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A reading from the Book of 
Genesis. 

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These are the records of the 
heavens and the earth concerning

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their creation. 
At the time that the Lord made 

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the earth in the heavens, no 
shrub of the field had yet grown

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on the land, and no plant of the
field had yet been sprouted for 

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the Lord. 
God had not made it rain on the 

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land, and there was no man to 
work the ground, but the mist 

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would come up from the earth and
water all the ground. 

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Then the Lord formed the man out
of the dust from the ground and 

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breathed the breath of life into
his nostrils, and the man became

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a living being. 
Then Lord God planted a garden 

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in Eden in the east, and there 
He placed the man he had formed.

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The Lord God caused to grow out 
of the ground every tree 

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pleasing in appearance and good 
for food, including the tree of 

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life in the middle of the 
garden, as well as the tree of 

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the knowledge of good and evil. 
A river went out from Eden to 

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water the garden. 
From there it divided and became

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the source of four rivers. 
The name of the first is Pishan,

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which flows through the entire 
land of Havilah, where there is 

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gold. 
Gold from that land is pure. 

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Delium and Onyx are also there. 
The name of the second river is 

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Kihan, which flows throughout 
the entire land of Cush. 

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The name of the third river is 
Tigris, which runs east of 

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Assyria, and the fourth river is
the Euphrates. 

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The Lord God took the man and 
placed him in the Garden of Eden

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to work it and watch over it. 
And the Lord God commanded the 

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man. 
You are free to eat from any 

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tree of the garden, but you must
not eat from the tree of the 

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knowledge of good and evil, for 
on the day that you eat it, you 

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will certainly die. 
The word of the Lord. 

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Well, we are starting a new 
series called Sacred Spaces, the

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Holy ground where God meets us. 
Sacred spaces are those places 

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in this physical earth where we 
encounter the living God and are

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set apart in a special and 
unique way for the mission that 

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He has. 
We're going to be starting this 

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morning in Genesis and we're 
going to be working our way 

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through the Scriptures all the 
way to the new Jerusalem in 

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Revelation, looking at all the 
ways that God meets his people. 

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We're going to start in the 
garden and then we're going to 

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look at the altar and then the 
Tabernacle, the temple. 

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We're going to work our way 
through the mountain and then 

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finally to the to the the new 
temple in Jesus Christ and then 

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the new city that he brings. 
So I hope you join us for the 

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series. 
I wonder if there's anyone among

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us who've brave enough to try 
those 1000 piece puzzles. 

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Have you tried putting one of 
those puzzles together? 

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Now here's a here's probably, 
you know, the biggest challenge 

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of them all. 
Have you ever tried to put one 

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of those puzzles together 
without the aid of the box, The 

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picture on the box where you 
have to deal with all these 

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scattered pieces? 
You don't know how they connect.

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Sometimes you're forcing it and 
sometimes you're not. 

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And sometimes like maybe a piece
that's a, you know, with another

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one over here, but overall, it's
just a lot of like pieces 

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scattered around. 
There's no vision bringing it 

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all together. 
Sometimes that is what it can be

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like to live the human life 
without any kind of vision or 

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purpose of what God intends for 
your life. 

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You have all these pieces 
everywhere. 

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You've got your gigs and you've 
got your work and you've got 

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your friends and you've got 
friends over there and friends 

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over here and you've got church 
and you've got, you know, like 

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all kind of hobbies and 
interests and pain and setbacks.

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You're like, how does all of 
this fit together? 

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What's the grander beautiful 
picture for my life? 

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A recent study found actually 
that well over half of Gen. 

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Z feel like their lives lack 
that picture lacks meaning and 

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purpose for their lives because 
there's nothing coherent and 

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beautiful and complete that they
feel about their life and their 

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work. 
And the truth is like it doesn't

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just, it's not just Gen. 
Z, it's every generation. 

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If you don't have that bigger 
picture, you don't know how your

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life is supposed to coalesce and
come together. 

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That can be very discouraging 
when you ask what's the bigger 

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picture? 
What's the bigger purpose for my

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life? 
Now reading from Genesis 2 is 

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like a picture from the Lord God
for every generation. 

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Here's what it looks like to be 
a full and complete human being.

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Here's what I can do with your 
life. 

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Here's what I intend. 
We see the original sacred 

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space, which was a garden. 
Isn't that cool? 

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A garden was the original space 
where God wanted to encounter 

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human beings, where He brought 
them to life, where He placed 

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them and gave them a purpose. 
He gave them abundance and lush 

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rivers and delicious food. 
The garden is the place for 

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God's people return to again and
again to hear God's call on 

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their life and know His presence
and join His work. 

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So it's true that we don't live 
in this garden. 

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What's described here is no 
longer our full and complete 

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reality, but the picture of it 
was kept for our benefits so 

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that everyone from every 
generation who struggle to know 

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their bigger picture, the bigger
picture of their life and their 

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purpose can return to it and say
here's what God is doing with 

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your life and here's what God is
doing with the world. 

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So I invite you to turn there 
now. 

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Genesis 2, I think it's on page 
nine of your programs. 

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You can obviously turn there 
into your Bibles. 

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That's the first book of the 
Bible, Genesis 2 four and 

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following. 
Now when we think about the 

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picture that Genesis 2 is 
painting, here's the first 

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feature that we need to know. 
The first feature of this 

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picture is God who is Lord over 
both lack and abundance. 

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God who is Lord over over lack 
and abundance. 

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We missed this. 
We missed the picture of the 

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meaning of our life. 
You, you might be here and 

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you're you're facing lack. 
You might be here and you're 

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facing abundance. 
If you cannot see a God who is 

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Lord over that, your life is 
going to lack meaning and 

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coherence because Genesis 2 
presents a very interesting 

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world. 
It's it's a world that is both 

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desolate and desirable, and God 
is Lord over both circumstances.

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Look at in verse 4 and following
how He is present even in the 

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barren times. 
Verse 4 says these are the 

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records or the genealogies or 
essentially like the the the 

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original story of the heavens 
and the earth concerning their 

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creation. 
At that time the Lord God made 

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the earth and the heavens. 
No shrub of the field had yet 

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grown on the land. 
That's the first negative thing 

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#2 no plant of the field had yet
sprouted. 

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Second negative thing for the 
Lord God had not made it rain on

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the land. 
There's the third you could call

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it a negative reality or 
something that doesn't yet 

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exist. 
And then finally, there is no 

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man, no human being to work the 
ground. 

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Go back and a lot of people 
agree on this. 

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People have different 
perspectives on the origins of 

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our world will agree that there 
was a time without people and 

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there was a time where things 
were desolate and there was a 

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time when a lot of what we know 
now that's lush and beautiful 

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and good and civilization and 
art and and and Thai food didn't

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exist. 
And yet given this lack of rain,

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lack of trees, you don't see God
panicking. 

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You don't see him distressed. 
He's he's ruling and reigning. 

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He's the Lord God has all the 
time in the world to deal with 

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this situation, to deal with 
this lack, and to wait for the 

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right time to act. 
And sometimes it's just good for

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us to remember that God can 
handle desolation. 

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He's lured over the lack. 
In fact, in Genesis 1, we see 

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the Spirit of the Lord hovering 
over the chaos of the earth. 

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It's chaotic and dark things 
don't exist yet. 

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And the Lord God is right there 
hovering, and He creates 

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beautiful order out of that 
situation. 

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Psalm One O 7 puts it this way. 
He meaning God turns a desert 

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into a pool, turns a desert into
a pool, dry land into springs. 

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The Lord God can take lack and 
turn it into abundance. 

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But you can also do the reverse.
Psalm one O 7 says he turns 

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rivers into desert, springs into
thirsty ground, fruitful land 

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into salt, salty wasteland. 
So the Lord God has seen 

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ecological like change and he's 
not afraid of it. 

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He's Lord over it and he's Lord 
over lack in abundance and can 

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turn 1 into the other depending 
on his purposes. 

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He's not afraid of lack and he's
not enamoured with abundance. 

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I would say this is really 
important for us because we are 

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tempted to believe that the 
purpose of our life, the picture

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of our life, is success, however
we define it. 

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That if our goals are unmet, if 
our lives feel desolate, we 

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might assume I've lost the plot 
and purpose of my life. 

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It's just a bunch of pieces. 
And we just assume like, OK, if 

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I failed at something, that 
means my life is futile. 

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And that's just not true at all.
The purpose of our life starts 

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with God, who is Lord over lack 
and abundance, and he's Lord 

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over He's Lord over both. 
Whatever circumstance that we're

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in now, what does God do in this
dusty and desolate world? 

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Well, he brings life. 
Verse 7, the Lord God formed the

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man. 
The verb here for formed is what

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the ancient Near East would 
refer to like a Potter making 

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clay or making making up like 
taking clay and forming it. 

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God is forming the man out of 
the dust from the ground, and 

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verse 7 says he breathed the 
breath of life into his nostrils

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and the man became a living 
being. 

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And here's one thing I want us 
to notice. 

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I just want us to notice the 
grace of verse 7. 

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Just pure grace. 
What's the human being doing to 

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exist? 
He's not winning any 

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competitions, not proving 
himself, not working really hard

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to exist, not getting God's 
attention, doesn't exist at all.

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His life begins with God's mind,
God's heart, God's intentions, 

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God's creativity, God's breath 
of life. 

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God's does everything. 
The human being does nothing. 

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It's God's greatness and God's 
grace that fills his life with 

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purpose and and that just we can
never forget that, friends, we 

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can never forget that our lives 
begin with grace. 

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We did nothing to exist. 
We are hereby God wants us here 

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and placed us here and he made 
us and everything about us 

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belongs to him and starts with 
him. 

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Verse 8, the Lord God planted a 
garden in Eden in the East, and 

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there he placed the man, the 
human being that he had formed. 

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And notice just how much the 
Lord God is being intentional 

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here. 
He's he's planting a garden that

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takes if anyone here has planted
a garden, you know how much 

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intention that takes. 
Then he places the human being 

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in the garden. 
So there's more initiating grace

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from our Lord here. 
He creates the abundance that 

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the man will now live in, like 
thrive in. 

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And in verses 9 through 14, we 
actually see a world dripping 

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with abundance. 
We we started in desolation, but

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now we see that the Lord is 
abundant. 

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Abundance comes from His grace. 
Verse 9 talks about beautiful 

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trees with delicious food. 
It's sort of aesthetic and 

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delicious. 
And then verse 10, God provides 

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a water source. 
It's a great river that brings 

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life. 
And in fact, the the river, what

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happens is that when the river 
hits Eden, it divides into four 

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parts. 
And many scholars believe that 

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this is sort of an ecological 
clue that that the garden, like 

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Eden, is like a great mountain. 
The garden is at the top of the 

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mountain. 
The water flows into the garden 

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and then divides in four 
different ways to irrigate the 

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four corners of the earth. 
And then Genesis 2 goes on to 

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describe the existence of 
precious metals and, and, and 

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then also, best of all, there's 
a human being placed in the 

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midst of all of this, the 
vegetation, the water, the gold 

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and the dellum and Onyx to 
cultivate all of it. 

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This past April, Laura and I 
went on a marriage retreat. 

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And one of the things we did was
we, we hiked up a mountain in 

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Georgia and I did not bring 
water with me. 

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And man, I was like, what am I 
going to do? 

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We're not even at the top of the
mountain yet. 

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And I'm really thirsty. 
And we got to the top of the 

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mountain and we were shocked to 
find order and beauty. 

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There was this Japanese koi pond
that was really well maintained.

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There was vegetation everywhere.
There was this historic 

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renovated guest house. 
That was all like ready. 

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And then best of all, there was 
a fountain of drinkable water. 

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And it was like there was past 
intentions that had placed all 

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of that together, put all of 
that together right atop of the 

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mountain. 
So what did we do? 

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We refreshed ourselves in the 
water and poured it on our heads

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and drank it and, and then we 
just took in all of the beauty. 

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We took in the beauty of the 
house and the koi pond and 

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00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:51,720
looked out into the valley and 
saw all the, the, the fresh 

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00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:55,360
Georgia landscape and trees. 
It was just absolutely gorgeous.

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The original sacred space was 
kind of like that, except way 

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better. 
Purposeful, beautiful, 

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delicious, teeming with life. 
This is from God. 

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He's generous and He loves to 
provide abundance for his 

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children. 
But if we think that's the 

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meaning of our life and we don't
see the God behind the 

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abundance, we will lose the 
plot. 

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We will lose the purpose for all
of the abundance. 

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00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:30,040
We will lose the personal 
intention designed behind it, 

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00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:33,920
that fruitfulness. 
Ask anyone who has everything 

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00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:35,240
they've ever wanted in this 
life. 

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00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:39,280
They finally get it and their 
lives in some ways are more 

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00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:44,640
desolate and empty than when 
they were just struggling to get

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00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:51,000
the next meal. 
The Lord God is over lack and 

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00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:57,280
over abundance, and that is one 
of the most that is the primary 

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feature of this picture of what 
it means to be human. 

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00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,120
It's just pure grace flowing 
from Him no matter what the 

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00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:12,280
circumstances are. 
Yet we do have a role to play, 

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and that's the second feature of
this picture of what it means to

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be human in this sacred space, 
the garden. 

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00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:23,480
The second feature of the 
picture is a human being trusted

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00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,640
with great freedom and 
responsibility. 

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00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,720
A human being trusted with great
freedom and great 

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00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,480
responsibility. 
It starts with God, Lord over 

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00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,960
lack in abundance, and then it 
moves to the human being trusted

258
00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:35,600
with great freedom and 
responsibility. 

259
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:40,000
Verse 15, the Lord God took the 
man and placed him in the Garden

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00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,600
of Eden to work it and to watch 
over it. 

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00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,640
Really important words. 
We see it repeated in other 

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00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,720
sacred spaces in Scripture like 
the Levitical priesthood. 

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00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,520
They were to do this exact same 
thing, work it and watch over 

264
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:59,160
the Tabernacle, the Hebrew word 
for work. 

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00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:04,119
The first of that pair avad and 
this carries a sense of applying

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00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:11,200
human effort, labor, intention 
to make a problem better. 

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00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:17,079
It is applying creative effort 
to cultivate something within 

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00:17:17,079 --> 00:17:21,160
creation. 
Adam is supposed to cultivate 

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00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:26,599
the gold, harness the river, 
raise a family, build a 

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00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:31,040
civilization, tend the garden. 
That is a high calling avad, 

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00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:36,440
Avad this place, Adam. 
But how does Adam's work in Eden

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00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,120
relate with ours? 
What about our work of evading? 

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00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,640
One pastor explains it this way.
Gardeners like Adam take an 

274
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,800
active stance toward their 
charge. 

275
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:47,720
They don't leave the land as it 
is. 

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00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,200
They dig up the ground and 
rearrange it with a goal in mind

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00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,120
so that it produces food, 
flowers and beauty. 

278
00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,280
And that is the pattern for all 
work. 

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00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,240
It is creative and assertive. 
It helps people thrive and 

280
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,320
flourish. 
What does it look like to apply 

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00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:09,840
creative, active work in our 
world, rearranging it so that 

282
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:14,640
our lives flourish? 
A psychologist takes the 

283
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,240
insights on human nature and 
applies it with skill and 

284
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,800
compassion and relationship to 
their clients. 

285
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,280
As a result, fear and shame give
way to strength and courage 

286
00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:27,720
among the people that they 
serve. 

287
00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,880
A young artist applies hours 
each week to train their hands 

288
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,000
and their minds to master a 
craft and master the notes. 

289
00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,640
They learn to take the the raw 
material of their craft, the 

290
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:43,040
notes in the strings, and they 
learn to make something 

291
00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:48,000
beautiful and inspiring. 
An entrepreneur notices a local 

292
00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,720
population getting exploited for
their natural resources, but 

293
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,080
instead of passively letting it 
happen and passively profiting 

294
00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,920
from it, they take an active 
creative stance. 

295
00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:02,800
They connect law enforcement 
with the business community, and

296
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,040
they come up with a sustainable 
plan so that this community is 

297
00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:11,320
able to profit from and flourish
in their natural resources of 

298
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:16,840
their own property. 
A grad student builds upon 

299
00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:21,280
arguments from leading scholars 
to craft a thesis which advances

300
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:26,800
the field of study. 
A young dad notices A chaotic 

301
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:34,400
pile of laundry higher than 
Mount Zion itself, smelly and 

302
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:41,440
undifferentiated, and applies 
effort and skill and hard work 

303
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,280
and intention to turn that into 
beautiful, differentiated, good 

304
00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,120
smelling piles of laundry for 
each member of their family. 

305
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:54,600
Work the garden. 
Take an active creative stance 

306
00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:57,960
of the things that are right in 
front of you as part of Our 

307
00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:59,800
Calling friends, as part of our 
work. 

308
00:20:03,120 --> 00:20:07,800
John Wesley put it this way. 
Do all the good you can by all 

309
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,720
the means you can and all the 
ways you can and all the places 

310
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:15,520
you can at all the times you 
can, to all the people you can, 

311
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:21,040
as long as you ever can. 
Now, one of the best examples of

312
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:26,280
this that I've seen is from a 
man whose name is Gary. 

313
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,840
Gary's story goes like this. 
All he wanted to do was be a 

314
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:36,480
foreign missionary. 
He that's the call he got from 

315
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,680
God as a young boy and a young 
man, and he pursued it into 

316
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,920
adulthood. 
He got his training. 

317
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,880
He, he, he married his wife, 
Carolyn. 

318
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:50,440
She also wanted to go to the 
mission field. 

319
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,240
They work towards it. 
They did. 

320
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:54,760
They jump through every single 
hoop they could to fulfill their

321
00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,080
call and dream. 
And once they had jumped through

322
00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:02,000
every single hoop, the door 
slammed in their face and the 

323
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,960
mission board basically told 
them you can't go, you can never

324
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:08,160
go. 
And they were, I mean, there was

325
00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:12,040
absolutely disillusioned. 
Like I think they were like 30 

326
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,400
or above at this point and had 
worked for years for this. 

327
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,520
So they just did the next right 
thing. 

328
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:22,720
He took a job as a a pastor of 
youth and young adults in North 

329
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,320
Carolina and he just started 
pastoring them and they started 

330
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,880
coming up with him with, you 
know, relationship problems, 

331
00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:34,960
which probably seemed trivial to
him at the time, but he was 

332
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,040
like, OK, So he started to 
counsel them. 

333
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,280
He started to pastor them and he
started encouraging people and 

334
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,520
they're engaged couples and 
married couples. 

335
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,240
And, and then he started 
noticing patterns. 

336
00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,040
God started to give him 
insights. 

337
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,240
Here's some helpful things for 
you to shepherd these young 

338
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,600
couples. 
And so he found that it was like

339
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,400
so helpful for them that he 
decided that he would write it 

340
00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,480
down. 
And he's like, I don't know. 

341
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,320
We'll call it the five love 
languages. 

342
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:07,640
Fast forward now, his work on 
the five love languages has been

343
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:12,640
translated into 50 different 
languages, actual languages. 

344
00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:19,400
And he continues to write, speak
and minister not just 

345
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,120
relationship wisdom, but also 
the gospel of Jesus 

346
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:28,400
internationally all year round. 
He's 87 years old. 

347
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,000
Sometimes he speaks every night 
of the week and encourages 

348
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,800
people and preaches the gospel. 
I don't think he could have ever

349
00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,720
seen that coming. 
But he just did the next right 

350
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,320
thing and God made sense of the 
whole picture. 

351
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:48,240
God calls Adam to work it a VOD,
but he also calls them to watch 

352
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,360
over it. 
Shamar, this is Guardian 

353
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:54,160
language. 
This is the language that refers

354
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,880
to protection. 
Be on the lookout, be a 

355
00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:03,320
watchman, because there's going 
to be there's going to be people

356
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:05,640
who are going to come against 
this work. 

357
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,880
Evil will come against it, and 
you must guard it. 

358
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,520
This means that anything 
destructive or contamination 

359
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:19,560
needs to be kept out because 
sacred space is meant to stay 

360
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:25,200
sacred, not be defiled, not be 
trampled on, not be treated with

361
00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:29,560
disdain. 
And so further instructions on 

362
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:32,480
that are in verse 16 and 17. 
The Lord God commanded the man, 

363
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,120
You are free to eat from any 
tree of the garden, but you must

364
00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,520
not eat of the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil, for 

365
00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,960
on the day you eat of it, you 
will certainly die. 

366
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:47,600
And soon after an evil minded 
snake like creature comes with a

367
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,200
lie. 
And this is Adam's first Test. 

368
00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:53,600
Like, will he shamar sacred 
space? 

369
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,680
Will he keep evil out? 
Will he confront it? 

370
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,680
Will he put his own life on the 
line to protect what God has 

371
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,840
called sacred? 
That was part of his 

372
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:06,760
responsibility. 
That's what part of what God 

373
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:12,320
gave him to do. 
God trusted Adam and Adam 

374
00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:19,400
betrayed that trust because he 
did not shamar sacred space. 

375
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,080
He, he did not take an active 
creative stance. 

376
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:28,600
He did not guard it. 
An evil trampled evil even 

377
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:31,960
worked through his own heart and
Adam's own disobedience. 

378
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,120
And there's this just sense of 
breakdown of trust. 

379
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,240
And this is what it means for 
sacred space to be violated. 

380
00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:45,360
Ever since, you know, Adam's 
sons, you, you watch what 

381
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:49,240
happens and, and sacred space 
gets more and more violated. 

382
00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,360
In fact, Adam's descendants 
tried to make, they tried to 

383
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:56,400
recreate even, you know, but 
they did it through violence and

384
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,200
extortion. 
And instead of recreating even 

385
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,400
they, they made things like the 
Tower of Babel or the city of 

386
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,680
Babylon, just more injustice and
more pain and more exploitation.

387
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:10,640
And we see this in our world, 
don't we? 

388
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,320
We see this when when a person 
or group exploits the 

389
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,680
environment for their own 
profit, but without thought for 

390
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,680
coming generations, or when a 
powerful person violates 

391
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:26,360
someone's innocence, or when God
entrusts us with an assignment 

392
00:25:26,360 --> 00:25:29,520
and says work it and keep it. 
And we were like, it's too hard 

393
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,280
and this is not what I imagined 
for my life. 

394
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:37,160
So we quit. 
See, it's not just our puzzle 

395
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,480
that's scrambled. 
It's the whole world. 

396
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:44,960
It's just all these pieces 
everywhere, broken, like, torn 

397
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,240
apart. 
Like, how is this going to be 

398
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,280
put back together? 
Shattered, Shattered remains, 

399
00:25:52,120 --> 00:25:55,560
broken glass. 
Let's see. 

400
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,560
There was one son of Adam that 
was different. 

401
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,480
Yeah. 
Bringing the whole point home 

402
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:07,840
there. 
One of Adam's son's friends went

403
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:11,000
back up the mountain and found a
garden there. 

404
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:12,680
In fact, we have a visual 
illustration. 

405
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,840
There he is right there, the 
second from the last. 

406
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,320
You see him up there, Jesus 
Christ in Gethsemane, praying in

407
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:24,320
the garden, confronting the 
snake. 

408
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:29,200
Instead of falling down on the 
job, He sweats drops of blood 

409
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,520
and prays all night. 
Father, thy will be done, not my

410
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,760
will, Thy will be done. 
And the snake, you know, tried 

411
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,600
to deceive him but couldn't. 
So the snake pierced him. 

412
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,560
And from his wounds, from the 
wounds of Jesus, flowed living 

413
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:47,480
waters to irrigate the four 
corners of the earth, to bring 

414
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,800
refreshment of spiritual life 
and renewal to anyone who would 

415
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,280
turn to him. 
He would give healing to the 

416
00:26:53,280 --> 00:27:00,080
nation's and Adam's son, God's 
Son, Jesus Christ has become our

417
00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,760
new garden, the new Eden and the
new gardener within Eden. 

418
00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:10,920
For all of us who have tasted 
the the fallout of our own sin 

419
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:15,800
or the sin of other people, when
we feed on him, this, this new 

420
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:22,360
garden, we will surely live. 
I heard about the story of a 

421
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:28,640
jazz musician named John. 
You know, John tragically lost 

422
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:34,080
his dad at age 12. 
And so as he came of age and 

423
00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,920
realized that he had a dream of 
becoming a jazz musician, he was

424
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,800
always looking for those father 
figures, you know, is that void 

425
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,000
in his life, always looking for 
mentors who could take him to 

426
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,240
the next level. 
He'd play with any band that 

427
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,680
would take him, basically 
practice as much as he could. 

428
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:50,320
But one of those father figures,
as it happens, like passed on 

429
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,240
heroin addiction to him, which 
was rampant in the jazz 

430
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,240
community at the time. 
And so, but he's he's struggling

431
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,360
and he's he's working at it. 
And then finally, John gets his 

432
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:05,120
big break. 
Miles Davis invited John to join

433
00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:07,560
his quintet. 
He starts playing with Miles 

434
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,760
Davis, but the only problem is 
his drinking and his heroin 

435
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:15,520
addiction had gotten so bad that
he, like his live performances 

436
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,560
were were erratic. 
And Miles Davis was like I got 

437
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:23,360
to let you go man. 
This is not working out. 

438
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,200
And just imagine like what a low
point you would be. 

439
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,400
You've worked all your life for 
a goal. 

440
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,560
You finally meet that goal to do
what you think you're calling 

441
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,120
is, but you screwed it up and 
you missed your greatest 

442
00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:40,440
opportunity. 
And something really interesting

443
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,720
happened in John's life is that 
that became a moment where he 

444
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:46,320
was like, OK, I'm going to face 
the snake. 

445
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,720
I'm going I'm going to face the 
darkness. 

446
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,200
And he actually, he locked 
himself, not advising this, but 

447
00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:54,960
this is what he did. 
He locked himself in his 

448
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:59,320
Philadelphia home to go cold 
Turkey off heroin and alcohol. 

449
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,640
And it got so bad, his 
withdrawal symptoms, his 

450
00:29:03,640 --> 00:29:05,000
daughter thought he was going to
die. 

451
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,560
But instead of dying, he 
actually encountered the living 

452
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,600
God. 
And Jesus Christ changed his 

453
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,560
life, changed his heart. 
And he said God, like he, he 

454
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,720
said, God, I want you to give me
an opportunity. 

455
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,120
Would you help me make beautiful
music to bring joy to people's 

456
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,120
lives? 
Would you help? 

457
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:27,400
Would you restore my broken life
and help me and help me, help me

458
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:32,080
with this craft? 
And he came out of that 

459
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:37,000
Philadelphia home and he 
recorded his album and he called

460
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,640
it a Love Supreme. 
And when you listen to John 

461
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,680
Coltrane's album Love Supreme, 
it's like you can hear all the 

462
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:49,160
picture, the picture of his 
life, all those shattered pieces

463
00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,040
and shards of his life come 
together and the most beautiful 

464
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,400
mosaic ever. 
All like the pain and the 

465
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,800
missing dad and the, and the 
notes and the years in the 

466
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,720
wilderness and the failure and 
the grace and the hope. 

467
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:04,880
You can hear it. 
And this is what Jesus can do 

468
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,760
with every human life. 
Every time we have failed and 

469
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,200
every time we've missed 
opportunities and every time we 

470
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,040
feel like it's it's broken and 
UN unredeemed and we have no 

471
00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:15,480
idea how it's all going to fit 
together. 

472
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,000
This is what the new gardener 
does. 

473
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:21,160
See, there's all the pieces 
together and he says, let me 

474
00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:24,360
make something of let me 
recreate Eden one person at a 

475
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:25,920
time. 
And if you're here and you've 

476
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:30,680
never met him, you can turn to 
him now, just like John did back

477
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:35,760
in the year 1957. 
I I love what he says in his in 

478
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,840
his liner notes. 
He said this album is a humble 

479
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,200
offering to him and attempt to 
say thank you God through our 

480
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,680
work, even as we do our they do 
in our hearts and with our 

481
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:48,440
tongues. 
May he help and strengthen all 

482
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,640
men in every good endeavour. 
That's true. 

483
00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:59,080
He can do that with you and me 
one day. 

484
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,760
I know it. 
We're, when we turn to him, 

485
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,920
we'll see the whole picture. 
We'll see the puzzle come 

486
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,680
together and, and it and we'll 
say all praise be to God. 

487
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,840
But in the meantime, it's still 
a puzzle, isn't it? 

488
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:14,920
The pieces, how do they all fit 
together? 

489
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,440
I'm not exactly sure. 
You're not exactly sure. 

490
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,000
We're just doing the next right 
thing. 

491
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:23,000
We're just Avadh and Shamar 
watching and and working the 

492
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,520
little plot of the garden in 
which God has placed us. 

493
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:29,000
And we're asking him to make it 
sacred again to the glory of 

494
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,280
God. 
So, so let's just bring it back 

495
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,040
here today. 
What are we going to do? 

496
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:39,200
Got a practice for you that you 
can try it. 

497
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,320
We'll call it the garden 
practice because why not? 

498
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:45,720
And this is for every stage of 
life. 

499
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:49,160
I've got some prompts for you 
here. 

500
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,240
You can write it down or not. 
We'll we'll figure out a way to 

501
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,600
send this out. 
But this can help us realign 

502
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,280
with God's purpose for our life.
And it starts with people. 

503
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,920
People who are the people that 
God has asked you to love and 

504
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,080
serve on a consistent basis? 
Are there people in your life 

505
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,840
God has asked you to love and 
serve on a consistent basis? 

506
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,880
People, projects. 
What are the projects? 

507
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:24,160
You could call it a craft or, or
the next right thing that the 

508
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:30,960
Lord has asked us to invest our 
best efforts, our best efforts, 

509
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,400
our creative, active stance. 
That's projects #3 problems, 

510
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:40,240
problems. 
What's your mound of 

511
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:42,760
undifferentiated Mount Sinai 
dirty laundry? 

512
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,600
What's your version of that? 
What issues in this world has 

513
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:53,600
the Lord asked you to confront, 
to guard, to watch over, to do 

514
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:59,920
something about problems #4 
provision, provision. 

515
00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:04,520
What blessings or graces has God
provided? 

516
00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,760
Or would you like Him to provide
for you, to flourish in your 

517
00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,600
work? 
And then finally, prayer. 

518
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,000
Prayer. 
Where do we need God's help to 

519
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,200
work and steward the garden unto
His glory? 

520
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,360
Maybe it's grace for the 
failure. 

521
00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:26,760
Maybe it's strength of the task.
Maybe it's wisdom from above, 

522
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:34,360
people, projects, problems, 
provision, prayer. 

523
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,840
Let's end with prayer now my 
friends, as we seek to be 

524
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,920
faithful in the garden. 
Lord, we just give you all of 

525
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:45,280
the pieces of our life. 
We don't know how they fit 

526
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,240
together. 
Thank you that you are the 

527
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:51,760
picture, that you can see the 
picture, and that you are making

528
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,400
all things new in our life. 
Thank you that you formed us 

529
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,160
from the dust and that you 
placed us here with purpose. 

530
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,200
Lord, would you teach us to to 
work with joy and to keep watch 

531
00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:09,560
with joy unto your name. 
And Lord, help us trust you with

532
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,400
the with just the story. 
We don't know how it will come 

533
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,600
together, but thank you that 
you're bringing all of the 

534
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:21,520
broken pieces of our life and 
all the gifts of our world and 

535
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:23,960
even our hopes and dreams, Lord.
And you're making a beautiful 

536
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:27,880
picture of grace and mercy in 
Christ and with Christ and 

537
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,920
through Christ to the glory of 
God the Father, who pray this in

538
00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:33,159
Jesus name, Amen.