Older Than the Rainby Michael Card

In Eden the darkening garden was stillUnwet by all the tears from the sky.The burden of that disobedient bite

Brought all the tearsThe fallen world would cry.

The unwelcomed tearsThat they never had known

Coursed down their fallen facesIn surprise.

All they ever had seenWas the light of His face

But now that sin had entered inTheir tears would fall like rain.

Falling tears from fallen eyesOur faces with an

unaccustomed stain

We were driven from the gardenBeneath a cloudless sky

For human tears are older than the rainHuman tears are older than the rain

And so we all were drivenFrom His presence and His peace

To stumble all alongThis long-lamenting race

From the deepest darkest shadowsHe joins us on our way

And we recognize our fallen tearsUpon that Human Face.

Falling tears from fallen eyesOur faces with an

unaccustomed stain

We were driven from the gardenBeneath a cloudless sky

For human tears are older than the rainHuman tears are older than the rain

LESSONS FROM

EDEN

The Trees of Eden

8Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed. 9And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 2:8-9

Freedom in Eden

15The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, “YOU ARE FREE to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but YOU MUST NOT eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Genesis 2:15-17

Life in the Garden

God gave Adam and Eve tremendous freedom

They were surrounded with all kinds of trees that were “pleasing to the eye” and “good for food”

Only ONE TREE was off limits!

Enter the Serpent

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “DID GOD REALLY SAY, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

Genesis 3:1-6 (cont.)

Does God Really Care?

3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4“YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:1-6 (cont.)

Eve Deceived

6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was GOOD FOR FOOD and PLEASING TO THE EYE, and also DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Genesis 3:1-6

Satan’s Strategy Summarized

1. Introduces doubt concerning God’s Word (“Did God really say?”)

2. Calls God a liar (“You will not surely die”)

3. Raises doubts about God’s character (“God knows when you eat your eyes will be opened…”)

Eve’s Mistakes

1. She should have consulted with Adam, her husband and head (God gave Adam the commandment)

2. She should never have had a conversation with the devil!

3. She forgot that all the other trees in Eden were good & pleasing

4. Three-fold temptation: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life

Three-fold Temptation

15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16For all that is in the world, the LUST OF THE FLESH, and the LUST OF THE EYES, and the PRIDE OF LIFE, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2:15-16

Three-fold Temptation

1. LUST OF THE FLESH – “good for food”

2. LUST OF THE EYES – “pleasing to the eye”

3. PRIDE OF LIFE – “desirable for gaining wisdom… you will be like God”

Sin’s Awful Consequences

7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day,

Genesis 3:7-10 (cont.)

Sin’s Awful Consequences

and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10He answered, “I heard You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Genesis 3:7-10 (cont.)

The Blame Game

11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The man said, “The woman You put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

Genesis 3:11-14 (cont.)

The Blame Game

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.”

Genesis 3:11-14

More Awful Consequences

16To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'

Genesis 3:16-19 (cont.)

More Awful Consequences

“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

Genesis 3:16-19 (cont.)

The Ultimate Consequence

22And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat, and live forever.” 23So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3:22-24 (cont.)

The Ultimate Consequence

24After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

Genesis 3:22-24 (cont.)

Summary of Sin’s Fruit

1. Realized they were naked – they felt guilty and ashamed

2. Realized they had been deceived3. Were afraid of God and hid4. Tried to cover up their shame5. Increased pain and toil6. Banished from God’s Presence7. DEATH

Evidences of Grace

1. God covered their shameful nakedness (Gen. 3:21): The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

a. First animal sacrifice

b. First death and shedding of blood in Eden

c. Pointed to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and atonement (covering) for sin

Evidences of Grace

2. God promised a Deliverer, the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15 NKJV): And I will put enmity between you [serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.

a. A human Savior (born of a woman) promised!

b. Satan would wound Christ on the Cross

c. Jesus would crush the devil (Heb. 2:14-15)

Amazing Grace

12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned… 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a

Rom. 5:12-15

Amazing Grace

command, as did ADAM, WHO WAS A PATTERN OF THE ONE TO COME. 15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Rom. 5:12-15 (cont.)

Christ the Second Adam Reversed the Curse

1. He overcame the three-fold temptation in the wilderness (Mat. 4:1-11)

2. He hung naked on the Cross (John 19:23)

3. He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44)4. He wore a crown of thorns (John 19:2)

Christ the Second Adam Reversed the Curse

5. He suffered pain6. He became a curse to redeem us from

the curse (Gal. 3:13-14)7. He tasted death to destroy death and

the devil! (Heb. 2:9-15)