by Pastor Mark Ostrom
One of the most beautiful things in the Bible are the themes that God has woven into His Word.
It’s one of the things that keeps me convinced that the Bible is truly the Word of God.
God uses natural pictures to describe spiritual things. They make logical sense; they are filled with detail; they are placed strategically throughout a document that was written by multiple authors over thousands of years; they all point to the person of Christ Jesus; and if practiced in faith produce the results that they claim.
That makes faith rise in my heart!
One of these themes is found at the very beginning of the Bible.
The Original Garden
Genesis 2:8-9
8 The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(NKJV)
Gardens are places where things grow.
If you plant wheat seeds and water them, wheat grows.
If you don’t maintain your lawn well, weeds grow. You don’t have to try to plant weeds, the effort comes in fertilizing the grass and keeping the weeds out. Getting them when they are small so they don’t start to take things over.
Man’s very first assignment was to tend and keep the garden that had been given to him.
Genesis 2:15-17
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
(NKJV)
The garden that God gave man extended out past Eden.
The Earth is a Garden
Genesis 1:28
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “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.”
(NKJV)
God gave man dominion over the all the earth. He gave the first man a huge garden to keep. He gave him the responsibility to tend and keep the earth and to rule over all the creatures that lived in it.
Adam failed that commandment by allowing a ‘serpent’ to gain dominion over him.
God had created a perfect garden.
He had only created good for man, but man chose evil, and a new gardener was given access to plant things in the earth. Man in the liberty and freedom that God had gave him opened the door for someone else to grow things in God’s perfect garden.
Jesus gives a great example of this in the parable of the wheat and tares
The Parable of Wheat and Tares
Matthew 13:24-30
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
(NKJV)
Later, Jesus explained the meaning of the parable to his disciples.
Matthew 13:36-43
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
(NKJV)
The earth is the field that man allowed the enemy to plant his seed in.
God has been gracious and caring to allow man to remain in His garden. He doesn’t want to harm the precious fruit of the earth.
James 5:7
7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
(NKJV)
It may be hard to endure in a world that has been corrupted but in God’s mercy He restrained fully judging man at the beginning so that He would have men at the end. He is delaying justice over evil to show compassion to those who will repent and receive it.
2 Peter 3:8-9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
(NKJV)
God is not willing that ANY should perish. He is giving each of us time to repent and come to Him.
You are a Garden.
The Bible says that you were created from the dust of the earth.
Genesis 2:7
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
(NKJV)
It’s ironic to me that in the context of believing in God and the Bible that atheists or more progressive thinkers scoff at the idea that “God formed man from the dust of the earth”.
They dismiss it as fairy tale.
They condemn themselves by their hypocrisy by claiming that all living things sprang from the “dirt” or natural materials on the earth and these natural materials gave rise to themselves and eventually turned into man.
I think this is a true case of the fool saying in his heart there is no God.
I also think if you consider everything, it takes LESS faith to believe that a living being greater than ourselves created us from dust than believing “nothing” formed the dust into living creatures and “nothing” eventually caused those living creatures to eventually become a man.
The second idea requires much more faith and a greater miracle than the first.
Man did come directly from the dust of the earth. He had no progress. He was formed perfectly, in the image of God, by a loving creator. From dust we came and to the dust we will return.
We are naturally a garden because we were created from the dust of the earth.
We are also a spiritual garden.
God has given EACH of us the responsibility to keep our own garden.
1 Corinthians 3:9
9 For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God; you are God’s garden and vineyard and field under cultivation, [you are] God’s building.
(AMP)
We are responsible for what we ALLOW to grow and what we cultivate in our lives.
Galatians 6:8
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
(NKJV)
God has given us a choice. Will we choose life or death? Blessing or cursing?
When we sow to our flesh, weeds get planted in our garden. When we sow to the Spirit (the things of God) we reap everlasting life.
God is so gracious that even when each of us has allowed weeds to completely overtake our garden, that He made a way to have a fresh start.
He has provided a way in Jesus Christ to uproot what the enemy has planted in our lives.
To start planting “good seeds” in fresh soil and reclaim the land that the devil had stolen.
God is full of mercy and ready to forgive. Even if you have strayed much, He is ever ready to forgive and cleanse you and give you a fresh start.
What are you planting in your garden? It is the Word of God? The words of men? The lies of the enemy?
God wants you to be a lush, beautiful garden producing good fruit. Let Him remove the weeds. Give him access to you garden. Let him uproot everything that is not good and plant a new crop today.