Well, the Lord tells us in the
book of Hebrews that He spoke in time past in different manners.
And today we're going to look at the Gospel in the trees. The
Gospel in the trees. We'll look into Genesis chapter
2 verse 9. The Scripture says, "...and out
of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant
to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the
midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Verse 15. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. This is the first Adam. He was
put there to dress the trees of the garden and to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat. Adam had this charge from
God, this responsibility from God to dress and keep the garden.
And he was one with God. God was his father and Adam was
his son, God's son, and he had a oneness with God. There was
no sin present. And Adam was given the right
to reach forth his hand and to eat freely of any of these trees
of the garden with God's permission to do so. He had no sin. He could freely partake of anything
that belonged to God, except one. There was one commandment,
just one, verse 17. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. I thought of
when Art and I were up there at the apple farm picking apples,
and we were all up there together. And Art said, he said, look at
all these trees out here, Clay. And I looked around, and just
all these apple trees out there, you know, growing. And he said,
now you can eat of any of these trees you want to, but not that
one tree right there. Adam's transgression in taking
that fruit of that tree was that he was forsaking his oneness
with God. By taking that forbidden fruit,
he declared his self-dependence. and his independence from God. And independence from God who
is life is death. If you don't have God for everything,
you don't have God for anything. His whole being was defiled.
Everything about him. And he died spiritually and he
was cut off from God. He lost all rights and all his
privileges. Now this applies to you and me
right here today. Every sinner that's born of Adam,
this applies to us. You've got to hear what God says
here now. Go over to Genesis chapter 3 verse 22. This is the
gospel in the trees and what God's doing here in creating
these things and as much as it is in the gospel of Christ Jesus.
This is the gospel of Christ in these trees. Now look at verse
22. Genesis 3 verse 22. And the Lord
God said, This is after Adam has eaten, disobeyed God. And the Lord God said, Behold,
the man is become as one of us to no good and evil. He's become
as one of us as God the Father and God the Son, God the Holy
Spirit. He's become as one of us to no good and evil. And now,
now, something new. Lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of
life. Remember that tree of life? Lest
he now put forth his hand and take of the tree of life and
eat and live forever. Therefore, therefore, to prevent
this from happening. Therefore, the Lord God sent
him forth from the garden of Eden. to till the ground from
whence he was taken. So he drove out the man and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life. The eternal life of God is Christ
the tree of life. He said, I am the life. He is
the tree of life. Revelation 2.7, the Spirit says,
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the
paradise of God. The elect of God are trees of
righteousness planted by Christ Jesus the Lord, the last Adam.
Now, let's think about what happened here. The first Adam had the
responsibility to dress and keep that garden. But when God put
him out of the garden because of his sin and his rebellion
against God, that willful rebellion against God, God declared plainly
that Adam and all who would be born in Adam could never of themselves
reach forth their dirty, self-willed, sinful hand and take of Christ
and live. They can't do that of themselves.
Adam lost all right by his will to reach forth his hand and take
of the tree of life. You know why? It couldn't be
that way. It couldn't be by Adam's will
and it can't be by your will, your fleshly Adamic will. You
know why? If God allowed him to do so,
Adam could have boasted that by the same hand with which he
rebelled against God and sinned against God, he also saved himself. He could have said, the same
hand and the same will that sinned against him fixed my rebellion
and put away my sin. And the sword of God's holy justice
would have been mocked God's glory would have been mocked
and Christ Jesus the Lord would have become of no effect unto
you and to me and to Adam. Verse 24 says, So he drove out
the man and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims
and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of
the tree of life. Glory to the fullest. Glory in
the highest. The glory of God is what we're
dealing with here. That's what the paramount importance
is here in what we're seeing, in what God did, and why God
would not allow Adam to reach forth his hand and take of that
tree. The right of keeping and dressing God's garden belongs
to Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the last Adam. We see what we
did when we look at the first Adam. Now we're going to behold
what Christ did, the last Adam. Just as God told Adam, put him
in that garden and said, now dress and keep this garden. God put Christ Jesus into this
world, into the midst of this garden and said, now dress and
keep it. Dress and keep it. The cherubims
here represents the angels of the Lord. Christ Jesus is the
angel of the Lord. He receives preeminence in all
regard. He is the angel of the Lord. And He came forth preaching the
gospel of Christ and Him crucified. There's a link in the email version
of the bulletin that I email to you each week called Christ
Preach Christ. Read that. Christ Preach Christ. He came forth preaching the way,
the truth, and the life to God. He all said we don't preach ourselves. We preach Christ. He's the only
prophet that ever came forth and did preach himself. And He sends forth His messengers
and they're called in Scriptures the angels of God. And they come
forth with the gospel that I'm declaring to you now. That's
what we see in these cherubims that were put there to keep the
way of the tree of life. First, Christ. Secondly, those
He sends with the gospel of Christ. And that's how the way of the
tree of life is kept. Now here's the second thing.
The flaming sword here represents the righteous judgment of God. That righteous judgment that's
manifest in Christ and Him crucified on the cross at Calvary, which
is declared through the gospel. The sword of justice had to be
plunged before any that God determined before to save. Before now they
can be made so as to stretch forth their hand and take of
Christ the tree of life. That sword of justice has got
to be plunged into Christ on their behalf to declare that
God is just. This thing has got to be done
in a right and holy manner. He's got to be just. And He's
the one that does the justifying. He's doing this in the person
of His Son. That's what Zechariah 13, 7 tells
us. Turn over there with me. Zechariah
13, 7. That's why He sent Christ forth. He says, Awake, O sword! Get over there, sir. Awake, O
sword, against my shepherd. This sword is his justice and
the shepherd is Christ the Lord. Awake, O sword, against my shepherd
and against the man that is my fellow, his son, the last Adam. saith the Lord of hosts, smite
the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered." But God says in
Zechariah 13, 7, but God says, I'll turn my hand upon the little
ones. He'll gather them. He'll gather
them back into His garden. That garden represents God's
presence. And we can't come into His presence
until He has awakened that sword and plunged it into His Son and
purged us of all the sin we are. The souls that sinneth must die. Christ had to die in the room
instead of those he represented. And that sword was plunged into
him and that justice was satisfied. Now, that sword also represents
the word of this gospel. This gospel keeps the way of
the tree of life. This gospel, the very substance
of it is Christ in Him crucified. The very substance of it is that
God is just and the justifier in the person of His Son through
the death of His Son on Calvary's tree. That's the sword we preach.
And the Word of God, Scripture says, is sharper than any two-edged
sword. It will cut and slay Adam in
you and will heal you. That's what this gospel is for.
And it must keep the way of the tree of life. Now be turning
to Isaiah 61. Now we've seen here that He came
forth preaching this. He's the angel. He came forth
preaching that it's Him that satisfied justice. And when Christ
Jesus, the last Adam, when He makes His people perfect, makes
them to partake of Christ the tree of life, He does it so that
they can partake of it in snow-white innocence. Not saying, by the
same hand that I sin, I use that same defiled will to take of
the tree of life. No, no. No, no. He creates them
anew and he makes them take of this tree in snow-white innocence. that God might be honored and
glorified. Now, we said this angel represented Christ, the
prophet who came forth preaching the word. We said it represents
his messengers. We said this sword represents
his justice, the breaking down and binding up of his people,
and that it's Christ Jesus, the tree of life, and he keeps this
way. It's given to him, the last Adam,
to keep and dress the trees of his garden. Now watch this, it's
all said in Isaiah 61, beginning in verse 1. This is speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek. He's that angel of the Lord.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound. heart get broken? How did that prison get open?
He bore the sword of God's justice in his own body on the tree.
And he says to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day
of vengeance of our God. That's a two-fold thing that
happened on the cross was God made his people acceptable and
he took vengeance. He took vengeance. to comfort all that mourn, to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the Spirit of heaviness. That's how He dresses them. Now look, why does He do that?
That they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that He might be glorified, that He might be glorified,
that God might be glorified, that the triune God of heaven
and earth might be glorified, that He might be glorified. That's why Adam couldn't reach
forth with his will, and that's why you and I can't either, and
that's why it takes God in sovereign, irresistible grace to create
us anew and make us to behold that all righteousness has been
accomplished by God. And that's the only way you can
come back into the presence of God. The only way. He's made unto us wisdom. We behold that He's wisdom. And
you know what the wise man said about wisdom? She's a tree of life to them
that lay hold upon her, and happy is everyone that retaineth her.
I only need one acid test to know if a man really knows who
God is and if he don't. You know what it is? The man who does knows, not by
my will, not by my works, but by Christ Jesus the Lord, by
the grace of God I am what I am, that he might be glorified. Natural man don't want God to
be glorified. God's regenerated, born again
people only want God to be glorified. Well, what have we learned here?
The first Adam was given charge to keep and dress the trees of
God's garden, but he disobeyed the commandment of God. We turn
to Revelation 22. He disobeyed the commandment
of God. and plunged all whom he represented
into spiritual death. Christ, the last Adam, the angel
of God, fulfilled the commandments of God, satisfied the justice
that Adam offended, and he did that for all for whom he represented. And he dresses all the trees
for whom he died in his perfect spotless robe of righteousness.
And He creates them anew and makes them willing to come unto
Him. And through faith, when that believer trusts Christ as
his complete and total righteousness, he has completely, totally done
the commandments of God through faith in Christ. And this is
how you're brought back into God's garden, into God's presence. Look at Revelation 22, 14. Blessed
are they that do his commandments. How
do you do them? Believe on his son, that they
may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through
the gates into the city, into God's presence from which they
were driven out. For without, on the outside,
look who's still driven out, are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. I, Jesus, the angel of the Lord,
have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the
churches, to declare this gospel to you right here today. I am
the root. I am the tree, the root out of
a dry ground, the tender plant that grew up, tree of life. And
the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. And
so it is that Christ dresses and keeps the trees of God's
garden and gives the believer access to this tree of life and
brings all his children into God's presence in paradise. Now
here's what he says. You've heard the truth. Do you
want God to be glorified? Here's how it's going to be glorified.
Verse 17, the Spirit and the bride, the Spirit and the church
say, come, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let
him take of the water of life freely. If you will, It's because he's
made you willing and you desire that he be have all the glory.
If you're not willing, it's because you just yet desire to have the
glory. And it's not because God's not
able, and he's not willing. It's our own sinful rebellion. There's one way to come. We come
in Christ. We come with nothing. And everything
that He gives is absolutely free. Absolutely. Amen.