Two Gardens

April 2019 — Grace & Truth Magazine


Two Gardens

The Garden Of Eden
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.” —Genesis 2:8 NKJV

The first garden in Scripture is found right at the beginning of Genesis: the garden of Eden, meaning the garden of Delight. God planted this garden, and it took on His character. He placed Adam, whom He had formed of the dust of the ground (v.7), into this garden and gave him the responsibility of tending and keeping it.

To Adam, the first man, was given the role of head of this fair creation – having no blemish – with the privilege to eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. The one tree he was not to eat the fruit thereof was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (v.17).

Adam was alone, and God knew that was not good. Therefore, in a unique way, He made a woman and brought her to Adam, who said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (v.23). Now he had a companion – a complement – to share in all the blessings under the good hand of God.

When God surveyed all that He had created, He saw that everything was very good, and on the seventh day He rested from all His work. Despite all the ruin around us now in the world in which we live, we can still see with our eyes the wonders of God’s great creation. In several very interesting chapters in the book of Job, we read of the greatness of God and of His power and wisdom in creation. Here is just a little of what we find there: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? ... To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (38:4,6-7). Surely we can echo the words of Psalm 19:1, which says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” How insignificant we are in the presence of His greatness and glory, but it is revealed to us that we might worship and adore.

Earth was the planet that God prepared and made ready for man to dwell on; it was not an afterthought. Before time began, in the counsels of God this thought was conceived in His heart. He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:26). He made them male and female and blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (v.28). Adam and Eve were blessed indeed to be living in this beautiful garden of Delight. They had each other to love and every good thing to enjoy together. Their honeymoon had begun!

These blessings, however, were quickly forfeited. Perhaps Adam and his companion had spent quite a bit of time standing and looking at that forbidden tree and wondering why God had withheld its fruit from them. The serpent, Satan, was there in the garden too. He approached the woman and his first words were: “Has God indeed said ...?” (3:1). Dangerous words indeed! These words cast doubt into her mind, questioning what God had said, and her ears and heart were opened to listen to the voice of Satan rather than to the voice of God. Beware, dear reader, for Satan is still using this same tactic today, trying to get us to disregard what God has said and to listen instead to the many voices that are all around us. Back in the garden of Eden, both Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord God by eating of the forbidden fruit; their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked (v.7).

The sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day ought to have brought joy to Adam and Eve, but now they were afraid and hid among the trees. The beautiful trees that the Lord God had given for their enjoyment, they now used as a hiding place. He called, “Where are you?” (v.9), and they came from their hiding, standing fully exposed before the God against whom they had sinned. God then asked, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Adam blamed God indirectly, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (vv.11-13). The effect of this disobedience was immediate and far-reaching, for we read: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Then the Lord God made coats of skins to cover Adam and Eve. An animal had to be slain and blood had to be shed to make this covering for them. This surely points us to 1 Peter 1:19, where we are reminded that we have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Adam and Eve were sent out of that beautiful garden to toil and eat the food of a cursed earth. The garden of Eden was no longer a place of delight but had become a place of unutterable sorrow. What would God’s answer be? His answer comes to us in another garden – the garden of Gethsemane.

The Garden Of Gethsemane
“When Jesus had spoken these words, He went out with His disciples over the Brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which He and His disciples entered. And Judas, who betrayed Him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with His disciples.” —John 18:1-2

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane ... and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.” —Matthew 26:36-37

The garden of Gethsemane has a very special place in the life of our Lord Jesus. In the fullness of time He came down to this earth from the heights of glory as the One sent from the Father. This lowly Servant said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (Jn. 5:30). He did not find a garden of Delight in this world as Adam did. Instead, sin and death had entered, and everything was in a state of ruin. We recall Romans 5:12: “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Jesus was aware of the needs that were evident on every hand, and we read that He healed the sick, made the lame to walk and gave sight to the blind. His was a life lived in perfect obedience and perfection to the glory of His God and Father, but He did not come only to meet these needs. His perfect life could not save us. He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26), to destroy the works of the devil (2:14), and that through His death sinners could be saved. The grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (Jn. 12:24). Jesus was that grain of wheat, and He must die. He was the only One who was found both worthy and willing.

As the time of the Passover drew near, Jesus and His disciples came to the place where He had appointed for them to eat it. He said, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk. 22:15). After the Passover supper was ended, Jesus went with the disciples to the Mount of Olives, where we find the garden of Gethsemane. It was a place that Jesus and His disciples knew well as He often came there to pray. Here is a little of the biblical account: “Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, ‘Sit here while I pray.’ And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch’” (Mk. 14:32-34). Jesus left His disciples there, going on a little farther. He was alone with His Father as He poured out His soul in prayer, falling on His face and saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39). Three times this prayer was repeated in the agony of His soul, shrinking from this cup in the perfection of His holy nature, but accepting it equally as the perfect, dependent Man.

In this scene of Gethsemane, we have just a tiny glimpse into what it meant to His holy, perfect soul to be made sin – to take upon Himself our sins and to be forsaken by God as God’s wrath was poured out on Him. He, God’s blessed Son, would suffer in our place. There was no other way for sinners to be saved. As we gaze on this scene with worshiping hearts, we see Him taking the cup from the Father’s hand and saying, “Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (Jn. 18:11).

The disciples were supposed to watch with Him; instead they fell asleep. If we did not have the inspired record in the Gospels of this time when Jesus was alone with the Father, we would never know what Jesus, the Man of sorrows, passed through in the garden of Gethsemane. The sorrows of Gethsemane are referred to in Hebrews 5:7: “He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear.” God indeed could have saved Him from death, but He would not because the time had come that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die; otherwise it would remain alone. Christ would not remain alone. His love constrained Him – His love to His Father and to us. He must finish the work that the Father had given Him to do; and when the work on the cross was complete, God answered by raising Him from the dead.

After His agonizing prayers in the garden, Jesus went back to His disciples. While He was speaking to them, a multitude came with Judas leading them to where Jesus prayed. Judas knew the place very well and now he drew near to betray Jesus with a kiss. “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against Me” (Ps. 41:9). Jesus, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward in perfect peace to do the Father’s will. In silence He submitted to the cruelty of the soldiers who led Him to Golgotha, where they crucified Him.

We have looked just a little at the garden in Gethsemane. This holy scene is not a subject for discussion; it is cause for us to fall on our knees as we see Him there, praying, watching, agonizing and taking this bitter cup willingly from His Father’s hand. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Precious Savior! Wonderful Lord!

By Jacob Redekop