In God We Trust

INTRODUCTION — THE TEST THAT NEVER CHANGED

There are moments in Scripture where the veil lifts, and you suddenly realize you’re not just reading a story — you’re watching the same story repeat across centuries, across covenants, across generations… until it finally reaches its fulfillment in Jesus Christ.

This morning is one of those moments.

Because the test given in Eden…

is the same test given on Moriah…

is the same test faced in Gethsemane…

and is finally completed at Calvary.

Four locations.

One storyline.

One question from God to humanity:

>> “Do you trust Me?” <<

Adam failed that test.

Abraham passed it in shadow form.

Jesus fulfilled it completely.

And here’s the revelation that changes everything:

Every temptation you face today is simply the Eden test repeated.

Every sacrifice you’re called to make is the Moriah test renewed.

Every surrender of your will is a Gethsemane moment.

And every victory in your life comes from Calvary’s triumph.

Let’s take the journey step by step.

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I. THE TEST IN EDEN — WHEN TRUST WAS LOST

Genesis 3 is not just the story of the fall — it’s the story of the first test of trust.

Adam and Eve stood in a garden God Himself planted, surrounded by abundance, beauty, relationship, joy, and life. They had never seen death. Never heard a lie. Never felt fear. Never doubted God’s goodness.

But the serpent introduces one poisonous idea:

“You cannot trust what God told you.”

Everything hinges on that question.

And here’s the part we often miss — the Hebrew reveals something stunning:

> “She took of the fruit, and ate, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”

— Genesis 3:6

Adam was standing right there.

Close enough to hear.

Close enough to intervene.

Close enough to say, “Stop.”

Close enough to remember what God had commanded.

But he said nothing.

He watched the deception.

He heard the lie.

He saw the fruit.

He felt the tension rising in his chest.

And he chose silence.

Eve is deceived.

Adam rebels.

Eve listens to a serpent’s voice.

Adam ignores God’s voice.

Eve is tricked into doubt.

Adam willingly rejects trust.

Adam’s sin was not weakness — it was passivity.

He surrendered leadership to silence and fear.

And when Adam failed, the whole human race fell with him — because Adam stood at the head of humanity as its representative.

In Adam, we all lose the battle.

Death enters.

Fear begins.

Shame appears.

Separation unfolds.

Eden is the birthplace of distrust.

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II. THE TEST BEGINS AGAIN — A NEW MOUNTAIN, SAME QUESTION

Centuries pass. Humanity multiplies, nations rise, covenants form. But the question God asked in Eden is still unanswered:

“Will humanity trust Me?”

So God takes one man — Abraham — and repeats the same test, in a new form.

The echo is unmistakable:

In Eden, there was a tree.

On Moriah, there is wood.

In Eden, Adam stood silently.

On Moriah, Abraham walks silently with a knife.

In Eden, Eve reaches for what was forbidden.

On Moriah, Abraham prepares to offer what was required.

The stories mirror each other so closely, it’s as if God is giving humanity a second attempt — through Abraham — to answer the original question:

“Do you trust Me when obedience makes no sense?”

And this time the test goes deeper.

Because in Eden, the issue was fruit.

On Moriah, the issue is the promised son.

Isaac — the miracle boy.

The covenant child.

The future of Israel.

The promise of Messiah.

The gift Abraham waited for his entire life.

In Eden, Adam grasps.

On Moriah, Abraham opens his hand.

In Eden, Adam takes.

On Moriah, Abraham gives.

In Eden, Adam hides.

On Moriah, Abraham climbs.

And this is the turning point:

What Adam refused to surrender, Abraham is willing to offer.

When Abraham lifts the knife, he is not just passing a personal test —

he is standing where Adam once stood.

The fate of humanity is once again placed on a mountain, beside wood, under the eyes of heaven.

But this time…

a man trusts.

A man obeys.

A man listens.

A man believes God’s goodness over his own logic.

Abraham steps into the test humanity failed — and for the first time since Eden, someone says:

“I trust You, even when I cannot understand You.”

This is where the story pivots.

This is where redemption begins to breathe.

Because Abraham foreshadows Someone greater.

Someone who will face the test Adam failed.

Someone who will go further than Abraham could.

Someone who is coming to do what no human has done:

Obey God perfectly.

Trust God completely.

Surrender wholly.

That Someone is Jesus — the Second Adam.

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III. GETHSEMANE — THE SECOND ADAM ENTERS THE FIRST GARDEN