Living Word Live! Leaves or Life?

So where Adam reached for the tree and brought death, Jesus goes to a tree and he absorbs death. He conquers it. The fig tree was cursed because it bore no fruit. Jesus, who bore all the fruit, becomes a curse in our place. So where where Adam patched himself with fig leaves, Jesus covers us with his righteousness. He takes the penalty. He gives us, the life. [00:48:18] (39 seconds)  #TreeOfRedemption

I want you to close your eyes for a second, and I want you to picture a tree on the side of the road. Just one tree, not a forest, just one tree. You know, there's morning light and the leaves, it's full of leaves, green and lush and alive. And from a distance, that tree kinda makes a promise. It says, come to me. I have something for you. So you walk up to it, and you push back the branches, and you're looking through the leaves, and there's nothing. [00:34:23] (32 seconds)  #LeavesNotFruit

God sees you, not the version that you've been presenting. He sees the real you, not the Facebook, social media you. And listen, He loves that person. He came for that person. He died for that person. And you can come to him right now exactly as you are. You can say, Lord, I've been managing appearances. I've been covering myself with leaves. [01:02:11] (35 seconds)  #ComeAsYouAre

He's taking in everything that was broken in the Garden Of Eden, everything Adam reached for, every fig leaf that we've ever sown. And three days later, he walks out of that tomb. That's the offer. That's what's available. Not fig leaves, not appearances, not a well managed spiritual reputation, new life, real life, the life of Jesus himself living in you and and through you and producing fruit that lasts into eternity. [01:00:54] (40 seconds)  #EternalFruit

Beautiful. I mean, they're impressive leaves. What do they look like today for us? Well, the right vocabulary. You know, Christianese. It's our own little language. It's the right attendance. I come to the right things. I look the right way when I come to church. It's the it's a good image, but there's no fruit. And here is where the word this is the word that I need you to hear. God is not fooled by leaves. Never has been. He never will be. [00:39:02] (38 seconds)  #GodSeesTheHeart

But the second image I want you to think of is a hill outside Jerusalem, and there's a man on a cross, and his arms are outstretched, wide, crown of thorns, a sign that says king of the Jews, written in mockery, but truer than anyone standing there knew. And this man, this king, is absorbing a curse. He's taking it into himself. [01:00:25] (28 seconds)  #CrossTookTheCurse

The fig leaf doesn't fix a thing. It never has. God, on in that story in Genesis, he still walked into the garden. God still said, where are you? And they still had to answer. I it's kinda like a bandage. I was thinking about this the other day because because I got an owie working on the house. You can put a bandage over a wound, but the wound is still there. The bandage just covers it. [00:42:53] (38 seconds)  #BandagesDontHeal

What is the very first thing that Adam and Eve do after they sin? Do you remember what they do specifically? Ah, yes. They reach for the fig leaves, and they sew them together to cover themselves. They don't run to God. They manage their appearance. They don't they don't say, you know, father, I I messed something up, and I need you to fix it. They do anything but that. [00:41:17] (37 seconds)  #CoveringUpSin