Genesis Part 12 | Chasing Eden

Blessed the Lord, all my soul, and all that is within me.

If you have your Bible, go with me to uh Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

I uh um studied all week and had my uh go my notes.

Um had everything lined out.

I worked till 5 30 yesterday, getting everything nice and neat, and uh uh thought I was good, and I woke up this morning and I feel like the Holy Spirit just started speaking to me that I needed to really the main thought is the same and the the text is the same, but I feel like I need to go in a I had to rework my whole message.

I've not read through it.

If you know me, I'm a planner.

One of two things are gonna happen this morning.

Um you're gonna be really glad you came to church because the Holy Spirit's gonna move, or I'm gonna be all over the place and you're gonna be looking at your watch waiting for lunch.

So um I hope it's that first option.

In all seriousness, I feel like the Lord's really gonna move today.

He doesn't he doesn't do these things for no reason.

And if you're new here, um I can tell you I'm I'm not somebody who gets up here and says it every week, it's not an excuse for lack of planning.

I am hunter.

I don't know if you have access to this, but I'm already burning up.

I don't know if that's the spirit, the Holy Ghost fire, or what, but um but I I don't do this often.

Um I I so believe in planning and preparation.

I believe the the Lord can lead us just as much in our preparation as he can on the spot.

You know, there's some people who have told me, well, Pastor, you shouldn't prepare because you need to listen to the Holy Spirit instead.

And I'm like, well, maybe the Holy Spirit could help me in my preparation.

Yes.

So um I want to pray just one more time for for help.

Lord, I send your presence.

I feel like this word is for you.

I think it's for all of us, and I think there are some particular things you want to say to some people.

Lord, I just pray I wouldn't get in the way.

Lord Paul said I didn't come preaching with eloquence.

He wasn't an impressive speaker.

But he preached in power and he preached the cross.

Lord, the most prepared sermon without your anointing will produce no fruit.

But a prayed-up preacher who loves your word and who just listens to the Holy Spirit with your anointing.

That kind of a sermon will bear fruit.

I want clarity today.

Help me to be clear, help me to be faithful to what you've said.

May you remove every distraction.

Pray these things in Christ's name.

Amen.

God is crazy.

Thank you.

I'm so glad to have you here, by the way.

Most of us spend our entire lives looking for the next season.

In childhood, you remember as you grew older in childhood, you couldn't wait to be a teenager.

Then you get into your teenage years and you can't wait to get your driver's license.

And then you get your driver's license, but you have this thing called a curfew teenagers, and you think, well, I can't wait to graduate and move out of the house so I can be free.

And then you learn that you have to adult when you're free.

And you think, well, maybe if I get a job and start making good money, that's I'm looking forward to that.

And then you think, well, now I'm looking forward to settling down and finding a wife.

And then you think, well, man, I can't wait to have kids.

And then you think, I can't wait to have sleep.

And then your kids start to grow up and you say, Well, I can't wait.

And you know, I'm just looking forward to when they can take care of themselves.

Then they become teenagers and you say, Good Lord, I can't wait till they move out.

And then they move out, and you enjoy an emptiness for a while, and you can't wait.

You're always looking ahead towards retirement.

I was thinking about this, and you know, we don't often enjoy the now because we're always looking for the next.

We believe satisfaction is found always in the next, because for some reason, at least long term, we do not find lasting satisfaction so often in the now.

Because the now, the the the here's what we learn the the next never delivers really what it promises.

What if there was something deeper that we were all searching for?

What if there what if all of these pursuits of the next seasons of life were simply byproducts of a deeper longing?

I think they are.

In the garden.

And what does Eden mean?

It's paradise.

Beloved, we were made for Eden.

Adam and Eve sinned as we all have sinned.

And they were expelled from the garden, living as exiles.

And here's what I truly believe the Holy Spirit wants to say to us today.

Ever since God expelled us from Eden, we've been trying to find a way back.

That's the deepest longing of our hearts.

Oh, I know I've quoted Augustine many times to say, our hearts do not rest, Lord, until they rest in thee.

This is a different way of saying that.

We all long for Eden, and that brings us to today's text.

Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

It's a story about two men, Abram, who we've been looking at, and his nephew Lot, who I'm going to show you both long for Eden.

But the text reveals that they have two totally different ways of getting there.

They long for Eden, they pursue Eden, but on two quite different paths.

And as I said last week, and I didn't coin this, Genesis is not just about what happened, but it's about what always happens.

The stories that we read in the men and women's lives of Genesis and throughout the Bible, this is these are stories repeated throughout history.

And so as we we look at this story of two men chasing Eden, one on the right path, one on the wrong path.

Here's what we can learn.

We can learn how you and I can get back to the garden that our hearts may finally be satisfied.

So let me just review.

We've been looking at the story of Abram for a couple of weeks.

Remember, Abram, Abram and his family, they live in this place called Ur of the Chaldeans.

And it's a very pagan place, polytheistic, polytheistic place.

They worship multiple gods.

And uh Joshua 24 actually tells us that Abram's family actually were pagans.

They were involved in idolatry, and yet by grace, God calls him.

He calls him to salvation.

Uh, Hebrews tells us that he was justified, made right with God by faith.

But he also called him to vocation.

As we know, it's through Abram that the Messiah would ultimately come, and God promised Abram through you, not just through your, not just your people, but the whole world will be blessed, and that is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So that's chapter 11 and 12.

God promises Abram land and offspring.

So he says, Leave your home, leave your father's house, and go to the land where I'll show you.

Doesn't even tell him where it's at.

And so Abram starts traveling and he gets to this land called Canaan, which we know it, uh we know it as the promised land.

And when he gets there, God says, This is it.

He said, I'm gonna give you offspring.

His wife is barren, she's uh Abram's older in age.

And but he says, I'm gonna give you a son, I'm gonna give you offspring.

And as a matter of fact, your family is going to be so big that it's going to be like the sand on the shore.

You won't be able to count.

Innumerable will your family be.

What a promise.

And so God brings him into the land.

He says, This is the land I'm going to give your offspring.

And what happens?

Abraham uh settles, and by the way, Abram, Abraham, I use those interchangeably.

But he settles in the land that God's promised.

And what happens?

A famine comes.

The Bible says in chapter uh 12, it's a severe famine.

And doesn't that happen to us so much?

God, we feel like he's moving, he's calling us, and we think, oh man, I'm following the call.

Things are going to be great.

But then the land becomes barren, a famine comes, trials come, persecution comes.

Things do not always go as we expected.

And so Abraham, instead of trusting God to provide for them in the promised land, he decides he and Sarai and his clan, they're going to go to Egypt, which is a pagan place.

It's ruled by a tyrant, and things don't go well there.

Just quickly, um, when Abraham arrives, he knows that his wife is very beautiful at 65 years old.

I mean, she's got all the best skincare products and everything.

I mean, she's looking good at 65.

And he says, Listen, I know Pharaoh when he sees her, he's gonna want her.

And he's a tyrant.

And what Pharaoh wants, he gets.

And he's probably gonna kill me so he can have my wife.

But again, instead of trusting God, who has made all these promises to Abram, what's he do?

He takes matters into his own hands and he tells Sarah, he said, Lie, say you're my sister.

And what he does, he exploits his wife to save his own life, and he gives her to another man to be added to her cult, uh, Pharaoh's cult, harem.

This is the patriarch of our faith.

We've all done some messed up things.

Can I get a witness?

Thank God we have stories like this in the Bible.

Makes us feel a little better about ourselves.

But that's what happened.

But uh God steps in and he rescues Sarah and he brings Abraham and his people safely out of Egypt back to the promised land, Canaan.

And that's where we pick up.

Abraham repents, and now we find ourselves in chapter 13 and verse 5.

And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.

And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abraham's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock.

At that time, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

So here's what's going on here Lot is Abram's nephew.

Lot's father died at an early age, and by just grace, uh Abram seems to me that he takes Lot under his wing, helps him out, and becomes a fatherlike figure to him.

And so Lot begins traveling with Abram.

Well, God has blessed, immensely blessed, Abram's family, and he has blessed Lot and his people.

And they have a boatload of livestock, they have herdsmen, they have servants.

I mean, they have become a mighty people, very, very wealthy.

And here's what's happening: they're in Canaan, but the land is not yet theirs.

There are Canaanites and perizzites living there.

The point is there's a lot of people on the land, and the land is not resourceful enough to provide, you know, to sustain, let's say, all the livestock and all the people.

And so here's what happened.

Well, here's what's happening.

The the people begin quarreling.

Lots of people say, you know, that they're they're they're fighting with Abram's people for resources.

They're in close proximity.

It's like being in New York or something.

You're shoulder to shoulder.

And people get grumpy.

That's why you New Yorkers, you're so grumpy.

All right.

So here's what's happening.

That's what's happening, but Abraham comes up with a solution.

Look at verse 8.

And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.

Is not the whole land before you?

Now watch this.

Separate yourself from me.

If you take the left hand, then I'll go to the right, or if you take the right hand, I will go to the left.

So Abram says, Listen, we we can't do this forever.

Our people are gonna kill each other.

And here's it, here's the plan.

He says, Lot, you gotta leave.

Now the holidays are coming up, and some of you are already thinking this.

See, one of the blessings about holidays is that family can get together.

Particularly if you have family from out of town, they can come in and stay.

And that's good for about a day or two.

But when they overextend their stay, sometimes you just gotta say, I don't care where you go, but we gotta separate.

I don't care where you go, but you can't stay here.

And so that's essentially what Abram does, but he he does something profound here.

Abram is the patriarch, he's the oldest one in the family.

He has the right to make the decisions, but he leaves the decision up to Lot.

He says, If you go to the left, I'll take the right.

If you go to the right, I'll take the left.

And Abraham is just trusting the Lord.

He says, I don't really care where I go, just get away from me.

That's kind of that's probably what's going on here.

And so now I want to bring you to verse 10 because here's the thing.

Abram and Lot are under pressure.

And now Lot has a choice that's going to impact not just him, but generations of his family to come.

And when you are under pressure, something happens.

Something happens when you're under pressure.

There was a former Archbishop of Liverpool who said to think of yourself like spiritual toothpaste.

He said, when you squeeze it, what's inside comes out.

And here's the point: when you have to make a decision like this, when your life is under pressure, it's you are being uh squeezed, as it were.

What is on the inside of your heart is going to come out.

And this is what we see in Lot.

So look at verse 10, if you will.

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and he saw the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar.

This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

So note this in the Jordan Valley is Sodom and Gomorrah in other cities.

Look at verse 11.

So Lot chose for himself the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east.

Your spidey senses should be going off there.

Thus they separated from each other.

So the land is before Lot.

Choose whatever you will.

How many would like that to be offered to you today?

All of Richmond, uh, all of Berea, all of central Kentucky, all the land is before you choose where you go.

You'll go.

This is the choice before Lot.

And what does he choose?

He chooses the Jordan Valley and he settles in Sodom, which begs the question why?

Well, it is an industrial city, it's technologically advanced, it's a place where the wealthy can become wealthier.

But it's also a place of great hedonism.

It's where you can follow the passions of your heart without too much judgment.

It becomes, as we know later in the book, when Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, it's a place where the morality was absent.

It was a place of sexual freedom, much like our culture is trying to be today.

But there's something else beyond all of that.

There's a deeper reason, and we see it in the text.

There's a deeper reason that Lot chooses the Jordan Valley.

Did you catch it?

Verse 10.

Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like what?

The Garden of the Lord.

Eden.

Where does Lot look for Eden?

He looks to the land.

He looks to the land for paradise.

Like all of you probably have a picture of some beach somewhere or some mountain, and you think if I could live there, that would be paradise.

Anybody.

This is what he this is where he looks.

But look at verses 11 through 13.

Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated from each other.

And Abraham settled in Canaan.

Okay?

So there let's let's stop there.

So there, he's in the Jordan Valley.

Abraham stays in this part of Canaan.

And here's what I want to point out.

Lot has the right desire.

It is a God-given desire to want Eden because we were created for Eden.

Right desire, but uh the wrong path.

This is the issue.

I want you to look one more time at verse 11.

Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed.

That's all right, it's not a trick.

East.

Now, I want to know if anybody has picked this up over the last 11 messages.

That word east.

Does that cause anybody?

Pause this morning.

Are you with me?

Me.

Okay.

Thank you, brother.

Why do I point that out?

Well, throughout the book of Genesis, Moses does something really brilliant.

He's cluing us into something.

Every time in these first several chapters that he talks about going east, it illustrates going from the presence of God, going further and further away from God's presence.

And I said this the first time I talked about this.

I want to say it again.

I'm not suggesting you move to California.

Please, no.

All right?

But but this is used to illustrate the further they go east.

It seems to me Moses is trying to say they're moving further and further away from the Lord.

So let me just uh quickly walk you through this.

In Genesis 324, God puts the cherubim to guard Eden east of the garden.

All right.

Then you come to the story of Cain in chapter 4, verse 16.

Cain has killed Abel.

And then it says God confronts Cain, and it said, Cain left the presence of the Lord and went eastward.

And then we went to chapter 11 a few weeks ago, the story of the Tower of Babel.

The people were extremely wicked.

And it says, this people, I think of Shilem, that they went eastward.

And now here we have it again.

Look at it.

Lot is going to Sodom, and it says he went east to Sodom.

And you may think that's a stretch, but this is clarified when he says in the next verses, look at verse 13.

The men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

See, as time is going on, people are getting further and further away from the garden.

And here's what's happening here.

This is why I say Lot is on the wrong path.

He's searching for the right thing.

His ambition is correct, but he's taking the wrong road to get there.

Here is what Lot is doing, and it's what the world is doing today, and it's what some of you are doing today.

Lot is trying to get to Eden without God.

He is looking for paradise void of God.

And can I tell you, I don't care if you're in Florida or Belize, wherever you're at, the Virgin Islands, listen, if God's not there, you won't find paradise.

Lot is looking to the land to find Eden.

And isn't this us today?

Philosophers for millennials have theorized how to bring Eden to our world.

Political systems, I mean, this was why communism was sold.

Come on, this is the way.

We'll have a classless society.

It'll be like the garden.

Everybody's needs will be met.

We'll find Eden.

Of course, they didn't use that terminology.

The problem is men are corrupt and the system is without God.

How did it work out?

It didn't bring Eden, it brought hell.

And yet, our colleges today, our students, our young people, are being indoctrinated as if we should go back to some socialist and even communist form of government.

Beloved, it will not be bring Eden, it will bring hell.

See, politicians have always promised this if you elect me, I'll bring Eden.

And some of you have been brought into it because you've looked to Trump and you've said, this is what we need to bring Eden back to America.

It's quiet now.

We think technological advancement, this is what we need.

You know, we we can extend life like in the garden.

I was looking, oh my goodness, did you guys see Elon Musk's new like flying car or whatever, hover car?

It's called what, the roaster?

You gotta look this up.

It's wild.

It is wild.

And and and Elon Musk is all about bringing, you know, he's not a religious guy and he wouldn't use this language, but he wants Eden to come to the human race.

And when he can't find it, he's like, you know, maybe we can't find it here.

Maybe we'll take flying cars to Mars.

Can I be honest with you?

Eden is not on Mars and it's not here in the world system.

So those are like collective pursuits of Eden, but you think, well, we have individual pursuits.

Some of you are pursuing Eden this morning.

You want the next relationship, you think this is what's going to bring Eden into my life.

You're looking for a career advancement and you think this is what will, this is where paradise will come to me.

You're looking for money.

If I just had enough, if I didn't have to stress over paying bills, then man, it'd be like paradise.

My soul would be satisfied.

Education, if I can just learn enough and be smart enough, or if I can be beautiful enough and you spend hours a day in front of the mirror, and you're putting, like Sarai, you're putting those lotions and creams to try to stop the inevitable because you think these things are where paradise is found.

Now, there is nothing wrong with relationships.

There is nothing wrong with family.

There is nothing wrong with money.

There is nothing wrong with success in business, and there's nothing wrong with beauty except when they become your God.

Paul Tripp calls these things created glories.

You know, um, all the things, sports and and uh beauty and all the things we enjoy in the world are God's good gifts to us, and they are meant to be enjoyed, but they are not to be worshipped because they will never bring Eden to your life.

Oh, temporary satisfaction, good times, yes, but they won't satisfy you.

See, the problem is they they don't bring lasting happiness.

I I've um I'm sorry to talk about this again, but you know, I've recently found pickleball, and for a moment I thought this might be paradise.

The pickleball court, who knew?

I'm gonna open an indoor court and call it pickleball of Eden or something.

I don't know.

And then I was happy.

I I I was I really didn't think of it as Eden, obviously exaggerating, but but it became something that I honestly that that was supposed to be fun, and it became something that I was looking to to bring some deeper satisfaction in my life.

And I've told you the story that that was working for a little bit until I went and got destroyed, my son and I at a tournament.

We we had a uh one of our um team members just the other day um loves pickleball and is now out for 12 weeks.

And what happens now if that's where you're getting your satisfaction from?

You see, these things are meant to be enjoyed.

Is pickleball a good thing?

Yes, uh Mike, he's not here.

He called me a nerd for it.

I don't care, I enjoy it.

Listen, they're meant to be enjoyed, but you won't find Eden in those things, even in your family, even in your spouse, even in your children.

They can't deliver.

Let's look at the result of Lot's pursuit.

So I'm just gonna summarize this.

It's a chapter 14, uh, and um, God willing, I'll hit more of it next week, but it's extremely confusing if you read the first part.

But essentially, you have five kingdoms, including Sodom and Gomorrah, who are under that they've always, for I think it's for 12 years, they've paid allegiance, uh, they've given allegiance to this higher king called his name, it is really weird.

It looks like chandelier, so we're gonna call him King Chandelier, all right?

And so they rebel after 12 years of serving him and paying tribute to him.

They decide this is enough, and they rebel, and there's a revolution.

And so here's what happens Um, after a year or two, I can't remember exactly, that's why I need my notes.

But King Chandelier and three other allies go against these five kingdoms who have rebelled, and those kingdoms, including Sodom and Gomorrah, are left in shambles.

So look at verses in chapter 14, verses 11 and 12.

So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the provisions, and they went their way.

They also took who?

Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom and his possessions, and they went their way.

Now, just spoiler alert, Abraham does rescue Lot and gets his possessions back, but you read a few chapters over, and the whole city is literally turned to ashes.

And here's the point.

When Lot looked out upon the Jordan Valley, particularly to the land of Sodom, and he saw the wealth and he saw the hedonistic pleasures, that city called out to him and said, You want Eden, you want paradise, here it is.

But it doesn't deliver.

Money, every product in the world, on and on and on.

And they say, if you buy this, if you do this, if you vote according to this for for this political party, this is where Eden is found.

But it cannot deliver on that promise.

Teenagers.

You're gonna be promised Eden when it comes to sexting and sexual promiscuity.

And I was a youth pastor for 15, 20 years, and Jerry and Casey have been youth leaders for years.

And here's what we can tell you what starts out really fun and looks like Eden can end in STDs and unwanted pregnancies.

And it can ruin your life forever.

And that's just one example.

A career.

Some of you are real into career and and and the the promise is grand.

If I could just make this much money, if I can land this client, then I'll have Eden.

It'll take me to Eden.

But then because you have worked so much, you have lost that which matters most, your family, your relationship with Christ, whatever it is.

You you you have in your pursuit of this worldly form of Eden, you've exploited and neglected the most important things in life.

And we could give example after example.

Here's the thing looks can be deceiving.

You know, I was talking about this Elon Musk car, and it looks very futuristic, but I'm gonna take some of you back to 1981, 1982.

How many remember the DeLorean?

And then later it was immortalized in what movie?

Back to the Future.

Some of y'all are gonna go home watch that this uh this this evening.

The DeLorean, here's the thing.

Like in that time, I know it looks kind of weird now, but in that time, man, it's like the future has arrived.

It's something like off the Jetsons, right?

Like, I mean, and some of you are going, what's the Jetsons?

All right.

Um most of you.

And here's the thing.

Like, it looked, I mean, it was slick.

What are the the doors, the Goldwing doors, is that right?

Uh and and man, they, you know, they come up like this.

It's almost like the the crane move, right?

The car that can do the crane, you know, kick.

But listen, it looked awesome.

And you think, man, everybody's gonna buy one of these, but guess what?

Do some research.

The car was extremely heavy and underpowered.

And do you know it took about two years for the company to go bankrupt?

And see, here's my point: it is Lot is looking out over the land and he says, Oh, here's the shiny, futuristic, technologically advanced land.

This is where I'll find Eden.

But it doesn't deliver.

Looks can be deceiving.

So let's just move quickly to Abraham.

Because Abraham's pursuing Eden as well, and you say, Well, where is that?

Go to the book of Hebrews with me, if you would, chapter 11.

Look at verses 8 through 10.

By faith Abram obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

This is the land of Canaan.

And he went out not knowing where he was going.

By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Now, watch verse 10.

For he was looking for forward to the city that has its foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Is there any better description of Eden?

See, Canaan is not the ultimate promise of land, Israel, not the ultimate promise of land.

Those places, uh, Canaan itself pointed forward to the day when the whole earth would be filled with the glory of God.

He's looking for a city.

In other words, he's looking for the garden.

And where does Abram look?

Look at verses, go back to chapter 13 in Genesis and look at verses 1 through 4.

So Abram has sinned, he's repented, he's coming back to Canaan.

Chapter 13, verse 1.

Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and lot with him into the Negab.

Now Abram was very rich in livestock and silver and gold, and he journeyed on from Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first.

And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

Lot, where did he look?

Where did he look to for Eden?

He looked to the land.

But Abraham, he wants Eden too.

But instead, he doesn't look out, he looks up.

He doesn't look to the land, he looks to the Lord.

And let's look at the results of this as he looks to the Lord.

Look at verses 14 through 18 quickly.

Chapter 13.

So he's he stays in Canaan.

And this is what the hat happens.

The Lord said to Abram, see, he stays in the land that looks less promising, maybe, with the eyes.

But it's closer to Eden, not because of the technological advancement, but because that's where God speaks.

The Lord said to Abram, After Lot had separated, lift up your eyes, take from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all of the land that you see, I'll give to you and your offspring forever.

I'll make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that no one can count the dust of the earth.

Your offspring also cannot be counted.

Your offspring also can be counted.

Arise, walk there the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.

So Abram moved his tent and he came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron.

And there, what's he do again?

He builds an altar to the Lord.

See, see the the the garden of God is not found in the Rocky Mountains, nor is it found in the Virgin Islands.

That's the goal of some of your lives, is to get to somewhere like that so I can finally find paradise.

It's not there unless there's an altar.

And let me just let me tell you the best news in the world today.

You may not believe me, but do you know where paradise is also this morning?

Right here in Richmond, in Berea, in Winchester.

Well, what makes it Eden?

The altar.

But watch this.

What made Eden paradise?

It wasn't the nice trees.

It wasn't the purpose that Adam found, the work that he found.

These were all great things.

It wasn't his perfect relationship with Elijah, his wife.

It wasn't even that he got to run around naked.

None of those things.

That's in the Bible if you're new.

I'm not making that up.

You're like, oh, I want to read the Bible.

Um listen, none of those things made Eden Eden.

You know what made Eden Eden?

That God dwelt in the cool of the garden with Adam and Eve.

That's the longing of our hearts.

Now here's the bad news.

We've been expelled from the garden.

Our sin, like Adam and Eve, has separated us.

There's the cherubim guarding us from the presence of a holy God.

We sinful people.

That's the bad news.

But the good news is today there's an invitation for you and for me to come back to the garden.

You'll remember in Connor, wherever you're at, you can come on up, buddy.

You'll remember in Genesis, or excuse me, Luke chapter 23, 42 and 43, this is the context of the crucifixion.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

Remember, Jesus is hanging on the cross between two men.

And one of the thieves trusts in the Lord.

And what does Jesus say to him?

The man says, Jesus, remember me in your kingdom.

And Jesus says, Today you will be with me where?

Paradise.

What does Eden mean?

Paradise.

Today, he says, you get to go back in the garden.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Now you say, um, okay, so we wait till we die, or then we go back to the garden like the thief on the cross.

Well, paradise is where the Lord is.

And there's a perfect Eden coming.

But do you know you can have right now, because is God's kingdom here now?

Yes, it's been inaugurated.

We talk about this all the time.

When he returns, it'll be consummated.

But if you're in the kingdom of God, here's the thing: you get a foretaste of the Eden to come.

Let me read you two, if one more scripture.

I might read one more.

After this.

Ephesians 2, 5 and 6.

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, Christ made us, God made us alive together with Christ.

It's already happened.

By grace you've been saved and you've been raised up.

He raised us up with him.

And watch this.

He has seated us.

He's talking to people who are still living.

And he's talking to us.

You've been raised up.

God's raised you up in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

He has seated us with him in heavenly places.

Okay?

When you become a Christian, when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are seated, spiritually speaking, in heavenly pieces.

What's that mean?

In Jesus right now, you get the peace of Christ.

You get the peace of Eden.

Some of you need that this morning.

Because you're searching everywhere.

This will bring me peace.

This will bring me peace.

Come to Jesus, rest in Jesus, and you'll find the peace of Eden.

You get the joy of Eden.

You get the purpose of Eden.

Everybody's looking for purpose.

You'll find it in Christ.

You'll have the purpose that we were made for in Eden.

And you'll have all the blessings that the garden was intended to give us.

Now, I told you I might read one more scripture.

I want to take you to the book of Revelation.

So that's the foretaste that you can experience now.

But there's coming a day.

There's coming a day when the new and better Eden will be consummated on the earth.

Can I say it again?

The end of the story, the goal of the Christian life is not to get to heaven.

It's for heaven to come to earth.

I believe in heaven, it's a real place, but the final story, this is the main theme, one of them throughout the Bible.

Genesis 1 and 2 opens with a garden, and you're going to see Genesis 22 ends with a garden.

The whole point is we lose the garden, we're kicked out of the garden, which means there's a chasm between the um that's created between us and God.

The world is infected with sin.

And story by story in the Bible is about how God, through his plan of redemption, is bringing the garden back and allowing us back in.

Look at Revelation 22, verses 1 through 3 with me if you have your Bible.

Revelation 22:1–3

Then John writes, the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Through the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life.

Familiar language?

With his twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

The leaves of the tree were for healing of the nations.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more.

They will need no light of lamp for sun for the sun or sun.

The Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever.

Right now, you can come to Jesus, and you can be, you can have a foretaste of the kingdom in the midst of a world of suffering.

And by the way, do you know that Lot is called in the New Testament righteous?

A righteous man?

So you this is not a comparison of a lost and a saved person.

No.

Here's what that tells me.

Even Christians are still pursuing Eden in the wrong places.

So that's you.

Listen today, turn to Jesus.

Find your satisfaction in him.

So there's a foretaste now, but when Jesus returns, watch this.

It's not about us being taken up, it's about him coming down and bringing his kingdom to earth.

Back me up on this, Dr.

Busky.

He will consummate his kingdom.

And this is this was this is the whole purpose.

The garden is not just supposed to be one little place on earth, it was supposed to spread throughout the earth.

And when Jesus returns, the whole world will be the new and better garden.

And you and I who are in Christ shall dwell with the Lord in the cool of the garden forever.

No more night, no more sin, no more suffering.

So my question as I close is simply this.

You, whether you know it or not, you are pursuing Eden, every one of you.

My question is, where?

Where are you looking?

Are you looking to the land, to that next relationship, to that next degree, to that next job, to that next position, to that next paycheck, to that next sale, to that next child being born, being born, to that next sexual escapade?

Where are you looking for Eden?

Here's a question you could ask yourself.

Um what do I think I need to make let me let me think about this?

What is it that if I received, what can I receive that would bring me fulfillment?

There's something every one of us are thinking about.

Like, this is the one thing that would make my life complete.

Okay, what is that thing?

What is that thing?

If it's anything other than Christ, you're looking for Eden on the wrong path.

And you can get that thing, and that Eden that is promised will turn to ashes like Sodom.

May you look to Christ and may you enjoy the garden of God.