In this sermon, the preacher tells a story about a chief and his wife living in a remote area. They were given a beautiful garden to enjoy, but were forbidden from touching a little box inside their hut. Curiosity got the better of the woman, and she opened the box to find a little bird, which flew away. The preacher then relates this story to the biblical account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where they were also forbidden from eating the fruit of one tree. The sermon emphasizes the importance of obedience and the consequences of disobedience.

We close our meetings in the usual way. When our Buddha is finished, we close the meeting, and then our Tristra Belle will play a little softly on the organ, and while we keep our seat, and as she plays a little louder, to then know that the meeting is over. Now, our Buddha Belle. Now, last Sunday when I was with you, I drew your attention largely to that third chapter of the Gospel of John. In the morning, we were thinking very much of the words of our Lord Jesus when he said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. And then we went on in the evening, to centre our thought in another verse in the same chapter, where the Lord said to Nicodemus, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now, when we were thinking of it in the morning, trying to understand in some measure what was meant by that word, the flesh, I took you back to the book of Genesis, back to that story of the garden, and there we tried to understand as clearly as we could, what really was meant by this expression, the flesh. Well now, this morning, I'm going to go back again to that chapter in the book of Genesis, to try and get a little more before you, and what I have in mind this morning is, man's malady and God's remedy. Man's malady and God's remedy. And then this evening, in the will of the Lord, I'm going to bring before you God's provision and man's decision. That's the night. So, if you have a bible, turn with me to the book of Genesis, and we'll get this story before us, keeping in mind man's malady, God's remedy. Chapter three, and this of course is the beginnings of sin, and it's a very, very important thing that we be clear with regard to what we find in this chapter. So, we read chapter three in the book of Genesis. Now, the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food pertaining to the body, and that it was pleasant to the eye pertaining to the soul, and it seemed to be desired to make one wise pertaining to the spirit, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they stored fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. The Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded it thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and Pharisee. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and ascretum of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the grain for thy sake. In sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken, for thus thou art, and unto thus shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skin, and clothe them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." Now, that is our reading this morning, and as I have said, it is a very important matter that we have this story clearly recorded, and I know today there are many people who are not at all happy, not very comfortable when they turn to the story, when they read it, or when they hear it being referred to. So many people are inclined to think, well Moses wrote this story just to kind of fill in the story of creation, but we are persuaded before God that this is true, and this actually took place. Now, if we can get a glimpse of this, I think it will be helpful to us. We have to remember that God, a way back in eternity, evidently decided to have a race of people. A race of people in whom he would be able to secure a progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. Now, that was evidently in the mind of God, a way back in eternity, and when he had decided that he would have that race of people, and secure in them that which he was purposing from a way back in eternity, then he decided to make a place, a habitation for this race of people, and so we find God remaking the earth as a habitable place for man. So, let us remember that man was not made for the earth. The earth was made for the man. What God had in his mind from the beginning was a man, but of course it was a corporate man. That is to say, it was many men as one man. That is, it was a race of people. That's what God had in his mind, that's what he wanted, to bring in a race of people, and he decides he will do it in a very simple way, and so we find having worked for those seven days, God, we find now, is bringing in this man. He made the man of the dust of the ground, breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul, and then when God saw that it was not good for the man to be alone, then he made the woman. How did he do it? Oh well, you see, he made the man of the dust of the ground after his body, and then he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul. Well then, if that is how God made the man, and now decides to make a woman, then of course he will do the same. He will make the woman of the dust of the ground, and he will breathe into her nostrils the breath of life, and she will become a living soul. Oh no, no, God doesn't do it like that. Why? Because, you see, God is molding and making all this in order that it might be also for trifle, for figure, and that we might be able to look back upon this and see what was in the mind of God. So he didn't make the woman like that. Rather, he caused the man to go into a deep sleep, and then removed from his side that bone, and built up the woman, and then presented the woman to the man. So the woman is out from the man. Now all this God is doing by way of time. So then, when God made the man, and of course brought in the woman, but we are thinking of this man, God had in his mind that he would have a race of people. Not just the man and the woman, you know, Darby and Joan living in a lovely garden, not that, but that he would begin with a man and woman, and they would multiply, and they would fill Fulvia, and he would have a race of people. Now in deciding to do this, God was faced with this problem. If he brought in a man, a corporate man, a race of people, how would he secure what he wanted? Would he bring in a race of people in such a way that they would be puppets, and that God would be always pulling the strings and making them do what he wanted them to do? Oh no! God does not. He didn't want that. He didn't want puppets. He wanted human beings who would have the ability to think, and to desire, and to will. This problem was the will. How to be able to give man a free will? That's a problem, because the moment you bring in a free will, then you are creating the possibility of evil. Without a free will, you've got a puppet. God didn't want that. In doing away with the thought of a puppet, he's faced with the problem of bringing a man in with a free will. So now we have this man before us. We looked at him last week. He was made of the dust of the ground as to his body, and God breathed into him the breath of life, and he became a living soul, but that's not all he was. He was not just a living soul. There was more than that. The beast of the field was a living soul. This man was a living soul, but this man had what the beast had not. This man bore a wherein in his body no, in his soul no, wherein there was the likeness to God in spirit. God is spirit, and God made man, and he made man with a spirit, and if man was to have fellowship with God, it could only be by means of spirit, for God is spirit, and man can only communicate with God in spirit. So you see, God is overruling in all this so that he will have someone who is in a fellowship and a communion with himself. The man could think, the man could desire, and the man could will. When God brought him in, that man was thinking the same thoughts that God was thinking. When God brought him in, he was desiring the same desires that God was desiring. When God brought him in, he was willing the same will that God will. But God's going to bring him into circumstances now where he must exercise that will, and that admits the possibility of wrong. It admits the possibility of sin. There it is. But you're away with the will, and you have a puppet. Well, so we've got this. Now then, in order for this to be approved, God brings the man into circumstances where the will shall be exercised. It's all very simple. I've said some people find it difficult when they read the story. If only they would remember that this is the beginning, and you write across it the word primitive. These are primitive circumstances. God is beginning with a garden, but he's not going to stay with the garden. He's going to have a city, and the city is going to come out of the garden. So you open your Bible, you'll read about the garden and these two sinless inhabitants. When you get to the end of your Bible, you're reading about a garden, but there's a city in that garden, and there are sinless inhabitants. You see? So that what God in the mind, from the beginning, is what you will see in the end. But remember, the beginning is primitive. A garden, and trees in the garden, and they could freely eat of the trees that were in the garden, but one tree, that has to do with that free will of man. That one tree was forbidden. There it is. Sufficient in all its simplicity. When I talk to people over here, and I say something about the garden, and about the tree, and about that tree, they look at the image and say, you know, we're very sorry for you, if you believe that kind of thing. But when I'm talking to the Africans, they nod their heads, you know. When I'm talking to Europeans, they go like this. When I'm talking to the Africans, they go like this. Why? Because you see, the African is living in primitive circumstances. That's what we're always saying about Africans. They're the primitive people, living in primitive conditions. And so they understand this story. Because an African, how does he live? How does he live? You know how you live. You live based on the complexities of life. You've got your shops around the corner, your multiple stores. You've got the man delivering your milk, or delivering your bread. You've got it all laid out there. Oh no, every man has a garden. But if he hasn't got a garden, what has he got? Every man has a garden, and in that garden he finds all that he wants. There's a river in the garden, there are lakes in the garden, and he finds fish there, he finds game there. Yes. So he's got everything, in a very primitive way. And when you say, oh well yes, of course, now here we have a tree that was forbidden, and do you believe it? He says, yes. But when I say to Europeans, there was a tree there, it was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree was forbidden. And they'd scratch their head and say, what was the tree? What was it? And he's got thoughts in the mind, you see. The young fellow said to me one day, you know, I like to preach the gospel, and very often I have to refer to the book of Genesis, refer to the fall of man. And he said, when I do, I don't feel very happy, because he said, you know, I don't know what that tree stood for. I said, you don't? No, he said, I wish I did. I said, well I'm surprised at you. You don't know what that tree stands for? No, he said, I'm always trying to find that out. He said, but do you know? I said, yes. Well now, he said, am I pleased to meet you. Now you can tell me, what does that tree stand for? Oh, I said, I'll tell you. And he waited. What does it stand for? I said, that tree stands for a tree. Huh? What do you think it stands for? Well, I thought it meant something else, you see. Do you believe that that was a real garden? Oh yes. Do you believe it was a real man? Yes. And a real woman? Yes. Do you believe that that was a real tree? No. What's gone wrong? You want to think that tree represents something else? Oh no. Let's stop talking about apple trees. That was just a tree, but it was sufficient for the exercise of that will. Quite sufficient. And the Africans said, you know, we've got a story. And I wondered where they got the story from. I said, what's your story? It's the story of a chief and his wife living away out in the bush, and they were told that they were to go to a certain place, and they were to take over a lovely piece of country. There was a beautiful garden there, everything growing, and there was game, and there was fish in the river, and so on. And they were told to go there, and they were to enjoy themselves. They were to live on what was there. But inside the hut that they had, there was a little box, and they were told they were not to touch that box. Everything else they were free to partake of, but in that box, no, not to touch. And so there they were, they enjoyed themselves, but the man and the woman continued to look at this little box and wondered what it contained. That was it. It was sufficient. Everything else, there was no difficulty but that little box. That tree is the problem. And so one day, this woman was very, very curious, and she looked around, and her husband wasn't there, and she went to the little box. I'd like to see what's in it. And she was all trembling, you know, and she took the lid, and she lifted it. There was a little bird in there. At the moment she licked it, and through the door it went back. Oh yes, you've done it. It's finished. And this was their story. Now we have here, in the book of Genesis, a garden. And there's this man and this woman. One tree is forbidden. Now you know that here is wonderful possibility. God had brought in a man and a woman, and of that man and woman he was going to have a race of people, and then progressively he was going to secure in them that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. They were perfect as they had been, not perfected, but they were going on to be perfected, and God had got everything there in the garden for fellowship and communion. He and man, man and God together, are going on. They're going to develop all the resources that are there in that garden, and there's everything in the garden, and it's all going to be for God's glory, and it's going to be for man's good. This is all in the mind of God. He's beginning with that which is primitive, and he's going to work out that tree, and the serpent, more subtle than any beast of the field. And there it is. They were tempted and they took of the tree. What was in the mind of God with regard to progress and development is lost, as far as he's concerned. But, wait a minute. When God lost the man, the devil got it. He became the devil's man. He became a natural man. He became flesh. He became other than he was when he left the hands of his creator. He became soulish. Before this, he was spiritual, in that spiritual fellowship with God, but now he has taken of that tree, and he knows good and evil. He has become flesh. He has become spiritually dead. That fellowship, that communion with God, is not possible in that condition. When a man becomes flesh, when a man becomes soulish, when a man becomes self-thinking, self-desiring, self-willing, self-tempted, sensual, there's no possibility of fellowship and communion with God. And the man who was spiritual became natural, he became soulish, and he became the devil's man. And if God intended from the very beginning that in that man he would secure that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself, then when the devil secured the man, he has gone on ever since, and he has been securing that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself, that man has become more and more devilish. What about the progress and development? There has been plenty of it. Has it been for God's glory? Has it been for man's good? Why are they seeking to accomplish all this? Why are they cutting all the resources of the world? Why are they making so much progress and development? Have they got in mind the glory of God and the good of man? Oh no. The glory of man, yes. So you see we've got the devil's man. What's God doing about it? Have he lost the man? Is God going to let his hands hang down? Is he going to say I'm defeated? Is he going to admit that now he is not able to secure what he intended to secure in a race of people? No. He's going to meet it. And so, as we look at the story here in Genesis, and we see now that the man takes of the tree, and he now has the knowledge of good and evil. God said, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now be careful here, because I hear people saying lots of things which are not strictly true. I hear people say, oh yes, now when God said the man, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, he meant that the man would die spiritually, that it was a spiritual death. How does he make that up? Oh well you see, if you read in the margin, it says, dying thou shalt die. So you see, there were two deaths. There were spiritual death and physical death. But what God meant when he said, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, he meant spiritual death, and afterwards of course the man would die physically. Not a bit of it. That expression, dying thou shalt die, is just a Hebrew idiom, and in the same chapter you'll read with regard to the eating of the fruit of the tree, and eating thou shalt eat, and dying thou shalt die, and so on. Doesn't mean that there are two deaths there at all. And then again, people have said, oh when God said, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, that he did die in that day, he became spiritually dead. No. When God said, in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, he meant physical death, because when he said thou shalt surely die, death had not been seen. Death was not understood. It was stated, thou shalt surely die. What was that of these? The meaning of the word would be understood, but just exactly what that stroke of death would mean, that was not revealed, until the man had taken of the tree, until he had sinned, and then it was made clear. Because you remember, God came out, and when he spoke to the man he said, in the sweat of thy brows shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the ground, for thus thou art, and so thus shalt thou return. Physical death. We say, well what about spiritual death? Yes, of course, when the man took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he became spiritually dead. That is a state, but the penalty is physical death. Remember, man was made to abide forever, he was not made to die. Death came in because of sin, so the man was made, and he was eternal, and he still is. What do you think? He died? Yes, but even if he died, he shall live again. Death is only for the time being. Death removes the man out of the sphere for which he was created, but only for the time being. Eventually, death will be destroyed, he will be raised. Everyone born into this world who dies will be raised. God will destroy death. Man was made for eternity, and man will live throughout eternity. Death may come in, but it is only provisional. It's only for the time being. So remember, physical death is the penalty for taking of the tree of the knowledge of good. Oh Mr Brown, just a minute, didn't God say, in the day thou eatest thereof? Well he didn't die physically in that day. Well it doesn't demand so rigid a construction, does that? In the day thou eatest thereof, in that day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt in the future surely die. It's in the day that thou eatest thereof that that penalty is absolutely certain. Shalt, future, surely die. So he became spiritually dead. That is a condition, that's a state, but a penalty until thou return unto the ground. So now you see, God has come in, and the judgment is there, until thou return unto the ground. Physical death. Now I want you to notice what took place. God made a promise, no sooner has the man sinned in this way, and become spiritually dead, that God comes in, in grace, in mercy. He comes in, and he makes a promise. He made the promise that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. His heel would be bruised in doing it. What a thought of the majesty of the seed of the woman, that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head, but the serpent would bruise his heel, though it part of its being. What a thought of the majesty of the seed of the woman! So God made the promise, the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. In this way, God promised deliverance from sin, but it came to come through the seed of the woman. Remember, this man and this woman are standing right there in the presence of God, and God deals with the woman, and he deals with the man, and he deals with the serpent. He's dealing with this situation. And as they're standing there, and God makes the promise, he says, the seed of the woman, and the man is standing there. And God, as much as says to him, you're out of this. I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to this woman. Not your seed, her seed. How possible! Must be the seed of the woman, not the seed of the man. In other words, a virgin must conceive and bring forth a child, and that child shall bruise the serpent's head. This is the promise that God made. Did you notice what happened when we were reading that? That when God made that promise, that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, that the man turned to his wife, and he said, your name is Eve. Well, you say, wasn't that her name before? No. What was her name before? Her name was Adam. What? You mean the man's name was Adam? I mean the woman's name was Adam as well. Have you not read? God called their name Adam. Not the Adam's, is it? Their name Adam. I write here, because of that promise of deliverance through the seed of the woman, the man turned to his wife and he said, well then, your name is Eve. Life! Might have said, Adam, have you forgotten that by partaking of that tree you brought the sentence of death upon yourself? That both of you are under the penalty of death? And you turn round to your wife and you say, oh your name is Eve. Life! The mother of all living. Don't you know that you're under the sentence of death, both of you? That that sentence will be carried out? Yes, he said, I know it will. I'll tell you something else. I know that God has made a promise and I believe it. And his promise is that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head and I believe it. So my wife's name is Eve. Life! Life coming out of a woman who conceives sin. She's going to see the child who will bruise that serpent and who will deal with sin and bring in deliverance. Now notice, God made a promise. The man believed it, proved it. He said, life! He's going to die. Life through the seed of the woman. And then what did God do? Well God took a sin offering. God made suffering, bloodshedding and death to be made a covering for these who are standing before him as sinners. He took coats of skin and he clothed them. Where did he get those coats of skin from? There must have been bloodshedding, there must have been death. The suffering and death of someone else provided a covering for them, and it was God who did it. And in that covering that God provided for them through suffering and death, they could stand in his presence without fear. Justify. How wonderful it is that in this chapter, God is giving us a complete picture of how sin came in, and how he dealt with sin, and made perfectly clear that without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin, and that all through the years, all through the ages, God would never depart from that. Without the shedding of blood there could be no remission of sin. Right away through the scriptures, until we come to Christ and the blood of Christ as a sin offering, you have this thought that was in the mind of God. No other possibility of man being justified before God. So God has made perfectly clear that although man has sinned, although he has lost for the time being his man, although the devil has got the man, and although the devil is succeeding in some measure in securing that progressive and ever-developing expression in man, God has not been frustrated. Because God has come in, and by means of that cross he is securing the man. We who have been brought to know Christ as Savior, we form the man. We are the Christ. Not Christ personally, but Christ corporately. Many Christians brought together into a oneness, into a unity. This is the man. This is the race of men. Tell me, when God, through that work of Christ on the cross, is bringing together these men and women into a oneness, into a unity to be the body of Christ, what is he securing in them? Well, he's securing in them that progressive and ever-developing expression of himself. They're becoming more and more like him from day to day through Christ. Isn't it wonderful as you look into the word of God in this way? Well now, there's the man, and the man understood what God was saying, and the man believed it, and the man acted upon it. What are we doing today? All this was pointing on to that sin offering Christ on that cross. Do we believe it? Are we doing what this man did? Are we availing ourselves of what God has provided? Has the death of another Christ, that sin offering, provided a clothing, a covering for us? Do we realize we can stand in the presence of God, justified on that principle of faith, life coming to us through the feet of the woman? I trust the Lord will bless this to us, and establish it more and more in the truth as we find it in the word of God. Remembering there is no other way, God will never depart from this. May he help us each one to enter fully into it, to know Christ as our own personal Savior, and to go on from day to day in subjection to God Himself as he seeks to mold us and to make us to be more and more like his beloved Son, and that alone will please him for his name's sake. Shall we pray? Good. O God our Father, in the worthy and precious name of our Lord Jesus, we give thee thanks again for thy precious word. We realize, our God, that this word of thine is beyond us all, that there are depths everywhere that we cannot fathom, but we thank thee that thou hast given to us of thy Spirit, and that Spirit is able to enlighten us, able to help us to understand. And we thank thee for this, and for what has come before us this morning, and would ask of thee, Lord, that thou help us to enter into it the more, and to bless and to praise thee, that right from the very beginning thou hast made provision. And that was realized in the personal work of thine beloved Son on the cross. Help us that we each one might be able to do what that first man did. Accept the promise of God. Accept what thou hast accomplished in the seed of the woman, to be born again, to be brought into this relationship with thyself, and for thee from day to day, in the power of the Spirit, revealing unto us the things of Christ, that we should become more and more like him, and so more and more like thee. Grant us, then, thy help and thy blessing. In the name of thy beloved Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.