Two Gardens： Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

Will you please turn to Genesis, chapter 3. We will not read, because we will be covering the whole chapter. May we have a word of prayer first. Dear Lord, we do want to thank thee for giving thyself to us in such a way to redeem us from the depths to the height. We thank thee for all that thou hast done for us. Without thee, Lord, where shall we be? And as we continue together in thy presence, we pray that thou, by thy spirit, open thy word to us, that we may be absorbed by thy word, and be one with thy word, and glorify your name. We commit this time into your hand. We ask in thy precious name, amen. The book of the Bible begins with a garden, the garden of Eden. And in a sense, it ends with another garden, the garden of Gethsemane. And in these two gardens, we can see the work of God. Some say the garden of Eden is paradise lost, but the garden of Gethsemane is paradise regained. After God has created man in his own image, according to his own likeness, he put man in the garden of Eden, the garden of pleasure. In the garden were all kinds of trees, good for the food. And in the midst of the garden, the tree of life, and by it, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Do not think that God will plant a bad tree in his garden. No. No, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the second to the best. And God told man, of all the trees in the garden he could freely eat, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he should not. Because on the day that he shall eat thereof, he shall surely die. Unfortunately, we do not know why Adam and Eve seem to be divided. They should be together. They should work together. They should kill together. And they should guard together. This is the will of God. But we do not know how. It seems that the husband and his wife were divided. They were not together. And for this reason, Adam failed to guard the garden and allow the enemy of God to slip in. And Eve, having wandered away from her husband, he came to the center of the garden. But strangely, her attraction was not to the tree of life. Rather, she paid attention to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And because of this, she was under temptation. The enemy came and said, did God forbid you to eat any tree in the garden? In other words, he put God in such a bad situation, as if God did not love man. Rather, he wanted man to die. And so Eve said, oh, no. No. God said, we can eat all the fruit of the trees, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he adds something to it. And God said, you could not eat it. Because if you eat it, you will die. Then Satan tempted Eve and said, you may not die. Because God didn't want you to be as intelligent as he is. If you eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will have the intelligence. In other words, you will be God. You have no need of God. Unfortunately, Eve was tempted. He ate for the fruit. And not only that, she gave it to her husband. Eve was tempted to eat. But her husband knowingly ate it. He knew what God's word was. But in a sense, he loved his wife more than God. So he listened to his wife and ate the forbidden fruit. By doing that, they discovered they were naked. Now, brothers and sisters, God clothed every animal with skins. How is it that he did not clothe man with something? Evidently, he did clothe man with glory. But when they sinned, glory left them. And they found themselves naked. They tried to cover themselves with thick leaves. But we all know if there is wind, the coat leaves would not cover them. So when God came into the garden to have communion with them, he couldn't find them. They hid themselves from God. So God said, Adam, where are you? Well, Adam said, we were naked. Therefore, we hid ourselves among the trees. God said, who told you you were naked? Now, brothers and sisters, I firmly believe if God should clothe all the animals with skins, he cannot leave man without any clothing. Therefore, evidently, God clothed Adam and Eve with glory. Glory had been their clothing. But because they have sinned against God, glory has left them. And they found themselves being naked. So God began to proclaim his judgment. But then, God, even in his judgment, he gave them a promise. The seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. And the serpent would hurt his heel. And this, of course, we know refers to the coming of our Lord Jesus, how he will crush Satan's head. But Satan will hurt his heel. And because of this, God clothed them with skin. Now, where did the skin come from? Some animal, evidently, had to be killed in order that there may be skin to cover man. And that, of course, is a prophecy, telling us one day the seed of the woman, Christ, he will crush the head of the serpent. But Satan will touch his heel. And God said, because of this, men shall not be in the garden. They were driven out of the garden. And the cherubim guard the gate to the Garden of Eden. It was paradise lost. Their hope will be on a future seed who will crush the head of the serpent. Though the serpent will hurt his heel, they were driven out of the Garden of Eden. It was paradise lost. But God knew everything. And even before the foundation of the world, when God began to think of creation, to express his love towards his son, he knew beforehand that there will be problem. And it was at that time, the son stepped forward and his father, it is thy will to do it. Go ahead. I will be the lamb slain from the foundation of the world to redeem the situation. And that's in 1 Peter chapter 1. So God ahead with creation. And I believe we all know the story. But anyway, after 2,000 years, we find another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane. And that's in Matthew 24. We find that our Lord Jesus, after he had lived a life of purity, he pleased God in everything. On the Mount of Transfiguration, he was ready to leave the world and return to his father. But he wouldn't. Why? Not because of himself, but because of you and me. He is willing to come down from the mountain and turn his face towards Jerusalem, for there he will face another God, the Garden of Gethsemane. He was to undergo a press. When he went there, he had already lived a life of purity. But he refused to return to heaven on the Mount of Transfiguration. He came down and faced Jerusalem, knowing what would happen in Jerusalem. So he took his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane. And the Bible tells us how he was grieved, even unto death. He told his disciples to wait there for him. He took three of his closest with him to go forward. He hoped that three disciples would awake with him for a while. Now, he went forward to pray, Father, if it were possible, let us come, leave you. But not by will, but thy will be done. In other words, he had lived a life of purity for himself. There is no need to suffer anymore. But he realized he came for us. It is for our sake he had to go through death. He had to go to the cross in order to save people such as we are. But think of the conflict that must be in his life. Now, the Garden of Gethsemane is really beyond description. Our Lord was so grieved in his soul, he was almost dying. And unless an angel appeared to strengthen him, it's all possible he would die in the garden. And what is the conflict? The conflict is us. Because he knows he has to go to the garden and to accept the will of God for him. But think, throughout his life, he lived such a pure life, never offended the Father at any moment, listening to God all the time. He said, I can't do nothing by myself. I do because I see my Father do it. I can't say nothing by myself. I say it because I've heard my Father has said it. I can't go nowhere by myself. I go because the Father has sent me. Throughout his life, he has obeyed the Father in everything. He is not worthy to die. He is worthy to be raptured and returned to the Father. But he knows, if he does, there will be only one man in heaven. It is Christ. We will be all left behind because we were sinners. And if he is not willing to die in our stead and to take our place, there is no hope with each and every one of them. And for the love of us, brothers and sisters, again, I want to emphasize, is for the love of you and of me, people such as we are, that our Lord Jesus was willing to deny himself, take up the cross, and die on Calvary's cross. What love is this? It is beyond description. So the agony that our Lord Jesus has gone through in the Garden of Gethsemane is beyond description. Think of it. If you are a very clean person and someone who is so unclean, uncareful, casting things all over the house, and he's going to live with you, now, what do you think? We will now quickly drive him out, saying you are not fit to be here, but not our Lord. So as we find in Matthew 25, as he prayed, he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup leave me. But not my will, but thy will be done. Brothers and sisters, we cannot even imagine the agony that our Lord Jesus had gone through in the Garden. We who are not pure, we who are sinful, and suppose you are a clean person and another person came and dwelled with you, being so unclean, casting things all over the house, what will you do? Probably you will cast him out and say, you are not worthy to live with me, but not with Christ. He is willing to give up himself in order to save you and me, and that is love. So dear brothers and sisters, Gethsemane is a seed beyond description. We cannot imagine what our Lord Jesus has gone through in the Garden of Gethsemane. But for our sake, he said, Father, not my will, but thy will be done. And after he has prayed three times, he knew what the Father's will will be. And we know how he was judged and crucified on Calvary's cross. And it is all for our sake, for you and for me. Otherwise, how can we sit here this morning and listen? We are here this morning, it is because what our Lord Jesus had done on Calvary's cross. He died in our stead to redeem us from the enemy and save us and even save us to the uttermost. So thank God for the Garden of Gethsemane. And because of all that our Lord has done for each and every one of us, we are here this morning. So we ought to have a grateful heart. We cannot accept such marvelous love without being touched in the depths of our being. We can only bow before him and say, Lord, thou hast saved people such as we are. Thou the purest, thine for us the dirtiest, and we are here. It is all by thy mercy and grace. What can we do, brothers and sisters, except give ourselves totally over to him and let him rule over our lives? Let him work out his salvation in each and every one of us. This is only a small way to express our gratitude to him. So between these two gardens, we see the salvation of our Lord. And we are here this morning. And brothers and sisters, I do not know how you feel, but I feel so grateful to him. Our Lord Jesus died in my stead. I shall die. I shall have no hope. And yet today, I can look up to him. He is my savior. He is my God. And he will save me to the uttermost. I do confess, oftentimes, I sin, I fall. But he never gave me up. He always takes me up and brings me up. Because he wants to save each and every one of us to the uttermost. Thank God he would do that. So are you willing this morning to give yourself totally over to him and let him take full charge over your life? Now, learn to be obedient. Learn to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your lives. Learn to deny yourself and learn to be saved to the uttermost. This is the perfect will of God. For each and every one of us. So may we have some words of prayer. Dear Lord, as we think of the love that thou hast bestowed upon us, we who were the chief of sinners, and yet thou the purest one, the Son of God, is willing to die in our stead. And because of this, thou hast saved us. And thou are willing to save us to the uttermost. Oh, dear Lord, how can we keep ourselves from you and not surrender ourselves completely to you? And say, Lord, take us, mold and fashion us according to your will. Until thy will shall be done in each and every one of us here as it is in heaven. We look to thee, oh Lord. Hear our prayer in your precious name. Amen.