Exploring Genesis 2, this episode discusses God's rest on the seventh day, the creation of Adam and Eve, and the significance of Sabbath and relationship with God.
Key Takeaways
- God's rest on the seventh day signifies enjoyment and relationship, not tiredness.
- Sabbath rest is a divine invitation to stop working and be valued for who we are, not what we do.
- Christian worship on Sunday celebrates the new creation through Jesus' resurrection.
- Genesis emphasizes God's faithfulness and covenant through relationships, not just creation events.
- Human identity and value come from belonging to God, not from productivity or performance.
What the video covers
- The episode continues the Genesis series focusing on chapter 2, emphasizing creation and the Garden of Eden.
- Genesis is not a science textbook but highlights God's relationships and covenant with humanity.
- God's rest on the seventh day is not due to fatigue but a moment to enjoy creation and relationship with Adam and Eve.
- The Sabbath commandment values rest and relationship over productivity, contrasting ancient work-centric religions.
- Christian Sabbath is celebrated on Sunday, linked to Jesus' resurrection and the new creation.
- The episode stresses that human value is found in relationship with God, not performance or work.
- Work is important but balanced with rest as part of a healthy rhythm established from creation.
- The creation of Eve as a helper for Adam is introduced, highlighting companionship and divine intention.
- The episode connects Old Testament themes to New Testament fulfillment in Christ and the gospel.
- The discussion includes theological reflections on scripture, divine nature, and human identity.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Overview of Genesis Series
- 02:52God's Rest on the Seventh Day Explained
- 05:40Value of Rest and Relationship with God
- 08:19Sabbath: Old Testament vs Christian Worship
- 10:54Work, Rest, and Human Identity
- 13:20Creation of Adam and Eve
- 15:54Theological Reflections and Gospel Connections
- 23:00Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
this is the Bible show Welcome folks to another episode of The Bible show my name is Sam Casten Smith I'll be your host joining me is Will Bushman and we are continuing our Series in the early chapters of Genesis
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today we're going to get into chapter two which is a continuation of creation but it's also getting us into the Garden of Eden when God rests on the seventh day and a couple of other things so uh last time we talked about Genesis 1 one
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of the things that we talked about was how Genesis is not given to us as a science textbook uh one of the frustrating things about Genesis is the moment you say that book of the Bible everybody thinks creation and only two
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chapters out of a 50 chapter book are given to Creation the rest of this book is talking about God's relationships with people in fact from Genesis 12 all the way to Genesis 50 it's God's relationship with four generations of
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one family and his Covenant with them which is telling you what God really values relationships relationships and Covenant and Promises so you want to know what Genesis is all about it's God's faithfulness to his people and the first two chapters are no different so
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we talked about last time how all of creation is anticipating the gospel this is a God who brings order out of chaos light from the darkness he overcomes and he brings Beauty and he takes that which starts dark and without form and
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everything else to where by the end of chapter one you everything is very good right well in chapter two we get a closer picture God says okay now I'm going to I'm going to highlight I'm going to zoom in on my relationship with
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creation and it starts with the seventh day where he rest and that's not a throwaway line we're to take something from that that can be very valuable to us if we apply it in the way that the scripture intends so let's Jump Right In
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to chapter 2 it says thus the heavens and the Earth were finished so the six days of creation are over and all the hosts of them and on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done and
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he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done what do you what do you make of that I mean obviously the first question always is like did God have to rest is he too
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tired was this just an exhaust in six days and now God is just like he's got to catch up like like we do yeah is he one of us yeah if you tell me you need to go rest it's because I'm tired I've
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I've spent too much and it's time I need to lay down and replenish what's the problem with that if you claim that's what God's doing then he's not God yeah he's not God he's an infinite being who doesn't have like limited supplies of
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energy he is infinite and all of his attributes so he has infinite energy right so he's not resting because he's tired the sense that we're to take away from this is he's just made man on the previous day he's made Adam and Eve and
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and now he's in relationship with them he's looking back at everything that his hands have just made all the things that he has spoken into creation and when it uses that word rest which is where the the Jews come up with they have the word
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Shabbat which is like this real rest where everything stops what it's saying is God is taking a moment to really enjoy his creation he is looking at Adam and Eve and he's like okay I'm going to stop moving around and doing and I'm
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just going to be I'm going to enjoy you I'm going to look at the trees and the streams and all of the Beauty and the color and everything else that I've brought into being and I'm just going to
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enjoy the labors that I have performed and just bask in it and take it in it because it's not so much about the doing and the making now is the time to enjoy and just be with one another and see
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stop and smell the roses yeah that's right that's it you're stopping and smelling the roses and so when God comes to us with the fourth Commandment where he tells Moses on Mount Si the fourth Commandment you know that you are to
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then rest on the Sabbath right you're to make it holy set it apart what you know what's what's revolutionary about that is every other religion particularly in the ancient world would come to people and say your value is only only in what
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you can produce for gods for the gods right so slave away they they had no Sabbath you work seven days a week you worked as long as it took for your Pharaoh or your king or your God and
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your value was only in what you produce and here comes the Hebrew Bible and what does it say stop you have God coming to you saying stop working where's your ultimate value I want you to stop put all that away and I want you to just
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come be with me which is telling us that God finds more value not from what we produce or what we do you know he's God he doesn't need our labors but he really values our relationship and so that should that
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should give us a new identity that you know so much of us we work and work and we spin ourselves into anxieties over what we're producing and and whether we're worthy and all these things and God's like no no I don't want that stop
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put that aside just come be with me you want to know where you're valuable it's just being with me resting and enjoying my creation and being in relationship with me and enjoying your family so stop a moment because your value is not in
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what you do your value is because you belong to me now that is the gospel right God doesn't love you because of your circumstances or your performance God loves you because your his and what he's saying to you is stop trying to find
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your identity and what you do in your performance and just come be with me because you want to know where your real value is it's in your relationship with me there's a lot we can take from that right and I think early on it's not I
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mean still no sin right this is before sin enters into the world that's right so later on this chapter we're going to talk about the value of works so we're not just going to say hey just rest all
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the time you know because God says work matters but I love that that's the pattern that he starts out with that rest is included in it's not reactionary to be like man these humans really get after it and kind of get confused about
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what work is he's saying no like this is the healthy Rhythm for all of us just from the outset that's right that's 100% right and then it says so God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on
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it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation and so if you know the Hebrew Bible what day is the seventh day Saturday Saturday it's not Sunday but you're like wait a minute Christians we are day of worship is Sunday why do
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we do it different like if you go up to a Jew they go to synagogue like their holy day starts on Friday night they go to synagogue like Saturday and then the Sabbath ends on Saturday night for them
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for the Christian we say we wake up on Sunday morning and we go to church why it's not the Old Testament Sabbath but what happens in the New Testament why why does this all of a sudden become our
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Sabbath it's because in the New Testament when you find Jesus you find so many references where he is saying that he is making a new creation you're a new creature in Christ Revelation says that he's bringing about a new heavens
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and a new Earth behold I make all things new so everything is about him bringing about a new creation and if there's a new creation when did he accomplish that work when did he finish the work on the
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morning of the res resurrection and so when did that happen that's Sunday morning and so then Jesus rests from his labors from his labors on the cross from his labors in the grave to pay for sin and atone for all that stuff and to
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conquer death and on the morning of Sunday the Lord's Day the day of Resurrection we have a new creation that is now finished and accomplished and Jesus rests and so we celebrate Sunday as our Sabbath because it's the even
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more important creation that is now finished the work is done you are made very good in the eyes of God because of what Jesus did and now he rests and so that becomes our holy day and the space
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for that in the rest is so we can think about those kinds of things it's not just just sit around you can sit around I'm not going to Define everybody's Sabbath for them but the purpose is to free up your mind from the normal things
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of life to be able to rest in the cross and the resurrection of who Jesus is yeah and it's crazy to me and we we've done episodes on rest in the past but it's crazy to me that we take the fourth
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Commandment that says hey you know this is this is a holy day do not work on this day and we're like oh man another Rule and it's like wait a minute like God is calling you to stop to just enjoy
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him and enjoy his creation and we still Grumble about that like it's a burden that he's telling us not to work because we're so compulsively needing to create and to do and God's like no like calm down your value in my sight is defined
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more by being with me than running around and creating things it's it's like the Mary and Martha paradigm where you see in the gospels where Martha's in the kitchen and she's running around she's doing all these things and Mary is
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at his feet just sitting there soaking him in and enjoying him in all that he offers and what does Jesus say she Mary has chosen the better thing it won't be taken from her and that's the that's the
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perspective on Sabbath God wants you to be with him and to stop striving all the time okay maybe other than the first three Commandments do you think the Sabbath is the in the modern world is the most broken commandment out of 45 6
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7 89 10 I mean there's definitely more Sabbath Breakers and murderers I think coveting would be pretty high up there okay yeah lying okay maybe we see those as wrong though yeah we're pretty anger I mean if if hatred and anger your
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brother's murder like we're pretty good at that too like we're broken yeah but we point out that that like if if somebody's really angry as a group we're like you should stop that yeah or like hey you seem to be lying a lot like
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that's an issue where Sabbath no one's called me out on the Sabbath ever yeah that's true I'll I'll say this it's the most tolerated so like if somebody's coveting and it's like o I want I want your coffee mug you know we're like well
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that's not healthy or lying or stealing or cheating on a spouse like we still look at that you're like adulter is bad yeah but if you're going into work on Sunday that's become like a yeah you know so sobody he works seven days a
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week he never takes time off to enjoy his family and to enjoy God and to rest and to like we look at that and they're like oh wow he's really ambitious good on him like that's where our culture's
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moved and it's like no you need to stop yeah overwork as a badge of onard work that's right like the hustle the ambition this whole thing like hey somebody else is grinding if you take one day off mhm yeah which is which is a
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shame because it destroys people I mean it really does like we look at this generation that is so anxious why why are they anxious what am I going to make of my life I've got to climb the ladder
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I'm not doing it fast enough what do people think of me and da d da everything is in what do people think of my performance what do they think of what I'm producing and God is coming with the remedy here saying I I just
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want you like imagine if we really believe that deep down in our heart that we're valuable just because we're his yeah first and foremost more over than than what we produce so so God is laying this pattern again another gospel pattern that we
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find in the earliest chapters of Genesis your value is found in resting with the Lord and so then in verse four it says these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created and the day the Lord God made the earth and
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the heavens when no Bush of the field was yet in the land now I believe that this is talking about the Garden of Eden it would have to be because in Genesis 1 remember when did the plants come early
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on day three it's day three so now we're talking about after day seven when God has rested and he says when no Bush of the field was yet in the land now I believe that is going to be talking
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about even though the Hebrew word is is I think arets which is the Earth it's like in that particular land the Garden of Eden God that's like it's like a fertile field ready to go okay so you're implying that some people would read
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this and say the timeline's off yeah okay they would say makes more sense wait a minute in Genesis 3 it says the plants came up and now it's saying there's no bush in the FEI like so so already we got a contradiction in the
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first chapters and as you see it's this is leading to planting a garden in the East which so it's saying you have this fertile soil God is about to plant a garden and so but it's talking about that land when there's no Bush of the
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field that was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work the ground and a Mist was coming up
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from the land and watering the whole face of the ground then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life and the Man became a living creature okay so you're given
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some clues about how Adam is made and all these are going to be very instructive for the rest of scripture right why would God make Adam from the dust of the ground what is that telling you what is
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dust like if you walk around in your house you know what most of the Dust all around your house it's unwanted it's dead oh it's dead skin cells dead skin cells which is kind of gross but dust is
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death all through even modern day like dust you know if you throw dust at somebody in the scriptures you know what that means I want you to die if I sit in dust or I'm a sackcloth and Ashes putting
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dust on my head it's like I deserve death or I I'm as good as dead in modern day we had a song in the 1980s which you know I appreciate that decades music I've heard it you do this another one bites the
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dust which means what you're out like you're over you're dead right you've been defeated beat the competition that's right you know job talks about the Dust it's always emblematic of death and here God he could have made you out
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of anything he could have made you out of water he could have made you out of tree bark or something he goes to dust which is saying God has made you from the very dirt of the ground there is
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nothing at all Noble about this like it's it is utterly worthless it's the lowest thing it's associated with death what makes you value valuable the next part and he breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life you want to know like
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you're just dirt until God breathes in you why are you valuable God and and of yourself you're just dirt right I I remember our pastor uh Tom talking about how foolish racism is I was hoping you'd bring this up because I kind of know no
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no I don't know what he says I just know he says something about it and I always thought but he was like if you ever look at the skin of mankind and you know I don't think he's making a scientific
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argument here it's just a poetic one but he's like if you look at the skin of mankind it's all the colors of the dirt of the ground right like you you have you know Sandy colored you have dark you
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have red clay you have all the different colors that you find of the dirt and that's the colors of humanity and how foolish racism is that like you're boasting of your dirt yeah like we came from dust we're going to dust what
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happens in between why are we making big that's right like th you're you're gonna brag about this the color of this like everything's going back to the dust the same place it came from why are you boasting of that the only thing that
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uniquely sets you apart as valuable as the fact that one you're made in the image of God which we learned in chapter one but here God has breathed life into you which means he's the source of your life he is the owner of your life he
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gives you his image everything that's sacred and set apart about you comes from him so what do you have to boast about nothing nothing I guess you can boast if you know God but that's it that's it that's I mean and Paul says
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that I'll boast in nothing else but the Cross of Christ like everything that I have to boast about he has given to me all of my talents eyes everything about everything that he's given me everything is from him I have nothing to boast
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about and so Genesis 2 is coming to you saying don't don't try you're dust like you're dirt you have nothing in yourself to boast about apart from the fact that God has looked at you and shown favor to
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you and given you life and given you abilities and talents and made you in the image of God that has set you apart from all the creatures of the world that's what makes you special so while you're incredibly valuable it's nothing
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for you to brag about you see how that humbles you and it's it's brilliant so there's three things about man that we know about his creation one he's made in the image of God which is you know that
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anticipates the gospel right we're made in the image we we sin and we Mar the image and Jesus has come he he comes in the image of the invisible God he dies on a cross he gives us his righteousness
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and what he's doing in a sense is restoring us into the perfect moral image of God once again so that we're acceptable in God's sight so we bear the image of God the next one is we come from the dust which
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means also this points to the gospel and Resurrection why because if the dust is always in emblematic of death that means that when God first made you even the creation of Adam is a picture of Resurrection when God takes
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death and forms it into new life and then what what is Genesis three the next chapter says from dust you came to dust you return should you freak out about that no why because God knows how to bring life from the dust he's going to
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make the dust new again and so even that is pointing to his resurrection power and his power to redeem and the next one where it says that he breathes life into the nostrils that's an interesting thing in in the in the in the New Testament Paul
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is going to come in his epistle to Timothy and he's going to say that all scripture is God bre breathed right which means what if you're if Adam's life came from God's breath and the New Testament comes and says hey all all
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scripture is God breathed what is it telling you where do you find life if you are dead in your sins and trespasses if you are spiritually dead where are you to go to find life well you go to
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the word of God it is God breathed it's like that it's the same when Jesus comes and he's introduced in the New Testament as the word and the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the
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Word was God it's referring to Jesus well in Genesis 1 you find and God said and things come to be and God said and things come to be and God said and things come to life so God's word always
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brings new beginnings if Jesus is God's word what is he coming to bring life life A New Beginning so the gospel brings new beginnings his breath brings new beginnings in life everything about this is pointing you toward the gospel and a
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Redemptive end it's it's beautiful how he's doing this so verse eight and the Lord God planted a garden in Eden there it is in the East and there he put the man that he had formed now it's it's
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interesting that he creates the man from the dust and puts him into this Garden that he formed remember um in the last chapter what is the command that's given to Adam the very first command the great the cultural mandate that you're to go
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out you're to be fruitful you're to multiply you're to fill the Earth and do what and subdue it which means it's not subdued so then God takes this uncultivated Earth that's all outside the garden but then he plants the Garden
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of Eden and it's beautiful it's made according to his design it's got all the fruitful plants and everything else that's beautiful and he places Adam there and it's like hey Adam you this is a starter kit you're going to now going
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to take this Garden that I've placed you in and I want you to expand its boundaries until the garden design overtakes the whole earth and he wants Adam to participate in the work and the project which by the way is still our
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project yeah ours is different we'll learn that next chapter right we're still to be gardeners that take the beauty of God's design to the ends of the Earth and so it says that out of the ground the Lord made to spring up every
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tree that is Pleasant to the sight and good for food and the tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil what what question jumps to mind there
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why' you put those there yeah why why put the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil there yeah like why even give them a chance yeah so this is this is something you'll have to tune in next
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week oh to hear the answer to that but God is absolutely doing this for a very beautiful reason so you have two trees in the middle of this garden and listen to to how it's described okay ready so
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you have two trees in the middle of the garden God dwelling with man got to pay attention to this allow this to paint a picture in your mind because it's going to be really beautiful what comes out of
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this in verse 10 it says a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden so you have this river that sourced out of Eden where God and man dwell and between the two trees and there it divided and
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became Four Rivers so what do we know about Eden if it's the source of rivers it's on a mountain it's on a mountain so there's gravity flow right for Four Rivers to come out it has has to be on a
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mountain Ezekiel refers to it as Mount Eden so we know that this is a mountain so now you have God and man and two trees and a river flowing down from a mountain and it says the first the name
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of the first river is the Pichon it's the one that flow to all around the whole land of havala where there is gold and the gold of that land is good pelium and onx stone or there the name of the
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second river is the gon it's the one that flowed around the whole land of kush which is down and Africa and the name of the third Rivers The Tigress which flows east of Assyria and the Fourth River the Euphrates now we know
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for sure where two of those rivers are sourced and it's like southeast of the Black Sea like Eastern Turkey and that area that's where the Tigris and the Euphrates come up still to this day on a map and so they think that would be
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where the original Garden of Eden would be which is lost you know it doesn't still exist anymore but so now let's put together the image we're on a mountain the river flowing down God dwelling with man on top of a mountain two trees and there's
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Jewels there and it's gold and it's it's really beautiful right and the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying
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you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die so I want to pause there for
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a moment because everything that you see that is in Eden is anticipating how the story ends okay in heaven if you were to go in heaven and you were to look at what heaven is like let me describe it to you and see if this
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sounds familiar Revelation 22:2 says that the Heavenly city is fertile yielding forth quote 12 crops of fruit every month so there's trees bearing fruit it's plentiful right okay okay that sounds familiar Revelation 22:1 says it's home to the river of the
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Water of Life flowing from the Throne of gods that sound familiar okay and We Know by the way also that the Heavenly city is called Mount Zion Hebrews 12:22 so okay we've got a mountain we've got a river that flows that brings life to the
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ends of the Earth we've got the trees that are bearing fruit that's great what else do we know about it well Revelation 21:19 says that it's decorated with every kind of precious stuff that sound familiar that's just like we just heard
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with all these different stones that are going and gold and everything else revelation 22 verse2 says this that the city features the tree of life but what does it not have tree of not good and evil the the
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tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil it doesn't have a tree of death but this weird thing happens in revelation 22 which is confusing because it says the tree of life grows on either side of the River of Life which means it's got got
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like a root system or something under the river and it's got trees coming up so both of these trees that are emerging are the tree of life so you hear the echo there here's a mountain with a river and stones and gold and God
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dwelling with man which is the next thing Revelation 213 God himself will be with them and be their God it's telling you that heaven is a restored picture ofen Eden okay so then the question becomes okay in Chapter 2 we see this
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picture of Eden it's the mountain and all the stuff right but then the next chapter man Rebels against God says we don't want you anymore the fallers the world man man's soul is marred he becomes rebellious against God and yet
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at the end of the story you get all the way to the end of the Bible in the New Testament and it ends with us in another edenic paradise yes how did we get redeemed and what God is doing it's so
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amazingly beautiful how he does this as he Paints the picture of another mountain in between you ready for this MH all right let's take it we've got a mountain right sound familiar where God comes and he dwells with man again
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except this time he's going to be hung on a cross he's betrayed and by the way just like he'll be betrayed in a garden in Genesis 3 Jesus will come into this Earth and where is it that he's arrested
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in a garden in a garden once again again and the first time he'll station a sword and say you're not allowed to come into the Garden of Eden but in the Mount of redemption he says put away the sword and he goes to a
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different Mountain Mount golgatha and on that mountain he's hung on a cross in between two trees on a mountain and there he takes all the sin of the world all of the reasons why we were thrown out of Eden he says I'll take the blame
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for all of that give it to me and he dies he faces the wrath of God and when the Roman soldiers come up to him it's really beautiful what God is doing here and they pierce his side with
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the spear what what's what's unique about what happens when his side is pierced blood doesn't come out the blood and water right so you have blood which is for the atoning you have the image of water which is probably the blood serum
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that's coming out that's clear and it starts flowing out and it's like atonement and cleansing but what is the message okay we have the mountain we have God we have the two trees we have all the life right he's referred to as
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as the bread of life he is the Tree of Life himself right eat of him and you'll live forever when he is pierced and out comes this flow we're to think okay wait a minute back in Eden when the Flow came
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forth down the mountain it brought life to the ends of the Earth all four corners Four Rivers going in different directions in heaven the River of Life that brings life to all of of heaven what's happening on the Mount of
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crucifixion God is taking the photo negative of those paradises and he's taking the the most devastating dark suffering to himself on a different Mountain that is the photo negative so that you can be restored to heaven in all the ways that this is being
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described all the ways that Calvary is described it is that Jesus is taking the anti- Eden it's the anti- heaven it's the place of utter suffering so that you can be restored to Paradise all those details no accident yeah it's amazing
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that God was going to end up in a garden with his people no matter what that's right like one way was a lot lot more obstacles in Jesus dying but that was the goal all along like you said he's
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got a relationship all right so we have that picture set up then the next the next verse verse 18 cuz all of this is is saying hey everything is anticipating a resurrection everything's anticipating the Redemptive story which means that
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God is not out of control in all this he is a sovereign author he is writing a beautiful story and in verse 18 you get to one of the one of the purest most obvious nods to the Gospel of Jesus
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Christ and it's before sin has even entered the world Verse 18 it says then the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone I will make him a helper f fit for him and it's like why
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why didn't he just make a pair of them to start with right mhm like we're told in Genesis 1 remember all the last episode according to their kinds according to their kinds according to their kinds when God made giraffes he
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made two of them when God made zebras he made two of them when God like he's always brought them together in pairs but he made Adam alone why and I think it's because he wants Adam to recognize the lack you know it's not good for man
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to be alone Adam is sitting around watching all of these creatures that have something that's very similar to them except the other gender and Adam's like I'm different yeah he's looking around I I don't have one of those and
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God looks at him and says it's not good that man should be alone you want to know why because you're made in the image of God and long before creation ever came into being the trinitarian god father Son and Holy Spirit has spent all
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of eternity in relationship You're Made In His Image which means you're made to be in relationship and so he looks at him and says it's not good for man to be alone that's the first thing in all of
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creation where it says God said it's not good long before sin comes into the world God says loneliness is not good you're made to be with other people in relationship and he says I will make him a helper fit for him all right so there
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we've got all kinds of cultural Sirens going off how do you feel about him saying I will make a helper fit for him and it's talking about a wife I'm cool with it yeah me too because also he calls the
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Holy Spirit the helper yeah and the holy spirit's fully God so that's right helping is not a bad thing then and holy spirit is our Helper and that's certainly not a title so the the Hebrew word there is easer or AER and like you
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said there's plenty of times in the Old Testament where that's referring to the spirit of God like not a demeaning title whatsoever but it's like a completing you make me better I make you better this is a helper that brings out the
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best in you and what it's saying is when God gives man the woman it makes the man better when God gives the woman man it makes the woman better like we are meant to complement one another and to make
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each other better that's the design so it says now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he
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would call them now why would he do this so now you have to think and this is who knows how long this took but now you have Adam who's sitting there all alone and now God's like all right now I want
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you to experience this he's been told the problem now he lives it that's right here's mister and Mrs giraffe here's Mr and Mrs sheep here's Mr and Mrs lion and he's got to name them all right and so
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he's going through the list and he's he's it's reinforcing this idea you don't have a Ms there's no Mrs Adam yeah feel the lack feel the lack and God is doing this lovingly so that Adam will appreciate when he does have that mate
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and so he's sitting there naming them all what they would be called and whatever the man called every living creature that was its name the man gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast
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of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him so now the Lord goes into motion you ready so the Lord God would now pause for a moment because if if you didn't have the rest
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of the story or if you've never heard the rest of the story what would you assume God wants to make another person what would you assume that he does just makes another person from the dust of the ground yep did the first
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time get some more dust take two might have been boom I mean that's that's the what you would expect so then you you should immediately have all of the alarm Bells going off going why is he changing up like what why does he make why does
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he make the woman differently than he made the man like there has to be something going on here and so we're told the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man now hold on wait a
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minute why why that you know that this this is where the the person who came up with uh what's it called anesthesia anesthesia this was his inspiration where you could be put into such a deep sleep that you would not feel the pain
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it could cut you up yeah so this is actually what they wanted to find out is there such a Twilight deep sleep that you could be into where you would not feel pain because God is going to put
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him into a deep sleep and while he slept took one of his ribs the the word there is not necessarily ribs it's like a substance of the side probably a rib but it could have been you know A love
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handle or Adam didn't have love handles or whatever uh and it closed up its place with flesh so now now I want you to stop for a moment and think hold on a minute before sin ever entered into the
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world God comes to this sinless man who has done nothing wrong and says okay for you to have a partner for you to have a bride I'm going to cause you to go into this really deep sleep though you've
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done nothing wrong and I could have just picked up dust from the ground but I'm going to wound you I'm going to open your side and out of a bloody wounding I'm going to make a bride for you say what yeah again if you
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don't know the rest of the story this is so bizarre it is crazy bizarre but it's one of those things where we've heard this so many times we never stop to to think why would God do that and there's a number of things that like
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Leep off the page here like for example what does Jesus say the greatest form of love is what the No Greater Love does man have than this that you lay down your life for your brother that's it that you lay down your life for your
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friend well what does that mean that means that the greatest form of love comes through sacrifice we know that to be true when you have a friend who loves you when things are easy that friendship's a millimeter deep but if
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you have a friend who is with you through the pits of hell that person is so precious to you because that love is not cheap that is a precious love the love of Christ to give his life to
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suffer to lay it all down is a love that Humanity can barely comprehend and here you have God saying okay I'm going to form the first marriage I'm going to bring it about but I'm not just going to
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make it and say oh here I'd like to introduce you Adam to your new pile of dust that I breathed in and I would hope that you guys have a happy life he's like no no no I want you to I want you
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to s sacrifice you're going to be wounded you're going to have a scar I want you I want this relationship to cost you something and and a world before the fall yeah that means that costly love is a beautiful thing it's
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not a broken thing that's not a that's not a broken World thing but before the fall God takes the sinless man and a garden puts him into a deep deep sleep where this this expression in the Hebrews spar ly used
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it's rarely used but it's likened to death his side is wounded and from the bloody wound God makes a bride who raises the sinless man up here we go and the rib that the Lord God had taken from
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the man he made into a woman and he brought her to the man so he's raised the man up now and the man said this is at last his bone of my bones and Flesh of My Flesh she shall be called woman
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because she was taken out of the man so now let's let's think about that whole story if you're not already putting it together God says I want to find a bride for my son right my creation my Adam a
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helper a helper right H rather than just scooping up and making an independent thing I'm going to take the sinless man I'm going to put him into a deep sleep I'm going to wound his side from the bloody wounding I'm going to create a
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bride that's fit for him that's important MH then I'm going to raise him up in a garden and I'm going to present him with a bride does that ring any bells yep that's the gospel yeah what does God do with his son I mean the
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whole story the ends in Revelation by the way with just like we talked about it ends in Revelation 21 with God saying that the Church of Christ the New Jerusalem is coming down from heaven as a bride prepared for her husband what
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does that mean that means that the whole of creation is pointing us to the to the ultimate climax where we are set apart to become the bride as a whole of God himself and so how does he tell Genesis
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2 hm I would like to find a bride what's this story going to look like well I'm going to take the sinless man and put him into a deep sleep like death I'm going to wound him from the wound in his
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side sound familiar I'm going to pull out a wounding and I'm going to purify from that wound a bride that is perfect and fit for the hand of Adam for the hand of Jesus and I'm going to raise him
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up in a garden to present him with this bride that's now fit for him that's not an accident this is screaming singing The Gospel before the fall ever happens what does that mean it that means that God is a sovereign
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author who's got this whole story figured out he is not surprised reac he's not reactionary he is telling a story that is the most beautiful story that could ever be told and he is ordaining it and all these micro stories
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on the way to Jesus so that you can see his heart is so absolutely laser focused on what he's ultimately going to do through Christ for you and by the way when it says that he's seeking a helper
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suitable for him think about that metaphor now who is the helper that is going to be made suitable for Jesus us you think on that for a moment because there will come a day okay when you are a suitable helper to Jesus that means
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Jesus isn't going to take a dog we're not going to be up in heaven with him going oh yeah them like I guess I'll settle for them do you know what the Bible says repeatedly and the Epistles that you are going to be a partaker of
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the divine nature what that you're going to be a partaker of his glory John in his epistle says that when you see him you will become like him Paul writes about how you're going to be transformed from one degree of Glory to another for
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all of eternity starting at the moment that you come to Christ which means this that forever every morning you wake up you're going to be a little bit more like God growing in your capacities growing in your love and all of his
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attributes and coming becoming more like him never being infinite but always becoming more like him you will be a helper suitable for him and just as Adam when he receives from his wounds a bride and he just Marvels and rejoices look at
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this this is a woman bone of my bones Flesh of My Flesh Jesus is on that day going to be like this is a bride Spirit of my spirit one with me Inseparable she shall be called my church right for she came out of my
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wounding that's the metaphor that's beautiful and then he says therefore a man shall leave his father or mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh that's pointing to what we will have with Christ we will be made one the
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Bible talks about that repeatedly and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed which also doesn't last long yeah that for them it doesn't last long the next chapter they blow it but there's going to come a day when you
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won't know shame anymore when you won't have to cover up there's there's going to come a day where you experience the freedom of having a God who looks at you in all of your sins and faults and blemishes and scars and everything else
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are washed away forever and the only thing that you get when you look at your God is doting and he is so exhilarated and thrilled to be able to call us his bride and he just beams with delight and
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sharing himself with us for all of eternity and we grow from one degree of Glory to another every day reaching new limits of who he is never being able to exhaust his limits but always growing in our capacity to enjoy him more love more
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joy more experience of him forever and ever and ever and that is the pattern that's being laid up in Genesis 2 that you see with man alone we squander it Adam can't rescue his bride his bride can't rescue him we need God God is the
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one who's going to come and make sure that this story is not just fulfilled in a beautiful way but that it's redeemed into something as we'll see next chapter that is far more beautiful and glorious and wonderful than Adam and Eve could
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have ever dreamed at the end of next week we will be thanking God for the fall because of what Jesus has done believe it or not is wild yeah he's a sovereign God and he's an awesome savior wait I have one question yeah I wanted
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to ask this a while ago but you I could tell you were getting into something the string was out yeah know you were getting into something I knew I knew what it was I was like this is not the
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time but did Adam sleep before this I think so I think so so like had he ever known what it was like to fall asleep I think so yeah like is he going to bed every night yeah I think so I mean if
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you think about how long it would take to name all the animals and everything else like I don't think this is day seven God's resting and Adam blows it on the seventh day like I think they had had some time
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before okay everything blew up so you think he was sleepy mhm okay I just wondered I think so why not Jesus sleeps he's not Fallen right I me that would make sense Jesus needs to rest yeah but wasn't that
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his yeah he I mean he doesn't have a fallen nature there I think I think sleep is a good thing I agree I I wish I could get more of it me too you got you got little ones and I'm just messed up
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so um anyway okay that's all I had we can wrap this up now fun to think about all right anyway all right so I want to I want to remind you that in addition to the Bible show we also have other
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channels that we would love for you to become subscribers of as will is pointing to the mug under the hood as one that's a show where we get into archaeology and history and bring kind of like historical color to stories of
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the Bible that make make them come to life uh and that's one of them we also have a a show called In God we trusted that looks at world view issues and modern cultural moments and gives kind of Christian commentary in what the
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Bible says about different issues like that would be something we would love for you to check out as well and that's in God we trusted yes Not In God We Trust we couldn't get that obviously yeah that was gone so thoughts at the
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end that's important yeah we need re we thought we need Revival you know we used to be you know a nation where our trust was placed in God we look to God for all sorts of things we need to get back
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there so right we're using past tense with the hope that someday Revival will hit we will be a nation that that falls in love with the Lord all over again so anyway I want to thank you for watching
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join us next week as we go into probably ironically one of the most beautiful chapters of scripture which is about the fall of Man Genesis 3 when you see how Christ redeems the ugliest chapter of scripture it is glor so join us then
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Topics:Genesis 2Garden of EdenCreation of EveSabbathGod's restBible studyChristian theologyOld TestamentNew TestamentJesus resurrection











