Good morning, everyone. Let's
all stand and sing 298. God leads us along. 298. Shady green pastures so rich
and so sweet, God leads His dear children along. Where the water's cool flow bathes
the weary one's feet, God leads His dear children along. Some through the waters, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the
blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all in the night season and all the day long. Sometimes on a mount where the
sun shines so bright, God leads his dear children along. Sometimes in a valley in darkest
of night, God leads his dear children along. Some through the waters, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the
blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all in the night season and all the day long. Though sorrows befall us and
Satan oppose, God leads His dear children along. Through grace we can conquer,
defeat all our foes. God leads His dear children along. Some through the waters, some
through the flood, some through the fire, but all through the
blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us all in the night season and all the day long. Away from the mirin, away from
the clay, God leads his dear children along. Away up in glory, eternity's
day, God leads his dear children along. Some through the water,
some through the flood. Some through the fire, but all
through the blood. Some through great sorrow, but
God gives us some in the night season and all the day long. Thank you. Alright, I'll be reading from
Philippians chapter 3. I'm going to read up through verse 15. Verse 1. Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord, to write the same things to you. To me,
indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Beware of
dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For
we are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit and
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence
in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof
he might trust in the flesh, I more. circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of the Hebrews, as touching the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal,
persecuting the church. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But, here's the confession, but what things were gained to
me. of those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ,
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of faith, which is of God by faith."
Can you imagine a Pharisee, a Pharisee who did all those works, a Pharisee
of the Pharisees, And he says, they were all dung. I want to
be found in the righteousness of Christ alone. That's what
the spirit does. That's what the Lord does in
giving his child a new birth. That I may know him, he says,
verse 10, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings be made conformable unto his death. if by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Meaning, however
it pleases God to bring me to that resurrection, it's fine
with me. The Lord is perfect and good
in all his ways. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect. But I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as
be perfect, be thus minded. And if in anything ye be otherwise
minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. I'm so thankful
that the Lord reveals to his child, Christ, and that's what
he teaches us. Amen. Let's go to Lord in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you
for your grace. We thank you for your mercy toward
us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that you don't look to
our works and you don't call us to come to you in the righteousness
of the law. but to look to Christ and to
come to you in the Lord Jesus Christ, believing Him, trusting
Him, being made thankful for the life that we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ through the Spirit which you've given to
us. Lord, settle us in Christ. Settle us in Him. Deliver us
from death. Deliver us from vain hope of
this flesh and keep us ever looking to Christ. settled and grounded
in him. Lord, we thank you for your mercy
and grace. We thank you that you know us,
you know our hearts, and you know Christ and have called us
to him and blessed us in him. And Lord, you know the troubles
and the difficulties and the sorrows that your people have
You know the weakness of our own heart, the weakness of our
mind, how frail and how weak we are. Lord, you know our sicknesses
and diseases. You know the trouble. Lord, we
think of our brother Scott in the hospital. Lord, we pray that
you would heal him, that you would strengthen him, that you
would restore him again to health, to be able to go out of that
hospital and to be strong and able-bodied to come and meet
with us, to relieve Johnny of her fears and worries about him.
Lord, comfort her heart. Help her, strengthen her, help
her to be there and to be a good advocate for her son in the hospital.
But Lord, we pray that that you would advocate for Scott, that
you would speak for him, that you would direct the hearts of
the doctors and the nurses who are caring for him, and that
you would bless him, that you would pour out your spirit upon
him and strengthen him and restore him to us. And Lord, that you would sustain
him and keep him, help him to do those things that he needs
to do to continue in good health As Johnny asked, she doesn't
want to see her son like this. She'd rather be there and have
him sitting in the chair next to her. And Lord, you can do
all things. Pray that you would strengthen
Scott and that you would keep both Scott and Johnny with us
for many, many, many more years to come. And Lord, we thank you
for all our brethren. We pray for those that couldn't
be with us here today with the weather and the difficulties
and traveling. We pray that you would protect
them and keep them, feed them with your word, and that you
would bless us to be able to meet again together soon. Even
this week, Lord, help us through the difficulties and the weather.
Lord, we pray that you would help us through this time of
sickness with each of us getting various colds and flus and different
symptoms. We pray for Andrew that you would
strengthen him and help him with his studying and the test and
being able to get that certification finalized before the deadline.
Lord, we just thank you for your grace and mercy in caring for
us and even the little things. Lord, we thank you. We don't
deserve it, but we know What a precious, gracious God we serve.
Thank you, Lord. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing out of our handout. There is a name we love to hear.
It's a new hymn. Hopefully you'll enjoy that.
We sing it to Amazing Grace, so that'll make it easy. There
is a name we love to hear. ? There is a name we love to hear
? ? We love to sing his words ? ? It sounds like music in our
ear ? ? The sweetest name on earth ? It tells us of a Savior's love,
who died to set us free. It tells us of His precious blood,
the sinner's perfect plea. ? Jesus, the name we love so well
? ? The name we love to hear ? ? No saint on earth its worth
can tell ? ? No heart can see how dear ? This name shall shed
its fragrance still along this thorny road, shall sweetly smooth
the rugged hill that leads us to our God. And there the whole triumphant
throng Of blood-bought saints on high Shall sing the new eternal
song With Jesus ever nigh. Thank you. All right, let's go to Genesis
chapter 2. I want to look at verses 4 through
9 with you. To this point, we were looking
at the first seven days of creation, and we saw how that each day
gave us a picture, a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ and what
he accomplished in the redemption, in the salvation, the reconciliation
of his people. We saw when the Lord brought
forth that light, that uncreated light shining upon the earth,
We saw the Lord's gracious purpose, just as we see when Christ came
in the flesh and ministered the word of his father to the people,
going about doing good. We saw the light that he shone
forth in his ministry. And on day two, the firmament
was made, the covering. that expanse of the heaven. And
we see in that how that the Lord, in the death of himself, as the
Lamb of God for his people, made a covering for his people in
whom we live and dwell. And then we saw on the third
day, when the waters were gathered into one place, pictured our
being gathered into Christ, And it says that the land appeared
out of the watery grave. The land appeared in the same
manner. We see Christ appeared out of the grave. He came forth
being raised from the dead. The fourth day, when the sun,
the moon, and the stars were hung in the sky, it pictured
the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it also speaks to
the witness that our God left of himself in the earth, the
spirit, and the word, and the church, declaring what God has
done through Christ, that good news. And then we saw that through
the preaching, through that witness, the abundance of life came forth. Seen in the creatures of the
sea and of the air, how they were called by that gospel, by
that witness, life sprung forth. And day six, we see the new birth
wrought in the children of God. How he gives them a new birth
makes them new creatures in Christ. And day seven, that Sabbath rest
we see is the Lord Jesus Christ who gives us rest from all our
labors and spending and working to make a righteousness for ourselves.
Christ has put that to rest. through faith in Him. The same account is repeated
seven times from different vantage points, different viewpoints.
It's all saying the same thing. And sometimes it brings you in
real close to look at one thing in particular. Well, that's what
we have here in the rest of chapter 2. where it brings us to see
some particular details that also speak to the salvation of
our Lord for his people. These are things which concern
the church of God. So we're told here in verse four,
these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth
when they were created in the day. that the Lord God made the
earth and the heavens. So these are the generations. That word means this is the origin. This is the history. This is
the account of descendants, the families, the races, the genealogy,
the birth of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. And it means, the way that this
word genealogy is used in the scriptures, it doesn't just mean
what's come before, but everything that follows after it is all
speaking to the generation of the heavens and the earth and
the day they were created. For example, in Genesis 5.1,
it says, this is the book of the generations of Adam. And all the families of the earth
that came forth after Adam are the genealogies of Adam. It also
says these are the generations of Noah. And it says these are
the generations of Isaac. These are the generations of
Jacob. In fact, in the New Testament,
in Matthew 1.1, we're told this is the book of the generation
of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. And then
the history follows. The history follows it. And what's
described here at the beginning are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were created in the day. In the day. Now day is often
translated the day to mean one day, but it's also translated
as the time, the year, a period of time, a division of time. The word means hot. That's what
it means, hot. So that it speaks of that time
of the day from sunrise to sunset. And so the sense here of what's
being given is from the opening of time to the closing of time. This is the day in which the
Lord created the heavens and the earth and it speaks of this
whole time of which you and I are members of we're part of that
genealogy this is the day that the Lord hath made this is the
day and so there's a beautiful thought here that everything
that is happening from the beginning of time all the way to the close
of time this is all the generation of the heaven and the earth until
Christ returns and he makes a new heavens and a new earth It's
all that day. This is all speaking of what
concerns us. Everything that we read of here
concerns you and I to this day. In fact, we know that. Everything
that happened here that Adam did concerns us. And everything
that Christ did, the last Adam did, concerns us. It all speaks
to this creation of our God. And it yet bears, it yet speaks
to us in our present day. It's not some archaic history
that has no meaning or bearing upon us. It has everything to
do with us. It speaks to us to this day.
And so the Lord is giving us this insight. He doesn't give
us tons of details. He tells us just what we need
to know so that we see the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
given to glorify Him, to make Him precious in our hearts, in
our minds, as we look to Him, as we see Him who Redeemed us
who? Reconciled us to God because
it was all lost in Adam It was all given away for nothing in
Adam and Christ restored His his people he redeemed his people. So this is the day that the Lord
hath made Let's go to Psalm 18. That's where that's from Psalm
18 and let's read verses 22 through 24 Verse 22 in Psalm 118 says, The
stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, it's
marvelous in our eyes. We know who that stone is, the
one whom the builders, those who thought they were everything,
who thought they were the ones building the house of God, they
disallowed Christ, they rejected Christ, they disapproved of Christ. And they put him aside and we
know that God made him the head of the corner. He is the foundation,
most important stone. And then it says, Verse 24, this
is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be
glad in it. And so this whole time here is
speaking of Christ. This is the whole generation
of heaven and earth until Christ returns and creates a new heaven
and a new earth. And so we rejoice in this day
because it speaks of and declares the salvation God for his people
rather than destroying us and giving us what we deserve in
Adam he blesses us and gives us double for all our sins a
blessing a full blessing many blessings all blessings in the
Lord Jesus Christ Peter said in Acts chapter 2 that he was
delivered by the determinant counsel and foreknowledge of
God but we took him and we crucified him and and we put him to death.
And so the Lord's saying, we did evil. We're the ones who
are wicked. We're the ones who are vile. We're the ones who
deserve destruction and to be cast off from God. But God had
a purpose in it. God had a purpose. In fact, this
Jesus hath God raised up and made these apostles witnesses
to that, and they went and preached this gospel. Therefore, what
he's saying to us is that we're to know that God hath made this
Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, that we slew and that he
raised from the dead, that he is both Lord and Christ. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. He's making us to see what he
has done, and he brings us back to these details here in chapter
two and what follows to see that this is speaking of our salvation,
this is speaking of our trouble, of our fall, of what happened,
and what the Lord has done to give life to his people, or beholding
Christ. It's more than just an interesting
look back in time at the foundations of our earth. but rather to see
Christ, to see where we lost everything, but God had a purpose
in it to glorify his son. And so we'll read of two trees
being described, one that describes Christ, who is the tree of life. He is the one who we eat. and
whom we feed upon and live by his righteousness. He is that
tree of life, and in whom we have communion with God in the
paradise of God, in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the heaven
of God. He is the salvation. And then
we'll read of the other tree, being that one by which Adam
and we in him fell in sin and rebellion And we came under the
curse, the curse of God. And we died spiritually, just
as God said, in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely
die. And Adam died. And that enmity
was witnessed in him immediately against God when he sought a
refuge from God. And so everything wrought here
by the first Adam, the death The curse, the paradise communion
with God that was lost is reconciled or redeemed, purchased back by
the Lord Jesus Christ for his own use, for his own purpose,
for his own glory. And so what the Lord is showing
us here is that he only deals with two men in all of history.
He deals with Adam the first and Adam the second. It's all
dealt with in him. And we're told actually in Romans
5 14 that Adam is the figure of him that was to come. The
scriptures say that. That's the only time that the
scriptures tell us that a person in the scriptures is a figure
of Christ. We know that we see the types and shadows and pictures
of Christ throughout, but it's spelled out for us that Adam
is a figure of Christ who was to come. And so what the Lord
is saying is that if I can be justly condemned in Adam, if
I'm guilty of Adam's transgression, I was there and in Adam and I
sinned in Adam. And I'm guilty of that. And I
can't deny it because every one of us who comes forth from Adam,
even if we don't like that, we all have to admit, I'm a sinner.
I'm not doing any better than Adam. In fact, I can't cease
but sin. Like they're sinning me and manifested
in all manner of different ways. So I can't argue that I'm a sinner.
And God tells me that I'm a sinner in Adam and that I've inherited
that sinful nature in him. But if I can be condemned in
Adam, then it stands that I can be justified in another. If I
can be condemned in another, I can also be justified in another. And that's what the Lord's bringing
us to see is, yes, we lost everything in Adam, but glory to his name. everything's been reconciled
and restored, being redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that which was lost, and freely given to us in him,
the second Adam. In fact, I'll quote Romans 5.19,
for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. We all
die, everyone represented by Adam, died in trespasses and
sins. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. In other words, everyone represented
in Christ, they are made righteous in him. If all that Adam represented
died, then all that Christ represented lives. That's the glory of what
the Lord's teaching us here. All right, now let's read the
next four verses, and I'll give some comments. Verses five through
eight. It says, every plant of the field
before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before
it grew, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the
earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. Okay, so
what this is saying, because it's a little hard to understand
what he's saying there, but what he's saying is before There was
a root or a tuber in the ground. There was no seed lying dormant
in the ground. And it didn't come forth because
it rained or a man cultivated it. What he's saying is God brought
it forth by his creation. God made it to come forth. He didn't need seed. He didn't
need rain. He didn't need a man. God created
it. He brought it forth. And this
happened on the third It didn't grow up slowly over time, over
a long time. God brought it forth immediately. It came forth, it sprung, and
there it was. It didn't go through the whole
cycle. It came forth, flowers and trees bearing fruit. It all
was wrought by the power, by the creation of God. And so the picture there, it
speaks to our salvation. We don't cultivate life in ourselves. We don't cause ourselves to be
fruitful, but the Lord God causes his children to be fruitful in
him. He doesn't need our cultivation. He doesn't need us to do something.
He has the power, the authority to bring forth life in his child
to regenerate them, to give them life. Next verse 6, but there
went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of
the ground. In other words, what we understand
from this is that there was no rain in the earth until God made
it to rain. Some say it wasn't until Noah
that they had never seen rain until God brought the rain down. And that's why it seems so absurd
that Noah was building a boat. There was no floods. There was
no bodies of water nearby. Why is he building this giant
boat? There's no need for it. And so they didn't understand
it. But God brought forth the rain. Whenever it came, God brought
it forth when he brought it forth. And he did it as it purposed
him. And here again, we see the Spirit's work. Our Lord, when
he was here, he stood up and said, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. And he said, he that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water. And so we see that, how that
the Lord watered things. Without the rain, He brought
forth and watered those plants that He had made. And so it is
that the Lord, by His Spirit, waters and nourishes that life
which He gives in His child. He doesn't need us doing things,
he does it. He blesses his people in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it says there that Christ
was speaking of the spirit which they that believe on him should
receive. All right, verse seven. And the
Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. In other words, Man is made of
dust, and to dust he will return. Adam means red earth. He's red
dirt. God is telling us that our bodies
are dirt. Nothing to glory and boast in. We are dust, and to dust we shall
return. But the picture here, it speaks
of regeneration. how that the Lord breathes life
into us. It's the Lord by His Spirit that
regenerates us and gives us spiritual life. We died in Adam. We are born of Adam's corrupt
seed. We come forth of Adam without
any spiritual life. We might be spiritual people,
but we don't know the true and living God until the Spirit regenerates
us, taking the things of Christ, of Christ's incorruptible seed
and gives us life again, making us born again, born of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so we see that there, that
it wasn't until God breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and then man became a living soul. and so it is that we see
this by nature we're dead in trespasses and sins but when
it pleases the father to call his child he pours out his spirit
upon them who fills them with the life of christ and gives
them spiritual life whereby they know god and fellowship with
him and have communion with him in christ in the lord jesus christ
then verse eight And the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Eden. And there he put the man whom
he had formed. So that word eastward can also
be translated before. In other words, God had planted
this garden before. On day three, when everything
was made and brought forth, he planted that garden. And then
on day six, when he formed man and gave him life, he took him
and translated him and put him there into the garden that he
had made on verse 3. I thought about discussing, maybe
we'll look at some of those other details about the garden a different
time, I'm not sure. But the point is, It was somewhere. It was somewhere. And it could
have been eastward from where Moses was when he wrote that. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
change the truth that God had prepared it and he created man
outside of it and then put him into that garden. And the picture there is that
this garden is the paradise of God. It's a term used to describe
heaven. It's where God meets with his
people. It's called the Garden of Eden,
meaning that the Lord is highlighting it. I would imagine when the
Lord created the earth and brought forth the plants, I picture the
whole planet being a lush, beautiful, Oasis. Just the whole thing is
a garden. But God calls a specific part
a garden. The Garden of Eden. And it's
distinguished from every other place on earth. And it's where
the Lord meets with his people. And it speaks to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because there's many religions. There's many things that people
teach and say, this is how you can come to God. But he tells
us in his word, there's but one way. to the Father. It's through
Jesus Christ the Son. He is the Garden of God. He is
the Paradise and He puts His child in that Garden and that's
where God meets with His people. That's where God fellowships
with His people in the Lord Jesus Christ. We've seen it many times
in Ephesians 1-3 where it says, blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. It all speaks of Christ. That's where the blessing of
God is. They're all given in Christ.
And that's where God meets with his people. That's why we don't
come. We're not just trying to be spiritual people and religious
people. We're begging God to save us
in Christ, because that's where he meets with his people. That's
where he blesses and feeds them in Christ. And so man, we see,
wasn't even made in the Garden of Eden, but outside of it. And
then he was brought into that paradise. He was brought into
that fellowship by the act of God, by the will and the power
of God. And that's how we're saved. We
don't come forth in the paradise. We're brought into it by God
putting us there. That's where he gives us life.
And that's where he blesses us in the paradise of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ, when he was hanging on
that tree, said to that thief, who asked him to remember him,
he said, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. He is the paradise of God. He
is the heaven that the God has given to his people. So all these
verses, five through eight here, we see how they speak of Christ
and his redemption. so that he's made precious to
us. Lord, this is where you're blessing me. This is where you
receive me, not on my merits, but on the merits of your son.
And I'm righteous before your eyes and without fault in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how the Lord makes
him precious to us. To behold, I'm the sinner. I'm
the one at fault. And yet you, by grace and mercy,
bring me into Christ. And there you receive me in him. And so he's the one who's redeemed
us and made us fellow citizens and partakers of his inheritance,
of his blessings in him. We are the body, the church,
the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in verse 9 it speaks of two
specific trees that were planted in the Garden of Edom. Verse
9, 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. The tree of life, it's a type,
also, it's a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. I said, well, the
garden is Christ. That's right. Well, the tree
of life, it's Christ. That's right. It's all Christ.
Like it says in Colossians 311, Christ is all and in all. He's everything to the believer. He's everything. He's all our
life and hope. And so the tree of life is a
type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the life of his people. We feed upon him. This gospel is nourishing. It strengthens the inner man,
which is made of our God. It encourages us. The here of
Christ and what he's done encourages us, settles us, founds us, rests
us upon the rock, hides us in the cleft of the rock from the
storm, comforts us when we're afraid, gives us light when we're
in darkness. Christ is all to the believer. He's everything. to us. In fact, it even words this of
him in Revelation 2-7, to him that overcometh, we overcome
by faith, which he gives to us, he says, I will give to him to
eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise
of God. That is Christ, upon whom we
live by faith. feeding upon him, drinking his
blood, feeding upon his flesh through the gospel. They're spiritual
words. He's our strength, our comfort,
our hope, our all, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we have access
to this tree, not by our obedience, but by what we obey through the
gospel. We have access to this tree by
the obedience of Christ to the Father in all things. He came
by the will of the Father. He came willingly, but he came
in obedience to the will of the Father and fulfilled the will
of the Father in all things so that Christ fulfilled the law
of God perfectly. Every jot, every tittle. We couldn't
do it, Christ did it. He did it perfectly because he
is the perfect righteous man and he came as the sinner's substitute. to pay the debt that we owe,
not only to fulfill all righteousness, but to pay the debt of our sin,
to put it away and obtain forgiveness for us with God. And so by his
leaves, by his life, we're healed and we're restored, reconciled,
redeemed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now God also made another tree,
and that's called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And there's a relationship. with
this tree to the tree that Christ hung upon. There's a relationship
there. If Adam never ate from that tree
of knowledge of good and evil, Christ wouldn't have had to come
and lay down his life on that tree, the cross, on the cursed
tree to put away the sins of his people. If it wasn't for
Adam, then Christ wouldn't have come as the Lamb of God for his
people. if Adam hadn't eaten of that
tree. Galatians 3.13 says, Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law. We're under the curse
of the law in Adam because the law says you must be perfect
to stand before God, to be accepted of Him, to be justified by Him.
And if you're not perfect, you must die the second death. You will be cast into hell forever. That's the curse of the law.
And it says, Christ hath redeemed us. He's delivered us from that
curse of the law. How? Being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Christ came and died the death
that his people were to die. He died as their substitute in
their place. So that he paid the debt that
we owe to God of perfect righteousness, that we were required to pay,
Christ paid it. And he died the death that was
our due. And so God forbade man from eating
the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning him,
in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. But now in
Christ, who died on the tree, on that cross, The spirit and
the bride say, come. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Come to this tree and partake of him. Feed upon him who hung
on the tree. Look to him. He is the salvation
of God's people. That first tree brought death,
but that second tree brings life to the people of God, because
Christ bore that for his people. The first tree led to Adam being
cast out of the paradise of God. But thanks be to God for Jesus
Christ, because of his death, because what he did on the cross,
on that cursed tree, it brings us into the paradise of God. We rejoice in him. In Romans
5, verse 17 and 18, we're told that by one man's offense, death
reigned by one. That means that the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. You see that? In Adam,
we died. In Christ, we live, because he
died in our place. And if I can be justly condemned
in another, then that means I can be justly justified. I can be forgiven in another
and received by God in the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, Paul says
in Romans 5, 18, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all
men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. all who are represented by the
Lord Jesus Christ, manifested by faith being wrought in them,
that fruit of his spirit being wrought in his child. And so
the righteousness of Christ is that he obeyed the Father in
all things. He willingly came and laid down
his life, having fulfilled all righteousness for his people,
and did exactly what the Father sent him to do, as the Lamb of
God, trusting the Father. giving his life up, knowing that
the father would raise him from the dead. And this is the gospel
that God gave his son. He spared him not, but delivered
him up for all his people scattered throughout the world who by going
to that cursed tree in order to make an atonement for their
sins. to redeem and reconcile everything
lost in Adam. When he took of that tree, the
knowledge of good and evil, Christ came and he went to the tree
to reconcile, to restore that which was lost. So full, free
salvation is what Christ accomplished. When he hung on that tree and
cried, it is finished, and he bowed his head and he gave up
the ghost. So that is put away. The warfare
is ended, brethren. Christ has obtained eternal redemption
for you, his children. As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. And so this is, this is how,
this is the day that the Lord hath made and we will rejoice
and be glad in it. You that are his people rejoice
in him. He's done it all. He's restored everything that
was lost. He's redeemed it all back. by
His blood and we rejoice in Him. He's precious to you that believe
He's precious and we thank God and that's what the Lord's showing
us all the way back here at the beginning of the generation and
it's still going till Christ returns. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you for your grace. Lord, it's so easy to not see,
to not see what you're declaring in your word. And yet, by your
spirit, you make clear that which is a mystery to all men. You make it clear to your people
that it all is speaking of Christ. Back from the very foundation,
it all testifies to and speaks of Christ. And so while there's
distractions and things about the beginning that can confuse
us when we're trying to justify the existence of God, we see,
Lord, that in your word, there's no argument. You're declaring
the Lord Jesus Christ. And seeing Him, Lord, there is
no argument. There's nothing to be confused
about. Because we see that You've done
all things well, and You've revealed everything in the face of Your
Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to see Him, to behold
Him, to rejoice in Him. Lord, make Him precious to our
hearts. Lord, if it rests on our obedience
and what we do, we shall surely perish in our sins. But Lord,
if it rests in Christ and what you do and what you work in us,
Lord, then surely we are saved and we have redemption and eternal
life in Him. Keep us ever looking to Him,
following Him, not walking in darkness, but in the light of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Teach us, Lord, you know how
weak, how frail, how easily fooled we are, but keep us ever looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ, because He is indeed life, and you have
provided Him for the life of your people. Lord, we ask this
in Christ's name, amen. Alright. Man, my throat is going. Thanks for enduring. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn, 514. We're marching to Zion. 514. Come, we that love the Lord, and let
our joys be known. Join in a song with sweet accord. Join in a song with sweet accord. And thus surround the throne. And thus surround the throne. We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. Those refuse to sing who never
knew our God. But children of the Heavenly
King, But children of the Heavenly King May speak their joys abroad,
May speak their joys abroad. We're marching to Zion, a beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
a beautiful city of God. The hill of Zion yields a thousand
sacred streets. before we reach the heavenly
fields before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the golden streets
or walk the golden streets We're marching to Zion, beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God. And let our songs abound and
every tear be dry. We're marching through Emmanuel's
ground. We're marching through Emmanuel's
ground. To fairer worlds on high. To fairer worlds on high. We're marching to Zion, a beautiful,
beautiful Zion. We're marching upward to Zion,
the beautiful city of God.