GOD IN THE GARDENS

GENESIS 3:8

A. "AND THEY HEARD THE VOICE OF THE LORD GOD WALKING IN THE GARDEN; THEN COMETH JESUS WITH THEM UNTO A PLACE CALLED GETHSEMANE:
  1. Man has an incurable love for a garden:
    1. It matters not whether he is rich or poor; a beautiful garden is the ultimate of his ambition
    2. To him a garden is a symbol of peace and contentment
  2. This concept by man, has according to our opening text, its origin in the mind of God:
    1. "And the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden" - Gen. 2:8 B. GOD IN THE GARDENS
  3. The garden was for a time the God chosen home of our first parents:
    1. It was, therefore, God's highest concept for man's peaceful environment
    2. It was to be the center for fellowship between God and man - Gen 2:15-16
  4. The garden of Eden became the testing ground where man's ultimate destiny was decided:
    1. In it man received the Divine direction to peace, happiness, and eternal life
    2. Both, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil were planted in the same garden - Gen. 2:9
    3. Thus the highest concept of God of a home for man became the battleground between good and evil - Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-6
  5. It must be noted that Satan invaded the most sacred place in man's domain - the garden of Eden:
    1. The place selected by God for joyous communion between the Creator and man
    2. That shows that the Home of Man, his highest concept of life, is Satan's one target to desecrate and destroy
    3. The home is the center of human affections where man feels most secure; Satan knows that
    4. Here is food for serious thought by all homemakers to make sure that it is guarded by heavenly angels against the intruder - Ps. 34:7; I Pet. 5:7-8; Is. 59:19 C. SPECIAL LESSON FOR OUR MEDITATION
  6. God in the gardens:
    1. The garden of Gethsemane was frequented by our Lord on a number of occasions; Mark 14:32; Matt. 26:36
    2. It was in the garden, invaded by Satan where Judas betrayed his Lord with a kiss Matt. 26:48; Mark 14:44
    3. It was in the garden of Gethsemane where our Lord offered His Great Intercessory Prayer, a prayer for humanity - John 17; Luke 22:41
  7. Since a garden was God's original ideal for the human family:
    1. He made it the one hope for man to strive for while he is a pilgrim and stranger in this present sin-stained vale of tears - Rev. 2:7; Luke 23:42-44
    2. He allowed Paul to enter the sacred place in vision - 2 Cor. 12:1-5
    3. John saw this Paradise home as it will return to the earth when the world is made new - Rev. 21:22
  8. Thus we see:
    1. That a beautiful garden was God's concept of a peaceful home for man to begin with
    2. That Satan invaded this sacred place and made it the battle ground between good and evil
    3. Man disobeyed His Maker, yielded to sin thus he forfeited his Paradise home - Gen. 3:24
    4. The garden itself was removed to the third heaven - 2 Cor. 12:3-4
  9. God in the gardens has a special lesson for us:
    1. Our home, as God conceived it, is still man's most sacred environment
    2. But because of sin, it has become in many places the battlefield between good and evil
    3. If and when we allow sin to control our lives, our home will be defiled and become a place of sorrow and pain
    4. But when Christ controls our lives, our home will become a type of the Paradise home.


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