Jesus in the Garden (Gen 3 and Acts 2)

Barb from Biblically Wired discusses the book of Acts and the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. She emphasizes the significance of Pentecost and the symbolism of fire. She also talks about the need for Christians to act in a Christ-like manner and not add human rules to the gospel. Barb explores the story of Adam and Eve in the garden and the consequences of their disobedience. She highlights the first gospel message in Genesis and the future victory over Satan through the seed of the woman. She concludes by discussing the pain of childbirth and the dynamic between husbands and wives. Hey, everybody, it's Barb from Biblically Wired. I'm excited that you're tuning in today. Whether you're burning around your house, running errands, driving the car, whatever, I'm here with you. So yesterday, I taught on the book of Acts, which is crazy, amazing, humbling, a lot of different things. I've been quite emotional in my prayers this week, understanding that I need to be filled up and refilled up with the Holy Spirit. I am otherwise quite an empty vessel. So I'm so grateful for that, and I'm hoping that I will only get bolder and bolder in my faith. So in Acts chapter 2, Peter gives this amazing sermon, so the Holy Spirit fell onto the upper room, and it came in this violent, noisy wind. It was so noisy and windy that the people around the upper room within the city could hear it. Fire and flames were on top of the disciples' heads, and all of the 120 people present, and they began to speak in tongues. Now this fire over the human beings is significant, because fire is how God represented himself to Moses in the burning bush, and on Mount Sinai to Moses, where Jesus was present as an angel. Pentecost was being celebrated at this time, and it's incredible, because to the people in the room, it was the day where they bring their tithes to God from their wheat harvest. And what that did was it told God, my whole wheat field is yours. I'm bringing you the first fruits of it, but the whole wheat field I know is yours. A key, key concept of the Old Testament is that God is always the provider of the sacrifice. We can't sacrifice anything that God did not give to us first. Have you ever thought about the fact every single thing you have is God's first, and you give to him from that? This is why I went absolutely banana cakes crazy when people in our neighborhood would say, I don't want your children walking through my yard, my yard. I mean, can you be serious? It is just mind-blowing to me how unchristian us Christians can act. So in this amazing sermon that Peter was giving, he says in chapter 2, verse 40, be saved from this perverse generation. This little quip is powerful. It kept me up a lot last night because I was thinking also about Jesus in Matthew 17, verse 17, the disciples were trying to cast a demon out of this young boy and they couldn't. So Jesus told them, how long must I put up with this perverse generation, a generation of unbelief? That brings me to our current situation in America. I often hear people say and have felt the same way, very frustrated, concerned, prayerful with where our world is going, where our city is going, our nation, our college campuses, the battle and wars going on in the Middle East. I have been to Iraq. I have talked to people who were kidnapped by the Taliban, whose daughters were murdered by the Taliban. Our world in the Middle East is still to this day such a hard place to wrap our heads around. But also the place in recent days where Jesus is hanging out. So Jesus, please come to America, help us with our generation, which I am part of. Without the Holy Spirit in me, I don't stand a chance, but to do anything but complain. But because of Jesus, I am salt and when the meat stinks, it's kind of my fault. It's kind of my fault. We can't get so upset with the world around us without realizing worse than that, when we join them in their way, when we are quiet about the activities, we ourselves are judged harder than they are. God is clear that the knowledge we have sets us apart for sanctification and holiness and the wisdom he has imparted us needs to be our stabilizer and needs to be something that is helping to guide those we're in contact with. So I guess in the middle of the night, I was just feeling so scrambled and it brings me back to the garden. I think it behooves us to revisit the garden. There's something super important. I have never heard a sermon on regarding the fall of man. In Genesis chapter three, I'm digging back there right now. I mean, raise your hand right now if you yourselves have been upset about the condition of our country. How should we respond? That is the question. Christianity has not always done the best job and has spread a lot of hate and wrongful messages about our Lord. But I want to help us today to remember where we came from in the garden and how grateful we need to be that Jesus came to fix our mess. So quick summary here, God tells Adam in chapter two, verses 17, he had placed him in the garden and he said, from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. Okay, so chapter three, listen to what Eve tells Satan about the tree. This is what Eve says, first, the serpent says, indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? Crafty Satan is bringing up the subject. And the woman says, from the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden, God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die. So there's two discrepancies between what God told Adam and what Eve knows now. One, Eve didn't even know the name of the tree, just its location. Two, Eve had an additional command added to what God had told Adam. And that was, don't even touch it. Why is this a big deal? Whenever we add to the gospel of Christ, whenever we add to the word, a human rule, we will trip someone up. Man-made rules do not make a man godly. Man-made rules and bad theology kills people. So right here, there's an additional rule added to that tree. What does that open for Satan? Jewish rabbis have always believed the enemy approached the tree, touched it, climbed it, sat on it, and basically proved to Eve that he did not die. So now that causes Eve to question everything. When somebody gives you what they say is solid scripture, and you discover it's not in the Bible, it makes the entire word of God look false. Right here, because Adam neglected to tell Eve exactly what God said, Eve was tripped up. First Timothy says Eve was deceived. She was totally blown away that she had made a sin. Now the enemy said, your eyes will be open and you will be like God. That's another big thing. As a human being, we want to be God. We are born with this bend. We want to be noticed, worshipped, worthy, in control of our lives, and quite demanding to God as if he is a genie. I know so many people who are waiting for God to represent himself to them in a specific way or to answer a specific prayer in order for them to lay down their life for him. This is never going to work. God has already, in the life of Abraham, in the life of the garden, in the life of Jesus Christ, in the life of the Apostle Paul, whoever you want to pick in scripture, God has already given you enough to say yes or no to him. Blessed of a pure heart, people see God. Jesus said blessed is the pure in heart, they will see God. But what does our angst, our human spitfire roadblocks, what do these roadblocks accomplish? Nothing. God took us nowhere and I've been there, I've been there so many times. But one thing seminary taught me is God is not a genie. He is not a genie. I am to submit my will under his sovereign reign and accept with hope everything that I encounter. So we know what happens then, along comes Adam, he eats too, and Adam is the one that brings death into the world. So when we are born, or when Cain and Abel were born, they were born already sinful, already cursed for death. And that is because of Adam. Why? Because God says so is my answer right now. Adam clearly in his heart knew everything God had said and he rebelliously went against him. Because scripture is very clear, he is the one who sinned. So I'm going to quickly go through Satan's consequence. On your belly you will go, the dust you will eat. The enemy knows he may always have lofty goals, but he will always be defeated. Secondly, and this is the most important part, this is where mercy enters the sinful world. This here is the first gospel. This is Jesus in the garden. This is what we need in our perverse generation. We need Jesus to be placed in America. Three, verse 15, and I will put enmity, that means tension and hostility, between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel. Okay, that is the introduction of the coming virgin birth. Notice her seed. Women do not have a seed. I'm an RN, so my brain goes there. Women have eggs. The virgin birth, the Holy Spirit, indwelling Mary's womb, planting the seed with the egg, and Jesus is there. Now that birth will crush the head of Satan. So right now, guys, Satan does not know the future. He is not omnipotent, but he knows one day he's going to be crushed by a child of Eve. This is why Cain kills Abel. Doesn't it make sense? The enemy doesn't know which child is going to come and from whom. He just knows he better mess with these children so he can help prevent himself being crushed. So to the woman, he says, I'm going to multiply your pain in childbirth. Who hasn't talked about that out for dinner with our friends? But there's a little piece here I haven't heard in a sermon. And it says, your desire, Eve, your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you. Not that he will lead you, serve you, be a good partner. No, he will rule over you. Now I looked up the Hebrew meaning of this word desire. And it means craving, longing, the kind of thing we do as we daydream. And I see this, I've seen this in so many junior high girls. They begin to long and crave this man, this prince to come that will see me and value me and connect with me. Heart to heart, spirit to spirit. I read a few commentaries on this and I'm not in agreement with them. They said, and maybe in some circumstances it's true, that the woman will want to rule the home. But the man will be the ruler. That is not something that I've witnessed personally. Pretty much every woman I know wants more emotional assurance from their husband. They want someone to spiritually lead the home. Someone that can be their hero in a way. Not so much that they want to rule, but that's just what I've witnessed. Now, Adam. He curses the ground for Adam, which all of us now, any one of us who's had a job, knows they're thorns. So more mercy comes. Adam and Eve were not kicked out of the garden. They were placed, maybe ushered out of the garden, outside the east gate. And the reason was, is because God and his mercy knew if they stay in the garden, they will be able to eat from the tree of life and they will never die. This same tree of life will be in heaven. And it will allow us to live eternally. God did not want Adam or Eve to live eternally in sin apart from him. So he mercifully led them out of the garden. A cherubim was placed outside this east gate. And there was this big, twirling, flaming sword. Again, fire. Fire between where God is and where humans meet him. This flaming sword is a bit of overkill, but it was meant for Satan and his demons. This was the place where Adam and Eve would bring their sacrifices. Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices. It was a place to pray and worship. It basically was the initial temple of God, the Father. So back to my point of the perverse generation. Put me in that garden of Eden. I would have done the same thing. And what do we need when a generation is going perverse? What we need is hope. There is no greater hope for Christians today than Jesus' second coming. The millennial reign will come. Jesus will be on his throne and we will be serving him on earth for a thousand years. This is not spoken about enough in church. And I believe it is the only hope we have. who have been traumatized, addicted, divorced, beaten, tread down, orphans, poor, oppressed, etc. What is our hope on earth as we sit in this generation? Our hope is found in Jesus Christ and his return. What was the hope of the Israelites in the Old Testament? The hope in all their mess, in their exile, in their diaspora spread out among the world, in the destruction of their temple. Their hope was in a coming Messiah. That is the same hope we hold now. Jesus come. My point, I guess, is that I need to be bolder in my generation. My life is short. It is going to be but a breath. I need to be braver, bolder, and encountering people with the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Are you saved from this perverse generation is what Peter says in his sermon. Are you saved? The next time someone comes to me with complaints about the world, that is the perfect question. Have you been saved? Has Jesus entered your garden? Are you saved? That, I think, is one of our great tickets in this generation. I am excited about it. I am praying for an opportunity to use that portion of Acts to demonstrate who Jesus is, was, is to come. I hope it gives you hope. I just want hope. In closing, thanks for listening to my rant. Thanks for taking yourself spiritually into the garden and encountering the gospel of Jesus Christ. I just want to pray for your day wherever you are. Just pray that the Holy Spirit come on you fully today. I pray that you discern and recognize the places Jesus wants you to go. I pray you have hope in the spirit of God and that you are following the truth of his word. And mostly, I pray that you keep your chin up today in Jesus' name.