Created for Life Together: From Garden to Gospel

And on that tree, the eternal son of God took himself upon himself, the curse, the abandonment that we all feel, the separation. He took on the cosmic judgment that our rebellion deserved. And at the cross, Jesus Christ, as he hung, he experienced an unimaginable aloneness. And he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He was experiencing the absolute deepest sense of alienation anyone had experienced. [00:31:33] (41 seconds)  #ForsakenOnTheCross

But the reality is this. This is this is the facts. Okay? Human relationships make for wonderful gifts. All the human relationships you could think about, they make for wonderful gifts, but they make for terrible gods. And I and I know this is gonna shock some of you who are married, know, but but spouses eventually disappoint one another. Do you feel that this morning? Someone just looked at their spouse literally like you, disappointed. [00:13:16] (31 seconds)  #RelationshipsNotGods

The nakedness goes beyond physical exposure. Okay? And Adam and Eve have this. This is what they have. They have complete oneness with each other. There's nothing hidden. They are fully known. You see this is this is the exposure. Right? And they're wholeheartedly welcomed one by the other. Every human heart is longing for that, that kind of relationship where you can be real, when you can be open. [00:26:58] (37 seconds)  #FullyKnown

Marriage is not a government invention. It it is designed from the very beginning by God himself and as followers of Jesus, we receive it. This is his design by the way. His design is, it's right here, one man, one woman, one covenant and one shared life together. It's precious. Genesis gives us a vision. A husband and wife joined together in a covenant and they receive one another as a gift [00:25:53] (33 seconds)  #GodDesignedMarriage

And and what happens, this is what we're marching towards in our life, in this world, in this universe, life together reaches its completion. And we finally have what our hearts have been longing for, what your heart was designed for. What's your heart designed for? It's it's to be with God. For God to be with his people and for his people to be with one another. No more distance. No more hiding. Absolutely no more shame. This is life together. [00:34:13] (37 seconds)  #DesignedForTogetherness

And what we see in the book of Genesis is that the very first thing, this is interesting, We'll go in this a little more. The very first thing that that God said is not good, he pronounces several things good. The first thing he says is not good. It isn't death. It's not rebellion. God looks at a man in paradise and says, it's not good for a man to be alone. It's the first thing. [00:09:05] (25 seconds)  #NotGoodToBeAlone

And you know, isn't it isn't it crazy? We've been selling those same fig leaves ever since haven't we? We've been trying to cover stuff up And just think about the ways even this past week you kept people at arm's length. I did too. And and you're acting like like you're the most competent person in the room, So nobody, you know, sees your flaws. You're covering them up. This is a human tendency. [00:28:32] (30 seconds)  #DropTheFigLeaves

Because here's here's the the the reality. Okay? And and Americans, we need to hear this. God does not only save isolated individuals. K? You have an individual faith. You have a personal faith. That's big. That's a part of this, but it's even bigger than that because what God does is he gathers his people into life together. That's what we're celebrating. That's why this is so important. This is at the core and the hope of the gospel. [00:04:36] (30 seconds)  #FaithIsCommunal