WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.120 We're going to read from Genesis chapter 3. 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:07.060 We are going through a series on Genesis 3 at the moment. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.900 ! This is the next section. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:13.939 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:18.980 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 00:00:19.879 --> 00:00:21.100 Then the Lord God said, 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:24.660 Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:29.280 Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also off the tree of life and eat, 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:30.100 and live forever. 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:33.780 Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden 00:00:33.780 --> 00:00:35.740 to work the ground from which he was taken. 00:00:36.300 --> 00:00:39.760 He drove out the man, and at the east of the Garden of Eden 00:00:39.760 --> 00:00:42.179 he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:45.880 that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:47.659 This is God's Word. 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:54.760 Today we're finishing a series that we've been doing on the chapter, Genesis 3. 00:00:54.759 --> 00:01:00.979 Five weeks just in this one chapter looking at this little piece of the book that's called Genesis. 00:01:01.339 --> 00:01:03.219 And Genesis means beginnings. 00:01:03.619 --> 00:01:06.140 So it tells you about the beginnings of human history. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:11.280 It tells you about fundamentally who we are, what we were made for. 00:01:12.039 --> 00:01:16.700 The Hebrew word that describes the whole of the first five books of the Bible 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:18.140 is the word Torah. 00:01:18.140 --> 00:01:20.959 Torah, and sometimes we translate it as law, 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:25.680 but actually Torah means more like the way of instruction, 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:27.780 the way of living life in general. 00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.159 And so it's got underneath it questions like, 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:30.879 who am I? 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:31.920 Who made me? 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.359 You know, you don't get to any laws in the Torah until 69 chapters in. 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.599 So the first 68 chapters are about who made you, 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:40.760 where did you come from, 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:43.079 who are you made to be, 00:01:43.159 --> 00:01:43.719 what are you for, 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:47.099 and fundamentally what's wrong with you? 00:01:47.179 --> 00:01:48.299 What's wrong with this world? 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:49.659 And we all feel that, 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:51.159 that there's something wrong with this world. 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:52.120 There's something wrong with us. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:53.859 We're not the way we're supposed to be. 00:01:54.039 --> 00:01:57.599 So Genesis 3 exists to tell us from God's mouth, 00:01:57.739 --> 00:01:58.340 what is wrong? 00:01:58.640 --> 00:01:59.620 What is wrong with this world? 00:01:59.859 --> 00:02:00.819 What is wrong with us? 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:01.819 What is wrong with me? 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:03.739 Our culture, 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:05.420 when it asks that question, 00:02:05.939 --> 00:02:08.639 comes and says something typically like, 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:11.360 we are born good, 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:13.460 but we become bad. 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:15.640 Our culture tends to, 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:18.660 tends to think collectively that the reason that we do evil, 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:20.500 the reason that anybody does evil in this world, 00:02:20.700 --> 00:02:22.120 is not because we're born that way, 00:02:22.200 --> 00:02:24.960 but because we become that way through our environment, 00:02:25.160 --> 00:02:26.460 through things that have happened to us, 00:02:26.540 --> 00:02:27.260 through experiences, 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:28.400 through trauma. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:30.320 And so the heartbeat, 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:31.720 I think of modern Edinburgh, 00:02:32.600 --> 00:02:33.300 is that my, 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:34.800 is I want to be able to say, 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:38.140 my delinquency is a product of other people's actions against me. 00:02:38.139 --> 00:02:42.000 And I think that what we're doing in our culture at large, 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:43.939 is trying to look for a way desperately to say, 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:44.979 it is not my fault. 00:02:45.459 --> 00:02:46.079 It's not me. 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:48.439 I didn't do it because I'm bad. 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:50.619 I did it because somebody else treated me bad. 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:52.299 And while there are truths there, 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:54.679 while our environment does indeed, 00:02:54.819 --> 00:02:56.319 create problems in our life, 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:56.919 and patterns. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:02:59.859 Genesis 3 comes and asks you, 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:01.979 do you have the courage to say, 00:03:02.679 --> 00:03:03.779 hi, it's me. 00:03:04.459 --> 00:03:05.379 I'm the problem. 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:06.060 It's me. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:11.099 Had to get that in somewhere in this series. 00:03:11.799 --> 00:03:13.900 And some of you will have to explain it to your neighbor later. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:17.039 That is the thing it's saying. 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:17.259 You know, 00:03:17.299 --> 00:03:19.400 every broken clock is right twice a day. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:21.099 And it really is, 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:22.219 I'm the problem. 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:22.620 It's me. 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:24.000 That's what Genesis 3 wants you to say. 00:03:24.620 --> 00:03:26.560 And it's not that there are good guys in here, 00:03:26.579 --> 00:03:27.740 and bad guys out there. 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:29.900 It's not that we are born good, 00:03:30.019 --> 00:03:30.840 but we become evil. 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:33.859 But this text tells us that we are evil from the inside out. 00:03:33.860 --> 00:03:35.580 And the word evil in the Bible, 00:03:35.700 --> 00:03:36.300 in the Old Testament, 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:38.320 doesn't mean maximally bad. 00:03:38.420 --> 00:03:40.300 It means that we are not who we should be. 00:03:40.660 --> 00:03:42.160 Our desires are bent and broken, 00:03:42.160 --> 00:03:45.020 and we lean towards trespass. 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:47.160 And so one of the ways you can talk about Genesis 3 00:03:47.160 --> 00:03:49.220 is not just as the fall story, 00:03:49.300 --> 00:03:50.620 but as the trespass story. 00:03:51.260 --> 00:03:53.240 Where Adam and Eve cross a boundary 00:03:53.240 --> 00:03:54.800 that they were not supposed to cross. 00:03:54.880 --> 00:03:56.360 They were made in God's image. 00:03:56.660 --> 00:03:57.880 But what they did was they said, 00:03:58.000 --> 00:03:59.260 I don't want to be in the image of God. 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:00.239 I want to be God. 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:02.099 And so they crossed a boundary 00:04:02.099 --> 00:04:04.539 and reached out and seized, 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.519 attempted to try and take divinity for themselves. 00:04:08.459 --> 00:04:09.299 And that's me. 00:04:09.459 --> 00:04:09.899 That's you. 00:04:09.979 --> 00:04:11.280 That's every single human being 00:04:11.280 --> 00:04:13.139 that's ever been made in world history. 00:04:13.799 --> 00:04:15.780 And we've learned every week 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:18.800 that the product of that has been a state of sin. 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:21.039 We don't become sinners. 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:22.079 We are sinners. 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:23.379 We're in a condition of sin. 00:04:23.379 --> 00:04:25.600 The Heidelberg Catechism says 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.439 we have brought misery into this world 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:30.339 by the condition of sin 00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:32.459 that we introduced to this world from the beginning. 00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:34.459 And so every week we've said 00:04:34.459 --> 00:04:39.000 that our sin has cost us alienation from ourselves. 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:40.319 We don't know ourselves. 00:04:40.899 --> 00:04:41.980 We're not honest with ourselves. 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:43.639 Alienation from other people. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:45.920 Adam blamed his wife for everything. 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:47.659 Marriage is broken. 00:04:47.779 --> 00:04:48.379 It's very difficult. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:50.839 Alienation from the land. 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:52.180 Alienation from our work. 00:04:52.180 --> 00:04:54.100 Alienation from all we were made to be. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:55.139 And most importantly, 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:56.879 alienation from God himself. 00:04:57.019 --> 00:04:58.519 We hide from God. 00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:00.259 Today, finally, 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:02.340 we see at the end of this passage, 00:05:02.579 --> 00:05:04.439 we're also, very importantly, 00:05:05.300 --> 00:05:06.920 we're alienated from home. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.480 We're not where we were meant to be. 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:13.220 We've been alienated because of our sin 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:14.420 from Edenic life, 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:15.259 from the Garden of Eden. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:16.660 We've been kicked out. 00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:19.399 And so let's think about that. 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.360 We are living east of Eden. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:24.480 And is there a way back? 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:25.939 Yes. 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:27.920 Let's look at that secondly. 00:05:28.060 --> 00:05:28.639 And then thirdly, 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:29.620 in the meantime, 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:31.759 let's think about some things we can do 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:33.439 to long and hope for Eden. 00:05:33.780 --> 00:05:34.480 Okay, so first, 00:05:35.220 --> 00:05:36.560 living life east of Eden. 00:05:36.699 --> 00:05:37.500 That's where we are right now. 00:05:37.639 --> 00:05:38.660 That's what the text tells us. 00:05:39.840 --> 00:05:40.259 We were in, 00:05:40.300 --> 00:05:41.079 my family and I, 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:42.420 we were in Harris last week, 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:43.060 last weekend, 00:05:43.460 --> 00:05:44.620 not here on the Sunday, 00:05:44.620 --> 00:05:46.600 and we were coming back from Harris. 00:05:46.740 --> 00:05:47.620 It's a long trip, 00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:48.420 the Isle of Harris, 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:49.220 back to Edinburgh. 00:05:49.939 --> 00:05:51.600 Seven hours if you go quickly, 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:53.819 but when you've got five children in the car, 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:54.899 it's more like ten. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:59.040 And we left Tarbert and Harris 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.860 to go to Stornoway to get the ferry. 00:06:01.420 --> 00:06:02.139 And if you don't know, 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:03.500 that's an hour drive, 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:05.600 of a seven hour drive. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.019 And about halfway between Tarbert and Stornoway, 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:09.899 the youngest in the car 00:06:09.899 --> 00:06:10.959 who can speak English, 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:12.919 said, 00:06:13.659 --> 00:06:14.019 ugh, 00:06:14.779 --> 00:06:16.219 are we home yet? 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:18.199 And you said, 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:19.560 buddy, we've got eight hours. 00:06:19.819 --> 00:06:20.079 Okay? 00:06:20.899 --> 00:06:21.500 And of course, 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:23.039 every 20, 30 minutes, 00:06:23.159 --> 00:06:23.859 the same question 00:06:23.859 --> 00:06:24.859 would come back up and up. 00:06:24.979 --> 00:06:25.539 And you've been there. 00:06:26.979 --> 00:06:28.060 Every single one of us, 00:06:28.139 --> 00:06:29.719 when we are on a trip like that, 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.240 we long for the moment 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:32.719 that you step through your front door 00:06:32.719 --> 00:06:33.959 and you drop your bags 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:35.620 at 11 p.m. at night, 00:06:35.699 --> 00:06:36.219 like us, 00:06:36.439 --> 00:06:37.099 and you say, 00:06:37.219 --> 00:06:37.859 sweet relief. 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:39.019 I'm home. 00:06:40.539 --> 00:06:40.899 We, 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:43.000 let's get right to the point today, 00:06:43.099 --> 00:06:44.060 we are not home. 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:47.120 We were made for life 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:48.079 in the Garden of Eden 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:49.620 with the living God. 00:06:50.060 --> 00:06:51.299 And we've been kicked out. 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:52.319 We're not home. 00:06:53.719 --> 00:06:54.919 And we see that right here. 00:06:54.979 --> 00:06:56.319 It says in verse 23 and 24 00:06:56.319 --> 00:06:58.120 that because of our sin, 00:06:58.299 --> 00:06:59.620 God drove us out 00:06:59.620 --> 00:07:00.419 from the Garden of Eden 00:07:00.419 --> 00:07:01.719 away from His presence. 00:07:02.419 --> 00:07:03.579 And we've been living life 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:04.240 east of Eden 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:05.319 ever since that moment. 00:07:06.299 --> 00:07:07.680 But here's the big point today, 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:09.079 and this is the spiritual burden, 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:09.420 I think, 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:10.740 of the text for all of us. 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:11.660 And that's, 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:12.660 though we are not home. 00:07:12.900 --> 00:07:13.240 Christian, 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:14.259 if you're a Christian today, 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:15.079 you are not home. 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:17.900 And if you're not a Christian today, 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:19.259 no matter what you believe in, 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:20.420 if you've come curious, 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:20.900 exploring, 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:21.960 you're not home either. 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.899 you were made for life with God 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:26.259 in the Edenic realm, 00:07:26.359 --> 00:07:27.199 in Eden, 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:28.339 and you're not home either. 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:32.299 But we struggle to actually want that. 00:07:33.339 --> 00:07:34.959 So we are far away from home, 00:07:35.039 --> 00:07:36.039 yet we don't think about it. 00:07:36.099 --> 00:07:37.399 We don't dream about it. 00:07:37.419 --> 00:07:38.219 We don't imagine it. 00:07:38.259 --> 00:07:39.219 We don't long for it. 00:07:39.359 --> 00:07:40.579 We live life east of Eden, 00:07:40.859 --> 00:07:42.699 yet we don't hunger most of the time 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:43.519 for Eden, 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:45.339 for the place that God put us. 00:07:46.159 --> 00:07:48.099 We don't desire enough 00:07:48.099 --> 00:07:50.859 the true home that God has made for us. 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:53.259 And so we just let it be. 00:07:53.379 --> 00:07:54.699 We just get on with our daily life. 00:07:54.779 --> 00:07:55.839 And so here in verse 24, 00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:58.560 it says that God drove Adam and Eve 00:07:58.560 --> 00:07:59.439 east of Eden. 00:08:00.799 --> 00:08:03.159 About 200 years before Jesus was born 00:08:03.159 --> 00:08:04.500 in Alexandria, Egypt, 00:08:04.659 --> 00:08:06.319 a group of Jewish scholars 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:09.879 translated the Old Testament Hebrew Bible 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:10.799 into Greek. 00:08:11.219 --> 00:08:12.639 And we call that the Septuagint. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:14.199 And this is the Bible 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:15.919 that Jesus largely read from, 00:08:16.099 --> 00:08:16.639 the Septuagint, 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:17.879 and it's often quoted 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:19.259 in the Gospels itself. 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:20.979 And in the Septuagint, 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:22.000 the Greek translation 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:23.599 of the Hebrew Bible, 00:08:23.740 --> 00:08:24.339 the Old Testament, 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.579 this word Eden in Genesis 3 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:29.039 is just the Greek word paradise. 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.220 And so in the Old Testament, 00:08:32.419 --> 00:08:33.399 it's very clear that 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:35.899 the Jewish understanding of Eden 00:08:35.899 --> 00:08:37.340 is a garden paradise, 00:08:38.299 --> 00:08:38.899 a place of, 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:40.179 you can translate the word Eden 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:42.959 very literally to all around delight. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:44.500 It could read like that. 00:08:45.259 --> 00:08:46.639 And when we get kicked out 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:47.279 of the Garden of Eden 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:48.359 in verse 24 here, 00:08:49.099 --> 00:08:50.620 we learn that from the very beginning, 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:52.059 there was land outside 00:08:52.059 --> 00:08:53.159 of the Garden of Eden. 00:08:53.579 --> 00:08:54.759 So when God created the world, 00:08:54.879 --> 00:08:56.199 he created lots of lands, 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:56.919 the whole world, 00:08:57.479 --> 00:08:58.739 and he picked a spot 00:08:58.739 --> 00:09:02.639 to make his holy garden temple, 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:04.779 his throne room on earth. 00:09:04.979 --> 00:09:06.179 And he came into that spot 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:07.099 to dwell with humanity, 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:08.519 to partner with humanity, 00:09:08.519 --> 00:09:09.480 to make home with us. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:10.779 And so we learn here 00:09:10.779 --> 00:09:11.879 that there are lands 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:13.120 outside of the Garden of Eden 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:14.639 in the early days. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:16.299 And they are good, 00:09:16.819 --> 00:09:18.139 but they're not Eden. 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:20.019 They're not the harmony, 00:09:20.139 --> 00:09:20.539 the glory, 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:21.559 the abundance of Eden. 00:09:21.740 --> 00:09:22.759 They're not life with God. 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:23.620 They're not home with God. 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:24.199 Not exactly. 00:09:25.220 --> 00:09:26.240 But when Adam and Eve 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:27.659 are driven out of Eden, 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:28.519 they go east of Eden, 00:09:28.980 --> 00:09:31.699 they bring corruption, 00:09:32.480 --> 00:09:33.159 the state of sin, 00:09:33.220 --> 00:09:33.799 the state of misery, 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:34.980 the condition that they're in, 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.399 into the rest of the world, 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:37.120 into the lands. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:38.299 And so if you go and read 00:09:38.299 --> 00:09:39.940 Genesis 4 to 11, 00:09:40.279 --> 00:09:41.840 it's basically an account 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.320 of the cancer 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:45.159 that Adam and Eve 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:46.120 were and brought 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:46.879 in their sin 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:48.000 into the rest of the land, 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:48.519 the corruption 00:09:48.519 --> 00:09:49.480 of the rest of the world. 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:52.580 But we were made for Eden. 00:09:52.679 --> 00:09:53.600 We were made for a home 00:09:53.600 --> 00:09:55.259 greater than just the land, 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.340 for the Edenic life itself. 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.720 Now, my burden today 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.580 is to say simply this, 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:04.340 that because none of us 00:10:04.340 --> 00:10:05.800 have ever lived anything 00:10:05.800 --> 00:10:06.680 but east of Eden, 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:08.240 we don't know 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:08.879 what we're missing. 00:10:10.160 --> 00:10:11.160 We don't know 00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:12.360 the abundance 00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:13.220 of the life 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:14.560 that God had intended for us. 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:17.120 And so we don't really want it. 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:18.879 We don't want it 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:19.780 because we don't realize 00:10:19.780 --> 00:10:20.480 what it is. 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:21.860 Abraham Kuyper 00:10:21.860 --> 00:10:24.160 was a Dutch theologian 00:10:24.160 --> 00:10:25.259 in the early 20th century, 00:10:25.660 --> 00:10:26.500 prime minister 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:27.300 in the Netherlands, 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:28.639 and he spent 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:29.900 a good bit of his corpus, 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:30.680 he wrote a lot, 00:10:30.679 --> 00:10:32.099 and one of the things 00:10:32.099 --> 00:10:32.959 he did was he thought 00:10:32.959 --> 00:10:34.139 a lot about Eden, 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:35.639 and he writes about it 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:36.219 in one place, 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:37.159 and he's just trying 00:10:37.159 --> 00:10:39.239 to cultivate an image 00:10:39.239 --> 00:10:40.679 of the Edenic life for us, 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:42.219 to cultivate desire 00:10:42.219 --> 00:10:43.559 in our heart for true home. 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:44.879 And this is what he says. 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:46.079 He says, 00:10:46.199 --> 00:10:48.099 There are flowers 00:10:48.099 --> 00:10:49.319 so delightfully beautiful 00:10:49.319 --> 00:10:50.919 as we no longer know them, 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:53.079 foliage that by shape 00:10:53.079 --> 00:10:54.479 and intense color 00:10:54.479 --> 00:10:55.659 entice the eye, 00:10:56.359 --> 00:10:57.799 trees that far exceed 00:10:57.799 --> 00:10:58.339 the cedar 00:10:58.339 --> 00:11:00.000 and the palm in splendor. 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:02.959 Inexpressible gloriousness 00:11:02.959 --> 00:11:03.679 all around. 00:11:04.059 --> 00:11:04.799 The Garden of Eden 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:06.019 throbbed with life 00:11:06.019 --> 00:11:07.659 through the songbirds 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:08.319 and the branches 00:11:08.319 --> 00:11:09.239 and the noble, 00:11:09.459 --> 00:11:10.419 pure-blooded animals 00:11:10.419 --> 00:11:11.579 that populated paradise 00:11:11.579 --> 00:11:13.359 newly created by God 00:11:13.359 --> 00:11:14.939 in undamaged perfection. 00:11:15.959 --> 00:11:16.419 And he says, 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:17.719 The animal world, 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:18.559 in the animal world, 00:11:18.899 --> 00:11:19.579 peace reigned. 00:11:19.699 --> 00:11:21.299 There was no tormenting insects, 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:22.599 no midges. 00:11:23.199 --> 00:11:24.159 He didn't say that. 00:11:24.219 --> 00:11:24.959 I added that part. 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:25.759 But no midges, 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:27.059 if you're from the U.S., 00:11:27.059 --> 00:11:27.799 no mosquitoes, 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:30.379 no prowling tigers, 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.079 that raised its paws 00:11:33.079 --> 00:11:33.799 against us. 00:11:34.459 --> 00:11:35.399 And here's the big piece. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:35.979 Listen to this. 00:11:36.459 --> 00:11:36.819 He says, 00:11:37.059 --> 00:11:38.120 Everything was, 00:11:38.259 --> 00:11:38.559 of course, 00:11:38.699 --> 00:11:40.679 still far more beautiful 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:41.279 and glorious 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:42.739 than our words 00:11:42.739 --> 00:11:43.919 could possibly sketch. 00:11:45.359 --> 00:11:46.819 Paradise is gone, 00:11:47.439 --> 00:11:48.659 and the only imagination, 00:11:49.099 --> 00:11:50.079 only the imagination, 00:11:50.079 --> 00:11:51.279 can to some extent 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:52.519 bring it back to us. 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:54.299 Paradise is far gone. 00:11:54.379 --> 00:11:55.139 We don't know yet 00:11:55.139 --> 00:11:56.959 what we're missing. 00:11:57.680 --> 00:11:59.000 C.S. Lewis writes about this 00:11:59.000 --> 00:11:59.740 in his book, 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:00.820 Surprised by Joy. 00:12:01.680 --> 00:12:02.700 So in Surprised by Joy, 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:03.540 he writes an account 00:12:03.540 --> 00:12:04.460 of his own biography 00:12:04.460 --> 00:12:05.379 and how he came 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:06.540 from atheism 00:12:06.540 --> 00:12:07.460 to Christianity. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:08.759 And it's a beautiful 00:12:08.759 --> 00:12:09.200 little book. 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:10.700 But in it, 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:11.400 he says that 00:12:11.400 --> 00:12:12.379 every time he reads 00:12:12.379 --> 00:12:12.920 about Eden 00:12:12.920 --> 00:12:13.519 in the Bible, 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:14.680 he thinks about 00:12:14.680 --> 00:12:15.340 his childhood, 00:12:15.540 --> 00:12:16.400 and he goes back 00:12:16.400 --> 00:12:17.060 to this moment 00:12:17.060 --> 00:12:18.139 with his brother 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:19.400 in their family home 00:12:19.400 --> 00:12:19.860 in Ireland. 00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:21.660 And he says his brother 00:12:21.660 --> 00:12:23.500 would take a biscuit tin, 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:23.900 you know, 00:12:23.940 --> 00:12:24.620 one of the really nice 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:25.220 biscuit tins, 00:12:25.519 --> 00:12:26.299 the gift tins, 00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:26.620 you know. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:28.860 And he would take it 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:30.299 and he would put flowers 00:12:30.299 --> 00:12:32.179 and plants from the garden, 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:32.919 wildflowers, 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:34.100 and he would organize 00:12:34.100 --> 00:12:35.340 the flowers and the plants 00:12:35.340 --> 00:12:35.740 and the grass 00:12:35.740 --> 00:12:37.440 all on top of this biscuit tin. 00:12:37.700 --> 00:12:38.419 And they would play 00:12:38.419 --> 00:12:39.019 like they had built 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:39.779 their own little garden. 00:12:40.379 --> 00:12:41.299 And then the light 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:42.139 in the back garden, 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:42.820 the sunshine, 00:12:42.980 --> 00:12:43.440 would shine down 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:44.179 on the biscuit tin 00:12:44.179 --> 00:12:45.480 and it would reflect 00:12:45.480 --> 00:12:46.899 up from the metal 00:12:46.899 --> 00:12:47.740 of the tin 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:48.860 and shine up 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:49.580 through the lights, 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:50.840 through the flowers, 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:51.440 the grass. 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:52.299 And he said, 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:53.440 every time he opens 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:53.820 the Bible 00:12:53.820 --> 00:12:55.460 and he reads about Eden, 00:12:55.760 --> 00:12:57.100 he images this tin, 00:12:57.820 --> 00:12:59.000 the light refracting, 00:12:59.100 --> 00:12:59.800 reflecting up 00:12:59.800 --> 00:13:00.400 through the flowers 00:13:00.400 --> 00:13:00.940 and the grass 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:01.740 that his brother made, 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:02.540 conjuring, 00:13:03.100 --> 00:13:04.700 creating an imagination 00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:05.360 of moments 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:06.800 of what it must be like 00:13:06.800 --> 00:13:08.620 to be in the Garden of Eden, 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:10.020 life with God 00:13:10.020 --> 00:13:11.320 from the beginning. 00:13:11.740 --> 00:13:12.580 And if you've read that book, 00:13:12.620 --> 00:13:13.040 you might know 00:13:13.040 --> 00:13:14.100 that he attaches 00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:15.100 a word to that, 00:13:15.420 --> 00:13:16.440 a German word, 00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:17.400 Zenzucht, 00:13:17.900 --> 00:13:19.260 and he grabs hold 00:13:19.260 --> 00:13:20.220 of this German word 00:13:20.220 --> 00:13:22.180 to try to take hold 00:13:22.180 --> 00:13:22.460 of something 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:23.240 we don't quite have 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:23.920 in English. 00:13:25.160 --> 00:13:25.700 And for him, 00:13:25.780 --> 00:13:26.720 what Zenzucht means 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:27.980 is something like 00:13:27.980 --> 00:13:29.900 a description 00:13:29.900 --> 00:13:31.840 of the intense longing, 00:13:32.680 --> 00:13:33.580 the intense longing 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:34.680 for something 00:13:34.680 --> 00:13:35.600 you've never 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:36.660 actually experienced. 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:38.440 An intense, 00:13:38.680 --> 00:13:39.460 desperate longing, 00:13:40.540 --> 00:13:41.540 a hole in your heart, 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:41.860 you know, 00:13:41.900 --> 00:13:42.259 there's a hole 00:13:42.259 --> 00:13:42.740 in your heart, 00:13:43.040 --> 00:13:44.100 a God-shaped hole, 00:13:44.660 --> 00:13:45.259 life in Eden, 00:13:45.620 --> 00:13:46.879 an Edenic hole 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:47.680 in your heart, 00:13:47.780 --> 00:13:48.680 and you've got 00:13:48.680 --> 00:13:49.160 a longing, 00:13:49.580 --> 00:13:50.019 a Zenzucht, 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:51.000 a deep desire 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:51.500 for something 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:52.139 that you've never 00:13:52.139 --> 00:13:52.980 actually tasted. 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:55.559 True home. 00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:56.759 And so, 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:58.259 long before C.S. Lewis 00:13:58.259 --> 00:13:58.940 ever said that, 00:13:58.980 --> 00:13:59.639 Abraham Kuyper, 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:00.419 he put it like this, 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:01.460 he said, 00:14:01.700 --> 00:14:02.240 none of us 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:02.820 who have ever 00:14:02.820 --> 00:14:04.200 been conceived 00:14:04.200 --> 00:14:04.820 and born 00:14:04.820 --> 00:14:06.240 in this sinful world 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:07.559 can get a full, 00:14:07.779 --> 00:14:08.940 profound impression 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:10.279 of what that heavenly 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:11.519 paradise must have 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:12.039 been like. 00:14:12.519 --> 00:14:13.480 Only one day 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:14.360 when we rise 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:15.080 from the dead 00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:15.919 will we have 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:17.460 the receptive capability 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:18.720 to perceive 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:19.940 such inexpressible 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:20.600 glory and beauty. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:22.860 He says, 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:23.960 we do not long 00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:25.480 for enough. 00:14:25.780 --> 00:14:26.759 We do not long 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:27.580 for more 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:28.879 because we have 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:30.160 never experienced 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:30.860 the more. 00:14:32.040 --> 00:14:32.660 And he goes on, 00:14:32.700 --> 00:14:32.820 he says, 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:33.420 we must not put 00:14:33.420 --> 00:14:34.540 our highest desires 00:14:34.540 --> 00:14:36.540 lower than what 00:14:36.540 --> 00:14:37.400 God has destined 00:14:37.400 --> 00:14:37.960 for us. 00:14:39.019 --> 00:14:39.280 Friends, 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:40.080 when you read about Eden 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:40.860 and you read about 00:14:40.860 --> 00:14:41.240 true home, 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:42.160 do not put your 00:14:42.160 --> 00:14:43.220 greatest desires 00:14:43.220 --> 00:14:44.860 lower than what 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:45.560 God has destined 00:14:45.560 --> 00:14:46.019 for you. 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:48.539 long for an 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:49.519 overabundance 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:50.220 that you cannot 00:14:50.220 --> 00:14:50.720 imagine. 00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:52.100 Life with God, 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:52.639 life in the 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:53.240 Edenic realm. 00:14:54.319 --> 00:14:54.639 He says, 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:55.399 we're homesick 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:56.079 for too little 00:14:56.079 --> 00:14:57.039 because we desire 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:57.500 too little. 00:14:58.120 --> 00:14:58.860 We haven't clearly 00:14:58.860 --> 00:14:59.919 recognized from 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:01.019 how high a state 00:15:01.019 --> 00:15:01.840 of bliss and 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:02.659 heavily overabundance 00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:03.259 we have fallen. 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:04.460 We cannot gauge 00:15:04.460 --> 00:15:05.539 the depth into 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:06.539 which sin has 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:07.399 thrown us east 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:07.740 of Eden. 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:10.279 We're in exile. 00:15:11.539 --> 00:15:12.379 We're east 00:15:12.379 --> 00:15:12.779 of Eden. 00:15:13.740 --> 00:15:14.939 We are not home. 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:16.680 And because of 00:15:16.680 --> 00:15:16.940 that, 00:15:17.040 --> 00:15:17.620 we've got an 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:18.340 Edenic and 00:15:18.340 --> 00:15:19.140 God-shaped hole 00:15:19.140 --> 00:15:19.640 in our heart 00:15:19.640 --> 00:15:20.700 that cannot be 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:22.780 filled until 00:15:22.780 --> 00:15:24.120 this life in 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:24.920 Christ brings us 00:15:24.920 --> 00:15:25.260 back. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:28.180 There's no 00:15:28.180 --> 00:15:29.920 win in this 00:15:29.920 --> 00:15:30.240 life, 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:31.200 there's no next 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:32.240 thing coming in 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:33.740 this life that 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:34.820 will ever fill 00:15:34.820 --> 00:15:36.100 the God-shaped 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:36.340 hole, 00:15:36.420 --> 00:15:37.060 the Edenic hole 00:15:37.060 --> 00:15:37.580 in your heart 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:38.740 for true home. 00:15:39.220 --> 00:15:40.360 The next job 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:41.500 won't do it. 00:15:41.580 --> 00:15:42.000 The next 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:42.980 relationship won't 00:15:42.980 --> 00:15:43.320 do it. 00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:44.220 The next big 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:45.100 win won't do it. 00:15:45.160 --> 00:15:45.879 The step up in 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:46.080 career, 00:15:46.180 --> 00:15:47.260 the step up in 00:15:47.260 --> 00:15:47.760 reputation, 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:48.600 it won't do it. 00:15:48.660 --> 00:15:49.440 There's a God-shaped 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:50.400 hole and the only 00:15:50.400 --> 00:15:51.000 thing that will 00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:52.460 ever fill it is 00:15:52.460 --> 00:15:53.440 going home again. 00:15:55.020 --> 00:15:55.340 Secondly, 00:15:55.680 --> 00:15:56.320 is there a way 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:56.620 back? 00:15:57.680 --> 00:15:58.080 Yes, 00:15:58.400 --> 00:15:59.180 the text tells us 00:15:59.180 --> 00:15:59.360 here. 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:01.160 This text actually 00:16:01.160 --> 00:16:01.500 tells us. 00:16:01.520 --> 00:16:02.000 You don't even have 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:02.440 to go to the rest 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:03.080 of the Bible to 00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:03.800 hear that there is 00:16:03.800 --> 00:16:04.160 a way back. 00:16:04.620 --> 00:16:05.420 In verse 22, 00:16:06.280 --> 00:16:07.740 we're told that 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:08.480 the Lord God 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.500 kicks Adam and 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:10.640 Eve out because 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:11.939 the man has 00:16:11.939 --> 00:16:12.620 become like one 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:12.879 of us, 00:16:12.980 --> 00:16:13.679 knowing good and 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:13.919 evil. 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:14.939 So we're told 00:16:14.939 --> 00:16:15.779 here in the 00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:16.720 passage the 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:17.580 reasons that 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:17.939 we've been 00:16:17.939 --> 00:16:18.659 driven out from 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:19.100 the garden. 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:20.379 The first 00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:20.659 reason, 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:21.240 God says, 00:16:21.699 --> 00:16:22.399 is because we 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:23.039 know good and 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:24.220 evil like God. 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:24.539 Now, 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:27.699 God knows 00:16:27.699 --> 00:16:28.980 about evil. 00:16:29.480 --> 00:16:30.159 He's gone 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:30.899 toe-to-toe with 00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:31.120 evil. 00:16:31.199 --> 00:16:31.720 He knows about 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:31.939 it. 00:16:32.259 --> 00:16:33.059 But the word 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:33.779 know here is 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:34.379 very intimate. 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:34.939 It's saying that 00:16:34.939 --> 00:16:35.620 we now, 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:36.319 because of our 00:16:36.319 --> 00:16:36.639 choices, 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:37.939 we know evil 00:16:37.939 --> 00:16:38.559 intimately. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:39.759 And so the 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:40.319 first reason we're 00:16:40.319 --> 00:16:40.899 told that we've 00:16:40.899 --> 00:16:41.379 been driven out 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:41.839 of Eden is 00:16:41.839 --> 00:16:43.039 because evil 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.000 cannot stand 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:44.519 inside the 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:45.019 garden temple 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:45.399 of God. 00:16:45.479 --> 00:16:46.019 It cannot be 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:46.959 near unto God's 00:16:46.959 --> 00:16:47.359 presence. 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:48.419 And so we're 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:48.959 driven away 00:16:48.959 --> 00:16:49.519 because we've 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:50.619 made an intimate 00:16:50.619 --> 00:16:51.439 relationship with 00:16:51.439 --> 00:16:52.039 evil itself. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:52.500 We've become 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:52.879 sinners. 00:16:53.599 --> 00:16:54.319 But then he goes 00:16:54.319 --> 00:16:54.859 on from there and 00:16:54.859 --> 00:16:55.239 gives you the 00:16:55.239 --> 00:16:55.779 second reason. 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:56.359 And here's the 00:16:56.359 --> 00:16:56.919 real heartbeat. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:16:58.379 In verse 23, 00:16:58.879 --> 00:16:59.239 it says, 00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:00.259 sorry, 00:17:00.379 --> 00:17:00.679 the end of 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:01.299 verse 22, 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:03.119 lest we reach 00:17:03.119 --> 00:17:04.559 out and take 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:05.259 and eat from 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:05.779 the tree of 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:06.179 life, 00:17:06.460 --> 00:17:07.139 he sends us 00:17:07.139 --> 00:17:07.399 away. 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:08.840 Lest we reach 00:17:08.840 --> 00:17:09.180 out and we 00:17:09.180 --> 00:17:09.540 take and we 00:17:09.540 --> 00:17:09.920 eat from the 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:10.160 tree of 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:10.840 life and we 00:17:10.840 --> 00:17:11.420 live forever, 00:17:12.560 --> 00:17:13.759 God banishes 00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:14.680 us. 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:14.880 Now, 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:16.540 the tree of 00:17:16.540 --> 00:17:16.860 life, 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:19.000 this beautiful 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:19.980 tree in the 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:20.380 midst of the 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:20.700 garden of 00:17:20.700 --> 00:17:20.920 Eden, 00:17:21.840 --> 00:17:22.560 God tells you 00:17:22.560 --> 00:17:22.960 that one of 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:23.340 the reasons 00:17:23.340 --> 00:17:23.720 that you 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:24.420 cannot be in 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:25.000 Eden at this 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:25.740 moment is lest 00:17:25.740 --> 00:17:26.300 you reach out 00:17:26.300 --> 00:17:27.220 your hand and 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:27.800 you take and 00:17:27.800 --> 00:17:28.620 you eat from 00:17:28.620 --> 00:17:28.920 the tree. 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:29.420 The tree of 00:17:29.420 --> 00:17:30.380 life is a 00:17:30.380 --> 00:17:30.840 sacrament. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:31.780 So in the 00:17:31.780 --> 00:17:32.500 New Testament, 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:32.960 in the New 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:33.240 Covenant, 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:34.360 in our church, 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:35.040 we celebrate the 00:17:35.040 --> 00:17:35.580 Lord's Supper, 00:17:35.900 --> 00:17:36.460 and that's a 00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:36.840 sacrament. 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:38.220 So we come 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:39.100 and we taste 00:17:39.100 --> 00:17:40.480 physical bread, 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:41.580 physical wine, 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:42.700 and in that 00:17:42.700 --> 00:17:43.880 physical experience, 00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:45.040 God communicates to 00:17:45.040 --> 00:17:45.660 us a spiritual 00:17:45.660 --> 00:17:46.860 reality through the 00:17:46.860 --> 00:17:47.800 physical experience. 00:17:48.360 --> 00:17:49.080 In the same way in 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:49.519 the Garden of 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:49.640 Eden, 00:17:49.720 --> 00:17:50.080 there's a 00:17:50.080 --> 00:17:51.060 sacrament at the 00:17:51.060 --> 00:17:51.400 heart of the 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:51.880 Garden of Eden, 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:52.880 this physical 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:53.360 reality, 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:53.960 the tree of 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:54.320 life, 00:17:54.820 --> 00:17:55.440 and you reach 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:56.019 out and you 00:17:56.019 --> 00:17:56.580 take of it, 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.300 you taste of 00:17:57.300 --> 00:17:57.540 it, 00:17:57.860 --> 00:17:58.600 and it's God 00:17:58.600 --> 00:17:59.980 communicating to 00:17:59.980 --> 00:18:00.900 you life. 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:01.980 And somehow, 00:18:02.180 --> 00:18:02.800 someway in the 00:18:02.800 --> 00:18:03.200 Garden of Eden, 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:03.900 the tree of life, 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:04.600 this sacrament, 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:06.319 gives the gift of 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:07.480 everlasting physical 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:07.839 life. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:09.319 So when you, 00:18:09.439 --> 00:18:10.079 excuse me, 00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:11.039 when you take and 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.519 you eat of it, 00:18:11.539 --> 00:18:12.480 it communicates to 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:13.939 you like a 00:18:13.939 --> 00:18:14.299 sacrament, 00:18:14.639 --> 00:18:15.099 physical, 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:15.599 enduring, 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:16.939 everlasting life. 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:17.959 And the reason that 00:18:17.959 --> 00:18:18.959 God says to Adam and 00:18:18.959 --> 00:18:19.179 Eve, 00:18:19.419 --> 00:18:20.279 I'm kicking you out of 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:20.599 the Garden, 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:21.579 lest you take, 00:18:21.719 --> 00:18:22.299 lest you eat, 00:18:22.379 --> 00:18:22.980 is why? 00:18:23.839 --> 00:18:24.699 It's because He's 00:18:24.699 --> 00:18:25.339 saying to them, 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:26.919 you think, 00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:28.439 Adam and Eve, 00:18:28.519 --> 00:18:29.359 human being, 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:30.240 you think that you 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:31.980 can say to God, 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:33.180 I don't want you, 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:33.960 I don't want 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:34.920 relationship with 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:35.079 you, 00:18:36.019 --> 00:18:37.039 I don't want my 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:37.559 father, 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:39.319 but I want to stay 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:40.220 in the home He 00:18:40.220 --> 00:18:40.880 built for me, 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:42.099 and only take the 00:18:42.099 --> 00:18:42.400 benefits. 00:18:43.620 --> 00:18:44.440 I want to be able 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:45.480 to stay here and 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:46.440 get immortal life, 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:47.180 I want physical 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:47.460 life, 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:48.120 I want everlasting 00:18:48.120 --> 00:18:48.400 life, 00:18:48.460 --> 00:18:49.059 I want the goods 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:49.599 that you've made 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:49.980 for me, 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:50.680 but I don't want 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:50.920 you. 00:18:51.980 --> 00:18:52.579 And God's saying, 00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:53.240 you think, 00:18:53.700 --> 00:18:54.539 you think that you 00:18:54.539 --> 00:18:56.039 can reject the God 00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:56.480 who made you, 00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:57.059 the Creator who 00:18:57.059 --> 00:18:57.559 made you, 00:18:58.160 --> 00:18:58.980 trespass against 00:18:58.980 --> 00:18:59.559 Him and say, 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:00.319 we want you 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:00.740 dead, 00:19:01.059 --> 00:19:01.700 like the prodigal 00:19:01.700 --> 00:19:03.399 son in Luke 15 00:19:03.399 --> 00:19:04.639 who says to the 00:19:04.639 --> 00:19:04.899 Father, 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:05.839 I will take my 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:06.119 third, 00:19:06.259 --> 00:19:06.779 I will take my 00:19:06.779 --> 00:19:07.139 inheritance, 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:08.259 I wish you were 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:08.740 dead, 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:09.940 I want your 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:10.279 benefits, 00:19:10.379 --> 00:19:10.960 I don't want you. 00:19:12.139 --> 00:19:12.480 And He says, 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:13.879 you can't reject 00:19:13.879 --> 00:19:14.299 God, 00:19:14.379 --> 00:19:14.879 human being, 00:19:14.919 --> 00:19:15.399 and then come 00:19:15.399 --> 00:19:15.700 and say, 00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:16.480 but I really 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:17.079 like the benefits 00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:17.659 you made for me. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:19.299 You can't reject 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:19.799 God and say, 00:19:19.879 --> 00:19:20.519 but I do want 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:21.200 the immortal life 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:21.539 that you had 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:21.799 promised. 00:19:22.399 --> 00:19:22.879 I want to eat 00:19:22.879 --> 00:19:23.440 from the tree of 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:24.000 life and take 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:24.759 that gift. 00:19:24.940 --> 00:19:25.240 And you know, 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:26.079 what is God 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:26.519 doing here? 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:28.359 He's saying, 00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:29.979 lest you continue 00:19:29.979 --> 00:19:31.199 to take and reach 00:19:31.199 --> 00:19:31.979 and reach and reach 00:19:31.979 --> 00:19:33.599 and seize the 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:34.240 immortal life, 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:35.859 the gifts that I've 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:36.339 given you, 00:19:36.419 --> 00:19:37.559 and continue to 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:38.519 reject me, 00:19:38.819 --> 00:19:39.539 I banish you. 00:19:39.539 --> 00:19:39.959 In other words, 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:40.599 what is He doing? 00:19:40.699 --> 00:19:41.339 He's saying, 00:19:41.899 --> 00:19:42.559 He's saying, 00:19:43.399 --> 00:19:44.219 I am kicking you 00:19:44.219 --> 00:19:44.879 out of the Garden 00:19:44.879 --> 00:19:46.399 of Eden so that 00:19:46.399 --> 00:19:47.179 you can be 00:19:47.179 --> 00:19:48.079 redeemable. 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:49.959 You see, 00:19:50.019 --> 00:19:51.139 if you're left to 00:19:51.139 --> 00:19:51.500 the Garden, 00:19:51.699 --> 00:19:52.379 in the Garden of 00:19:52.379 --> 00:19:52.619 Eden, 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:53.799 with your sin, 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:54.839 all you will do 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:56.339 is loot the 00:19:56.339 --> 00:19:57.039 tree of life 00:19:57.039 --> 00:19:57.859 forever and 00:19:57.859 --> 00:19:58.819 stay in exactly 00:19:58.819 --> 00:19:59.339 the condition 00:19:59.339 --> 00:19:59.759 you're in. 00:19:59.879 --> 00:20:00.359 You'll continue 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:01.139 over and over 00:20:01.139 --> 00:20:01.839 again to say, 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:02.759 I'm okay. 00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:03.960 I've got pleasure 00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:04.619 forevermore. 00:20:04.980 --> 00:20:06.799 I'm happy to 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:07.519 take the goods 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:08.059 and leave the 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:08.559 God behind 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:09.139 who made them. 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:10.779 And you see 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:11.339 what God's doing? 00:20:11.419 --> 00:20:11.740 He's saying, 00:20:11.919 --> 00:20:12.519 I have kicked 00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:12.779 you, 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:13.659 I have exiled 00:20:13.659 --> 00:20:14.159 you from the 00:20:14.159 --> 00:20:14.740 Garden of Eden 00:20:14.740 --> 00:20:15.879 so that you 00:20:15.879 --> 00:20:16.379 will be able 00:20:16.379 --> 00:20:16.940 to come home 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:17.240 again. 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:19.440 It's mercy. 00:20:21.019 --> 00:20:22.299 Lest they eat 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:23.039 of the tree 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:23.440 of life 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:23.960 and become 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:24.960 irredeemable 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:25.899 in their condition. 00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:27.180 God says, 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:28.039 you're banished 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:28.879 so that you 00:20:28.879 --> 00:20:29.419 will see your 00:20:29.419 --> 00:20:30.240 need to come 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:30.559 home. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:32.379 He's doing 00:20:32.379 --> 00:20:32.759 nothing but 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:33.099 showing them 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:33.319 mercy. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:33.559 Now, 00:20:34.139 --> 00:20:34.579 how does 00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:35.059 He do that? 00:20:35.919 --> 00:20:36.819 Verse 22, 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:38.379 in verse 22 00:20:38.379 --> 00:20:39.659 it says that 00:20:39.659 --> 00:20:40.819 He clothed 00:20:40.819 --> 00:20:42.500 them in skins 00:20:42.500 --> 00:20:43.279 from animals. 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:44.440 So God, 00:20:44.919 --> 00:20:45.940 on their way 00:20:45.940 --> 00:20:46.180 out, 00:20:46.839 --> 00:20:47.480 takes an 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:48.159 animal and 00:20:48.159 --> 00:20:49.119 sacrifices the 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:49.940 animal and 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:50.799 puts clothes 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:51.359 on their naked 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:51.680 bodies, 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:52.079 gives them 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:52.599 new clothing. 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:54.359 And when He 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:54.759 says that, 00:20:54.819 --> 00:20:55.359 He's saying, 00:20:55.919 --> 00:20:56.639 I will clothe 00:20:56.639 --> 00:20:58.159 you temporarily 00:20:58.159 --> 00:20:59.559 by the 00:20:59.559 --> 00:21:00.539 substitutionary 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:00.960 death of 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:01.179 another. 00:21:02.899 --> 00:21:03.460 If you're 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:03.740 going to go 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:04.480 live life 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:05.259 east of Eden, 00:21:05.439 --> 00:21:05.919 you need to 00:21:05.919 --> 00:21:06.939 know that the 00:21:06.939 --> 00:21:07.639 only way you're 00:21:07.639 --> 00:21:08.039 going to be able 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:08.519 to come home 00:21:08.519 --> 00:21:09.819 again is through 00:21:09.819 --> 00:21:10.980 the substitutionary 00:21:10.980 --> 00:21:11.599 death of another. 00:21:12.559 --> 00:21:12.960 And through the 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:13.639 death of animals, 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:14.419 just in a 00:21:14.419 --> 00:21:15.199 temporary way, 00:21:15.539 --> 00:21:16.199 you see there's 00:21:16.199 --> 00:21:16.659 a shadow, 00:21:16.899 --> 00:21:17.159 there's a 00:21:17.159 --> 00:21:17.779 prefigurement, 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:19.159 there's something 00:21:19.159 --> 00:21:19.980 being promised. 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:21.240 By the death 00:21:21.240 --> 00:21:22.120 of another, 00:21:22.259 --> 00:21:22.620 you could be 00:21:22.620 --> 00:21:23.140 clothed in 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:23.460 grace. 00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:24.859 And then even 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:26.059 Adam starts to 00:21:26.059 --> 00:21:26.680 realize that in 00:21:26.680 --> 00:21:27.200 verse 20, 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:27.900 foolish Adam, 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:29.359 he's been very 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:29.599 foolish, 00:21:29.779 --> 00:21:30.480 but in this 00:21:30.480 --> 00:21:31.240 moment he looks 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:31.920 over at the 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:33.079 woman Eve and 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:33.680 it says that he 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:34.759 names her Eve. 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:35.940 So, so far in 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:36.480 the text, 00:21:36.620 --> 00:21:37.120 in Hebrew, 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:38.779 Eve has only 00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:39.299 been called 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:39.740 woman, 00:21:40.359 --> 00:21:41.099 never named. 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:42.640 Adam's only 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:43.039 been called 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:43.799 Adam, which in 00:21:43.799 --> 00:21:44.420 Hebrew just means 00:21:44.420 --> 00:21:45.180 man, so he's 00:21:45.180 --> 00:21:45.819 never really named 00:21:45.819 --> 00:21:46.380 Eve either. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:47.779 But in this 00:21:47.779 --> 00:21:48.680 moment, the only 00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:49.299 human to get a 00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:50.700 proper name, in 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:51.539 verse 20, Adam 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:52.180 looks over at 00:21:52.180 --> 00:21:52.720 Eve and he 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:54.399 says, Eve. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.000 And this is not 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:56.799 like Adam in 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:57.779 chapter 2, naming 00:21:57.779 --> 00:21:58.940 the animals with 00:21:58.940 --> 00:22:00.019 authority over 00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:00.619 them precisely. 00:22:00.980 --> 00:22:01.759 This is Adam 00:22:01.759 --> 00:22:03.259 recognizing something 00:22:03.259 --> 00:22:03.579 in her. 00:22:03.639 --> 00:22:04.019 You see what's 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:04.279 happening? 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:05.759 Adam looks at 00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:06.779 the woman and 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:07.899 he says, in this 00:22:07.899 --> 00:22:08.659 woman is the 00:22:08.659 --> 00:22:09.399 possibility of 00:22:09.399 --> 00:22:09.919 true life. 00:22:11.180 --> 00:22:11.599 And so he 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:12.579 names her Eve, 00:22:12.659 --> 00:22:13.379 the mother of 00:22:13.379 --> 00:22:13.819 all living. 00:22:13.940 --> 00:22:15.220 Eve in Hebrew 00:22:15.220 --> 00:22:16.819 sounds like the 00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:17.799 life-giving one, 00:22:18.159 --> 00:22:18.700 the one from 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:20.019 whom life shall 00:22:20.019 --> 00:22:20.200 come. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:20.519 What is he 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:20.759 doing? 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:21.919 He is connecting 00:22:21.919 --> 00:22:22.839 the pieces, the 00:22:22.839 --> 00:22:24.220 dots, and he's 00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:25.059 saying, Genesis 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:26.299 3.15, God had 00:22:26.299 --> 00:22:27.819 promised one day 00:22:27.819 --> 00:22:29.439 the seed of the 00:22:29.439 --> 00:22:30.059 woman would be 00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:31.359 born to crush the 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:31.759 head of the 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:32.000 serpent. 00:22:32.139 --> 00:22:32.720 Now he's saying, 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:33.720 wait a minute, 00:22:34.679 --> 00:22:35.700 there she is, 00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:36.859 Eve, the mother 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:37.899 of all living, the 00:22:37.899 --> 00:22:38.980 one from whom the 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:39.659 seed will one day 00:22:39.659 --> 00:22:39.899 come. 00:22:39.899 --> 00:22:40.500 You start to put 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:41.299 the pieces together 00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:42.519 and you realize 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:43.559 that in this text 00:22:43.559 --> 00:22:44.839 alone, God is 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:45.740 saying that one 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:46.079 day, 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:48.079 through the 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.059 son of Eve, a 00:22:50.059 --> 00:22:50.679 son shall be 00:22:50.679 --> 00:22:51.779 born by whose 00:22:51.779 --> 00:22:53.119 sacrifice new 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:54.339 clothes, new 00:22:54.339 --> 00:22:56.019 garments shall be 00:22:56.019 --> 00:22:56.379 put on your 00:22:56.379 --> 00:22:56.779 back. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:57.220 Through 00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:57.919 substitutionary 00:22:57.919 --> 00:22:58.379 atonement, a 00:22:58.379 --> 00:22:59.059 sacrifice will be 00:22:59.059 --> 00:22:59.819 made by which you 00:22:59.819 --> 00:23:00.419 could be clothed 00:23:00.419 --> 00:23:02.200 and then maybe, 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:03.200 maybe the tree of 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:03.939 life would be open 00:23:03.939 --> 00:23:04.519 to you again. 00:23:05.480 --> 00:23:06.039 Maybe you could 00:23:06.039 --> 00:23:06.839 step back in. 00:23:07.919 --> 00:23:08.659 Friends, in the 00:23:08.659 --> 00:23:10.819 New Testament, on 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:11.579 the day that Jesus 00:23:11.579 --> 00:23:12.740 Christ died on the 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:14.359 cross, do you 00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:15.259 remember that the 00:23:15.259 --> 00:23:16.299 curtain was torn in 00:23:16.299 --> 00:23:16.519 two? 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:19.000 And embroidered on 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:19.679 the curtain, what 00:23:19.679 --> 00:23:19.960 is it? 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:21.139 It's plants, 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:23.859 foliage, garden 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:24.799 images, and 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:25.259 cherubs. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:27.919 You see, there's a 00:23:27.919 --> 00:23:29.659 cherub guarding the 00:23:29.659 --> 00:23:31.319 way to the Garden 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:31.720 of Eden. 00:23:32.179 --> 00:23:33.220 But when Jesus 00:23:33.220 --> 00:23:33.899 Christ died, the 00:23:33.899 --> 00:23:34.500 curtain was torn in 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:34.700 two. 00:23:36.159 --> 00:23:37.960 And Jesus said to 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:38.859 the cherub that day, 00:23:39.019 --> 00:23:39.740 you're fired. 00:23:40.419 --> 00:23:41.399 You can go home. 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:42.159 Your day job has 00:23:42.159 --> 00:23:42.359 ended. 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:44.500 And Jesus Christ's 00:23:44.500 --> 00:23:46.459 dead body was put 00:23:46.459 --> 00:23:47.139 into a garden. 00:23:48.899 --> 00:23:49.299 Why? 00:23:49.679 --> 00:23:50.599 Why did, why was, you 00:23:50.599 --> 00:23:51.719 see, Jesus' dead body 00:23:51.719 --> 00:23:52.539 was put into the 00:23:52.539 --> 00:23:52.779 garden. 00:23:53.419 --> 00:23:54.319 He was buried in a 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:54.559 garden. 00:23:55.119 --> 00:23:56.599 So that by the 00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:58.139 sacrifice through the 00:23:58.139 --> 00:23:59.519 death of another, we 00:23:59.519 --> 00:24:00.359 could say, he could 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:01.519 say, look, the debt is 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:02.139 paid, Father. 00:24:02.339 --> 00:24:03.240 The victory has been 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:04.419 won so that on the 00:24:04.419 --> 00:24:05.159 day of resurrection, 00:24:05.399 --> 00:24:06.299 Jesus Christ could open 00:24:06.299 --> 00:24:07.019 the gate to the Garden 00:24:07.019 --> 00:24:08.819 of Eden and could say 00:24:08.819 --> 00:24:09.579 to every single one of 00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:10.299 you, the cherub's been 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:10.779 kicked out. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:12.339 Now the cherub is 00:24:12.339 --> 00:24:13.179 simply one who stands 00:24:13.179 --> 00:24:14.519 by the grave, folds 00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:15.259 the clothes and says, 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:15.919 come on and see. 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:16.559 Come and see. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:18.559 The way of the Garden 00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:19.519 is open to you. 00:24:19.819 --> 00:24:20.399 The way of the Garden 00:24:20.399 --> 00:24:21.039 is open to you. 00:24:21.699 --> 00:24:23.079 True home is open to 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:23.899 you again through 00:24:23.899 --> 00:24:25.059 Jesus Christ. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.199 And the invitation 00:24:27.199 --> 00:24:28.119 today is to simply 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:28.879 see one thing and 00:24:28.879 --> 00:24:33.759 that's what sin has 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:35.059 taken away from us in 00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:35.720 this life east of 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:37.480 Eden, Jesus Christ 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:38.519 will give far more. 00:24:39.579 --> 00:24:41.839 Somehow, someway, when 00:24:41.839 --> 00:24:42.679 we step into the 00:24:42.679 --> 00:24:43.759 Edenic life one day, we 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.699 will look back at just 00:24:44.699 --> 00:24:45.879 the faintest memory of 00:24:45.879 --> 00:24:47.279 the pain and the toil and 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:48.079 the struggle and the 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:48.960 strife of this life and 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:50.839 we will say, for all the 00:24:50.839 --> 00:24:52.319 pain we experienced, what 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:55.359 sin did to us, Christ has 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:57.019 given far more. 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:02.460 His plaster is wider than 00:25:02.460 --> 00:25:03.439 the wound that sin ever 00:25:03.439 --> 00:25:03.839 created. 00:25:05.639 --> 00:25:06.339 And so let me finish 00:25:06.339 --> 00:25:06.819 with this. 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:09.599 We now are living in the 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.720 time between Eden and 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:12.960 Eden. 00:25:13.159 --> 00:25:14.119 We're living east of 00:25:14.119 --> 00:25:14.299 Eden. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:16.859 What can you do today 00:25:16.859 --> 00:25:18.139 while you wait? 00:25:18.379 --> 00:25:19.279 And let me give you two 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:20.379 things to do and we'll 00:25:20.379 --> 00:25:20.659 close. 00:25:22.139 --> 00:25:24.200 I was reading Dietrich 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:25.559 Bonhoeffer, the German 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:27.279 theologian who resisted 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:27.859 Hitler and was 00:25:27.859 --> 00:25:29.339 assassinated, murdered by 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:29.980 Hitler for that. 00:25:29.980 --> 00:25:32.299 But he wrote a 00:25:32.299 --> 00:25:33.960 commentary on this text 00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:36.539 and in his comments on 00:25:36.539 --> 00:25:37.720 this little passage, he 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:38.980 says that ever since this 00:25:38.980 --> 00:25:39.740 moment we have been 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:41.160 living east of Eden, we've 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:42.160 been living, he says, in 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:43.059 the twilight land. 00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:44.700 That's what he calls it. 00:25:44.740 --> 00:25:46.279 So he uses the two 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:47.880 Hebrew words here for 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:49.059 good and evil, which is 00:25:49.059 --> 00:25:50.319 tov and ra. 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:52.740 And he says, the life we 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:54.079 live east of Eden is the 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:55.620 life between tov and ra, 00:25:56.360 --> 00:25:57.759 the life in the middle of 00:25:57.759 --> 00:25:58.240 good and evil. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:25:59.880 And he calls it the 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:00.299 twilight. 00:26:00.420 --> 00:26:03.019 He says, we live in the 00:26:03.019 --> 00:26:04.339 time between the darkness 00:26:04.339 --> 00:26:04.900 and the light. 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:06.940 And the reason he says 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:07.859 that, what's one of the 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:08.579 first things you need to 00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:09.460 do with a text like this? 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:11.000 You need to realize all of 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:12.319 us today, we're living 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:13.220 between the light and the 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:13.440 darkness. 00:26:14.759 --> 00:26:16.339 And so in this life, when 00:26:16.339 --> 00:26:18.460 you get closer to moments 00:26:18.460 --> 00:26:20.960 of life, of light, the 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:22.319 best possible moments you've 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:23.359 ever had, the most 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.000 enjoyable moments, the 00:26:26.000 --> 00:26:26.859 best relationships, the 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:27.880 best moments of light, you 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:28.760 get really close to the 00:26:28.760 --> 00:26:29.620 light, you start to think 00:26:29.620 --> 00:26:31.100 this life is really great. 00:26:32.040 --> 00:26:33.220 It feels a little bit like 00:26:33.220 --> 00:26:33.840 the Garden of Eden. 00:26:34.940 --> 00:26:35.940 But on the flip side, some 00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:37.440 of us may be walking a lot 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.300 closer to the darkness 00:26:38.300 --> 00:26:40.820 right now and getting 00:26:40.820 --> 00:26:41.740 really close to the 00:26:41.740 --> 00:26:43.620 darkness and feeling like 00:26:43.620 --> 00:26:44.780 this life is pretty close 00:26:44.780 --> 00:26:45.200 to hell. 00:26:46.180 --> 00:26:47.100 And Bonhoeffer says one of 00:26:47.100 --> 00:26:47.680 the things we've got to 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:50.880 see is Jesus, God, did not 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:51.940 banish us into hell. 00:26:52.080 --> 00:26:53.140 He did not banish us into 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:53.420 torment. 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:55.360 He banished us into the 00:26:55.360 --> 00:26:57.320 twilight land, the land 00:26:57.320 --> 00:26:58.480 between good and evil, the 00:26:58.480 --> 00:26:59.560 land between light and 00:26:59.560 --> 00:26:59.820 darkness. 00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:01.300 And that means that in the 00:27:01.300 --> 00:27:02.519 moments, the best possible 00:27:02.519 --> 00:27:03.539 moments you've ever had in 00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:05.180 your life, you've got to 00:27:05.180 --> 00:27:06.000 remember, you've got to 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:07.759 remember, you are not yet 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:08.140 home. 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:10.759 In the worst possible 00:27:10.759 --> 00:27:11.940 moments you ever have in 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:12.800 this life, the darkest 00:27:12.800 --> 00:27:14.480 moments in this life, you 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:15.180 are not in hell. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:17.920 This land is east of Eden, 00:27:18.019 --> 00:27:18.779 but it is not hell. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:20.960 And so that means that we can 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:21.920 look up and we can say, 00:27:22.319 --> 00:27:23.400 I'm so grateful for so 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:25.200 much of the good that God 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:26.480 continues to pour into my 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:26.840 life. 00:27:27.559 --> 00:27:28.600 I'm so grateful for the 00:27:28.600 --> 00:27:29.840 sunshine coming in today 00:27:29.840 --> 00:27:30.660 and the beauty of a city 00:27:30.660 --> 00:27:31.600 like Edinburgh and all the 00:27:31.600 --> 00:27:32.000 good moments. 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:34.180 And at the same time, boy, 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:35.539 I'm made for far more than 00:27:35.539 --> 00:27:35.740 this. 00:27:35.860 --> 00:27:37.279 I long for so much more. 00:27:37.860 --> 00:27:39.420 I long to return to the 00:27:39.420 --> 00:27:40.860 Edenic life, to true home. 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:42.620 Now, this gives you 00:27:42.620 --> 00:27:44.500 incredible explanatory power 00:27:44.500 --> 00:27:46.680 because you can say today, 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:49.440 this is why the best things 00:27:49.440 --> 00:27:50.580 in this life never really 00:27:50.580 --> 00:27:51.880 satisfy, right? 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:53.640 So you come and you get 00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:54.680 the next job you were 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:55.259 waiting for. 00:27:56.759 --> 00:27:59.019 And you get that job and a 00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:00.240 week or two in, somebody 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:00.940 asks you, how's it going? 00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:01.700 And you say, you know, I 00:28:01.700 --> 00:28:02.759 like it, but it's kind of 00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:03.000 meh. 00:28:04.539 --> 00:28:05.720 And you get into the next 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:06.640 relationship you've been 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:07.759 longing for for so many 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:08.799 years and you finally get 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:09.660 there and you realize in 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:10.559 the midst of it, this is so 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:11.960 hard and it's a little bit 00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:12.740 meh sometimes. 00:28:13.220 --> 00:28:14.320 You know, that theological 00:28:14.320 --> 00:28:14.860 word meh. 00:28:16.460 --> 00:28:17.100 You feel that. 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:18.440 We always, you get the next 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:19.960 thing you desire so much 00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:21.480 and then it's not really 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:22.380 filling the hole. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:24.500 And that's because you're 00:28:24.500 --> 00:28:25.180 living east of Eden. 00:28:25.820 --> 00:28:26.559 You're living in the 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:27.100 twilight land. 00:28:27.880 --> 00:28:29.180 Life between the tov and 00:28:29.180 --> 00:28:30.059 the ra, the good and the 00:28:30.059 --> 00:28:30.279 evil. 00:28:30.420 --> 00:28:31.799 And so nothing's ever going 00:28:31.799 --> 00:28:32.340 to do it. 00:28:33.460 --> 00:28:34.640 Nothing is ever going to do 00:28:34.640 --> 00:28:34.799 it. 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:37.820 I hope this will sound the 00:28:37.820 --> 00:28:38.420 way I intend it. 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:39.820 I came and moved to 00:28:39.820 --> 00:28:42.960 Edinburgh to do a PhD and I 00:28:42.960 --> 00:28:43.519 did that. 00:28:44.299 --> 00:28:45.799 And I really, in my 00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:48.379 younger years, thought, oh, 00:28:48.419 --> 00:28:49.460 this will be very fulfilling 00:28:49.460 --> 00:28:50.399 and I will be, it will be 00:28:50.399 --> 00:28:51.720 very special to get a degree 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:52.359 like this, you know. 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:54.740 And I remember turning my 00:28:54.740 --> 00:28:56.680 PhD thesis in, down in 00:28:56.680 --> 00:28:58.480 George Square, and I handed 00:28:58.480 --> 00:29:00.359 it in and the lady that 00:29:00.359 --> 00:29:01.579 received it, the printed 00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:03.299 copy, asked me if I would 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:04.200 like to take a piece of 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:05.379 candy from the candy box. 00:29:06.299 --> 00:29:07.200 I'm very serious. 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:07.779 That's what happened. 00:29:07.779 --> 00:29:13.500 And I thought, life is 00:29:13.500 --> 00:29:14.139 meh, you know. 00:29:15.639 --> 00:29:17.000 You think you've accomplished 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:18.639 something and no one cares. 00:29:20.099 --> 00:29:21.079 And that's exactly right. 00:29:21.139 --> 00:29:22.259 You live east of Eden. 00:29:22.839 --> 00:29:24.039 Nothing will fill you. 00:29:24.619 --> 00:29:25.420 Nothing will bring the 00:29:25.420 --> 00:29:26.240 abundance to your life that 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:28.839 you long for apart from home 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:29.319 with God. 00:29:31.139 --> 00:29:33.500 So finally, what can you do? 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:34.759 What you've got to do until 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:36.339 then is you've got to see that 00:29:36.339 --> 00:29:37.399 and you've got to come to 00:29:37.399 --> 00:29:39.199 Christ who clothes you with 00:29:39.199 --> 00:29:40.299 better clothing than your 00:29:40.299 --> 00:29:41.980 naked shame, who clothes you 00:29:41.980 --> 00:29:42.859 with better clothing than 00:29:42.859 --> 00:29:44.179 anyone else can give you, who 00:29:44.179 --> 00:29:45.519 will usher you into Eden. 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:46.799 And one of the things you can 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:48.199 do with that is you can go to 00:29:48.199 --> 00:29:49.119 the book of Revelation, 00:29:49.439 --> 00:29:51.599 Revelation 22, where we see 00:29:51.599 --> 00:29:53.259 the Edenic life imaged. 00:29:54.459 --> 00:29:55.939 And you've got to meditate on 00:29:55.939 --> 00:29:56.099 it. 00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:57.959 And you've got to read lines 00:29:57.959 --> 00:30:00.099 like, when the Lord Jesus 00:30:00.099 --> 00:30:01.899 brings heaven to earth, when 00:30:01.899 --> 00:30:04.199 he brings the new Eden to us, 00:30:04.539 --> 00:30:06.259 it says that the leaves of 00:30:06.339 --> 00:30:07.859 the tree of life will heal 00:30:07.859 --> 00:30:08.539 all the nations. 00:30:09.939 --> 00:30:11.299 So if you're burdened by the 00:30:11.299 --> 00:30:12.379 wars that are going on right 00:30:12.379 --> 00:30:13.539 now, by the pain, the toil, 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:14.799 the strife, the earthquake 00:30:14.799 --> 00:30:16.419 that's killed at least 2,000 00:30:16.419 --> 00:30:17.879 people in Myanmar this week, 00:30:18.159 --> 00:30:19.480 you've got to come and say, 00:30:19.659 --> 00:30:21.099 one day in the Edenic life, 00:30:21.480 --> 00:30:23.899 the leaves of the tree of 00:30:23.899 --> 00:30:25.740 life himself will heal the 00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:26.099 nations. 00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:28.959 And it will cure the land. 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:30.179 And it says right after that 00:30:30.179 --> 00:30:31.939 in Revelation 22, that the 00:30:31.939 --> 00:30:33.299 curse will be dismissed and it 00:30:33.299 --> 00:30:33.980 shall be no more. 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:36.099 And if you're facing death 00:30:36.099 --> 00:30:37.980 right now, you're facing this 00:30:37.980 --> 00:30:39.140 physical life that's so hard, 00:30:39.180 --> 00:30:40.160 you've got to say, he will 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:41.700 kick the curse out of the 00:30:41.700 --> 00:30:41.920 garden. 00:30:43.460 --> 00:30:44.460 He will heal the land. 00:30:44.519 --> 00:30:45.460 He will bring us back from 00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:46.019 east of Eden. 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:47.720 He will bring us back to true 00:30:47.720 --> 00:30:47.940 home. 00:30:48.099 --> 00:30:50.319 Jesus Christ gives far more 00:30:50.319 --> 00:30:52.120 than sin ever took away. 00:30:53.059 --> 00:30:53.539 Let us pray. 00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:56.519 Father, we ask that you would 00:30:56.519 --> 00:30:58.160 cultivate in us longing for real 00:30:58.160 --> 00:30:58.579 home. 00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:01.259 And we pray, Father, that in 00:31:01.259 --> 00:31:02.680 the midst of the times we are 00:31:02.680 --> 00:31:04.200 too satisfied with this life, 00:31:04.340 --> 00:31:05.580 you would break through that 00:31:05.580 --> 00:31:07.060 and show us we're not where we 00:31:07.060 --> 00:31:08.880 were meant to be, who we were 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:09.560 meant to be with. 00:31:10.200 --> 00:31:12.460 And in the moments where we are 00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:13.900 very close to darkness in this 00:31:13.900 --> 00:31:15.480 life, you would remind us that 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:16.400 this is not hell. 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:19.400 You are giving us time. 00:31:19.539 --> 00:31:20.120 You are patient. 00:31:20.360 --> 00:31:21.940 You are drawing us back, Lord. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.019 So help us to come back, to come 00:31:24.019 --> 00:31:24.539 home today. 00:31:25.060 --> 00:31:26.640 And I pray that in Jesus' name. 00:31:27.140 --> 00:31:27.420 Amen. 00:31:27.420 --> 00:31:27.519 Amen.