Grace In The Garden - Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. God say the day that you eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they will surely die.

Now we come in theologically later and say wait.

Now we gotta think about this is what I know for fact they died spiritually that but they didn't die physically for a long time that Adam's grace for joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie when Pastor Bill Gebhardt now is once again he shows us God's word. Our world got so good. Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness aptly creates it always and always make any said well you watch Moses rights and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image and is in his image God created them male and female he created them.

And God blessed them, and he said you be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, you subdue it you rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every other living thing that moves on the earth. And then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree that has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for you and to every beast of the earth, and every bird of the sky and everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food, so it was God say good for you.

That's all for you. I did this for you. If you think about a God created the world and then he gave it to us as grace perfect environment and notice what he tells them. I love the words that he gives him using words like be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth subdue a role.

Enjoy yourselves because all this is for you. It's the grace of God we can earn it. We didn't deserve it. We did absolutely nothing anything about on a personal level.

Beautiful sunsets are for you color for you and have to have color gray I like gray but my start filled nights for you planting, harvesting, variety of vegetables and fruit. What you salmon speckled trout or redfish for you beach for you.

The mountains for you.

The lakes for you.

The rain forest for you. Why grace of God the grace of God is a very important principle of the first principle in the study.

Grace is never just enough grace is always far more than enough grace is never just enough grace is always far more than enough and is not just on a grand scale.

We can even be personal look at chapter 2, verse 18. The Lord God said it is not good. The first time anything is ever been not good low taupe double negative. In Hebrew it is not good that man should be alone I will make him a helper suitable for him.

That's what a regrettable translation by way mended that Helper or helpmeet helpmate helper says right here in the Bible, honey, I'm in charge here are the helper on the captain you're swabbing says right there in the word of God. But it doesn't even is the only person who is ever described as a helper without word every other time.

That word is used, it's only used of God.

Only God my helper literally in Hebrew. It means one who comes to the rescue of another. That's what it means not good that man would be alone.

I need to rescue him. You see, I need to rescue him one who comes to the rescue of another and we have Eve. Verse 21 so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. He took one of his ribs and he closed up there in the flesh at that place and the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and he brought her to the man again regrettable translation.

The man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. We miss it. That's not what he said that's not what he said let me give you an idea what he said.

The man said wow you reach all evil. Let me pinch myself to see bone of my bones, flesh my flesh is in the Hebrew idiom and it means like I'm I'm so excited by something bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

That's what it means he's wound up. He's excited he got up easily beside himself. 20 years I can read. He said she shall be called each Isha, for she was taken from each.

She shall be called woman, for she was taken from man while why grace grace.

Think how wonderful this relationship is so credible that good demand be alone.

By the way God made us like amoebas. We could've all been neuter, no melt, no female would just all neuter and and basically to binary fission. We just split in half and there's another one I was as amoebas do it.

How boring would that be you see why not. We have all been like that. But God says no no no no no I want to create woman for man receivable to get to get love, intimacy, romance, they complement one another, purpose, meaning, why grace not because of them because of him notice and Moses lays on these tremendous principles.

In verse 24 for this cause I man shall leave his father and his mother severance. By the way, if you thought about a moment. This could've applied data. Many could've it and and say hey dad I gotta leave Adam and have a father but it sets in place for this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife. What a great word, that is, Job uses that word and he talks about it says when clods stick together. In other words he uses it as a mud word so like if you get mud on the bottom. If you can get off cleave and translated in English today or paraphrase, we would say this, and shall be super glued to his wife, a man shall leave his father and mother and be super glued to his wife, and they shall become one flesh one flesh. Gus's that's just like the Trinity, father, son and Spirit community but oneness. That's what they are going to have their Gumby community but one. One flesh, that theme is used throughout the Bible. What a wonderful blessing of the man woman relationship and a man and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed. Intimacy, notice, severance, permanence, unity, intimacy why grace of God's good seats.

Good will be kind of know the rest. The story only man has a tremendous capacity to mess that up. You see, one of the things that God had given him his responsibility back at versus 16 to 17 of chapter 2 and the Lord commanded the man he said to them from any tree of the garden you may freely from the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil you shall not eat for the day that you eat from it surely die see what was this whole relationship with God in his grace. What was all based on what was man's responsibility.

What were Adam and Eve's responsibility before God.

Trust is what was faith, trust in God, said trust has to be tested.

We have to see if you trust so in the midst of all of this beauty in all this majesty in all this responsibility in the midst of it all. God gives him one single commandment just one just one ever thought about how big the garden of Eden.

Once will you remember all the animals came by and Adam name them all such pretty good size. We have this tendency thing is like a big garden in the backyard know it's enormous we know historically we say it's probably somewhere in the Fertile Crescent was word originated, but I'm going to guess it's as big as Sony's biggest metropolitan New Orleans. Certainly that big, big, it's big, wonderful, big. The reason I'm saying that is not because I want to prove your pastor said it was big on I want to do that but I want to think about it in terms of the size because in this garden.

He put a Mary good of yes trees. Yes trees are everywhere, of every kind of fruit. There are yes trees everywhere. Orchards of yes trees in the middle of any put one tree that's a notary. Just one.

I don't believe it was any different than yes trees except it was the one God said that the entry know why is it so important because it tells me something if I were Adam and Eve.

Looking back with a hindsight I have because I would've done exactly what they did.

Without that hindsight but one of you thought that of God said every tree all yes trees from here the West we go are yours. You would sit. Eve look honey, we need to stay away from the tree in the middle. Let's not even go near the middle that stay away from the middle because are so many other trees in a good been a lot bigger than that, but they're not doing that are the because we get the chapter 3 there in the middle.

You know the story. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord and got it made. And he said to the woman indeed is God said to you shall not eat of from any tree of the garden and the woman said from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God said, you shall not eat from it or touch it. She added that lets you die and the serpent said to the woman you will surely not die for God knows that in the day that you eat from your eyes will be opening you will be like God, knowing good and evil and one woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate the right at the tree. Then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves going coverings is called the fall. It is basically this, we don't trust God. In fact ended up trusting Lucifer himself.

But they did not trust God. So there's a fall but don't miss something here. Grace is everywhere whether God say the day that you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that day you will what surely die.

Now we come in theologically later and say wake now. We got a thing about this is what I know for fact they died spiritually that day, but they didn't die physically for a long time later.

In fact, Adam lived 900 years.

Why grace is the grace of God secretly died physically and spiritually that day. Of course they could've got told that's always going to happen but they didn't think was possible to got started over with two others, Betty and Ernie, you know, started them started over again and did it again.

Of course God to do that we didn't grace gives them grace. Notice they heard the sound of the Lord 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 and from the trees of the garden and then the Lord called out to the man and said where are you about. Let's rhetorical question God's looking for you.

Don't think you can hide somewhere. God says where you and he said I heard the sound of you in the garden.

I was afraid because I was naked so I hit myself God knowing already all the answers. He said to him who told you that you were naked Eve.

I don't know who told you you were naked. Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not being guttering knows all this. Now here's a chance for man to show little bit of character. Finally, Lord. Yes yes I did but just like every athlete ever accused of doping or steroids.

Adam stepped right up and says this the woman which you gave me. She gave me from the tree in a and ever since then we have been blaming God for our own trouble. We blame God.

God, it's your fault you gave me.

That woman I hear that over and over again some terrible happens in our lives and for one of her first fallen instincts is to say, why didn't God stop that. Why didn't God do something.

Why didn't God intervened. Why didn't God so often answer simply, we reap what we sewed made her own choices. Well doesn't get much better with even the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you have done in the woman said the devil made me do it. Not my fault. Now the holiness of God has to be insulted.

Not only did they fall, but they won't even take responsibility for it. They deserve extreme judgment. One of the get grace grace the nature of God grace the Lord said to the serpent because you have done this, cursed are you more than all the cattle, and more than every beast of the field on your belly you shall go in and dust you shall eat all the days of your life, and he says and I will put enmity between you and the woman in between your seed and her seed here comes the first prophecy of the Bible. The first prophetic words ever spoken and are spoken by God and he says and he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. He will destroy you and you will hurt him was a prophecy disgrace receives grace, the prophecy is all about grace seed of the woman as we know as Paul says in Galatians seed is Jesus Christ seed and he's going to offer man reconciliation with God, he's gonna make right all the wrong not just of this sin, but every sin that is occurred since the original sin and he's going to do so by paying Ford someone is once said that grace is God's riches of Christ expands see the thing about grace is costly. Jesus Christ comes along that seed comes along centuries and centuries later in a little town called Bethlehem and he is born of a teenage girl named Mary and he lives among us who is without sin and then willingly goes to the cross and the experiences the wrath of God for every single one of us from Adam and Eve on every single one of us on deserving every one of us. Why grace grace.

See, that's the most amazing thing. There is grace everywhere.

Christianity is not like any other religion on earth. The boaters have an eightfold path. The Hindus have this idea of karma. Judaism has weathered its covenant as laws and the moment the Islamic world goes through the unbreakable code everybody working hard to get there a but there are no A's because you can earn it.

All you can do sign your name the end of the test say I put my trust and faith in Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross.

You want gun rights when you a a in Internet. You don't deserve it. Grace you see in the beginning was grace. That's only the beginning spring. Father I pray not only for this week for the weeks to come, that we begin to understand the depth of grace, the greatness of grace father when we see your creation. We know of your power and your majesty, because what you created is awe-inspiring to us, but father, I want us to also see the grace in your creation. You did this for us and then you offered us a phenomenal existence based on trust and tested by one single commandment. Father, we fell in when we fell we would even take responsibility for own falling. And yet, in spite of all that you offered mankind grace hope to the seed of the woman in the person of Jesus Christ and father.

If there's ever a place to see grace is on the cross of Calvary, because I should be me or that should be us. Father, I thank you for your grace and creation. I thank you for your grace the common grace you've given all people in this world by thinking, most of all for the grace that comes through Jesus Christ our father, I think we can earn it. We don't deserve it is unmerited. It's real. Thank you for the grace pastor broke your heart on the radio ministry of fellowship Lord, if you ever missed one of our broadcasting or maybe you just like the smoother message one more time.

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