Christ In The Garden Of Eden Series

Old Testament Encounters with Christ

Part 3: Christ in the Garden of Eden

Genesis 3:1-21 (reading vs. 7-15)

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Dec. 7, 2011

*We are looking at Old Testament encounters with the pre-incarnate Christ.

-And tonight we will look at the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, knowing that the pre-incarnate Christ was there with Adam & Eve.

*But how do we know this was the pre-incarnate Christ? -- Again, we know this because of the evidence we find in the New Testament.

-As we see in John 1:18, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him”

*In other words, at that time, no one had seen God the Father at any time.

-So, whenever the Old Testament talks about someone seeing God, they are meeting with the pre-incarnate Christ.

-It was Jesus here in the Garden where we see man fall into sin.

*But how did our fall begin? -- It started in vs. 1-3 with the devil questioning the Word of God:

1. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2. And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3. but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, `You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'''

*Then in vs. 4&5 the devil escalated to a bald-face lie, openly denying God’s Word:

4. The serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

5. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.''

*Sadly, we often fall for the devil’s lies, so in vs. 6: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”

*With this background in mind, let’s read Genesis 3:7-15.

7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

8. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

9. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

10. So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."

11. And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"

12. Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."

13. And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14. So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

15. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."

*This story relates to us in some most important ways.

-We are all descended from Adam & Eve.

-We all inherited their sin.

-And we all inherited their death.

1. But Christ was there in the Garden of Eden. First, He was there seeking to connect with sinners.

*In vs. 8&9 we see the Lord seeking to connect with Adam & Eve:

8. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

9. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?''

*“Where are you?” the Lord asked. Don’t you think He knew? -- Of course He did.

-But the Lord wanted them to wake up to where their sin had taken them.

-God also wanted them to know that He was seeking for them.