Bulletins - Eagles Nest Church

- - Matthew 27:27–60ESV
The Power Of The Cross
Mercy Tree
Stricken Smitten And Afflicted
- - John 19:16–30ESV
It Is Finished
Genesis 3:1–7 ESV
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Luke 22:39–44 ESV
39 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 And when he came to the place, he said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
When you look at the grand narrative of the Bible,
You find that it goes from garden to garden.
That’s really the big theme of the Bible in one sentence.
Genesis begins with God placing man in a perfect garden,
which was a perfect paradise,
consisting of perfect fellowship with God.
And God gave only one command.
"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."
One command.
That’s it…
In a world where everything else was "yes,"
God gave one "no."
Understand what Adam had.
No sin.
No death.
No shame.
No separation.
He walked with God in the cool of the day.
Everything he needed had been provided.
Nothing was lacking.
Adam wasn't deceived like Eve was.
He saw what was happening.
He knew the command.
And in a garden where nothing was broken and nothing was missing,
with the presence of God available to him,
he chose his own will over God's word.
And it cost us everything.
Sin and death entered the world.
God banished us out of the garden.
He set an angel with a flaming sword at the entrance,
and the way back to the tree of life was closed.
That's where humanity’s story begins.
And for thousands of years, that's where the story sat.
Humanity east of Eden.
Longing to return the garden’s paradise that was lost.
Then, thousands of years later, in Luke 22,
We find another man in a different garden.
Who was also given a command by God.
And the command was to drink the cup that lay before Him.
Like Adam, He didn’t want to follow this command,
but unlike Adam, this wasn’t a sinful desire.
Because to obey this command wouldn’t lead him into a garden of paradise,
but to a garden of agony.
This is why Jesus prayed:
Luke 22:42 ESV
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.
The cup that Jesus is speaking of here, is:
The full weight of God’s wrath against sin.
Not against Jesus’s own sin - He had none.
It’s all the sin of the world and the wrath of God that is rightly deserved.
Every act of rebellion from every person.
Every lie.
Every murder
Every act of pride, lust, and hatred.
Your sin.
My Sin.
All of it.
Poured into a single cup and handed to the only innocent man who has ever lived.
And God tells Him to drink every last drop of it.
That's what was before Him in that garden.
And His body knew it.
Which is why Luke tells us His sweat became like great drops of blood
falling to the ground.
That's not a metaphor.
That's what happens to Jesus’s body when He gazed into the cup and saw what it would entail.
And it caused Him to quake.
And yet, even though Christ didn’t want to suffer.
Even though He didn’t want to drink the cup of God’s wrath in full.
But He did so anyways.
Luke 22:42 ESV
42Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Christ did this because He was fulfilling an ancient promise that goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3.
When God cursed Adam and Eve,
He promised that the curse of sin would not get the last word.
The exile wouldn’t be forever,
and that He would one day make a way back into the garden.
Genesis 3:15 ESV
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
On the cross, Christ crushed the serpent’s head,
though His heel was bruised.
And He did this to bring us back into the garden
we could rejoin God in paradise.
So that’s what He did,
but how did he do it?
Well, Paul explains that in Romans chapter 5 where he takes us to both gardens
and shows us what they mean.
Romans 5:12–14 ESV
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
In the first garden,
We have one command given by God.
One man who chose to break it.
And one result:
Death spread to all, because all sinned.
Adam brought in the curse,
and every person since then is a sinner by birth and by choice.
Verse 13 tells us that God's law hadn't even been given yet.
But it didn't matter.
Death still reigned from Adam to Moses.
Adam had "don't eat."
Moses would eventually get the Law.
But everybody in between?
They didn't have a "thou shalt not" written in stone.
And they still died.
Why?
Because our problem isn't just that we break rules.
Our problem is that something is DEEPLY broken in us.
Adam poisoned the well,
and every one of us has been drinking from it ever since.
That’s what happened in the first garden.
Romans 5:15–17 ESV
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Now look at what Paul does here.
He says, "But the free gift is not like the trespass."
In other words, the two gardens are similar,
but they don't match up evenly.
What Christ did is stronger than what Adam did.
Adam’s choice brought sin and death.
Christ’s choice OVERPOWERS Adam’s, and brings grace and life.
Adam’s sin brought judgment and condemnation,
but Christ’s free gift brings justification!
Adam put death on the throne,
but Christ puts grace and righteousness on the throne.
The contrast between the two Adams in the two gardens couldn’t be any clearer.
Do you see what Paul is saying?
Because I’m not sure you do yet.
In the first garden, death reigned over us.
Every funeral.
Every hospital room.
Every grave.
Death was king.
But because of what Christ did in that second garden,
we don't just get out from under death's reign.
We reign over it.
Paul’s not just saying that CHRIST reigns over it.
He’s telling us that you and I… through Jesus Christ, reign over death!
This means the diagnosis doesn't get the last word.
It means you can stand at a graveside, in tears
but can confidently say, "this isn't the end."
Because the tyrant king has been defeated.
His power will not hold.
And His kingdom will not reign!
Instead,
We will reign over it in victory and life!
This is why we can confidently say:
1 Corinthians 15:55–57 ESV
55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In verses 18-21, Paul brings all of this home.
He's been building this argument,
showing us the weight of what Adam did,
showing us the greater weight of what Christ did,
and now he puts the two gardens side by side one final time.
In verses 18-19, Paul writes:
Romans 5:18–19 ESV
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
That's the two gardens in two verses.
One man's disobedience in one garden
made us all sinners.
One Man's obedience in another garden
makes us righteous.
Not because we earned it.
Not because we deserved it.
But because of what Christ, the new and better Adam did.
Romans 5:20–21 ESV
20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Adam stood in a perfect garden,
in the presence of God,
with no reason to disobey,
and he chose himself.
Jesus knelt in a dark garden,
with the weight of the world's sin before Him,
with every reason to walk away,
and He stayed, saying:
“Not My will, but Yours, be done."
And because He did, the grace of God reigns through righteousness that leads to eternal life through Jesus our Lord.
That's the gospel.
That's what we remember tonight.
One garden broke us.
But in another garden the healing begins.
So I ask you:
Do you know the better Adam?
Have you met the better King?
By God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ you can know Him and the life He gives.
One day soon, the healing will be complete.
Which is why the Bible ends where it began.
In a garden.
With the tree of life.
With the presence of God.
And no angel with a sword barring the way.
The garden we lost in Genesis 3, will be restored through Jesus Christ.
For He will finish what He started.
Revelation 22:1–5 ESV
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Remember this as we go to the Table.
Communion (The Lord’s Table)
Just hours before Jesus knelt in that garden,
He sat at a table with His disciples.
He knew what was in the cup.
He knew the garden was coming.
He knew the cross was waiting.
And He still sat down and broke bread with them,
showing them what would be required to save them and bring them back into the garden.
Luke 22:14–20 ESV
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
- - Genesis 3:1–7ESV
- - Luke 22:39–44ESV
- - Luke 22:42ESV
- - Luke 22:42ESV
- - Genesis 3:15ESV
- - Romans 5:12–14ESV
- - Romans 5:15–17ESV
- - 1 Corinthians 15:55–57ESV
- - Romans 5:18–19ESV
- - Romans 5:20–21ESV
- - Revelation 22:1–5ESV
- - Luke 22:14–20ESV
We Receive
How Deep The Father's Love For Us
- - Isaiah 53:5–6ESV

Matthew 27:27–60ESV

John 19:16–30ESV

Genesis 3:1–7ESV

Luke 22:39–44ESV

Luke 22:42ESV

Luke 22:42ESV

Genesis 3:15ESV

Romans 5:12–14ESV

Romans 5:15–17ESV

1 Corinthians 15:55–57ESV

Romans 5:18–19ESV

Romans 5:20–21ESV

Revelation 22:1–5ESV

Luke 22:14–20ESV

Isaiah 53:5–6ESV