From Garden to Glory

Mr. Parrahards for worship, scripture says ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find. And not going to be open to you. So as we're ready to worship, the Lord is in this room. He's ready to deposit in our hands. But He's in blessing you with freedom, joy, peace. So let me receive it, your worship you with all heart. Come on, church. [music playing] I give you glory for all you've brought me through. And now I'm ready for whatever you want to do. I'm moving forward to follow after you. And now I'm ready for whatever you want to do. Your presence is in open door. We want you, Lord, I never before. Your presence is in open door. So come now, Lord, I never before, oh, my man. In every season, your grace has been in love. And I believe you, the best is yet to come. Across me for you, I hope on things of love. It didn't you, Jesus, the best is yet to come. Say your presence, your presence is in open door. We want you, Lord, I never before, oh, your presence is in open door. So come now, Lord, I never before. Now everybody, come on, we believe, we believe, we believe, we believe. Come on, let's send this guy together. See, I know the breakthrough has come there by day. I see a miracle. My God, may be a promise and it won't stop now. See, I know, I know, I know.

The breakthrough has come there by day. I see a miracle. I see a miracle. See, a miracle. See, a miracle. See, a miracle. Come on, sing, I know, I know, I know. I know. The breakthrough has come. See, by day, I see a miracle. I see a miracle. See, a miracle. Now your hands work. See, I know, I know. I know, I know. The breakthrough has come there by day. I see a miracle. Come on, let's send this guy together. Come on, let's send this guy together. Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Come on, let's send him, let us shout a praise. Hey! I could sing your name for all. Oh, my life.

And still find more to love each time. Jesus be the name ever on my lips. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. You have been the friend who never left. I won't forget your faithfulness. Jesus be the name of our own mother. [MUSIC PLAYING] It's sweeter every time that I come on in. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. Jesus, you're worthy, Jesus. Oh, you're worthy, Jesus.

Your name is full of mine. Jesus, Jesus, you're worthy. It's life, the morning, life, the one, the darkness came tonight. Resurrection and the life, Jesus, Jesus, your name. You say, we make a deal. You name, we make a storm. You still, you'll never fail. You'll never will, Jesus. Jesus, the prince of life, the king of hell. The wounded and the worthy one, the first of last. Just move to come, Jesus. Jesus, the king of all the world, the great, the Lord, who will, who will, for ever reign, the name of all the name. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus be the name. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name, the king of all the glory, man. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name, the king of all the glory, man. Jesus, be the name, the king of all the glory, man. Jesus, Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name, the king of all the glory. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name. Jesus, be the name. The king of all the glory. Come on, all over the room, can we shout Jesus? Come on, shout Jesus. There is power in your name, we've heard that there is no way through, we've heard that the tide will never change, they haven't seen what you can do, there is power in your name.

I want to hear you stick it out, there's so much, so much power in your name. O thee, move above, raise thee, I'm break above, God we believe, God we believe for it, from the impossible, we'll see a miracle, God we believe, God we believe for it. We know that hope is never lost, for there is still an air could break, God we believe no matter what, the air is power. O thee, move above, raise thee, I'm break above, God we believe, God we believe, God we believe for it, from the impossible, we'll see a miracle. God we believe, God we believe, God we believe for it. As we sing about believing God to move mountains, to make a miracle happen, maybe you're here today and you're needing miracle. I'm gonna invite our prayer team to join me down front and if that's you, I'd invite you to come forward, we'd love to pray with you, believing that the God who can move a mountain can move your mountain. And let me say this, there's no mountain too small, there's no miracle too insignificant for our Father. If it's big enough for you to worry about, it's big enough for you to pray about and so I'd invite you to come forward and pray. And sometimes our mountains feel so big that it can be difficult to even have to believe it's possible, not because we don't believe in God, but it just feels too big to have the faith enough to carry it. Scripture tells us that we get to lean on the faith of each other and so the people here, you can lean on their faith, believing that the God who heals can heal you, believing that God who provides can provide for you. And so don't worry about the people next to you, we'll make room for you this morning. We want to just pray and go to our Father, believing Him for these things. But we're gonna, if maybe you're here, there's nothing significant going on in your worlds. We get to lift each other's burdens, we get to lean on each other's faith. Every single week, I'm gonna pray for a handful of prayer requests you guys trust us with representative of the many. If you're comfortable, would you just extend to hands this morning? As we join each other in prayer, God would come before you, recognizing your power, recognizing your goodness, recognizing that you're the same God yesterday, today and the same. You're the same God who closes the lion's mouth, you're the same God who brings men through fire without smelling like smoke. You're the same God who makes a son stand still until God. We pray to you today believing that you have the same miracles for us, God, believing that you can still work those things. You can still make those things happen until we lean upon you, believing that you are a healer, believing that you are a provider. God, we come alongside Barbara who's been through cancer twice already and just got another rounds come through. God, we believe you have healed her once. You can do it again in the name of Jesus. We pray against any cancer in her body. We pray your full healing over her body. We pray her full restoration over her body. We pray you would strengthen her bones, strengthen her heart, strengthen her mind. God, pray you keep her eyes on you as you work a miracle.

And we will give you glory and advance for what you're going to do. God, we come alongside Lishan Lord who's praying for a direction. But your word tells us that you already have a power. And so we thank you for that plan. We pray that you would reveal that plan to LaShawn, that he would understand what you were doing, that he would stand firm in the path that you've set him on, and in the process that your blessing would show up, that your provision would show up, that your overflow would show up, that you would get glory for what you're doing in LaShawn's life, that all of a sudden purpose would show up, and understanding what show up, that what you are showing up, and you are showing off, and people would come to know you, because the direction you've set them on, God become alongside a Sebastian Lord who's nearing a miracle in his body right now. As our lumps on his neck, God, we thank you for the doctors in the room. We thank you for the information that you're bringing. We thank you for the healing that is coming. We pray that you would show off in his circumstance. We pray full healing in his body. We pray full restoration in his body, and we pray that as you do such in him, he sees you. He sees what you're doing. He sees your glory. He sees your goodness, God. And he recognizes the plan that you have for him, a young man, chasing after you, chasing after your purpose in his life. God, we thank you for the path you're putting him on. We thank you for what you're going to do. We pray for people in this room right now needing a miracle, God, needing you to move a mountain, God, needing a healing in this room. God, we pray against any diagnosis that is not from you, is not for them. We pray for full healing in their bodies. We pray against anything that's coming, trying to come in the way of marriages in this room right now. We pray against the work of the enemy.

We pray for your strength. We pray for your purpose. We pray for these miracles, God, that the world is going against us. But you have plans, and purpose, and passion, and vision, and healing, and restoration, God, that you're showing off in our marriages. You're showing off in our homes that you have plans for us. God, we thank you that you are revealing them. We thank you for the miracles. We love and praise you. It's your great name, we pray. Amen, and say amen. Come on, we're hands lifted all over the room. Declred us together, say. You are the way when this seems to be your way. We trust you, God, you have the final set. You are the way when this seems to be your way. We trust in you, God, you are the way. You are the way when this seems to be your way. We trust in you, we trust in you, God, you have the final set. We'll be moving over, come on, say it out. Come on, say, God, we believe. God, we believe for it. From the impossible, we'll see a miracle. God, we believe. Oh, God, we believe. God, we believe. We believe for the full, we'll be a proof of all. Break the unbreakable. God, we believe. God, we believe for it.

From the impossible, we'll see a miracle. God, we believe. God, we believe for it. God, we believe your presence is here. We believe your word is true. We believe that you love us, that you've made a way for us to experience the fullness of your grace and your love and your presence. Help us to be aware that you're here right now. Open up our eyes to see you in this place, our ears to receive your word, our hearts to bear fruit, God. Put faith to our feet and strengthen us from within so we can walk with confidence that we are children of God, is that the world around us can see your goodness and you can get all the glory that you're worthy of. As we take this time to open up your word, I pray you speak to us. Your word is living and active and powerful. Produce the fruit you sent it out for, God. Let it bear fruit in our lives. Every distraction, every frustration, everything that's not of you, God. We rebuke it in Jesus' name and we pray that this time is yours, that you would do in our lives in this place what only you can do. Thank you, Lord, for what we get to experience. It's your name, we pray, and all the people that God who love them said. Come on, Church, if you are grateful to be in the house of God with the people that God let's continue to give them praise as you're having a seat. I want to welcome you once again to the perfect place for imperfect people to experience the presence of God. I'm Eric. I have the privilege of teaching his word today. We're continuing this series all in his story and what this whole series is about is we're from cover to cover, this is all about Jesus.

He's all in his story. Now, last week, Dan, he read a passage from Luke chapter 24. I wanna go back there right now, 'cause I don't want us to miss how important and how powerful this is. I mean, let me paint the picture and set the stage of what's happening. Jesus has just resurrected from the grave. And there's these two disciples walking to this town called Emmaus and they are discouraged. They are confused 'cause they heard his tomb is now empty, but they didn't know what that meant. So Jesus comes alongside them and he's walking and talking with them, but they don't know it's Jesus that they're talking to. And in that moment, Jesus, he gives the best Bible study in the history of Bible studies. This is what happened, Luke 24 verse 27. It says, and beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. This is the word of God. Jesus, he opened up the Old Testament. He opened up what they called the Tanakh. And from the beginning to the end, he showed everything concerning. He said, this is about me. When you read this, this is pointing the way of who I am. Now, the reason that's important is because this should fundamentally change

the way that we read God's word. For honest, a lot of us will read the story of David versus Goliath. And we'll say something like, I have giants that I need to slay in my life. We'll read the story of Daniel in the lion's den and we'll consider to ourselves, there are some lions that I need to confront. Now listen, there are certainly lessons that we can learn from these heroes, these champions of our faith of how we can grow in our faith and live more Christ-like, but hear this. If the only thing we get from David and Goliath is, I need to be brave like David. We've missed the most important and the most powerful part of that story. It's not about us. It's all about him, so I want you to write this down. The common thread running through scripture isn't you. It's Jesus. This thread that goes from every single story in the Bible is not about us being the hero. It's about Jesus. There are giants. There are lions. There are kingdoms and kings. There are fires and failures and miracles and success and victories. But like Dan said last week,

underneath all of that is one story. A story of a God that so loves us that he sent his one and only son to live and to die and to resurrect for us so that we could be set free from sin and death and be adopted into his family forever. That's the greatest promise of scripture. So today as we look at this one story, we're gonna go back to the beginning. We're gonna go back to where the problem all began and we're gonna see the promise that God gives from the beginning. I've titled today's teaching from garden to glory, from garden to glory is the title of today's teaching. Before we jump into God's word, let me ask a question. How many women in this room love the fall? If you love it, maybe make some noise. Listen, pumpkin spice is in the air. You're wearing scarves and boots. I know fall is more of a feeling than it is a season. Ladies, how many of you love the fall? We know you caused it. You caused the fall. Oh, did a terrible joke. I get it, bad joke. In fact, it's so inaccurate. Let's read what actually happened in the beginning, at the fall, Genesis 3.6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food

and that it was the light to the eyes and that the tree was desired to make one wise. It's the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. She took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. He was with her in the beginning. He wasn't on the other side of the garden mowing the grass. He wasn't naming another giraffe. He was standing silently beside her and it gets worse for Adam. When God asked what happens, listen to Adam's defense verse 12, the man said, "The woman whom you gave me, God." It's the my fault, it's the woman you gave to me to be with me. She gave me the fruit, it was her too. And in one sentence, he blames his God. He blames his brides. Genesis three is not the story of how women messed up everything. Genesis three is a story of how all of us got into this trouble. See, in the garden, there was a serpent, Satan, our enemy. And he asked this question of Adam and Eve that we've been wrestling with ever since Genesis three one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God really say,

did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden? This is where the attack begins. Before our enemy gets us to disobey God's word, first he gets us to doubt God's word. Did he really say that? Can God really be trusted? The same way he tempted Adam and Eve with the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. It's the same way he tempts us today. He doesn't need a new strategy. His old one is working perfectly fine for us. He gets us questioning our God, questioning God's goodness. Questioning it so much that we get to the place where we're now we think we know better than God what's good for us. There are three things in this story, three truths that I want us to get. The first one is to write this down. Sin broke what God made good. That's the problem we see. Sin broke what God made good. And Genesis one, God creates the heavens and the earth. And he looks back at all his creation and he says, it is good. Then Adam and Eve in chapter three, they disobey God's perfect plan for their protection, their provision, the presence of God with them. But again, Genesis three doesn't just explain Adam and Eve.

Genesis three explains what's wrong with all of us. And answers to question why we know what's right, but we still choose what's wrong. And answers to question why we hurt the people that we love. And answers to question why we die. And the reason is because something happened in the garden. Sin and disobedience entered in the garden. And when Adam and Eve sinned against their God, I want you to see what they do immediately, three things. The first one is they cover. They cover themselves, Genesis three, seven. Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked. And so they sewed fig leaves together and made for themselves loincloths to cover up their shame. After they covered, they hide. They hide. They percate and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden, the cool of the day. They had complete access to be with the presence of God and the man and his wife. They hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees in the garden. They cover themselves. They hide and then they blame. They pass the blame. We already heard Adam's excuse, right? Eve isn't any better. Verse 13, then the Lord God said to the woman,

"What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me." It's his fault. You made him and then I ate. Don't we do the same thing today? Does this sound familiar? We cover what we don't want anyone to see. We hide what we're ashamed of. We blame other people and other things for why we did what we did and who we are. It's the same attack and we have the same response. Well, let me be very specific. Covering is when we post a highlight reel of what's happening in our lives when our lives and our marriages are barely holding on. We're putting on a covering. We're pretending we're hiding what's really happening. It's saying, I'm good when someone asks you how you're doing, when you're not actually doing good, we're covering. Hiding is deleting the browser history so no one sees what we've been looking at. Hiding is the second phone that you own. Hiding is the drink you take after the kids go to bed. Hiding is a credit card that your spouse doesn't know about. Blaming. A lot of times in our life that sounds like, well, you don't know what I went through. You don't know my family. You don't know what my ex did.

I've just inherited my dad's bad attitudes. Your past may explain why you do the things you do, but hear me church. It doesn't excuse what we do. We're just keeping them hidden. And I share that not so we can feel shame. I share that because it's the hiding, it's the covering. It's the blaming that brings us shame. And God wants to bring us out of our darkness into His glorious lights. Proverbs 28, 13, listen to what God does. It says, whoever conceals His transgressions, whoever hides, whoever blames, whoever covers, transgressions will not prosper, but He who confesses, He will repent and forsake them. And turns away will obtain mercy. This is what God wants to do. And this is what God begins to do in this story. Right after this, one of my favorite moments in this story happens, Genesis 3 and 9. But the Lord God called to the man and said to Him, "Where are you?" Adam, where are you? Now let's pause for a second. Do we believe that an all-knowing omniscient God didn't know where Adam was? Do we believe that? Is that why he's that? No, of course not. He's God. He knows all things. He's everywhere. He's not walking around the Garden of Eden. Adam, buddy, where'd you go? I've lost my little friend. He's asking this question of Adam, not for his own information, but for Adam's invitation.

He's saying, "Adam, look where sin has led you. Look what sin has done to you. Come back to me." Church, our sin has caused us to hide and run away from our heavenly Father. From the very beginning, he shows that he pursues after us, and he continues to pursue after us every single day, which leads to the second big idea. God made a promise before we could make it right. He made a promise before we could make it right. In humanity's darkest moment, God, he speaks to the serpent, the deceiver, and he makes a promise to his people. He says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Now this verse, verse 15, theologians call this the proto-evangelium. That's just a theological way of saying, "This is the first time we have the promise of God declared, our promise of salvation." It's the first time we see the good news, the gospel of Jesus in the Bible. Think about the timing. Adam and Eve just sinned against their God. They broke his commands when he gave them unfettered access to everything, and before they have a chance to make it right, before they have a chance to earn a second chance, God he gives a promise. He says, "Someone's coming, someone who's going to come, who's going to set you free from this deceiver, who's going to crush the serpent's heads, but the serpent will bruise his heel." We'll get to that in a little bit, but I want to go back to the fig leaves. Remember the fig leaves that they covered themselves with? I want you to consider those fig leaves basically humanity's first religion. That's what religion is, religion is trying to fix something we did with something we've made up. God offers us relationship, but we choose religion.

We try to cover ourselves up with something we've created, and we still do that to this day. We're still sowing fig leaves. We're still trying to look like we're covered by all the things that we create. We put together quite an impressive fig leaf uniform. We got the nice clothes and the perfect marriage and the honorable kids and the big bank account. Maybe we've even sowed for ourselves the serve team lanyard that we wear at church, and so people see us and they say, "Man, they're covered. Things are good. Look at them." They figured it out. Here's the problem with coverings that we make on our own. Here's the problem with fig leaves. They fail. They wilt. They fall apart. They will never completely clothe us. We try to cover ourselves, but we can't sow enough uniforms. We can't do enough good things to stand holy before holy gods. We're imperfect. So what does God do? and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them. They tried to cover themselves, but God knew when last, so God clothed them. Now I don't want you to miss this. What does it take in order to get skins for clothing? It takes something dying. The first death in the Bible was an innocent animal. And that animal died so that sinful people didn't have to stand before their God and Creator

with their shame. Won't you write this down? You can't cover what only God can cover. You can try, you can perform, but it'll never last. You can't cover what only God can cover, but get this, His covering always costs a life. And eventually, because of sin, God would not provide another animal. Eventually, God would provide His one and only son to die so that we could be set free. And just like Jesus, those garments that God gave were God's provision, taking care of His people. That's a difference between religion and the good news, religion and the gospel. Religion says, cover yourself, do what you need to do. Make yourself look impressive when the gospel of Jesus says, no, God's covered you. God has clothed you, He's done everything necessary so that you would be complete. So He clothes them. Then something strange happens to us. God sends them out of this paradise called Eden. Why would God do that? Why would God clothe them of their shame and then essentially kick them out of the garden? Why would God be so inconsiderate? He's not. We think that because we forget there's another tree in that garden. There's a tree of life.

Genesis 3, 22, the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil. Now, unless he reached out his hand and also take from the tree of life and eat and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden. Don't miss us. There's mercy even in God's judgment there. He loves Adam and Eve. He loves his creation. He loves us so much that he will not allow us to eat of the tree of life and live forever in our sinful broken states. No sin has to be defeated. Death has to be defeated. Humanity has to be redeemed. So God sends them out of the garden. Verse 24, he drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim. The cherubim is a type of guardian angel. The cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. I want you to keep that idea of the cherubim in your mind, but from that point on, humanity was asking the question, who's the one, who's the one, the promised one that God will send to save us, to crush the head of the serpent, our deceiver. Is it able?

No, able died. Is it Noah? No, Noah got off the ark and got drunk. Is it Moses? Is it Abraham? Is it King David? Hero, after hero, champion, after champion. We realize the same thing in all of these stories. They too need to be saved. They're imperfect. They can't accomplish what needs to be done. They need to save her as well. And so this promise passes on from generation to generation, century after century, till thousands of years later an angel comes down and appears and speaks to a young woman named Mary, Luke 131. He says, "And behold, you will conceive in your womb "and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." This is the Savior. This is the promised one from Genesis chapter three. Church, I know Christmas is coming, and we're gonna celebrate really big, but you need to understand that Jesus' story on earth didn't begin in Bethlehem. It began with a promise in the garden. The moment sin entered into the equation, God! Redemption was already in the story. Some of us, we need that today. Because we look at our story, we look back at our lives, we see everything surrounding us.

Some of us say, this isn't the way it's supposed to be. They're not supposed to be sick. We're not supposed to be separated. My kids aren't supposed to wander off. This isn't the way it's supposed to be. Our culture, our culture. This isn't the way that it's supposed to be. It's Genesis three happening over and over and over again, but church, just because it's broken, doesn't mean we're abandoned, amen? God can write redemption in every story, even if your story feels like it looks ruined. At least the third and final truth. The fall wasn't final. The fall wasn't final. Sin got a word, absolutely, but sin didn't get the last word. And the fall isn't final because God already gave a promise that one day somebody would come that would set us free. Somebody would come and do what Adam couldn't do. Adam's not the hero. Jesus is. He's the common thread throughout all of his story. So, so what's the point? If Jesus is the hero, then we need to stop trying to be the hero. Turn a person next to you. Tell him, stop trying to be the hero. It's superheroes Sunday and local kids. Our kids are dressed up like superheroes. Don't say to them, say to another.

Stop trying to be the hero. That's what happened in Eden, right? Saying deceive them, saying, you don't need God. You can be like God. You can take care of it. Do it on your own. And church, we've been reaching for that same fruit ever since. We try to save our family. We try to save the marriage. We try to rescue that kid. We carry things that are overwhelming because we want to have control. And we wonder why we're so tired and exhausted. We're trying to be gods. We're carrying things that we have no control over. Turn that person again. Tell him, you're not the savior. But say, but you have a savior. That's the difference. We're not the savior, but church, we have a savior. We have someone who's come to rescue us. We have someone who sets us free. What do we need saving from? Why don't need to be rescued? I'm good, I live in America. What do we need to be saved from? Our sin. Our sin that separates us from a perfect and holy God. Our sin that has the consequence of death eternal. Romans 5, 12 says, "Therefore, just as sin came into the world

through one man, Adam, and death through sin. And so death spread to all men." Why? Because all sinned. Again, this isn't the problem that Adam and Eve, this is all of our problem. All of us, we fall in short of God's standard of his perfection. And because of our sin and our disobedience, we can't be in the presence of a holy God's. We've all sinned. So the solution isn't, we need good advice on how to live a better life. No, that's not the solution. We need someone to do for us that we can't do for ourselves. We need someone to rescue us from sin and death. And that's what God does. Romans 5, 19, "For as by the one man, Adam's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the one man, Jesus's obedience, many will be made righteous. Many will be right in the eyes of God because of what Jesus has done for us." Guys, I want us to see this. See what the story is about. Adam disobeys, but the better Adam, Jesus, he obeys. Adam, his sin caused death for all of us. Jesus, his obedience creates life for all of us. And Jesus stretches out his hands on a tree in obedience to God. Don't miss this.

Adam fails in a garden. And where do we see Jesus right before he dies for us? In a garden. And Eden, Adam essentially says, God, my will be done, not yours, what I want is done. Not what you want, but in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus, he talks to his heavenly father. He says, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Come on, church, do you see it? Adam's disobedience brought death to all of us, but Jesus's obedience on the cross brings life to all, to anyone, to everyone who would put their faith in him. First Corinthians 15, 22, for as in Adam, all die. So also in Christ, all, say all. All shall be made alive, verse 45. Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, but the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first Adam he was God breathed into, he's not just like an animal or a pomeranian or a parrot, he's God breathed, but Jesus, he breathes eternal life into all of us. The message of Genesis chapter three is not, we gotta be better than Adam. Adam and Eve messed up, let's not be like them. No, the message of Genesis chapter three is, we need a better Adam. And his name's Jesus. Jesus has done it all. Jesus fulfilled the promise. Jesus was the promised one.

I wanna go back to that promise. Not only was the promise that someone would come to save you, but the promise specifically was, the serpent will bruise his heel. Listen, make no mistake. The serpent, Satan struck Jesus while he was on the cross. Luke 22, three, Satan entered into Judas called a scared, who was the number of the 12. The promised offspring was betrayed and beaten and mocked and nailed to a cross. And because this is all his story, a thousand years before that, David, he saw this. This prophecy in Psalm 22 verse one, he says, "A company of evil doers and circles me, "they have pierced my hand and my feet." The one who never sinned, carried the sin of the world and died. I want you to imagine that moment. You're following him, you think he's the promised one, he's the messiah sent from God and then you see him on a cross bleeding out, breathing his last. No longer moving. What are you thinking that moment? These evil people, they've succeeded. The enemy has won. There's a verse that happens right after Jesus says, "It is finished and breathed out his spirit." That so many of us, we read and we miss its meaning. I want you to hear what happens immediately after Jesus saying, "It is finished and breathing his last."

Matthew 2751, "And behold, the curtain of the temple "was torn into from top to bottom." Here's a context of that. In the temple, there was a place where the people could gather and then behind a veil, there was something called the holiest of holies. This is where they believe that the manifest presence of God would dwell. And so there is a separation from imperfect, sinful people and the holiest of holies, the presence of God. They dared not go behind there lest they died because his glory was so overwhelming. It was guarded by a curtain. Church, this is his story. He's all in his story. I want you to hear how God instructed Moses to make this curtain, Exodus 2631, "And you shall make a veil of blue and purple "with scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, "and it shall be made with what?" You Remember I said, remember, cherubim? These guardian angels with cherubim skillfully worked into it, and even the cherubim, they guarded the presence of God, the paradise of God. And now what has guarded the presence of God in the holiest place was now torn from top to bottom. Why the top to the bottom? Because God tore it himself. There's now no more separation between us

and our heavenly Father. Jesus made the access so we could be in His presence at His death, but He didn't stay dead that Sunday morning. The storm was rolled away and Jesus walked out alive. This is the promise of Genesis 3.15. The enemy struck His heel when they whipped Him, when they flogged Him, when they put the nail in His hands and in His feet. I don't know if you know this, but a heel injury is something you can recover from. A heel injury is something that can be healed. How many of us know that if your head is crushed, there's no coming back, right? Do you get that? Satan struck Jesus for three days. But Jesus crushed Him forever. Jesus brought the victory. Hebrews 2, 14, "Since therefore the children share in the flesh and blood, He Himself, Jesus likewise, partook of the same things, put on flesh that through death, He might destroy the one who has the power of death. That is the devil. He defeated the devil. He crushed His head. He beat our enemy in nemesis and delivered those who through the fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. I want you to write this down. The cross wasn't Jesus losing. The cross was Jesus winning in a way that nobody expected. Him dying?

Set us free from our sin. Him coming back from the grave, gave us eternal life forever with Him. And if that doesn't blow your mind on its own, listen to this, Romans 16, 20. It says, "Then the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet, under our feet." We have authority over our enemy. We have victory over to the seer. Not because we're the hero. No, because we're in the hero. Because his spirit is with us and in us. Turn to the person next to you one last time. Tell him, we win because we're in Him. Come on church, we win because we're in Him. So hear me, that voice that has been whispering to you, did God really say that? Don't listen to that voice any longer. It's already a defeated enemy. When Satan whispers, did God really say that your sins are forgiven? Yes, he did. Did God really say that he'll never leave you? Yes, he did. Did God really say you're a new creature? Yes, he did. Did God really say he'll work all things together for your good? Yes, he did all things. He will work together for my goods.

Come on, did God really say that there's nothing that will ever be able to separate you from his love? Nothing? Yes, he said nothing. The serpent can whisper, but he doesn't get to finish the story. He doesn't get the final word Jesus does. And the story is already written. The story ends in glory. Let me show you how the story ends. Before I show you how the story ends, where did this story start again? Just chapter three, where did the story start in a garden? The presence of God, the tree of life. Nothing's cursed, no sin, no sickness, no death. And Adam and Eve, they disobey and so they are pushed out of the garden. Now I want you to go from the first book of the Bible to the last book of the Bible. Turn your Bible to the very last chapter of the very last book, Revelation chapter 22. from the throne of God and of the Lamb, and through the middle of the street of the city also on either side of the river, the tree of life." The tree of life is there. The leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations no longer will there be anything cursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him and they will see his face and his name, his authority will be on there for it. Church, the tree of life is back. We get to live forever. The curse is gone.

We get to see our God face to face and be with him forever. What was lost in Genesis was redeemed in Revelation. This story goes from the garden to glory. Some of you, you're theology nerds and you're like, "Man, that was so cool to see Jesus and all these aspects of this story that we've never seen before." And a lot of you, you're saying, "That was a lot of Bible verses. That was a lot of theology, proto-evangelium. I didn't even know how to write that down. What does this mean for me?" I want to go back to that question that God asked in the garden because I believe his spirit is asking the same question of all of us today. And the question is, "Where are you?" Where are you? He's not asking because he's misplaced to you. He's not asking because he doesn't know. He's asking because he wants you to know. Where are you? Wherever you're at, the invitation is the same that we can come back to him. Some of you today, you've been trying to fix things on your own. You've been trying to be the God of your life. I just want to encourage you, you can stop trying to be the Savior and today freely receive what your Savior has done out of love for you, to save you, to set you free, to bring you into His family forever. You don't need to strive any longer. You just need to surrender yourself and receive His free gift to salvation. And some of you, you've already been walking with Jesus like Adam and Eve did, like I have been, but like Adam and Eve and like I have been. Some of you, you've still been sowing fake leaves. You've been hiding things that you don't want others to know. You've been wearing a mask and covering yourself.

You've been passing blame. This is why none of this is working out. Today the response is the same. In church, we never outgrow the need for God's grace. It doesn't matter if you've been a Christian for 10 days or 25 years, all of us, there's always a need that we will have to receive something from our Heavenly Father. So where are you? Wherever you are, the response is the same. Come out of your hiding. Come out of your hiding and let Him cover you. Let Him cover you with His grace, with His salvific blood, with His love over one, with His peace that surpasses understanding. Come out of your hiding and let Him cover you today, will you stand to your feet? We're going to sing one more song called "Graves to Gardens." Some of you here today, you don't feel like you're a new creation. Even if you don't feel it, my prayers, if you wouldn't just sing this song, this song would be "Declaration of Faith." How God can take even broken things, dead things and bring beauty out of them. Before we sing this song, let's surrender to Him. Jesus, some of us in here, it's the first time we're saying yes to you. Some of us here, it's the hunter's time. We're surrendering something again, but all of us here need you. God we're done trying to be the hero of our story. We're done trying to make it all about us. It's all about you, and so we surrender all of who we are to you today. We give you the broken pieces of our life. We give you the fractured relationships with our family. We give you everything that's hurting, Lord. and you can do the same in our lives today. So we surrender ourselves. We pray that you would lead us, and as we sing Father, that faith would rise in our hearts, that the best

in Jesus' name. We thank you, and we pray in all the people that God said. Amen. Let's sing it out, Church. And I searched the world, and it couldn't fill me. The momentum that they praise, the treasures that fade, the better enough that you came along. Put me back together, and every desire is now satisfied in hearing your love. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. So I'm not afraid to show you my weakness. My failures have crossed, Lord, you've seen them all, and you still call me Fred, because the God of the mountain is the God of the valley. There's not a place your mercy brings, rose by me again. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Oh, there's nothing, nothing is better than you. Lord, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Come on, Lord. Come on, let's sing this part out. You turn on into dancing. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who cares twenty times. You turn, you turn more into dancing. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who cares. You turn shame into glory. You turn shame into glory. You turn shame into glory. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who cares. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. (upbeat music) ♪ It's time that you ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ What's that ♪ ♪ You've time voted for me ♪ ♪ Time won't be true ♪ ♪ You've time saved my way ♪ ♪ You've time saved my way ♪

♪ You're the only one ♪ ♪ I'm the only one ♪ ♪ Nobody cares ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ You're the only one ♪ ♪ What do you believe in ♪ ♪ You're the only one ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ You're the only one ♪ ♪ You're the only one ♪ ♪ You've time wasted tonight ♪ ♪ Talkin' about a shadow, please help me out ♪ (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]