Introductory Considerations
1. We continue today to examine our relationship with God. I ask you "With whom does God have a relationship?" We all agree that as believers we have a relationship with Him, but what about that neighbour who is not a believer - who says there is no God and who lives in such a way that show no consideration of God at all? Can we say that he or she is related to God? Not necessarily whether he/she is child of God but is there a relationship of any sort at all.
2. Hopefully we will answer this question this morning and as we do may we see why this question is important for that neighbour and all those whom he represents and important for us to know as well.
3. Last week we discussed how God established His relationship with His people through His covenants, His promises, His obligations and contracts He makes with us.
4. When we think of God’s covenants, we think of His covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and with the people of Israel.
5. And yet this morning I would like to look at God’s first covenant that He makes with His creation.
6. The Bible does not call this is a covenant and it may be argued whether it is - but it fulfills our definition in that it is a bond in which binds God to us, it is in blood - implications of death, and it is divinely administered.
7. This first "covenant" or "relationship" is established by God through creation and the terms of creation that He sets before His creation.
8. It is a relationship that is established by God between Himself and Adam. It is a covenant that is established before sin has entered into the world. It was made long ago and in the Garden of Eden. Many things have changed since that day - the world certainly is different. Our relationship with God has changed. And yet that initial relationship with God is still in force and effect with us today and we need to know what it means for us.
Teaching
1. We could say that God establishes His relationship with us through the act of creation. He made us and that means that our very existence is dependent upon us. This means that this is His world and that all people - whether they believe in God or not are dependent upon Him.
2. Although He is the ruler He makes us governors. He gives us the responsibility to rule and oversee creation and to enjoy the pleasures of it. Creation was made for us and so we have a responsibility to God to take care of it, not to make a god of creation and let it rule us but to rule it on behalf of God.
3. Implication of this is that God is not to be relegated to the church today, that people today and take or leave God at their pleasure.
a. Some today try to live apart from government - eg. militia groups in USA does not recognize government. But as they find out every so often they still are subject to rules and consequences of not following them.
b. Many today deny their God, they want nothing to do with Him. "If you want to believe in God, that fine for you." But they will answer to Him one day and even know their lives are still controlled by Him.
c. As young child can sit in front seat beside father and pretend to drive car and control it. Of course that’s all in child’s imagination. And good that it is. So it is God - we can think we determine our future but God is the one who really does. And good that He does.
4. People talk about the dysfunctionality of "controlling relationships" and we don’t like them - but our relationship with Him is controlled by Him. As we said He sets terms.
5. Yet God does give us freedom of choice (within His election) and a responsibility for the choices we make.
6. And although God sets terms by creation itself, He gives Adam and He gives us a sign of His covenant and our relationship.
7. The sign is a pair of trees. Two trees amongst the many trees of the garden of Eden were set apart and given special significance.
8. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life.
a. This tree was not a magic tree that bore magic fruit that would give eternal life as the fountain of youth that Ponce de Leon searched for. But this tree was a symbol of the life that God had already given. As we said God is the life-giver, the creator. This tree was a reminder, a memorial, a sign of this reality - a sign of God’s grace.
b. As often as man would taste the fruit of the tree, he would be reminded that his life was given to him by God and that He lives not by His own power but by the grace and kindness of God. In "God that we are and live and move".
c. Even though Adam was without sin, he still needed that reminder. And we who live in sin need this reminder even more today.
d. The world needs to know that it is not through our own power that we will move ahead and create a better world, but only when we humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are utterly dependent on God.
e. By giving the tree, God commits Himself to give life to us - by creating and by sustaining us> Nothing will stop that from happening except ourselves.
f. But their is a condition to this life-giving relationship.
9. That condition is the second tree. This tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
a. Again there is nothing magic about this tree - it is also a sign of our relationship.
b. First - it is a sign of obedience. Adam was simply commanded not to eat of the tree. Why? - well we could say because He would die if he did. But that is a result of disobedience, not because of the tree itself.
c. The fruit was not poison.
d. God did not give a reason why He made this rule. In our relationship with God we have the role of obeying Him - simply because He tells us to.
e. As little children, our parents tell us many things - many rules. We obey because they well us what to do. As grow older and we understand more, they start to explain why - because we share in their understanding.
f. But our thoughts so far from God, our understanding so small, that we are like little children to Him and must simply obey Him. As we grown in faith, we sometimes understand why but initially we must come as little children to Him and just obey.
10. This means that God calls us to trust in Him as well. That whether we understand Him we trust in His ways. Story of woman losing husband -why Him? - answer - "It was God’s will".
11. Even before the fall, Adam was called to trust and obey in God. We today are called to do the same. It is the basis of our relationship with God
12. The problem is that we start thinking that we can come up with the answers ourselves. Note that the second tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
a. This is about determining who decides what is right or wrong. We might say that we are called to discern what is good and holy and what is not. So what is wrong with eating from a tree that would give us such knowledge?
b. The problem is that when we start seeking to decide what is right or wrong without depending on the grace of God and His wisdom, we will certainly fail to make the right decisions.
c. As one preacher said, God measures what is good and evil by comparing to Himself. God is perfect and holy and anything contrary to that is evil. When we decide what is right or wrong we compare things to ourselves. Since we are not God, our standards will always be lower.
d. We create false idols (mostly idols of self) when we use our wisdom of saying what we should believe and what is right by changing or manipulating word of God. We put ourselves at His level and we get false sense of holiness.
e. We see it in Princess Diana - according to standards of world she was saint but not according to God’s standards.
13. The only way we become wise is in obedience to God’s word - even when it may seem out-dated, unfair or unwise. When we eat of tree of knowledge of good and evil we act in disobedience and we put ourselves in God’s place.
14. We fail understand and live out our role in our relationship with God.
15. That’s what got us in the mess we are in the first place and whether we are Christians or not, that is still our problem today.
16. Remember, God called Adam into a specific relationship with Him. He set the terms.
17. The choice was Adam’s as to whether he would receive the blessings of the relationship or the curses. If He would have lived in God’s grace and in obedience and trust He would have enjoyed the fruit of the tree of life forever.
18. As we will see God will again present the tree of life in the book of Revelation, for even our disobedience does not annul the working God’s grace.
a. But despite that, the result of disobedience is death. Eat from this tree and you will die. You will be separated from God, alienated from Him.
b. Which way are we living? God refines His covenant so that even though death has come to us through Adam’s disobedience life comes through Christ’s obedience on the cross.
19. But we, as Adam, have two trees before us and while the circumstances differ, the choice is the same.
a. We have benefit of seeing what life is like outside the garden. We know what Adam should have done. We know that all people are subject to God’s rule, there is no escape.
b. But we also know that God comes after us as He did with Adam. Gives us opportunity to choose again.
c. Which tree will you eat from? Tree of own wisdom, power and strength? Tree of disobedience and self-confidence? Or tree of life?
20. God is God and we cannot change that. But what kind of relationship do you have with Him? One of life or one of death? On whose terms?
