Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. In the beginning of our Bible,
Genesis chapter 1 and the first part of Genesis chapter 2, we
see all of the things that our God made in seven days. And in
chapter one, verse 31, it says, God saw everything that he had
made and behold, it was very good. Very good. The word very means exceeding. It was perfect. It was a sinless
earth with a sinless man on it. Sinless animals, a sinless ground. It was the way that it will be
again. The way it was is the way it
will be again. The Lord is going to redeem the
earth, redeem His people, remove the curse. That's what He's going
to do. But in Genesis chapter 1, it tells us what our God did.
And in Genesis chapter 2, it goes a little further in detail. And it tells us why the Lord
did some of the things that He did. Chapter 1 says God made
man. Chapter 2 says how God made man. Chapter 1 says He made man male
and female. Chapter 2 tells us why. He made
male and female. Chapter 1 says, God did it all. And I love this. Chapter 1 keeps
saying, God did this, God did this. But chapter 2 says, the
Lord God did it all. Specifically, the Lord God. Chapter 2 verse 4 says, 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.
and 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. But there went up a mist from
the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 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."
The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. He made every plant
of the field, every herb of the field. Everything this world
has belongs to the Lord God. That's the point. He made it,
he owns it. All of the dirt belongs to the
Lord God. And he took some of his own dirt
and he formed a man with it. And that man and everything he
produces belongs to the Lord God. But after he formed that
man, The man laid there just a lifeless body. So the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's who God is, the Lord Jesus Christ leaned
up to Adam's face and he breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and man became a living soul. And that living soul belongs
to the Lord God. Everything belongs to the Lord
God. In Ecclesiastes chapter 12, he
said in verse seven, then shall the dust return to the earth
as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. This breath of the spirit of
life, God breathed into man. And this breath that he gave
us, it comes from God. This breath that we have right
now, I am breathing right now, and you're breathing right now.
And it's the gift of God to a body. It's not man's own breath. This world assumes that man makes
his own breath, but he does not. God sends it. Our breath is on
loan for a while until He takes it back, until He finally says,
that's it. That was the last one. A child enters this world and
everybody is waiting for that child to enter this world alive. So that doctor, a child is born
and the doctor does something to make that child cry. He'll
pinch that child or he'll do something to inflict some pain
and that child will take a deep breath in and then cry out. The breath of the Spirit of life. God in grace gave that to mankind. Well back over in Genesis chapter
2 verse 8 says, And the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. The Lord God planted a garden. God did it. Now that says something
about who our God is. It tells us something about what
He's like, what His desires are, His tenderness and His love of
life and beauty and fragrance. The Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden and there He put the man whom He had formed. Verse 15 says, to dress it and
keep it. this perfect ground, in a perfect
garden, a sinless man, in a sinless garden, with a sinless ground. There was no such thing as fatigue.
There was no such thing as trouble, labor. There was no such thing
as sorrow and disappointment. There were no weeds. No weeds
to take over. He didn't have to pull one weed.
Everything was in its place. Everything. There was no such
thing as sweat. Everything that Adam did was
100% purely for his recreation and pleasure. Nothing had to
be done. It was finished. It was perfect. God said it's very good, exceeding
good. Nothing could be improved upon.
It was finished. It was perfect. Nothing needed
to be plowed. The earth was already bringing
forth fruit. No seed needed to be sown. It
was bringing forth fruit. Nothing needed to be planted.
Nothing needed to be watered. God had already made every tree
pleasant to the sight, and good for food. It was perfect. It
was finished. It was paradise. That paradise
still exists. Our Lord told a thief on a cross,
he said, today you're going to be with me in paradise. Absolute paradise. Well Genesis
2 verse 9 says, 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. And a river went out of Eden
to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became
into four heads. And the name of the first is
Pisan. That is it which compasseth the
whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of
that land is good. There is Bedellium and the Onyx
stone. And the name of the second river
is Gihon. The same is it that compasseth
the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river
is Hiddekel. That is it which goeth toward
the east of Assyria. and the fourth river is Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree
of the garden thou mayest freely eat. 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. Two trees were specifically mentioned. The tree of life, and the Lord
God said, freely eat of it. Freely eat of it. The other one
was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord God
said, don't touch it. In the day that you eat thereof,
thou shalt surely die. One tree led to life. The other one led to death. Every man and woman needs to
know this. Every single man and woman on
the face of this earth needs to understand what our God is
saying right here. Because those two trees are still
in existence. And the tree that we partake
of is a matter of life and death. This is an issue of life and
death. One tree was given for food.
It was a gift given for food. The other tree was not given
for food. It was not a gift. One was of
life and it was unto life. The other was of the knowledge
of good and evil. And it was unto death. Now what do you call a gift unto
life? What is a gift unto life called? It's called grace. Grace, grace,
God's grace. Grace is a gift unto life, for
by grace are you saved. The gift is Christ. The gift
of God, the grace of God is Christ. For God so loved this world,
He gave His only begotten Son, Christ. Now what do you call
the knowledge of good and evil? Turn with me over to Exodus chapter
20. I hope you're following in your Bible with me. This is so
vital. Exodus chapter 20 verse 3 says,
thou shalt have no other gods before me. Don't do that. Don't have any other gods before
the true and living God. That's evil. That's evil. Make sure everybody knows that.
Teach that. That's evil. Verse 7 says, Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Don't do that. That's evil. Verse 8 says, Remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. Do that. That's good. Tell everybody to do that, that's
a good thing. Verse 12 says, honor thy father
and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee. Do that, that's good. Verse 13 says, thou shalt not
kill. Don't do that, that's evil. Verse 14 says, thou shalt not
commit adultery. Don't do that. That's evil. Verse 15 says, thou shalt not
steal. Don't do that. Evil. Verse 16
says, thou shalt not lie. Don't bear false witness against
thy neighbor. That's evil. Verse 17 says, thou
shalt not covet. It's evil. The knowledge of good
and evil is the law. The works of the law. God told the first man and woman
on earth. Here's the difference. And here's
the consequences of grace and works. Adam, Eve, you're alive. And it's by the free grace of
God, freely eat and live. But as soon as you lay hold on
works, as soon as you try to bring life
through the law into my finished work, the work that is very good,
perfect, complete. As soon as you lay hold on that,
thou shalt surely die." Because you cannot supply what the law
demands. Adam, Eve, it's either grace
or works. It's either free grace or free
will, one of the two. There's no mixing them. There is no common ground between
the two. It's one or the other. One leads
to life, the other one will lead you straight to death. Well, what did Adam and Eve's
free will choose? Back over in Genesis chapter
three this time. Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 says,
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field,
which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not eat
of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, You shall not surely die, for God doth
know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and you shall be as God's, knowing good and evil. He told Eve, You'll be just like
God, responsible to the law. responsible to the law. When Christ came to this earth,
do you know that He obeyed the law in every jot and every tittle? He did not break the law in one
point. Every single thing that God does
is in agreement with the law. The reason is because His nature
is the law. The law just declares His nature.
Now every single thing that I do is disobedience to the law. And
it's because my nature, my heart hates the law of God. My flesh
despises the law of God. Christ by nature, he cannot disobey
the law. But I by nature cannot obey the
law. So if I want to live, If I want
to live and if you want to live, we cannot touch God's law. We cannot partake of God's holy
law. Only God can touch it. But verse 6 says in Genesis chapter
3, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes
of them both were opened. And they knew that they were
naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons. They became immediately under
the law and they were found lacking. They were free from the law before.
Now they're subject to it. Now they're under its curse.
Verse 8 says, They heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees
of the garden. They were afraid. Verse 9, The
Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, who told
thee that thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, the
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree
and I did eat. That's sin, accusing another
of your own doing. Verse 12, the man said, The woman
whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and
I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this
that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle, above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt
thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou
shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman, he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow shalt
thou bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread. Thou shalt return unto the ground,
for out of it wast thou taken. For dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return." What happened in the Garden of
Eden? What happened? There's an old saying that's
been around for a long time. Wrong on the fall, wrong on it
all. What happened in the Garden of
Eden? The answer is man died. That's what we just read about
right there. Man died. Man went from immortal to mortal. Man went from innocent to guilty. Sin went to work in his body
and brought misery and affliction and disease and ultimately death. Death. Verse 22 says, And the
Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us to know
good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his
hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever,
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 Lord said, now that man has
his hands on works, now that he's laid hold of the law, lest
he try to mix that with my perfect grace, thinking that'll give
him life. Man was driven out. In the Garden
of Eden, man became separated from God, severed from God. Man had it all. Man lost it all. In Adam, all die. Right here in this chapter though,
we have a but God. That's the gospel. But God, look
at verse 21. Unto Adam also and to his wife
did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. clothed them. As soon as they
fell, God revealed the gospel to them. He showed them both
that the wages of their sin was death. But in that death, a covering
has been made for your sin. God killed a lamb. Who was that lamb? That lamb
that died instead of Adam and Eve? Who was the substitute for
sinners? It was the same one that made
the sinners. The one that made us is the one
that bought us. He bought us with his own blood
and he clothed us in his own righteousness. We sinned but
he took the punishment. He died so we might live. That's the gospel. The gospel
is the good news of how the Lamb of God became the substitute
for sinners. You know, I believe that the
question I'll never stop asking, and I believe that the question
that every saved sinner will never stop asking is, why? Why would the Lord Jesus Christ
do this for me? Why would he do this for us?
Well, go with me back to chapter two, and let's look at Adam as
the Lord Jesus Christ, and let's look at Eve as us, and I believe
we'll see why. Genesis 2 verse 18 says, and
the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone,
I will make him and help meet. It is not good that Christ should
be alone. Why would God say that? Why would
God say that? The reason is because He wanted
to. It's what was in His heart. The
Father said it's not good that the son should live the rest
of eternity without a bride. Someone to hold to and cling
to and love and cherish. Verse 18, the Lord God said it
is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and
help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord
formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and
brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And
whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle,
and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam there was not found and help meet for him." Now think
of all the beings of heaven that God created. celestial beings,
cherubims, seraphims, angels, none of them did Christ set his
affection on like he did fallen man. Is that not amazing? His
heart is for fallen man. The only reason any of this goodness
happened to us is for God so loved. That's the only reason. Christ loved his bride all the
way to the end. Over in 1 Timothy 2, this is
wonderful. 1 Timothy 2 verse 13 says, for
Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived. But the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. Christ was not deceived. He took that sin upon Himself
willingly. Why? Love for His bride. That's why. Love for His bride. And Genesis chapter 2 verse 21
says, The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh
instead thereof. God the Father put all of the
chosen bride in Christ. And then Christ slept the sleep
of death for three days. And during that sleep, all of
the people in Him were made new creatures. Verse 22 says, And
the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made He a woman
and brought her unto the man. They were made new creatures
of righteousness, sinlessness, holiness, purity, Verse 23, and
Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. As
I am, so is she. Verse 24, therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife
and they shall be one flesh. He says, wherever I go, you're
gonna go. As I reign, you're gonna reign with me. You'll be
by my side to have and to hold from this day forward. Verse
25, and they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were
not ashamed. They were spotless, sinless,
innocent. Neither one had anything to be
ashamed of. All that sin was completely gone,
never to be remembered again. And they both lived happily ever
after. What a story. The man and his
bride. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.