Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning, July 27, 2003, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia. For more outlines, including a zipped file of all of my 1999, 2000, and 2001 sermon outlines, click on the link at the bottom of this note, and go to our website:

JESUS, THE VOICE IN THE GARDEN

By Michael D. O'Neal                    Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church                    Albany, Georgia
Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:1-10

Text: Genesis 3:8

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Introduction: In keeping with our theme for the year, "Like a Tree in 2003," we have been considering the palm tree this month. The palm tree points upward toward the sun. I pray that God will help each of us to point everyone upward to the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, 12 months out of the year! I want to use our text this morning to point each of you to the Savior in faith, love, worship and obedience. Perhaps you don't see Jesus in our text, but remember that Jesus said:

John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Remember also that after His resurrection Jesus met with two of His gloomy, discouraged disciples:

Luke 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Now look again at our text:

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

The text is worded in such a way that you can either say the couple were walking or the Lord was walking. Actually, both were true. The Lord was walking and they were walking. However, they were no longer in agreement with God, so they could not walk with God (Amos 3:3). Therefore, they tried to hide.

In a rather unusual way, our text is also worded so that it could appear that the VOICE of God was walking in the garden! Do you see that? Perhaps that interpretation is stretching the meaning of the text, but it could very well be that God wanted us to get an extra blessing from the way it is worded! You see, Jesus is the manifestation of God, and He is God's VOICE, called the WORD of GOD:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.

The Word of God walked among men 2000 years ago in bodily form. In our text, the manifestation of God at the time was God's VOICE. I want to show you four things about THE VOICE IN THE GARDEN that remind me of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I. BEHOLD THE VOICE OF THE LORD SEEKING

Genesis 3:8-9 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Note the similarity in the work of our Lord:

Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

The VOICE OF THE LORD, the Lord Jesus Christ, is on  the move, seeking sinners!

Psalms 147:15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

I'm reminded of how that Philip, as the representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, RAN to tell the good news of the gospel to the man in the chariot (Acts 8:30).

God sought Adam and Eve in the garden for some of the same reasons Jesus came to this earth:

A. Because of a fallen nature

B. Because of the fate that awaited them

C. Because of forgiveness He offered

D. Because of the fellowship He sought

II. BEHOLD THE VOICE OF THE LORD SPEAKING

Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

A. It was personal
  • Genesis 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam ...
B. It was probing

C. It was powerful

D. It was provoking a confession from Adam
  • God didn't ask Adam "Where art thou" because He wanted to know where Adam was, but because he wanted ADAM to know where he was!
  • Men do not get saved until they realize that they are lost, in rebellion to God, and doomed!

III. BEHOLD THE VOICE OF THE LORD SENTENCING

Genesis 3:16-20 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

The Lord sentenced the pair

A. To difficulties
   1. Proverbs 13:15 Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.

B. To domination
  • Man dominated by the rigor of earning a living
  • Woman dominated by the rule of her husband
  • Sinners are dominated by sin and Satan until they are saved.
C. To death
  • Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
  • Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
  • Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
  • Revelation 20:14-15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
D. To dismissal
  • From God's Person
  • From God's Paradise

IV. BEHOLD THE VOICE OF THE LORD SUPPLYING

There is one verse in the text that indicates that God did not punish without providing:

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Amen! I've already brought a message on how the coats of skins point to the salvation we have in Christ, but let me say that these coats of skins were

A. A replacement
  • For their own fig leaves
  • For their own sin - an animal died to clothe them!
  • Romans 3:24-25 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
  • Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
B. A reminder
  • Of their sin
  • Of the solution God provided
C. A reassurance
  • Of God's awareness of their need
  • Of God's affection for their souls
D. A rendition, or picture, of future clothing
  • Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of   righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
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