“Looking at Our Mess and Hopelessness, Where Was Jesus?”
Genesis 2:4-9
- [There is a verse that needs to be quoted in the outline.]
SERIES SET-UP: There are significant parallels between the beginning of Genesis and the end of John.
- Genesis 1:1; John 1:1.
- Romans 8:19-22.
- This is not something I have ever really studied out before but when you get into it, there are several interesting parallels. Over the next few weeks leading up to Easter we are going to look study through them.
- Although I want to focus on the end of John, it’s telling for us to start by looking at the opening verses of Genesis and John.
- This sermon series is titled “Re-Creation.” Obviously in Genesis we have the story of creation right there at the beginning, but we also have the story of the Fall in chapter 3. Things go south quickly. But God doesn’t give up on creation and humanity. He begins the long and difficult process of redeeming creation and humanity.
- We see this in Romans 8:19-22, where it speaks of how the Fall of humanity impacted creation itself.
- So over the next few weeks we are going to talk about these parallels and what they teach us about what Jesus accomplished.
A BIG QUESTION: Why is there evil in the world?
- This is, in many ways, the greatest question. It’s the one that most people would ask God if they were only allowed to ask Him one question.
- The overall point of the sermon this morning is going to directly answer that question.
- This is a subject that innumerable books down through the years have attempted to answer. Let me offer a simplified version of some of the major answers:
a. Suffering is an illusion.
- This is an answer that some of the Eastern religions take.
- Let’s take Buddhism.
- The Four Noble Truths in Buddhism are: all of life is suffering; the cause of suffering is craving; the end of suffering is getting rid of craving and grasping; follow the Eightfold Path to make that happen.
- Knowledge brings an end to suffering in part because you realize there is no permanent world and no permanent self. If suffering is caused by desire but then you realize that there is neither a self or world to be grasped, then you see that suffering is an illusion.
- So one take is to look at the evil and suffering in the world and say they are illusions.
- I think this is a terrible idea, but there are many who buy it.
b. God is both good and evil.
- Another option is that the good and evil in the world is a direct reflection of the nature of God. Maybe He’s both good and evil.
- Related to this is the idea often found in more primitive cultures that there are multiple gods warring against each other – some are better and some are worse and so we end up with the mess we see around us.
- Of course, this creates major problems just like the first option. In this case, do I want to trust and live for a God who is not entirely trustworthy and good?
c. Evil came from mankind’s choice.
- A third option argues that suffering is real but also that God is entirely good. If that’s true, then where did evil come from? Evil came from mankind’s choice not to trust and obey God.
- This is what the Bible teaches us about where evil comes from. Evil is real and suffering is real. God is not half and half but is wholly good. But humanity opened the door to evil in the world.
- I think this is by far the best option and as we get into the passages for this morning I’ll try to show what we are taught about God responding to what we’ve done.
TWO TREES: There are two trees “in the middle” – one speaks of the danger of disobedience and one speaks of the beauty of life.
- Genesis 2:9, 16; Genesis 3:5, 22.
- Let’s get into the phrase I want to look at this morning that connects the beginning of Genesis and the end of John. The phrase is “in the middle” and it appears in v. 9. The trees were “in the middle” of the garden.
- Let’s talk about these two trees:
a. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- Humanity was not created fallen. No, it was our choice to disobey God’s commands that created that situation.
- Verse 16 tells us of the warning that God gave.
- It’s probably worth stopping here and asking a question that’s on some of your minds: why not just take away the choice and therefore the chance of a fall? For me, the most important answer to that question is that for love to be genuine, there has to be a choice not to love. If a little girl’s doll has a string into its back and you pull it and it says, “I love you,” that means nothing because it has no choice. That’s all it can do. There has to be an opportunity to not love for any love given to be worthwhile.
- You know the story: Adam and Eve did not follow God’s simple instruction but desired to be like Him (Genesis 3:5). That led to the fall of man and our separation from God.
- So the one tree represents the danger of disobedience (and is part of that disobedience happening).
b. The tree of life.
- This tree gets ignored more often because the tree of the knowledge of good and evil plays more prominently in the Fall. But it’s important.
- One of the clues we get about it is in Genesis 3:22. After the Fall, Adam and Eve are barred from the tree of life. The main point shared there is that now that the humans have fallen they should not be allowed to eat from the tree of life, lest they continue to live. It’s not 100% clear exactly how those pieces come together. The way I tend to think of them is like in some fiction down through the years where someone gains eternal life without thinking about the fact that they are still subject to aging and worsening bodies so that the blessing is in reality a horrible curse.
- Whatever specifically is meant, it is clear that there was a tree of life that they had access to and then the Fall separated them from it.
HOW JESUS "RE-CREATES": There is a tree “in the middle” where Jesus took on our disobedience and then transformed it into eternal life.
- John 19:17-18.
- Acts 5:30; Acts 10:39; Acts 13:29.
- Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Galatians 3:13.
- Acts 2:24-27; Romans 3:24-25.
- Let’s start with the cross as a tree.
- We all know Jesus was crucified. What was He crucified on? A cross made of wood.
- Look with me at Acts 5:30. Note that it refers to the cross as what? As a “tree.” (See also Acts 10:39 and Acts 13:29.)
- There are some interesting verses in the Bible on this point of being hung on a tree.
- Deuteronomy 21:22-23 speaks of the curse on someone who is hung on a tree.
- [Put in outline.] In Galatians 3:13, Paul brings up that verse and applies it to Christ. Reference it on the outline.
- Now go back to John 19:17-18. The two ideas we just discussed are in play. He is on the cross, which is a tree. He is hanging on a tree and therefore under the curse. But now I want to tie it to what we just discussed in Genesis.
- What does v. 18 tell us about where the cross “tree” is located? “[I]n the middle.”
- This ties us back to the tree in Genesis. Where was in located in the garden? “[I]n the middle.”
- Now remember the overall sermon series here is looking at ways that the early chapters of Genesis are paralleled in the end of John. Here we have a “tree” “in the middle” in both. It’s not accidental. There is an important point that John is making. What’s that point?
- This “tree” in John ties to both the trees in Genesis.
- First, it was the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” that brought the Fall and our sinfulness. Jesus takes on the curse of sinfulness and our sinfulness by taking the punishment for our sins (Romans 3:24-25). So Jesus is transforming (re-creating) the world that was broken by our actions surrounding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
- This is the part of the Easter story we talk about when it comes to Good Friday and His death on the cross.
- Second, there was the “tree of life” in the Garden. We were banished from that because we were under the curse of death. Jesus on Easter Sunday morning is resurrected from the grave and overcomes the power of death (Acts 2:24-27). He now offers us the chance for eternal life through Him.
- This raises a fascinating point and I want to say something that I think is the most important thing I will say this morning. Because of all that I just shared, I believe we can refer to the cross as the “tree of life”!
- The cross is a tree. It is “in the middle,” like the tree of life in the Garden. And it is the tree that re-creates our opportunity for eternal life!
WHERE DOES THIS TAKE US? Our future is one where Jesus has “re-created” our closeness to God.
- Revelation 22:1-5.
- The final two chapters of the Bible tell us how the story ends. Look at Revelation 21:1-4. These are familiar words of hope for eternity. But they are not about heaven. They are about a new heaven, new earth, and New Jerusalem that is part of the “re-creation” that God is doing. Unpack that reality.
- It’s the following chapter I’m more interested in, though, because of its ties to our study for this morning.
- Read Revelation 22:1-2. What do we have there in v. 2? The “tree of life” is back again. Why? There are multiple reasons but the most important one for our purposes this morning is that Jesus is “re-creating” what we’ve lost from Eden and that includes renewed access to the tree of life.
- We lost access to the tree of life in Genesis. Jesus died on the tree of life to renew our opportunity for access. And then our final destination is a place where we again have unfettered access to the tree of life. Do you see how Jesus is “re-creating”?
- Another thing about these verses. There are other echoes of Genesis. There are a river flowing, as in the Garden of Eden. It tells us the river is flowing down the middle of the great street of the city. Down the middle is a good translation but do you know what the Greek specifically says? “In the middle”!
- “In the middle” in Genesis. “In the middle” in John. “In the middle” in Revelation.
- It tells us that the river is flowing in the middle of the great street and then that the tree of life is overarching all that (which means it is an enormous tree!) so that also puts the tree of life once again “in the middle.”
- Now look at the rest of vv. 1-5. We once again have that close, unfettered, unlimited closeness to God that we had before the Fall. Jesus has “re-created” that reality for us.
- It’s also interesting that in both Genesis 1 and John 1 we mentioned that it referenced the phrase “In the beginning.” Here is the final chapter of the Bible, look at v. 13. Jesus is, among other things,” the “Beginning and the End.” Jesus was there at the beginning and now He’s there at the end.
SO, LOOKING AT OUR MESS, WHERE WAS JESUS? Right “in the middle.”
- We started with that great question that so many have “Why is there evil in the world?” It’s a question that has haunted many and confused many more.
- Having completed our grand tour this morning, we see the answer. Jesus was not off to the side. Jesus was not standing at a distance. Jesus was not ignoring.
- No, Jesus was right “in the middle.”
- It is humanity that created the problem, not God. The problem is real, not imaginary. But Jesus did not leave us mired in our mess. No, He got right down in the middle of our muck and mess to redeem us and to “re-create” the world we messed up.
- In Genesis we read “in the middle.” In John we read “in the middle.” In Revelation we read “in the middle.” In adding up all those passages together, we have a clear picture: Jesus right “in the middle” of our struggle, working to “re-create” Fallen humanity and the Fall world.
