My subject today is «Lessons from Eden.» All right, amen! The way I see it, we’re trying to stop, but I’m just trying to find out what Elmo’s doing, baby. I’m just going to talk to y’all until my time runs out. Lisa asked, «He seems like he doesn’t really know,» and I said, «What time I stop.» It took him five minutes to give me an answer, and man, I need that time back! I know people who have somewhere to go and have no problem telling me, «You can stop now if you want, bro!» Lessons from Eden. A few weeks ago, back in September, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. I started having severe pain on the right side of my throat, and I was diagnosed with strep throat twice over the course of the last eight months. But even if I had strep, we still don’t know if I was misdiagnosed. It turns out that when they finally scoped my throat, they found that my right vocal cord had hemorrhaged, and they put me on voice rest. I couldn’t talk for two weeks and was silent. I didn’t think I was going to be here today, so this is the first time I’ve ever preached since then. I prayed that I don’t blow anything out there. You know, in a Black church, by nature, we just don’t know how to talk normally; we scream and howl about everything. But after all, I’m 53 and don’t want to blow something out over there, so I’m going to be careful, amen! Because you can’t replace your vocal cord; there’s not like a new one you can just get. Amen, this is the only one I have, amen!
So in Genesis chapter 2, I want to challenge someone’s thinking today. I want to stretch you, and there’s going to be some talk around relationships, but also around resources: resources and relationships—money, marriage—what the Bible has to say about it. We read through two passages, and now I want to walk through it and pay attention to some things it says. Again, in verse 7, the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. When God formed Adam out of the ground, He made him from the dirt, but he didn’t start living until God breathed into him. In Him, we move and live and have our being; without Him, we are nothing. Jesus said, «I am the vine; you are the branches. Without me, you can do nothing.» It is interesting when you look at the creative process that God used: He created things, and for each thing, it needed to stay in the divine environment that He created it in to stay alive.
So when God wanted vegetation, He spoke to the ground, and out of the ground came trees. When God wanted birds, He spoke to the air, and the birds became a part of the air. When God wanted sea mammals, He spoke to the seas, and the fish began to swim throughout the sea—piranhas, salmon, and all that swimming in the water. As long as things stay where He created them, they can live and flourish. As long as vegetation stays in the ground, it can live. But if you pull vegetation out of the ground, it withers and dies. As long as the fish is in the water, it can survive, but as soon as you take the fish out of the water, it starts flapping desperately, trying to hold on to life, and it withers and dies. As long as a bird is in the air, it is okay, but if you try to put a bird underground or underwater, it will die.
When God wanted to create us, He didn’t speak to the ground, the air, or the water; He spoke to Himself: «Let us make man in our own image.» As long as we stay connected to Him, we can live. But as soon as we disconnect from Him, even if we receive a raise, even if we have a nice car, even if we have money, we are withering and dying. Then the Bible says in verse 9 that God placed this man—in verse 8, He placed this man in the Garden of Eden. He lives in a place called Eden, but he lives in the garden in Eden. Eden is the totality of the place; the garden is the specific place where Adam is living. In that garden, the Bible says, He put many trees that were for food and pleasing to the eye. There are two trees in particular that verse 9 mentions: the Tree of Life, which is a picture of favor, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which is a picture of temptation. On the one hand, I have this gift from God, and in the middle of the garden, I have this temptation, too. So on one hand, I’ve got the favor of God, and on the other hand, I’ve got this thing that could destroy my life. God tells him in verse 16, «Don’t touch that tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.» He is placing what He has given Adam: His choice. He’s given all of us volition.
Charles Stanley - Lessons Learned In The Garden Of Eden
