THE GARDEN: How it STARTED and was MEANT to be.
(Separate Ways)
God Takes Chaos and Brings Order…
Takes Nothing and creates Life…
God asserts His authority over the chaotic darkness to create LIFE that will FLOURISH.
Days 1-3 Preparation & Separation
Days 4-6 Completion & Filling
When sin entered the world it began to grow, fracturing our relationships and communities, eventually building an empire of itself. But God did not abandon His creation to destruction and decay, and promised to restore this broken world. As part of this promise, God chose a people, Abraham and his descendants, to represent Him in the world. He blessed them and instructed them to use that blessing to bless others.
EGYPT: A place of RESCUE & REDEMPTION.
(Open Arms).
Exodus 3:7
The people of Israel are slaves.
Egypt: The place where God hears the cry
God always hears the cry of those who are oppressed.
Egypt is our bondage of sin & we need a Rescuer.
Egypt was systemic injustice.
Sin can be individual or become a whole system.
God rescued them for a reason…
He brought them into the desert and to a mountain… but not just any mountain…
Exodus 3:1
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Exodus 3:12
And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
FAST FORWARD…
Exodus 19:1-2
1On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
SINAI … our 3rd location… our 3rd place in the timeline.
Q. What happens at Sinai?
It’s a pretty big deal.
Not only does it connect the first half of Exodus to the second half…
It also sets up the story for the rest of the Old Testament.
God rescued them for a reason
There is an “if and a then”
Exodus 19:3-6
3Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”
SINAI: The place where God gives people a MISSION and IDENTITY.
Kingdom of Priests
Holy Nation
Sound familiar?
Genesis 17:6-8
To Abraham
6I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
Exodus 19:6
You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
FAITHFULLY
“I’m forever yours… FAITHFULLY.”
(Exodus 1:17-1:38)
Priests:
Mediate the divine
God’s representatives
Show what God is like through the way we live and treat each other.
Represent God to the people.
Represent the people to God.
They were like a gateway or a bridge.
They represent creation before God.
They represent God before the creation.
“To rule on God’s behalf.” - (Adam & Eve)
Holy: Set Apart
For special or specific use
God brought the Israelites to Mount Sinai out in the wilderness, where He spoke to them and came to dwell among them as a husband dwells with his new bride. God chose this group of people to become His flesh and blood, calling them to become a kingdom of priest and a holy nation where they would use their blessings to bless others. He did this so the whole world might come to know the one true living God.
Sinai: The place where God gives people a MISSION and IDENTITY
Kingdom of priests…
Priests mediate the divine.
They show you what God is like.
When people see them and the way they live, they will see what God is like.
God is looking for a body “You will be like God to Pharaoh” (to Moses)
We are the flesh and blood message to the world.
The church isn’t a new idea in the scriptures.
It is a rebirth of what was established at Sinai.
Exodus 19:7-13
7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.
9The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said.
10And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it…
13…Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”
Exodus 19:16-19
16On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain (and the people) trembled violently. 19As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
V. 12
This is an intentional contrast to the garden… boundaries, limits.
V. 13
This is to sit at His feet, but as in the Garden, they were afraid.
Our mission hasn’t changed…
1 Peter 2:9-12
9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Application
Do you see the pattern unfolding? It’s not just their story it’s our story…
First we get rescued.
Then we settle our identity.
Then we understand our purpose and have a mission.
It’s the order God brings to our chaos.
Jesus is our High Priest.
Those who surrender and follow Jesus are the New Temples of the Presence (ruha) of God.
Identity: We are His children. His representatives. His temples.
Mission: To be Him in His creation. To show what He is like by how we live and treat each other.
Ephesians 5:1 NLT
“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.”
FAITHFULLY
🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Highway run into the midnight sun
Wheels go ‘round and ‘round, you’re on my mind
Restless hearts, sleep alone tonight
Sendin’ all my love along the wire
They say that the road ain’t no place to start a family
Right down the line, it’s been you and me
And lovin’ a music man ain’t always what it’s supposed to be
Oh, girl, you stand by me
I’m forever yours
Faithfully
Circus life under the big-top world
We all need the clowns to make us smile
Through space and time, always another show
Wonderin’ where I am lost without you
And being apart ain’t easy on this love affair
Two strangers learn to fall in love again
I get the joy of rediscovering you
Oh, girl, you stand by me
I’m forever yours
Faithfully
Whoa-oh, oh-oh
Whoa-oh, oh-oh, oh
Whoa-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh
Faithfully
I’m still yours
I’m forever yours
Forever yours
Faithfully