Grace in the Garden

                                             https://redeeminggod.com/sermons/ephesians/ephesians_2_4-7/




Do you know the story of how Eve was deceived in the Garden of Eden? If so, I bet you will agree with me that we have some serious questions for her! Hahaha! JK! Reference the scriptures below:

Genesis 2: 16 “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Genesis 3: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”………4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

After reading the passage above though, should we question Eve, Adam, God or the serpent?? Who did the DECEIVING? Who provided the GRACE?

Did you catch how the serpent TWISTED THE TRUTH to Eve? If you missed it, go back and read it again because I want you to really get this.  The serpent created DOUBT in Eve and made her question what God had told her. Because the seed of doubt was planted, she became susceptible to the schemes of the serpent. I underlined this part for a reason: “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,”, but if you go back to Genesis 2:9, God had made “trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food”. But Eve’s eyes were being DECEIVED with a different kind of pleasure, it was a self-serving pleasure coming only from the serpent because he had already twisted the truth.

Sometimes, life circumstances create doubt in our minds and hearts and we start to question the provisions and the promises of God. We start doubting His Word and if we allow the Truth of His Word to be twisted enough, we fall into the trap of what the evil one wants. We start wanting to be God and determine what is good & evil in our own eyes. We seek wisdom from other resources and not from THE SOURCE of all wisdom. We then become dead to the things of God-in other words, we die a spiritual death because our actions have cut us off from the Life Giving Source! Do you get that? But look how GOD enters the scene:

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Now, I want you to focus on these words “BUT THE LORD GOD”.  I’m here to tell you that even when you have fallen short as a believer in Christ or when you’ve regressed back to wrongdoing, God’s grace is sufficient for you! (2 Corinthians 12:9) Even if you haven’t experienced the Life Giving Source, His grace is still waiting for you! When God asked “where are you?” He wasn’t asking about their physical location, He was asking about the condition of their hearts. God will always call you to Him. His arm of grace will always extend out to you. We know the rest of the story, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. God addresses the serpent first and curses him. However, God did not curse Adam & Eve personally (Genesis 3:10-19). God clothed them with “tunics of skin” which indicated that a sacrifice was made. Jesus is our ultimate sacrifice. Will you accept God’s grace today?

Reference Ephesians 2:1-9. This paints a beautiful picture of God’s love and grace to mankind. Here are a couple verses to get you excited!

Ephesians 2: 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…..


Receive His Grace,

Carline




Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 8, 2022 at 4:28 AM

    Grace Grace amazing grace! Without it we would all be dead in our sins!

    ReplyDelete
  2. CarlineJuly 8, 2022 at 7:34 PM

    Yes Amen!!!

    ReplyDelete

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