WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.560 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:23.199 My name is Ashley, and I get to serve as one of the pastors here. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:32.000 And what joy it is to get to preach this weekend as I'm celebrating five years of being a part of this community and pastoring here. 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:34.880 Thank you. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:46.560 And it's because of all of you and getting to be a part of this beautiful community that I continually choose to say yes to serving this church body. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.359 Now we love choices, don't we? 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:53.200 We don't love being forced to do anything, right, high schoolers? 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.119 We don't love being forced to do anything. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:02.399 We can get a little cranky and antsy when we have to face the parts of our lives that we have to do. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:06.959 You know, taxes, jury duty, laundry. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:12.719 It really drags us down when we don't have the choice to do something or not. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:18.239 Starbucks is the master at giving us these choices. 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:34.400 Starbucks specializes in customized drinks, and there are tens of thousands of combinations that you can create by choosing from these categories: your base drink, your milk, flavors and syrups, toppings, size, and temperature. 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:42.159 Their menu is designed to be highly customizable because they know that people love to choose. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:51.599 Starbucks also knows that the choices that people make become their identity because you are that caramel macchiato. 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:56.640 And this is how they keep you coming back for another coffee. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:08.400 Even the people who prefer independent, higher quality coffee shops, they still have, they still secretly, secretly have their Starbucks order of choice. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:18.879 My husband has worked at Starbucks for many years, and he's been at his current store for about three years now, and so he knows many of his regular customers' drink orders. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:31.680 We'll be at a restaurant on a date, and he'll lean over to me and he'll whisper, Venti iced five shot espresso, two pumps extra ice, and he'll subtly point at the table next to us. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:34.800 So romantic, I know. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.159 This week, I asked him to rattle off a few of his regular customers' drinks. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:43.360 Now remember, he wasn't at his store, like we're in our house. 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:44.400 Here we go. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:45.280 Ready? 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:46.479 Are we ready? 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.639 Can you can you track with me here? 00:02:48.800 --> 00:02:49.120 Okay. 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:53.840 Grande pike in a venti cup, double cupped with heavy cream. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:03:00.080 Venti chocolate cream cold brew, extra sweet vanilla cold cream, eight pumps vanilla. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.360 We're just getting started. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:10.479 Tall pike with almond milk with salted caramel sweet cream foam and non-dairy sweet cream foam. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:11.840 Now here we go. 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:14.000 This is this is the one that's hardest to say. 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:15.840 And he had this by memory. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:26.400 Caramel ribbon crunch frappuccino, extra whip, extra caramel drizzle, cookie crumble toppings blended in with a floating double shot made with heavy cream and two pumps of hazelnut. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:30.719 Sorry if that was yours. 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.199 I don't think it was someone who goes here. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.199 Tall iced vanilla latte with coconut milk. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:38.560 That one's mine. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:48.800 Starbucks has tapped into this deep desire that we have to make our own decisions, the desire to have choices. 00:03:49.120 --> 00:04:02.400 And in our scripture today, we're going to see what the very first choice that people were given was, and see that having a choice is embedded in the very foundation of creation. 00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:12.159 This whole year, we're studying the book of Genesis through our Sunday preaching, and this series, Unalone, is focused on Genesis 2. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.959 One of the greatest needs that we have is to be unalone. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:21.600 And yet we're living incredibly lonely lives. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:28.399 There was this podcast I was listening to recently, and they called this the ever-lonely era. 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:36.079 Through this series, we're discovering how God created the world to be wired for connection. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:50.160 What we find in Genesis 2 in this part of the creation narrative is foundational for how we understand the rest of the Bible and how we encounter the world that we live in. 00:04:50.399 --> 00:04:56.480 So let's get into this text and discover a key piece of the world that God was creating. 00:04:56.639 --> 00:04:59.279 This is a tale of two trees. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:06.639 So turn in your Bible with me to Genesis 2 and picture this scene that God is creating. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.600 Genesis 2, verses 8 and 9. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:18.079 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:34.240 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:39.040 So God plants this garden and he places the man that he created there. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.639 Now I want you to picture in your mind every tree that you can think of: fruit trees, trees with flowers, evergreens. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.560 This garden is full of trees and life. 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:58.160 And right in the middle, there's a tree that is set apart from the rest, the tree of life. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:04.000 And there's another one with it, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:10.399 So we have this beautiful garden with abounding fruit and these two trees in the middle. 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:13.759 And God has placed the man there. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:15.600 Now, the woman is coming. 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:20.879 She's coming into the picture in a few verses, and those are what we're gonna be in for the rest of the series. 00:06:20.959 --> 00:06:24.560 But today we just have the man in the garden. 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.240 Moving ahead to verses 15 through 17. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:35.600 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:48.639 And the Lord God commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:52.720 For on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:07:00.079 God plants this abundance of trees in the garden that are beautiful and they're good for food. 00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:06.000 He plants two special trees in the middle of the garden, and now he gives the man a command. 00:07:06.319 --> 00:07:08.720 You can eat from any tree in the garden. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.199 Notice that this includes the tree of life. 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:22.240 But, he goes on, you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for you will certainly die. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.759 These are pretty high stakes for some fruit. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:26.959 I get this. 00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:29.279 I have a little boy, he's five. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:40.959 And while we were walking to school the other day, he starts telling me this story about the day before about how he picked a leaf from a bush at school and he ate it just to see what it would taste like. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:48.319 Now, the anxious mom in me had this internal dialogue of, oh boy, I'm so glad it wasn't poisonous. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:53.040 And what if he does eat something poisonous one day because he clearly doesn't know to not do this? 00:07:53.279 --> 00:08:01.279 And my outer words said, bud, it wasn't really a wise choice to eat off of a plant that you don't know what it is. 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.199 Finishing that sentence in my mind with, because you could die. 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:11.920 The stakes are really high when you eat from a plant that isn't meant for eating. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:20.079 Now, this tree in the garden wasn't physically poisonous, but the stakes were still high for the man. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:32.080 The tree was there and available, but God commanded him to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he would certainly die. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:43.039 So to understand what's going on here and why God said this and why he put that tree in the garden in the first place, we need to understand more about each of these trees. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:49.600 So the tree of life is the center point of the garden, and it's given for the man to eat from it. 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.559 God says, you are free to eat. 00:08:52.799 --> 00:08:56.720 This tree was the gift of eternal life with God. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.720 We began with the gift of eternal life. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:12.320 This wasn't a reward for if the man was good enough or if he avoided the forbidden tree long enough, he had access to it from the very start. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:18.639 The tree of life was the place where there was fullness of communion with God. 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.000 There was no boundary around it. 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:26.000 Later in the temple, there would be a boundary between God and people. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:33.679 Certain people could only be in certain areas of the temple to keep a certain proximity away from God. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:37.840 We see this with Moses on the mountain in Exodus 19. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:42.480 If you're keeping up with this Lent reading plan, you were reading that today. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:48.720 We also see this in the construction of the tabernacle, and then again later in the temple. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:10:01.279 But here, in this first Holy of Holies, the man was invited to commune with God in his actual presence with no restriction. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:06.080 The man could have full personal connection with God. 00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:12.720 From this close proximity to God, wisdom would be given to the man over time. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:19.200 When you're in personal connection with God, he gives you wisdom as you spend more time with him. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:26.399 God created this tree to provide a path to communion with God forever. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.200 The way to be unalone. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:37.679 So we have this tree of life in the middle of the garden that is a gift of eternal life with God. 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:43.440 And then we have this other tree, the one that will surely lead to death. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.879 The tree of knowledge of good and evil. 00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:51.919 This tree is the rival to the offering of God. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.600 With the tree of life, God offered communion with him. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:57.919 He offered life everlasting. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.600 And through that relationship, God would impart wisdom to the man. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:14.159 But this tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the option for the man to choose his own path. 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:23.440 This tree would unlock the understanding, the knowledge of good and evil, or how Bible Project puts it, the tree of knowing good and bad. 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.039 Eating from this tree was the shortcut to the knowledge about the world. 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:35.759 Both what was good, things that create life, that build up, that are beneficial, and bad. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.159 Things that break things down, things that are harmful or terrible. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:50.000 To the man, Genesis 3.6 says this tree was good for food, delightful to look at, and it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:54.000 It looked good, but it was a shortcut. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:11:56.960 We love a shortcut, don't we? 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:58.960 A life hack, right? 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:02.639 When my iPhone says rerouting to save two minutes. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:03.919 We love that. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:08.159 God was going to give the man wisdom. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:12.320 He was going to teach him his ways by being in relationship with him. 00:12:12.559 --> 00:12:14.399 God wasn't holding out on him. 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:19.759 But this other tree was a shortcut, a shortcut to the knowledge. 00:12:20.080 --> 00:12:24.240 The man wouldn't need to wait around to learn slowly. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:30.080 This shortcut, however, God said, would surely lead to death. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.039 Shortcuts almost always undercut. 00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:42.559 Cutting corners in business leaves you with a worse product or unhappy investors, or at its worst, fraud allegations. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:51.279 Cutting corners in education can lead you to a failing grade from cheating or plagiarism and can get you kicked out of school. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:13:00.000 Cutting corners in relationships leaves you with a lack of closeness and trust, and at its worst leads to abuse. 00:13:00.559 --> 00:13:13.519 We see how shortcuts undercut over and over again as people with a big platform fall because they've taken shortcuts to build that platform that they have while skipping the building character step. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:22.960 Taking these shortcuts is saying I can get everything I want in my own way and in my own time. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:30.159 But we end up with the death of the very things that we tried to cut corners to get. 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:36.799 If we shortcut things that matter, it leads to the death of those things. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:45.279 The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a shortcut to the knowledge that the man would eventually gain from God. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:49.360 And this shortcut would lead him to death. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:54.720 Now, the text does not say that God said, If you eat it, I will kill you. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:58.639 It says, For on the day you eat it, you will certainly die. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:03.360 It's saying that eating from this tree will lead to death. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:05.360 Death is separation. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.720 Separation in relationship with God. 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:16.000 Not as a punishment from God, but as a consequence to choosing the shortcut to this knowledge. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.480 The consequence for choosing the alternative to life. 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:29.360 And when the man chooses this other tree, it's a choice to forfeit the gift of life that he has already been given. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:42.240 In the next chapter, when the man did eventually eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what God says gives us greater insight into the consequence of eating from this tree. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:53.759 Genesis 3.22 says, The Lord God said, Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:58.320 Take from the tree of life, eat and live forever. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:15.679 The man and the woman at this point chose their own path by eating the fruit that looked good and was desirable for what they wanted, and now they had lost access to the tree of life and to being with God. 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:23.440 God exiled them from the garden, separation from God and from life. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:25.759 Death had begun. 00:15:27.840 --> 00:15:32.960 These two trees represented two distinct choices. 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.559 This is the ultimate choice to be unalone. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:43.840 There's one path that leads to loneliness and isolation and death, separation from God. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:50.799 And there's one that leads to life and being in communion with God and all of God's people. 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:53.679 God gave the man these two options. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:16:00.799 He said, You have all these trees, including the one that gives access to eternal life with me. 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:06.799 But he gave him the choice and essentially said, I'm not gonna make you choose me. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.039 Have you ever been required to spend time with someone that you wouldn't choose to spend time with? 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:16.480 Now, I'm not talking about your spouse or your kids or your close friends. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:17.679 You chose those people. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:26.960 I'm talking about required time spent with someone that you don't really care to be around, someone who you would rather avoid spending time with. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:36.559 About a decade ago, I worked at an organization with a staff of about 50 people, and there was an abundance of staff drama and division. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:41.360 The departments were siloed and cross-departmentally, people didn't really get along. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:46.080 Unless they were in your corner, people didn't choose to be around each other. 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:52.799 In an effort to combat this culture, an era of staff fun days was ushered in. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:17:02.559 I've been at other organizations where these types of days were welcomed and appreciated because it gives you a reprieve from that day-to-day grind, right? 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:07.839 And brings a sense of joy and connection with the people who you work with and are friends with. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:15.759 However, in that staff culture, people avoided each other and avoided even general friendliness. 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:21.920 The staff collaborated when necessary, but generally kept distance at all other times. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:31.359 When participation in the staff fun days became required, one person dubbed it a triple F, forced family fun. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:36.480 Without a choice, love wasn't cultivated. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:41.920 Without a choice, the tension that already existed actually grew. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:49.680 Now, in contrast to that experience, a few weeks ago, Awakening Youth hosted winter camp for junior high. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:56.640 They were gone for a whole weekend, they played games and had amazing teaching and worship that led them right to the heart of God. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.720 And they participated in multiple dance parties and hours and hours of a game called Nine Square. 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:09.519 Though part of my role here is to oversee our youth ministry, this wasn't a camp that I needed to attend. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.519 Molly and her youth team, they had it all covered. 00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.799 They had the leadership all covered and they did it so beautifully. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:25.200 But because I wanted to spend time with this part of our church, I chose to spend my entire Saturday at camp with them. 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:28.400 I could have been doing a lot of other things that day. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:34.640 However, I said yes to this invitation to come and spend time with that group. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:41.839 And because I chose to be there, I was choosing to invest in these relationships. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:44.160 And you know what happened in me? 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.599 My love for the people grew. 00:18:47.920 --> 00:18:51.200 My love for my coworkers who were there grew. 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:55.680 My love for our guest speaker who I've known for many years grew. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:03.119 My love for our youth leaders, the volunteers who gave up their whole weekend and then went right back to work on Monday morning. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.599 My love for them grew. 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:15.200 And the junior hires, spending time with them, playing games with them, laughing with them, worshiping with them, my love for them grew. 00:19:16.319 --> 00:19:19.920 See, love requires a choice. 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:29.119 When I was made to spend time with people in this shortcut version of fun and community, it bred resentment and bitterness. 00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.559 And it ended with further isolation. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:40.160 But when I chose to enter into community, it grew a deep love and connectedness. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:48.640 If God created the garden where there was no other option but to choose him, that's not a relationship. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:52.960 It would be robotic, fake, forced. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.839 A real relationship requires the ability to choose. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:04.160 Our deepest desire is living in the state of being connected to others. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:08.000 Or as this series is defining it, unalone. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:15.680 And this choice that God gave to the man in the garden invites us into communion with God. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:21.920 That community that we all crave, it begins here with God. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:32.319 And if we were forced into it, if we didn't have a choice, it wouldn't be the real, true love that God was offering us. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:38.240 The man needed a choice for the love to not be forced, for it to be real. 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.640 The man was given this choice. 00:20:40.799 --> 00:20:50.720 He could choose the tree of life and communion with God, or he could choose a shortcut, his own path, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:57.920 He didn't have to choose the tree of life, that is the set-apart space to meet and commune with God. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:01.599 He didn't have to choose to live with God forever. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:06.400 God allowed the man to make that choice for himself. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:15.039 And when the man ultimately did choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he was cut off from the tree of life. 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:18.160 He was exiled from the garden. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:19.599 And here's why. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:44.000 And for thousands of years after that, people didn't have that distinct choice anymore. 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:49.759 They now needed structures to be set in place to be able to access God himself. 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:55.200 They didn't have the option of being in the presence of God anymore. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.680 Only specific people on specific days could be in that holy. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.039 Of holies and be in the presence of God. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:15.200 But God always had a plan to give that choice back to us, to invite us back into everlasting life and into his presence. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:22.480 And that plan would come thousands of years later, and this is where we come to a third tree. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:34.960 We called this the tale of two trees, but surprise, plot twist, to reconcile the choice that the man made in the garden, God introduced a third tree. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:48.559 Where the two trees in the middle of the garden have shaped everything that we experience, God used another tree to bring us back from the exile, from the tree of life and communion with him. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:23:06.960 About 1300 pages, at least in my Bible, after the moment in the garden in Genesis 2, which equates to what scholars estimate to be about 4,000 years, we meet a man who would die on a cross to rescue us from this exile that we were living in. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.799 This is why Jesus came. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:24.720 God was still choosing us. 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:32.400 God chose us first in the garden, and God continued choosing us first. 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:40.559 You have been chosen since the foundation of the earth, and God keeps choosing you, and he chose you all the way to the cross. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:47.759 Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of all the times that we chose something other than God. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:54.240 And scripture refers to the cross as, that's right, a tree. 00:23:54.559 --> 00:24:06.640 First Peter 2.24 says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:18.960 By his wounds, you have been healed, for you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:36.559 Jesus chose death in our place so that we might live, so that we could once again be in the presence of God, and we could choose to be connected to him for all of eternity, to be unalone forever. 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:43.680 Once the man was exiled from the garden, it introduced this consequence of death for all of us. 00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:56.319 Jesus on a tree said, It is finished, meaning he gave us this choice back to choose God and to be in communion with him. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:59.279 Matthew 27, 1551. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.759 This is Jesus from the cross. 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:14.480 Suddenly the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:21.279 This curtain was in the temple sanctuary to separate the people from the presence of God. 00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:27.359 Once the man was exiled from the garden, there was a barrier between people and God. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.640 This was represented in the temple by this curtain. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:42.319 And when Jesus died, when he declared that his rescuing work was complete, the curtain in the temple tore into from top to bottom. 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:50.319 The temple curtain was torn, providing the ability for people to enter into God's presence once again. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:55.920 People could have that communion from the garden with God once again. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:05.359 The gospel is that God has chosen you, that he has always chosen you, and that he is always choosing you even now. 00:26:07.200 --> 00:26:09.920 God didn't put the man at the gate of the garden. 00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:13.119 He didn't put him there and give him a choice to come in or not. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:16.960 He placed him in the middle of the garden. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:19.359 God chose the man. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:23.440 We're able to choose God because he chose us first. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:30.240 He chose us in the garden and then he continued to choose us by sending Jesus to rescue us. 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:36.240 First John 4.19 says, We love because he first loved us. 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:44.880 We're able to love God and each other, to live unalone, because God first loved us. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:48.480 God gave the man the choice in the garden. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:59.680 To choose to live in communion with him or to go his own way, of choosing what is good for food, delightful to look at, and desirable for obtaining wisdom. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:02.240 The alternative, the shortcut. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.359 These choices are all around us. 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:15.920 Something that looks good, delightful, desirable, but it's really an alternative to what God is offering me. 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:25.920 It's really a shortcut versus actually choosing the goodness and life that God has given. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:34.319 Every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food and the gift of life with Him. 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:40.559 Sometimes these decisions are obvious, having the choice between a good thing and a bad thing. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:48.640 But usually they're more subtle and more like shortcuts to what we want than sinful actions. 00:27:49.599 --> 00:28:07.119 Working through the weekend to get ahead and climbing that ladder, or setting aside time for Sabbath to prioritize rest and connection with God, numbing out by scrolling, which gives us this fake boost of connection. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:22.079 Or intentionally connecting with a friend, sneaking out during the meet and greet to get some more coffee, or choosing to meet someone new and being more connected to your church community. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:29.119 All of our choices, both good and bad, come with consequences attached to them. 00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:32.079 Every choice that we make has an outcome. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:42.079 Each relational choice that we make leads us toward life in our relationships or toward isolation and death in our relationships. 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:51.920 To live unalone and to break through this ever lonely era, we need to make choices that lead us toward life. 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:59.920 But here's the most important part: we don't have to earn this gift of life that Jesus gave to us. 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:04.799 God isn't keeping score of how many times you've chosen each metaphorical tree. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.559 That's not how this works. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:12.319 Just like the man in the garden, this gift has already been given to us. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:20.160 That gift is eternal life with God because of Jesus' sacrifice of his life on the cross. 00:29:20.319 --> 00:29:26.799 It's a gift to never be alone because God chose us to be in community with him now and forever. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:29.920 We're plagued with loneliness. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:34.640 And God has given us a way to never be alone. 00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:36.640 John 10, 10. 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:45.200 Jesus said, I have come so that they might have life and have it in abundance. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:50.960 Jesus came so we could have life, so that we could live unalone. 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:57.759 So we have in front of us the same opportunity that the man had in the garden. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:29:59.839 We have a choice. 00:30:00.640 --> 00:30:06.799 But what's even better than that is that we have been chosen by God. 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:14.960 God continues to give us the freedom to choose him back because he loves us so much. 00:30:18.400 --> 00:30:20.799 He's given us the tree of life. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:24.000 And he has said, you may eat freely. 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:27.119 You can have life in abundance. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:30.160 You can have what is beautiful and what's good to eat. 00:30:30.319 --> 00:30:32.079 It's all here for you. 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:35.599 But you also have another option. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:37.599 There's this other tree. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:42.319 And this other tree is taking a shortcut to the life you're hoping to have. 00:30:42.640 --> 00:30:48.799 You can choose it, but you need to know it really leads to death. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:52.319 It really leads to separation from me. 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:58.160 God doesn't make anyone choose him because his love for us is real. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:02.559 He doesn't force us to love him back. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:06.400 He doesn't want love to be fake or robotic. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:10.240 He wants a real relationship with you. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:18.400 Two groups of people in this room that I want to direct this next part is, part two. 00:31:19.519 --> 00:31:26.079 First of all, there's many of you in this room who have already chosen that tree of life. 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:29.680 You have already accepted that gift from Jesus. 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:39.759 But maybe you're seeing places where you've taken shortcuts in your own relationships, either with God or with each other. 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:43.359 And you're seeing how that has left you lonely. 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:52.880 If that's you, this morning, choose to take a step toward life, toward relationships with God and people. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:58.960 And then there's some in this room who are encountering this choice for the first time. 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:06.480 Or seeing that you want to choose the tree of life over the alternative for the first time. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:12.559 Now I'm gonna ask everyone to close their eyes for a moment if you feel safe to do so. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:14.880 Take a deep breath. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:19.200 Notice what's bubbling up for you. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:26.480 God speaks to us, and often that's as quiet as a whisper deep inside us. 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:32.559 We need to calm the noise around us to hear him. 00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:37.440 So take a moment and notice what God might be saying to you. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:40.400 I'll give us about thirty seconds. 00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:37.119 And if that's you this morning, if you're choosing God for the first time, we want to give you an opportunity to do that right now, to not let this moment be fleeting for you. 00:33:37.279 --> 00:33:38.799 So we'll keep our eyes closed. 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:46.079 I'm gonna pray, and I want for you to take the words that I'm praying and say them, either in your mind or out loud. 00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:48.079 He'll hear you, either way. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:51.839 Say them to the God who has chosen you. 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:56.240 God, thank you for choosing me. 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:00.880 Thank you that your love for me is real. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:05.759 God, on this day, I choose you. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:14.239 I choose to accept your gift of eternal life that Jesus gave his life for. 00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:16.960 God, I choose you. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:30.559 With your eyes still closed, if that was you, if you prayed that prayer with me this morning and you chose to enter into life with God for the first time, we would love to celebrate with you. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:33.519 With everyone's eyes still closed, would you raise your hand? 00:34:33.679 --> 00:34:35.920 This is a safe space for you. 00:34:37.840 --> 00:34:39.519 Oh, thank you, Lord. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:44.320 To celebrate in community. 00:34:44.480 --> 00:34:49.840 If you're willing, keep your hand raised as everyone opens their eyes. 00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:57.599 The Bible says that when people, that when someone chooses life with God, that all of heaven celebrates. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:35:04.320 This moment is heaven and earth colliding, and we get to celebrate that eternal decision together. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:08.719 Church, can we celebrate with all of heaven for the people who made that decision this morning? 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:10.320 Thank you, Jesus. 00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:46.320 So if you're someone who has chosen God, either today or any other time in your life, if you have chosen God, take this moment of this song to meet with him. 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:51.039 Don't take a shortcut by sneaking out early or not singing. 00:35:51.360 --> 00:35:56.960 This is your moment to lean in and to linger in God's presence. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:59.679 Oh God, thank you. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:02.000 Thank you that you have been in this room. 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:05.360 Thank you that you are speaking to us. 00:36:05.599 --> 00:36:09.519 God, thank you for the people who chose you this morning. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:12.800 God, may you be glorified. 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:14.719 May we meet with you in this moment. 00:36:14.880 --> 00:36:17.280 May we experience your presence in this moment. 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:24.000 And may you be glorified in both the meditation of our heart and the words of our lips. 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:24.960 Amen. 00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:29.039 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:33.599 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:36:33.760 --> 00:36:35.840 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:36:36.079 --> 00:36:42.000 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.