve just quoted to Satan quite happily, wrongly, that she got some bits right, that God said, eat of it and you'll die.
[18:49] And Satan straight away says, you won't die. Eve, you've just said yourself what God said, how can you believe what Satan is saying to you?
[19:01] And we catch ourselves thinking of that, we should then catch us thinking, oh, Eve, it wasn't just Eve, Donald, I'll throw myself in for yourself, but put your name in for yourself, Donald, how are you so stupid, how are you so silly, how are you so weak, etc, that you can know God's word and then straight away not follow God's word.
[19:26] Right from the start, we see our ability to know God's word, to believe God's word, to understand God's word, to comprehend God's word, to seek to follow perhaps God's word and then a breath later, a second later, to go against God's word.
[19:48] Satan has only said two sentences and already Eve is unravelling. What's the lie? what's the lie?
[19:59] Satan is telling you, the serpent is telling you, that you need this and you'll become like God, you'll be like God. Sin hasn't changed, the temptation of the evil one hasn't changed.
[20:16] Fame, glory, pride, power, power. We all think we're unique and we are unique. We're made in beautiful ways by the Lord, but we all fall to the same temptations right from the start to this very evening.
[20:34] We all want the same things. We all fall in pretty much the same ways, the same sins as our first parents fell and we fall the exact same way.
[20:45] He questions God's word. He allows God's word to be added to and he lies about God's word.
[21:01] As we come to the second point of sin in the garden, we must be very clear here though, that for all the work of the devil in these first few verses, what doesn't he do?
[21:13] He questions, he attacks, he challenges and so on, he lies. He does not force as a word of a sin to take place.
[21:26] He doesn't place the fruit into the hand of Eve. Yes, he's convinced her. Yes, he's attacked the word of the Lord. Yes, he's lied. But ultimately, ultimately, and the scripture makes very clear to us, the second half, near the end of verse 6.
[21:48] When she saw that he was to be desired to make one wise, quite clearly, she took off its fruit and ate. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.
[22:01] For all the lies of the devil, for all the temptation of the devil, for all the evil of the devil, it is Eve, and I don't know, we'll get to him in a second, it is this first couple and them themselves that take the fruit, that eat the fruit, that then take the fruit of his wife Eve and eat the fruit himself, it is themselves their own hand that sins.
[22:22] And here we see that the heartbreaking reality that for all of the hard work of the devil, for all his tactics and all his plans and all his evil, the sad reality is that we're quite bad enough for ourselves without his extra help.
[22:47] And I don't know if you've experienced it, you've heard people say oh the devil made me do it, did he? Do we see that in scripture?
[22:58] Perhaps at times, at isolated times we see with Judas, Satan entering him and all that, but even with Judas as an example, as a passing example, he still made his own choices. As we would say with God's sovereignty, yes God is sovereign and we claim that and we've covered this before and we'll go into it tonight, but God is sovereign but also we're accountable for trusting the gospel, for following our saviour and that.
[23:22] There's an evil parallel to that of Satan. Yes he is powerful and yes he is tactical and evil and everything else, but yet the sins that we commit, they are our sins and ours alone.
[23:36] Yes he might tempt us, yes he might persuade us, yes he might lie to us and everything else, but when you and I sin, it's you and I that sin. the devil tempted me perhaps we could say but the devil did not make us.
[23:53] We often hear Satan being blamed for all sorts of sins, he's blamed for everything that goes wrong perhaps but the sad reality is that it's our sin, our sin is as it were sufficient enough, it is heartbreakingly, it's powerful enough for the damage to be done by our sin alone.
[24:15] Eve had disobeyed God, but when does sin enter? Eve disobeys, yes, in the verse she read in verse 4 and verse 5 and she eats from the fruit of the end of verse 6, but when does sin enter?
[24:34] When is the covenant broken? We see from Romans 5, verse 12 amongst many, many other sections we could go to, if time allowed this evening, it is through whom that sin entered, through Adam sin entered, through one man, through Adam sin entered, he was made covenant head, he was made priest, he was made guard, he was made keeper, and through him listening to the lies of the evil one, through him choosing, choosing to partake in sin, sin enters.
[25:20] The covenant head, the priest, and here we begin to see our downfall take place, and perhaps Eve often gets a blame for sin, I've heard it myself in discussions, I've seen it myself in books, Eve gets a blame, the New Testament doesn't know that, scripture doesn't know that, yes Eve is involved, but who has the blame for sin, it is the federal head, it's the covenantal head, God made the covenantal promise through Adam, and Adam takes the fruit, Adam eats of the fruit, and what takes place when he eats, and Adam eats, when we see the unfolding, the unraveling of perfection, verse 7 onward, we'll get to that in a second, in love, and it probably was love, Eve and
[26:21] Adam and Eve, a happy couple, a perfect couple up to this point, and she's eating this lovely thing, and in love as you would, she passes it to her husband, and in love he takes him as wife and goes and he eats, and here we see the true horror, perhaps it's a passing reference, but it's what underpins the whole thing up to this point, at the end of verse 6, when Eve eats, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband, again there's no wasted words in scripture, verse 6 could end with, she gave some to her husband, and he ate, that still makes sense, that still works, it still tells us what took place, but no, what does scripture say, she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate, what?
[27:23] You pull back now and see, from the start of verse 1 to now, Adam's just been stood there, and he's watched, first of all, a talking animal, we think, we have to lose sight, it's strange for us to think of a talking animal, but it's strange for Adam too, this hasn't happened before, there's this creature which is speaking, this creature which has not been seen before, appears before them, and starts talking to his wife, Adam seems to have stood there and done nothing, Adam whose job it was to what?
[27:57] Protect, to keep, to guard, to keep, to look after, to tend, to keep the garden, keep the garden pure, keep the garden safe, keep the garden free of sin and of evil, any sort of intrusion towards the garden, and he's seen something new in the garden but is talking about things that the Lord has supposedly said and Adam has stood back and done absolutely nothing this whole time and then as he stands back, the one interaction he does have is to partake in the desecration of God's word as he takes the fruit and eats it.
[28:45] Mankind has now fallen. the damage is now done. Scripture shows us that in verse 7. And the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked.
[29:03] They've lost, as a word, their purity. They've lost their innocence. We're told at the end of chapter 2, that verse we just touched on last time, chapter 2, the final verse, and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
[29:19] Again, God in his wisdom, in his beauty, in his wonder, his scripture is done and written so carefully. We're supposed to end chapter 2.
[29:32] Before the fall takes place, we're reminded, one last reminder, at the end of chapter 2, the man and his wife are naked, not ashamed, but innocent, very pure. There's no shame, you're living the perfect life.
[29:47] And now we've gone from that in a matter of what? Six verses, one conversation, to being naked and not ashamed, now they are naked, and they're ashamed, they're so ashamed they have to try and sew together, or at least try and shove together some fig leaves, to sew together some shoddy clothes, to hide their shame, to hide, as it were, the effect of sin.
[30:21] But we know, ourselves, and we know from the story, that sin does not remain hidden forever. Rebellion against God does not remain hidden forever.
[30:32] And then we see the, although beautiful in some aspects, but the horrifying reality of verses 8 and verse 9.
[30:45] We now meet the Lord in the garden. We've seen sin in the garden, now we have the Lord in the garden. Verse 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.
[31:05] So on, so on. God calls out to fallen man. God calls out to fallen man. God knows where they are.
[31:17] We know that. Of course he does. God knows is that what's taking place? Of course he does. But God is a gracious God and he gives man in this moment of sin, this moment of fall, God is still gracious.
[31:31] and it makes no sense to us because we're not gracious as he is. God is still gracious enough to allow man to attempt to confess his sin, attempt to at least begin to face up to what's just taken place.
[31:51] Now, there's two opinions and I might well give you mine, but there's two opinions and both are valid and both are held by good reformed teachers and good Christian believers throughout the centuries of what is taking place in verse 8.
[32:08] So on one side there are those who say that here we see a physical presence of the Lord when God walked in the garden.
[32:19] We heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. One side will say that this was a physical manifestation, a theophany, an appearance of God, perhaps some will say a Christophany, an appearance of a pre-incarnate Christ who takes on bodily form to walk in the garden, to interact with Adam and Eve.
[32:47] Now the other side, and again there's good arguments for both and there's no right answer perhaps we could say, is that that the Hebrew is such in these verses, verses 8 and verse 9 and you see that if you look at the wee numbers in the bottom, even if your church Bible is here, it tells you that.
[33:06] There's great complications in how to interpret verse 8. There's great confusion in how we understand what's taking place here and that shouldn't surprise us because we're dealing here with something that is not our experience.
[33:24] For the Lord to commune with man in a way that the Lord did to Adam and Eve in the garden, it's something we can't understand because it's so lost on us. And the heartbreaking sense here of verse 8, whether God appeared physically before them or whether they enjoyed time in his presence, either way the same reality as before us, but this seemed to be something that Adam and Eve enjoyed doing.
[33:53] It was something that wasn't perhaps new to them, that God spent time with them in their presence and they in his presence. Because we see that they aren't shocked really by the sound, they aren't shocked by the appearance perhaps of the Lord, but they hide themselves.
[34:15] Why do they hide themselves? Not because he's there, but verse 10, God asks, where are you? And Adam says, I heard a voice sound of you in the garden, I was afraid because I was naked.
[34:30] Before this, then we can say and we can take at least inferred to us in Scripture, we enjoyed such a close walk with the Lord.
[34:43] We enjoyed time in the presence of the Lord. And here, the presence of the Lord comes down to them, as he had done countless times before perhaps.
[34:57] This time is different. This is also the last time as a word, they'll walk side by side with the Lord. God comes down and he calls out to him, called to the man, again, we won't go back to this time, it's not on our side, but here's the evidence further that it's through Adam that sin comes.
[35:19] God calls to the man, God called to the man in verse 8 and said to him, where are you? And Adam said, he said, I heard the sound even the garden, I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself.
[35:33] So on, so on. Either way they now face God and he received the blame, here we see the sin, here we see ourselves, don't we?
[35:47] This was Adam's chance, this was Adam's chance to say, and God gives him this chance graciously, as God says, Adam, where are you? As we see the question of what's taking place, who told you you were naked?
[36:06] Have you eaten of a tree which I command you not to eat? This is Adam's chance to own up, to confess his sin. What's the first thing this once perfect, glorious man says?
[36:22] Well, the woman you gave me, the woman you gave me, she gave the fruit to me and I ate it. In one breath he blames both God and Eve.
[36:35] The woman, her, her, even in the wording here in the Hebrew is pretty abrupt. When I say her, I'm not saying that to be funny.
[36:47] The sense is her, her you gave me, it's her fault. So it blames her and of course it's the one you gave me, the one you gave to be with me.
[37:01] He's making himself straight away into the victim of this situation. you gave her to me and now she's gone and done this. And I ate.
[37:13] He blames Eve, he blames God and God asks Eve the same question. What is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me.
[37:25] And I ate. But note here the questions now stop. Adam gets a chance to confess sin and explain himself.
[37:39] Eve gets a chance to confess sin and explain herself. But God asks no question of the serpent. God said to the man, God said to the woman, then verse 14, the Lord God said to the serpent, a question to Adam, a question to Eve, a condemnation only to the serpent.
[38:13] Man, mankind, humanity, we get grace from the start. We get grace from the start against the God we've just sinned at and sinned against.
[38:24] but for the evil one, the devil, there is no grace extended to him. We get grace but there is no hope or chance given to the serpent.
[38:35] Mankind gets told, as we'll see in a second, the glorious words of verse 15, the verse we all know so well, the verse talks of future hope for us and future destruction for the serpent and the serpent is told of his end.
[38:50] The serpent is told that for all he has done and all his effort, he will be destroyed eventually.
[39:02] And with the Lord's help, in a few weeks' time, we'll see that in more detail as we come to the garden where we see Satan described to us in more detail.
[39:14] Now yes, of course, man and woman, they aren't escaping this in the short term. We see pain in childbirth, we see toil and work. We see man has not only lost access to the garden, but now sin brings pain, it brings toil, ultimately, of course, sin brings death.
[39:40] For the sweat of your face shall eat bread, till you return, in verse 19, till you return to the ground. For out of it, you are taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
[40:00] Again, God gives grace upon grace. He tells him of a future of salvation, as we said in verse 15, he tells him a future hope, even in the midst of this first sin, God tells him the first glimpse as to his salvation plan, but also we see practical grace, we could see, being shown.
[40:20] Verse 21, the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them. There's so much we could say here, but just to note the point that's clear to us.
[40:33] Sin has taken place, and from sin already there is death, there is death immediately. Animals, their skin was used to clothe Adam and Eve.
[40:50] Sacrifices have taken place already to begin to cover the shame of mankind. Then we see as we come to the conclusion that the horrifying and eternally at times beyond us segment here from verse 22 to the end, verse 22, then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.
[41:20] Now, let's reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever. We covered this last time, but just to remind ourselves, God acts immediately.
[41:37] There's so much mystery here and for the Lord's help as we go through other gardens in the next few weeks, we actually have to come back to these verses. We'll keep coming back to them, but as a summary just for ourselves this evening, God acts immediately.
[41:53] Yes, he deals with Adam, he deals with Eve, but he also acts immediately in a wider context. Because they're still in the garden, but they're now sinners. Sin's entered into this world.
[42:06] Sin has begun as destructive work in Adam and Eve. And if they were to eat now of a tree of life, they would live forever.
[42:19] Scripture makes that clear to us. Adam and Eve would spend an eternal life in sin.
[42:32] An eternal life in destruction. An eternal life just degenerating from sin for age after age after age.
[42:44] It would be, with respect, quite literally a living hell. So God shows grace immediately. And he bars them from the garden, but more than that, he doesn't just bar them from the garden, he evacuates, he removes, verse 23, therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
[43:10] We'll return in future weeks back to this section because this section underpins so much what we see again and again in scripture of these two trees. That's enough mystery for us tonight.
[43:21] Mankind is driven from the garden. Verse 24, he drove out the man. At the east of the garden of Eden, he placed each other, a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
[43:39] We're not just gone, we're driven out, we're sent away, we're sent out away from the garden.
[43:50] As we said, this garden which represented God's presence of man, which represented God's perfection and God's love towards man, which represented mankind and God in perfect fellowship.
[44:06] Gone. Gone. And we see, we see, as it were, in the place of man, these heavenly beings, cherubim, plural, that we see these heavenly beings placed, as it were, guarding the tree, guarding this tree, which we said last time, represented God's presence with man, God's, as it were, pleasure with mankind, God's access, mankind's, or say, access to God, mankind's place before God, it's now gone, still there, but it's guarded, it's guarded.
[44:49] These cherubim, and we can say with confidence, as much as we can be confident, these two cherubim guarding the tree, and we'll see that next time, while we can say that, these cherubim guarding the tree, guarding access to God, and mankind, mankind now has no hope, has no help, is sent out of the garden, into the wilderness, guardian angels, a flaming sword, man will, from this point on, have no more access to the holy of holies, have no more access to the holy place, until, until one comes, the one in verse 15, the one in verse 15, who will bruise the head of the serpent, and whose heel will be bruised by the serpent, the one who will come who will bruise the serpent's head, who, as we'll see next week, who will tear, tear in half the curtain, the dividing wall of separation,
[46:03] Ephesians 2, who will destroy, and cut aside, and cut asunder, and who will take away the barrier that mankind has caused to be placed between himself and God.
[46:14] next week, the Lord's help, we'll see a travelling garden, a travelling garden, we'll see what mankind must do after this point, when access has been removed from them to God's holy presence, when mankind's been driven out of the garden, as mankind looks towards the coming saviour, who will destroy the head of the serpent, they now begin a journey, a journey that will lead them thousands of miles, thousands of years, awaiting a saviour.
[46:51] For tonight, we leave this garden, the hope is there, it's easy for us to read this and to think, oh well yeah, that's hard, but no, to read this and think, we know how the story ends, but for poor Adam and poor Eve, real people, our first parents who were real, conscious humans, who lived and who felt and who cried, I'm sure, who wept bitterly, who toiled the ground and who had real lives as we have real lives, for them, they had a promise given to them, but a promise that for them, I'm sure, felt as if it would never come.
[47:32] Touch that more, for the Lord's help, next time we're together. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Lord God, thank you Lord for the mystery and the glory and the beauty of your word.
[47:43] We give you praise that even though we find ourselves often in such depths with it, we give you praise that you've made clear to us all that we need to know for life and godliness, for that truth of salvation to be shared through your word to us.
[47:59] Help us as we come to reflect for the rest of this evening when we've heard from your word, to reflect on the reality that because of our sin, because of our sin that we've been cast away from your holy presence.
[48:11] Lord, help us to reflect that if we were there in place of our first parents, if we were there in place of Adam and Eve, that we would have done the same sin, that we would have been able and liable and likely to fall in almost the exact same way if not worse.
[48:29] Lord, help us to to think often, Lord, of not just what was lost, but to think often of your graciousness towards us, your graciousness towards our first parents and that even though that glory was lost and even though you drove them rightfully away from that place of glory, you were still merciful towards them, you still looked after them, you still cared for them and through their line you brought the Saviour, the one who we praise and we worship this evening.
[49:02] Thank you for our time together. We ask, Lord, it would be a blessing to us as we have this time of fellowship together, this time of study around your word. We leave this place having grown in not just knowledge but also love for you through your word.
[49:16] Help us to be, Lord, doers and not just hearers. Help us even to put into application what we heard this evening as we know that we serve and as we seek to witness to a lost world, a world which has been driven from the garden, from your place of holiness, but a world that's still under the curse of the evil one, but a world where you are able to rescue, a world where you are able to take any and all to a saving knowledge of yourself.
[49:43] Help us to have that confidence we take your word to those around us knowing that you have a God who accomplishes your will. Help us even just now as we come to sing our final item of praise, Lord.
[49:54] We ask you to bless, Lord, the brother who leads us in praise, Lord. Bless all those who lead in the public worship. You'd encourage them in their act of service towards you.
[50:05] They would know that they are leading the worship, the worship which joins in with the eternal worship you receive in glory. Ask all these things in and through and for Jesus' precious name's sake.
[50:18] Amen. Let's conclude by singing again in the Psalter and Psalm 116. Let's call your Psalter and Psalm 116.
[50:31] Let's call your Psalter and Psalm 116. You can sing verses 1 down to verse 6 of the Psalms.
[50:42] Scottish Psalter. Psalm 116 verses 1 down to verse 6. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers heeded here. I while I live will call on him who bowed me as here.
[50:56] Of death records and sorrows did about me compass round. The pains of hell took hold on me I grief and trouble found. Psalm 116 verses 1 to 6 to God's praise.
[51:07] Amen. Amen. Amen. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear.
[51:26] I while I live will call on him who bowed to me is the end.
[51:43] Of death the courts and sorrows did about me come past round.
[52:00] the pains of hell to hold on me I grief and trouble found.
[52:16] upon the name of God the Lord then did I call and sing deliver thou my soul O Lord I call thee am With the love of God the Father, and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, for from now and forevermore. Amen.
[53:41] Amen.