Which Garden Are You In?

Sometimes we really lose the proper perspective in life. We get all up in arms at things like the killing of a possibly innocent young black man... and yet, the crowd still neglects to be angry that they killed our Jesus. Our Messiah. God Incarnate. The Redeemer.

See... what I believe with all of my heart and all of who I am, is that in the beginning was God... and that God created man... and that man intentionally and deliberately chose to defy God... and created a legacy of separation from God.

There's an old hymn that we used to sing that included the words, "For me it was in the garden, He prayed not my will but thine...." and it was, indeed, in the garden... but it started long before the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested for being... well, different. It was the garden of Eden where our common ancestor, Adam and his helpmate Eve chose to go in a direction that was opposite of what God had shown them to do.

And so... throughout time... since then... man has had to find a way back to God... to recreate the beauty and perfection of the garden. It was determined that only a blood sacrifice could cover the sins of the people. Can you imagine? You commit a sin (I don't know about you... but it's a daily occurrence for me)... and you have to find a spotless lamb... a dove... or whatever those very detailed, impossible to follow rules from the Old Testament tell us... and you have to shed it's blood to pay for your offense. The very idea of my thoughtlessness and disobedience causing the death of an innocent being....

But yet... it was in the garden... and this time, instead of disobedience... there was complete obedience when Jesus prayed, "Not my will but thine be done"... knowing what was ahead... knowing that he would suffer pain... and scorn... and be disrespected and humiliated... and yet He was willing.

And so He died. An innocent victim. Abandoned by friends. Despised by those who didn't accept Him. Or believe Him. Or believe in Him.

And forever, the separation between man and God was finished... the temple veil that separated man from the Holy of Holies, the place where the Spirit of God dwelt... the veil was torn in two... we were granted access to the Creator of the garden... we could once again approach the throne of grace with confidence...and forever, no matter how great or how small our guilt... forever the price was paid. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Where is our outrage that the Lamb of God was sacrificed? Who remembers? Who believes? Who among us lets the Bible be just a collection of stories... who runs from the corrections within it's pages? Who lets His death be nothing but a part of history? Who mocks Him still? Who defies His teachings... to love one another? Who allows Him to be your Savior but denies Him the right to be your Lord?

Which garden are you in? Eden... with the disobedience and separation from God? Or Gethsemane... where, despite the pain of following God's will... you find redemption.

For me... it was in the garden.