Admittedly, I am releasing my perfectionist tendecies as you'll see in the introduction video. A couple seconds of blackness occur in two clips. And guess what? I didn't even try to fix it because God promises treasures in darkness (Isaiah 45:3)! Amen? Amen!
SETTING THE SCENE OF REST
In Revelation, Jesus commanded the church of Ephesus to remember from where they had fallen. As you discovered in the short video clip, we traveled back to where mankind fell. The Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:8-14 and Ezekiel 28:13-14 provide glimpses of this place of perfection, peace and splendor. There really are no words to match the pure beauty found there, but it was truly a place of rest.
It was a place for man to rest.
It was a place for God to rest.
Read Genesis 2:1-3
God rested, ceased from labor, after His spoken Word brought forth the vast creation. After breathing life into Adam, He delighted in all He saw.
What I find interesting is if you look back at each day of creation, you’ll notice a pattern. I have it circled in my bible, “…and then there was evening.”
Each day it is recorded that evening, night fell upon the earth.
Except for on the seventh day.
Because I believe God’s word is divinely perfect and purposeful in its prose, I believe there is something of greater significance here to ponder. Why do you think there is no record of night on the seventh day? What is the significance here? We will revisit this in Session 4, Rest to Rejoicing.
Now that we have established the physical environment of rest, what do you suppose Adam and Eve felt in that garden?
Turn to Isaiah 51:3. This passage paints a beautiful picture of those who dwell in the garden of God.
· Joy
· Gladness
· Thanksgiving
· Sound of a Melody
Read that again! Is that not the essence of worship? When our spirits are truly at rest, we are actually worshipping God…with a heart of joy, an attitude of gladness, a word of thanksgiving and a sound of a melody.
Worshipping God in His presence.
THAT is what made Eden so special.
The presence of God that quickens our hearts to worship.
Far beyond the beauty and brilliance of their physical surroundings, Adam and Eve had an unparalleled glimpse of God and an unparalleled sense of His presence. There is no doubt, God walked beside them…talked with them. Daily. Constantly.
What was Adam’s role in the garden?
Abad in Hebrew.
Translated "work" or "tend to" in our Bibles in Genesis 2:15
Abad is a significant word. It was work associated with being a bondservant. A servant became a bondservant when he refused to be set free because of his exceeding love for his master. Is that not our relationship with Jesus? Don't we strive to serve Him fully? Lord, make me your bondservant!
Tucked in Adam’s job description was the work of worship.
Abad can also be translated worship.
How, in the most pure and perfect of circumstances, did Adam and Eve fall?
In the video, I referenced Psalm 34:8 (I incorrectly said, verse 1).
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Doubt crept into Eve’s (and Adam’s) mind and heart. She exchanged her “that” for “if” concerning God’s Word and provision.
Look back at Genesis 3:6. Eve said…the fruit of the tree “was a delight (or pleasing) to the eyes.” When we doubt God, we lose our trust in Him and the very things God has warned us against become a delight to the eyes. And we crave it and want it and do what we can to get it.
God gave them every other tree to taste. Every tree was pleasing to the eye and would meet their needs. But that one tree became the only tree of delight. She was in the Garden of Eden. “Eden” means delight. She was SURROUNDED with delight and because of doubt, her vision became clouded.
FORFEIT OF REST
As fast as Eve could take a bite of that fruit. INSTANTLY. THE GARDEN AS A RESTING PLACE. GONE.
And mankind is not the only ones who forfeited rest. Psalm 121:4 gives insight “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”
As fast as Eve could take a bite of that fruit….as fast as sin entered into the world…God also NO LONGER RESTED.
Aside from rest, what else was lost or forfeit with that one bite of fruit?
In an instant, we went from the joy of REST to the need for a RANSOM.
In Genesis 3:14-19 we read the Curse of Sin
§ Pain multiplied greatly
§ Toil
§ Sweat
§ Work for the Land
Tucked inside the curse of God is a glimpse of redemption.
Thorns and Thistles it says in verses 17 and 18.
The curse fell on the ground because of sin, but the weight of that curse fell on the head of Jesus.
Read Matthew 27:29
If you’ve ever been pricked by thorns on a rosebush, you know thorns have a way of cutting into the flesh. The Garden of Gethsemane was a retreat for prayer, rest and fellowship. But Jesus went there one last time, knowing that the cup He must drink was the thorn and thistles from the curse of our sin.
In her book, A Women’s Heart, Beth Moore states, “When God breathed life into Adam, he signed a death certificate for His one and only Son.”
Rest to Ransom
Worse than any curse that God established when Adam and Eve sinned was losing the right of immediate access to the inner chamber of God’s perfect glory. They lost the opportunity to walk with Him.
THE PRESENCE OF GOD
As we come to a close, remember with me in Exodus 33, when God called Moses to take the Israelites into the promised land. The land of milk and honey. God would drive out their enemies, but God himself would not go with them. The Israelites grieved God with their sin and now Moses would need to go without God.
Unlike Eve who wanted it all and ultimately forfeit the presence of God, Moses wanted nothing BUT The presence of God. “If you don’t go, I won’t go!,” He said.
Turn to Exodus 33:14
God said He would go and His presence would give Moses rest.
The very presence of God with us gives us rest.
When Jesus was born His name was called, “Emmanuel” – (Matthew 1:23) God with us and when Jesus finished his earthly ministry, He said, “Lo I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
Looking back from where we have fallen, we see there is no greater rest than the rest of your salvation. To know that beyond all the circumstances of this life, you have been bought with the precious ransom that was Jesus Himself.
It is rest that brings Joy. Gladness. Thanksgiving. Sound of a melody.
It is rest that results in worship.
You want to know if you are simply resting in the Lord? There is your checklist. No matter what your circumstances are, God promises in His garden of rest, this will be in your heart.
GLADNESS FOR MOURNING
When I began to prepare for this study in April, I had no idea of the months that lay ahead. In addition to other trials, I lost my father in June. But I share here some of the ways God saw me through, carrying me along the way.
GOD RESTS NO MORE
On the seventh day, God rested. But you have a God who rests NO MORE so that we can find rest in Him.
Close this study by reading the magnificent promise found in Isaiah 62:1-3, 7
When God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden, they no longer enjoyed rest in the pleasures of his perfect creation. He drove them out at the East gate. But remember a star was set in the East leading the wise men to Jesus, who says: “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my load is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
As you do your study this week, I invite you to share your responses and insight. Praying you have a week filled with the presence of God in your lives.
