Introduction
Main idea: Obediently accept the mission of your generous Creator King.
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Good morning, faith, Bible Church, please open your Bibles to Genesis, chapter two, verse 10. Let's stand for the reading of Scripture, and I'm going to read Genesis 210, through 17, as we continue our series on the book of Genesis. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the pishon so one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there's gold. And the gold of that land is good. Delium and onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is the Gihon. It's the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord we, thank you for the opportunity that we have to come to church together. Lord we, thank you for the church and how that's part of your plan and expanding your kingdom. We get to live before you and with one another, we get to cultivate our relationships. We're so thankful for that, Lord, we acknowledge that you are our Creator, and as our creator, you are worthy of our Thanksgiving and our allegiance, Lord, and you're worthy to be obeyed as well. Lord, help us to see our place as creatures with a responsibility before you, I pray that you would cause your word to do its powerful work in hearts and souls this morning, Lord, that you would use me to speak it clearly, may it be your words that are heard this morning, Lord, we thank you and praise you in Jesus name Amen. Please be seated. How many of you have ever been told to leave a place the way that you found it? How many of you have ever been told that or heard that leave it the way that you found it? Maybe you stayed at someone else's house and at the end, the idea is to clean everything up, pack up, clean up, so that things look the way that they did, or maybe you've gone to a camp like the college students are going to be going in a few weeks, and you need to get all your stuff out and clean it up and leave it the way you found it. Now, for those of us who've ever had a house sitting gig, we've hopefully made that our ambition to keep things the way that we found them and not mess them up too much. I have house set twice in my life. The first time was half a lifetime ago, 23 years ago, and it was a little weird. I was the second string house sitter. The first string house sitter was going on a mission trip, and so I was asked to fill in while that person was gone. And while I was there, I took care of things, and the owner of the house, whom I didn't really know at all, called me two different times. Like, there's some packages that I know have been mailed to my house, I need you to ship them to me where we're staying for the summer. And there's a little bit of awkwardness. Like, is there an envelope with cash to pay for the shipping. You know, she didn't tell me any of that, and I just did it. It was fine. I'm not bitter about it. I promise it was just a little weird. And what was really cool is, like, I started dating my wife, like we went on our first date during that time period that so, like, nothing could get me down. Like, $5 to ship something who cares. You know, contrast that experience with my daughter, who house sat for our neighbors across the street a couple years ago. They took her in. They showed her how everything worked in the house, all the comforts. They let her know, all the things that she could stream on TV, because that's so important. And on top of that, they said, What do you like to eat? What kind of groceries can we fill our fridge with so that you can have nice food to compare those two situations? I house that and I had a place to say, but really the only resources I was given was were the keys. My daughter was given all the comforts and amenities and food, and she got paid for it, too. What's the point of house sitting stories? What are you talking about? Josh? The point is to help us try to start thinking clearly about God who created everything, who made everything. He sustains everything, and He reigns over everything, and it's his and we've been. About that, how God made it all, how he made us. He made man from the dust and breed life into his nostrils, and he provided, and he gave authority in a similar way that a homeowner would give authority to a house sitter to watch over their stuff, but he also allows them and charges them to cultivate and build and keep the land. We're going to look today in Genesis, 210, through 17, and see how God made a beautiful and abundant place with everything that human beings would ever need, any place Adam there to work it and keep it before Him. God is so much greater than any human owner in his garden more beautiful and immaculate than any property or home that we could watch and keeping what is His is a privileged task and a weighty one at that. Our big idea today is to obediently accept the mission of your generous creator King. Obediently accept the mission of your generous creator, King. The garden that God created shows that he is amazing and bountiful and that he reigns sovereignly over all things, and he's given you his image bearers a task to serve Him and worship him. We're going to look at three features of the garden today that show why we should obediently and humbly accept our Creator, King's mission. The first is a description of the garden, and then we'll look at a commission in the garden, and then finally, we'll look at permission and restriction in the garden. Let's look at number one, a description of the garden. Look in verse 10 with me. It says a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden we have the Spokane River here. We're familiar with how rivers work. Rivers generally flow from ahead, whether that would be a lake or its water trickling down from snow melt in the mountains. That's how rivers develop. And whatever this looked like in Eden, just says that a river flowed out. We know that God created, and one of the reasons was to water, to water the garden. And like I said, we don't know how that works. It but possibly soaked the soil. It possibly created a form of mist that watered the ground, as we saw back in verse, verse six or Adam could have used that as a source for irrigation system. He could have taken that and created his own irrigation system. But we know that this is the way that the garden was watered. Was through this river. It is cool to see that God not only provided for human beings and animals by making plants and trees that they could eat, but he also provides the water to help the plants be sustained. Second half of verse 10. Look there it says, And there it this river divided and became four rivers. This is unique, for those of you who know anything about rivers, generally, rivers have tributaries, smaller streams or rivers that flow into it. But here in Genesis two, we have this mighty river that's breaking off into four in the Tri Cities. If you know that area, anyone here from the Tri Cities, or know that area a little bit we have, we have the Columbia River, which is the main river, and it has the snake and the Yakima River empty into that in the same area, not at the exact same spot, but here we have a river breaking into four and what it does is it shows that Ian was the source of all these other rivers that would most likely be very useful in Filling and cultivating the earth. As historians look at civilization, and histories of civilization, water and rivers are so important for farming and planting and having like fertile soil,
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places like the Yakima Valley in central South Central Washington State, very like dry and arid. My dad was in the National Guard, and would always have to do two weeks of drill, or whatever it was called there. And instead, it was super hot, just very desert like. But yet, the irrigation system that they have there, with the rivers, they're able to make abundant and amazing produce for the state of Washington there. God is very gracious to provide those sort of things. But what about these rivers that are talked about in these verses? There's four rivers that are mentioned that flow from this river that flows out of Eden. The first one is the pishon, which flowed around the whole land of Havilah. We'll talk more about Havilah in a minute. The second river mentioned in verse 13 is the Gihon, which flowed around the whole land of Cush. And then the third and fourth rivers should be familiar to you, the Tigris, which flowed east of Assyria and the Euphrates. And like I said, we know these rivers. They're familiar to us. I. They're still there today. They flow through the Middle East, in modern day Iraq, and drain into the Persian Gulf. And those two rivers, they flow parallel. They were very crucial for ancient Mesopotamian society and civilization to develop there. And the fact that there's these real rivers here have caused some people to speculate and wonder like Where exactly was the Garden of Eden located on Earth? And while that might make for an interesting sixth Indiana Jones movie, they have Indiana Jones go searching for the location of Eden. We know from the end of chapter three after the fall that God guarded the entrance and mankind was banished and unable to return, so they wouldn't be able to find it, despite what Harrison Ford might try to convince you, the pIan and the Gihon are mysterious. The lands that are there, where they float, are names of places that get mentioned later in Scripture. Some speculate that those rivers might be the Nile River, but it's all really besides the point. These were the names of the rivers and the lands that were there in the beginning when God made the garden, before he placed human beings there. And if you don't know the story, you know that the fall is coming where mankind was banished and unable to return, and you know that a flood is coming that most likely changed. It definitely changed the topography and layout of the earth. Adam and Eve would have known these rivers and lands, though, and some of them may have still been intact, like the Tigris and Euphrates when they came out. Or they could have just renamed places after the features of Eden. One of the lands that's described in these verses, described in detail, is the land of Havilah. Look at verse 12. It says the gold of that land is good. Delium and onyx stone are there. The region of Havilah is mentioned two other times in the Old Testament, in Genesis, 25 it's the place where the Ishmaelites dwelt, and it's mentioned again in First Samuel 15, is the place where Saul defeated the Amalekites. But more important than what happens there is what was there in the beginning. There was gold, good, gold, precious and pure. And delium. I want to already send a shout out she was in first service. But a shout out to Izzy rainbow, who, when we were actually going through this in Bible study this last week, did a little Googling and told me that delium has a silent b in front of it, therefore I didn't get up here and mispronounce it and say but delium, it's just one of those dumb words with letters that don't get pronounced. Delium Today is a gum that comes from a tree that's used in medicine and perfume and incense, and the resin from delium would harden into a beautiful, beautiful stone. It's mentioned another time is manna, when God provides Manna for the Israelites. The description of the man is that it has the appearance of delium. There's also the onyx stone, a precious gem that's there. It's colorful. And why did God inspire Moses to write about these three things? It seems kind of random. Well, first of all, they point to the goodness and beauty of God's creation. God makes very beautiful things. They're pleasant to look at, pleasant to smell. But second, the generation of Israelites that Moses was writing to who's getting ready to enter the promised land would remember that two of those precious items were important in their daily worship, in the tabernacle, all of the sacred furniture in the tabernacle, if you can read about it in Exodus 25 all of it was to be overlaid with gold. And the priests would wear ephods So they had onyx stone in them that had the 12 tribes of Israel, the names of those 12 tribes engraved upon them. The high priest would wear a breast piece with the onyx stone as well. Those items were important in the worship that they were charged to do. And God made beautiful things, but not just for people to hoard and hold on to themselves, but so that they could make beautiful things and in turn use those for worship. We see that God gave Adam so much all that he would need, really an abundance of blessings that multiplied. Is the river that flowed out of Eden multiplied food to eat and beauty to enjoy. Do you delight in all the good things that God has given you to enjoy? Do you thank him for those things? And do you know that this isn't just how God was in Eden, this is how God is today, that didn't stop after sin and after the fall, he's gracious and merciful. Psalm 145 verse nine says the Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that he's made. God, everything, everyone. There's danger in not being thankful. It's the beginning of the way down into sin. When we're not thankful, we become forgetful, and we start to doubt that God is really good. So are you thankful? Are you taking time to give thanks for the things that God gives you the psalmist. In Psalm 100 verses three through four, says, know that the Lord, He is God, it is He who made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture, his intimacy. We belong to Him He cares. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise, give thanks to Him, bless his name. Who God is, and how he relates to his creation is unconditional, and we should always thank him for this, even if you don't know the Lord. Today, there's things that you can reflect upon that are blessings in life, and you can give thanks for those things, and you can start to think about why those things are there, and the one who created those things so that you can not only enjoy those things, but that you could enjoy those things. Before the Lord, do you intentionally, brothers and sisters, look for things to be thankful for each day, each moment, especially in those times when things are challenging and not as easy we should we see here that we should obediently and humbly accept God's mission for us because of how good he is in this description of the garden here in verses 10 through 14. Now let's look at number two, the commission in the garden, verse 15. Look at verse 15 with me, says the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. This commission is a very special and privileged task. God allowed the man to be there. That's the only reason that man was in the garden in the first place. Man didn't find it on his own. Man didn't plan it on his own. God took him and placed him there, the man that he formed out of the dust and breathed life into his nostrils. He placed them there. It's all God's doing. A helpful box in this week's growth guide. Encourage you to go through these. It's a great way to just spend time and what we're studying each week. But a really helpful box that Nathan put in there talks about how the word put relates to the idea of rest, God set Adam in the garden for the purpose of rest and in peace, while simultaneously working and keeping the garden. How many of you have a task that you like to do around the house that actually provides like refreshment for your soul or just it helps you feel good when you do it? It's work, but it's joyful and happy work. How many of you have something like that, whether that would be woodworking or gardening or writing, whatever it would be painting art. God made work to be good, and he designed it to be peaceful, as we do it before him work, we know our jobs can be intense and full of responsibility and create a lot of stress, for sure, but God, his original design was that it would be good and that he would set us at rest, and that we would ultimately be resting in Him, the One who created all things and six days and then rested on the seventh.
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He designed us to be exactly where he wants us to be, that should give us peace doing the work that he's called us to do before him, and for him, Adam was tasked with working and keeping the ground like literally, like tilling and working the soil and cultivating it. He had trees and vegetation to be concerned about and to care for. And then there were all the animals as well. He was to watch over them, to keep them all the different livestock. Just like a house sitter Who would watch my house would have to watch my dog and my cat. Back in Genesis 128 God had given Adam and Eve, the male and female that he created, the Dominion mandate. Turn back there for a second. I don't think you'll even have to flip your page. Maybe one, Genesis, 128, and God blessed them. And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heaven, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Adam and Eve were to take all the things that God had created and exercise dominion over it. Usually when you get hired by a house sitter. And how many of you, just out of curiosity, have done house sitting before? Raise your hand if you've house sat. A lot of people have had that responsibility. Did the person who hired you say? You know, if you want to chop down the trees and plant some new ones, that's. Okay, if you want to build something in the back, if you want to, you know, make your own irrigation system with what we have. Go ahead and do that. It's not really a normal thing. But here God is saying Take, take it and cultivate it and build upon it. God's asking Adam to be involved in building a kingdom. Take what's mine and build a kingdom. Reign under me. Reign under the True King. Is a miniature king who represents me and expands my kingdom. What a great privilege that is. And Christians, we still get to participate in that today, as we go out and make disciples, as we help other people follow Christ and point them to Christ and leave them not the way that we found them, but better by the grace of God, through the power of His Word, God gave mankind a purpose for his being and his existence. Turn over to Acts. CHAPTER 17, verse 24 and 25 turn there. God is worthy of glory and honor. But he didn't place man and create man because he was incomplete and lacking in anything. We don't complete him. He did make us for the purpose of glorifying Him and being able to enjoy him. He made us because of love, but he doesn't. He doesn't need us. He didn't need Adam and Eve acts 1724, through 25 says the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands as though He needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind, life and breath and everything. God doesn't need us. It's all his, everything that we experience and have as a gift from him. But yet, He invites us to be a part of His creation and to live before him and and serve him. Mesopotamian accounts of creation explain that human beings were also created for the purpose of work, but that work was for the purpose of providing for the needs of lazy and selfish pagan gods. These gods, these Mesopotamian gods, needed relief from the things that human beings could supply by their work. We know in the Bible, though, that God rested on the seventh day. He's worthy. Being worthy and being needy are two completely different things. Now God could have just easily like set things in motion, as some people believe that he just wound up the clock, and things just automatically happen. And he just things were on autopilot, and the earth could have been cultivated and kept just like that, if God wanted it to be so, but he chose to lovingly give mankind purpose and the ability to be a part of that, to give them the opportunity to give him honor in the way that they care for it, and it was restful, and it was in God's presence. So it's amazing. The words working and keeping are often used in the Old Testament to describe worship and service to God. We talked about that a little bit already with the tabernacle and the priestly duties in the Old Testament, the people of Israel, who had been brought out of slavery in Egypt after they arrived at Mount Sinai and were given the 10 Commandments, they donated precious materials and gold that they had and other items to enable the creation and The construction of a tabernacle. And God skilled two specific men who were able to carry out that design, and we talked already about the furniture overlaid with gold and the priests with the onyx stones and their breast pieces and their ephes. God wanted those beautiful things not just to benefit mankind, but to be used is worship. For him in a worshipful way, work was a gift from God to man. God placed him there, and he not only got to leave it like he found it, but he was tasked with expanding the kingdom I want you to understand today. If you're struggling with your job, as all of us do at different times, we can struggle with our jobs. Work is not part of the curse. God made work to be good. Work was a part of the equation prior to the fall. And the toil, the sweat, the pain and the stress and the interpersonal conflicts that can result in the workplace are a result of the fall, but God even still, gives us resources to be able to cope with those things, and he longs for us to take that work and to rest in Him and see that he has put us there. Do you see your life that way? Do you see the circumstances and the tasks that God has put before you as being from his hand and a gift? Yes, students in the room, you're busy, but do you see where you are as a gift from God? You're there because God has placed you there, the teachers, the professors that you have, the workload, the deadlines, the relationships, you have a lot to do. You have plates to juggle, relationships, to consider, time to manage. Are you resting in the midst of all that that can become stressful to people, but are you resting knowing that you're there because God has placed you there, and are you honoring him in the way that you do those things? Are you seeing it as an opportunity to worship Him? Do you see that as a place where you can serve God for the mothers in this room? Do you see each day as being from from the Lord? There's a wide range of challenges of being a mother, but it's another day of getting the kids dressed, maybe multiple times, because the first outfit doesn't stay clean, cleaning up messes, making another meal, being asked if we can have a snack, over and over again, refereeing between two siblings that are fighting. Or is that just my kids? You know, refereeing, playing, you know, mediator and umpire and settling disputes, all the different challenges, the monotony of it. Do you see that as from the hand of God? Do you see that as an opportunity to serve and glorify God? Do you see those children as those that you're to disciple and bring into Christ's kingdom? We could apply this to so many different scenarios and situations, but we see that the tasks that God places us before are from his hand, that He's sovereign over that, that he's good, and that he's provided so much, and he wants us to find meaning and purpose in that and work before him as an act of worship. That's God's commission to man in the garden. Let's look finally at permission and restriction in the garden in verses 16 and 17. God here reiterates his generosity, but then he gives a gracious warning. This is the second time in Genesis that we see God speak to man. He did it in 128 when he gave the Dominion mandate. I just read that a couple minutes ago. Here in verse 16, he speaks again, and it says, And the LORD God commanded the man. He commanded him. He gave him a direct order. This is not optional for you to obey. This is a direct order. And he starts the order with some positive news. He says, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, every tree eat freely.
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Back in verse nine, we saw that God caused trees that were good to look at and good for food to grow. One of those was the tree of life, and God's saying you can eat from all of those, except for one, and eat freely. Eat eat up. How many of you had a grandma that or have a grandma that loves feeding you? Grandmas are just great for that. I had a grandma, it would be like lunch time, and then we had to have dessert, and then she had to make popcorn, like 21 minutes later, and then another dessert and an appetizer for dinner, and it's time for dinner. We haven't eaten in 40 minutes. What would you like? And that was a dream come true as a teenager, but when metabolism slowed down, it's kind of like grandma. I'm good, but that's how much greater is God's heart with wanting to amply provide us with everything that we need. Eat freely. Eat up after giving Adam that positive news that he's permitted to eat from any of the trees, he gives the gracious restriction in verse 17, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. This tree was not to be eaten from this knowledge was not for men and women to tamper with. God. Here is establishing boundaries, gracious boundaries. Stay within those honor those don't trespass, don't step out of bounds. And if you do so, you'll die. I repeat, you will die. If you become confident and prideful and try to toy with it and try to see how close you can get to it, it end in death. There was knowledge that God wanted man and women to leave alone and for them to trust Him and obey Him in that and as the creator of this garden and the one who created the tree, he had a right to do that. He had a right to command that it was his, his tree. And our sinful hearts have a tendency when we're told that we can't do something like, why not? Why can't I eat it? Tell me what are the. That's That's fair. How many of you have ever experienced that when someone tells you you can't do something and you want to do exactly that? Like, ah, how close can I get to that? Do you really mean that I was a teacher for 17 years, and that's the heart of students. Like, do you really mean the no phone policy? Or can I take it out and text, you know, and check things 18 times during class? No, I really mean it, you know, but it's the boundaries that's our hearts. We want to just push the limits and see what we can get away with. But should not God's gracious warning when he warns us not to do things and he warns us of the consequences, shouldn't that mean everything to us, that God is gracious to tell us that something will lead to our demise and our downfall and our death. It's a good thing to tell people if something is going to kill them, just as it's good for parents to interrupt their kids fun or forbid it when that fun that they're having, whether it's playing in the street or wanting to touch a shiny red stove top. That's a gracious thing of parents to stop. It'd be horrible if you said, oh, let's just let them have their fun. Let's let them just do it and see how close they can get. God is very gracious to warn people, in the same way that he is good to provide everything and all that freedom, the warning is just as good, and our place as human beings is to accept his generosity and enjoy it, and also to accept his authority as Lord, as king. And we often want the blessings and the provision without the authority, we forget that there's an abundance of freedom that God has provided, like you can eat from every tree. Walk around, pick from that tree and eat. There's another tree over there. Pick it and eat. Enjoy it. That one over there. Have your fill. Eat. Eat. We get hung up on the one restriction we think that we don't have freedom. I don't know if you would agree with me. I would definitely say that anti authoritarianism is rampant in our society. People just don't like being told what to do. We're a democracy, we're independent, and you hear things like, Who are you to tell me what to do? I want my independence. I'm going to stand up for my rights. Tell me why that's fair. Why should I have to do that? It's as though we treat God as a candidate who has to prove to us why we should vote for him. But God is so much more than a candidate seeking your vote and approval. He is your Creator and Sustainer, and he commands your Thanksgiving and your service and your obedience. He clearly outlines the way of life and the way of death here, and he's so gracious to do that. We see here too, that God created man to be a moral creature. He didn't just put him in autopilot. He created him with the ability to choose to obey or not. Would Adam see himself as the guest and not the owner of this garden, the steward and not the master? Would he submit to God's authority and see that as his duty? Ecclesiastes, 1213, I think that Dan read this verse last week, but it bears repeating. Solomon in Ecclesiastes, 1213, says the end of the matter, all has been here. Had been heard, Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Would Adam see that to be true? Would Adam have the heart that the psalmist had in Psalm 119, verse 47 where he says, I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. God's commandments are good. In keeping them, there is great reward, and they're not burdensome, and they lead to life. Would Adam choose to enjoy freely all the things that God had permitted him to do, knowing that there was blessing and obeying and trusting God. Would Adam choose to live? Would he choose life? For those of us who know where the story is going, the question can be asked, either cynically or honestly, like, why was that tree there in the first place? Why did God let a tree that if he didn't want people to eat it, why would he put it there? Why would he place it there? Well, quite simply, I think that God wanted Adam to trust and obey God in the first place he made him with the ability to do that. It was a reminder of Adam's moral responsibility before God. When He saw that tree, it would remind him that this is God's This is His creation, and I'm to obey him if I want to live, and he's blessed me with so many other things. It was a reminder also, whenever we choose to obey God and choose not to sin, that brings him great glory and God. Yeah, so only one that this can be said of where it's like, glorify Me and find your reason for existence, find your peace and joy and your rest and giving me glory. And God had every has every right. He's worthy of that. And this was an opportunity for mankind to glorify Him. And even in their failure and what resulted, God still had a plan for His glory that was not defeated at the fall. Martin Luther compared this tree to Adam's church altar or pulpit. Here at the tree, Adam was to yield to God the obedience that he owed, give recognition to the word and will of God and give thanks to God and call upon God for aid against temptation. This tree was to serve of a reminder of the allegiance that he owed to God. We know that God is worthy of glory and honor, hopefully, and that he has a right to command his creatures, just as he was so gracious to provide for Adam and Eve, he's still gracious, and remain gracious after the fall and continued to make a way for people to be blessed in Him, to experience new creations and to become a new creation. Some examples of that is the tabernacle that we've talked about the Promised Land is a picture of that. The temple is a picture and the church today and one day the new heavens and the new earth providentially to show that God's plans prosper, the storyline of the Bible ends with the new heavens and the new earth being described in Revelation, 2118 through the beginning of verse 20. I'm going to read those verses, and I want to listen and see if you hear two familiar words that we've talked about today. Revelation 2118 through the beginning of 20. The wall was built of Jasper, while the city was pure gold, like pure glass. The foundations of the wall the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was Jasper, the second Sapphire, and the third a gate, the fourth emerald and the fifth Onyx. And it goes on and on with seven other precious gems. But we see God at the end of the story, in this beautiful city, those things that were there and Ian are there at the end. Do you believe that the One who created you has a right to command you? Do you see it as your duty to obey Him?
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Do you not only think about what you're forbidden to do, but remember all the things that he allows you to enjoy freely, and do you thank him for those things? Do you worship and obey Him, not out of resentment, but knowing that he's a gracious God who warns us and shows us the way of life and the way of death, just as God graciously placed Adam in the garden, through no merit of his own, he has made a way for sinners to walk in His presence, to for sinners to receive his favor. Through the second Adam, through Jesus Christ, who came and obeyed perfectly and gave his life as a sacrifice, so that we through faith and repentance of our sins and our lack of obedience, could be with God and dwell with Him and serve Him. Will you realize that you're not just a house sitter, but that God is still building his kingdom, and he wants to use you in that through whatever it is that your hand finds to do, all Adam had to do was be thankful for the abundance that God had provided, and he should have to serve him, as he should have, and obey Him. This was the way to life. And a number of Sundays, we'll talk in more detail about how that all went for Adam Moses gave a sermon to the second generation of Israelites who are getting ready to enter the promised land. And in the book of Deuteronomy, the end of Moses' five books, the law the Pentateuch, Moses reiterates God's character. He recounts God's dealings with the people of Israel, he recounts their repeated rebellion. Even talks about God's holiness and how they were to live before before him, and they were about to enter another land with great abundance and provision. But it was still their duty to obey and it's still our duty to obey Him. I want to close by reading just some highlights from Deuteronomy 30 see I have set before you today, life and good, death and evil, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his. Days by keeping his commandments and his statutes and His rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, the gracious creator and sustainer of all is clearly shown the way that we're to live before Him. May we, in gratitude and obedience, choose life. Let's pray, Lord. You are so gracious to give us your word, to show us the way to life, Lord, to remind us of the abundance that you've made available to us and every human being. Lord, help us to be thankful and help us to see the things, the situations where we are in our lives, is being from your hand, Lord, you're still the same God that you were here in Genesis two today. Lord, you are still gracious, and you give us purpose, and you want us to glorify You and live our lives in a way that declares your worth, Lord, and that's truly for our good, and that's truly the way to life for us. Lord, help us to see that? I pray for anyone who has yet to surrender to you, is yet to repent of their sins, their sins, that they would know that you have made a way through your Son, Jesus Christ, that through faith and him and what he's done and repentance, they can be made into a new creation and walk before you and find that peace and that rest in you, Lord, we're so thankful for Your word. May it impact our lives as we go forth today into our jobs and situations. Lord, help us to glorify you. We thank you in Jesus name, amen.
Josh serves as Resident College Pastor for Faith's college ministry, Doxa. He and his wife, Pam, have three children.
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