Audio Messages:
Pastor Wade Burleson

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The Way

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Genesis 3:20-24 (KJV)

20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23. Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Siners have been saved the same way throughout history. It is the way to eternal life.

1. Faith in the Word of God . . . "And Adam called his wife Eve ('life- giver'" (v.20).
   God said He would provide "a seed" of the woman that would crush the head of Satan. Adam believed God (as did Eve, see Genesis 4:1), and God gave to them His righteousness.
2. Forgiveness by the Work of God . . . "the Lord God . . . clothed them" (v.21).
   Our faith is in God. Our trust is in His Work. We forsake all trust in ourselves and look to Him. It is vitally important to remember that if we are to be saved, God must save us. "I the Lord am thy Savior" (Isaiah 49:26). God saves us through His work on our behalf.

Notice that though Adam and Eve were redeemed they were "barred" from eating of the tree of life. This is the same tree in heaven from which we will all eat "freely" (Revelation 2:7). The tree of life is "eternal life." Jesus said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God." (John 17:3). The way to the tree of life is the way to know God. "I am the way," Jesus said (John 14:6). "Narrow is the way that leads to life" (Matthew 7:14).

1. The location of the entrance to the way points to Christ . . . "east of Eden" (v.24)>
   Though many believe the Garden of Eden was located in modern Iraq, that was not the belief of early Jewish commentators. The ancient Jewish commentary call The Targum of Jonathan said "Adam went and dwelt in Mount Moriah to till the ground of which he was created." Dr. Gill says other Jewish writers wrote saying, "The gate of Paradise was at Mt. Moriah, and there Adam dwelt after he was cast out."
   
   Mt. Moriah is the place of sacrifice (Abraham/Isaac; the Temple/sacrifices).

   The Lord at the entrance to the way points to Christ . . . "a flaming sword" (v.24).
   What is this flaming sword? It seems to be between the Cherubim guarding the way. "The Lord dwells between the cherubim" (II Samuel 6:2). "Thou that dwellest between the cherubim shine forth" (Psalm 80:1). God is guarding the way to eternal life. This image is the same of the Ark of the Covenant, where the blood was applied for sin. Atonement means "covering" and the shed blood of the lamb "covered" Adam. Nobody ever approaches God without faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

   The law for the entrance to the way points to Christ . . . "the way" . . . (v.24).
   Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (John 14:6). When Gideon conquered the Midianites, those enemies of God, his men were to strike shouting "The sword of the Lord" (Judges 7:18). The sword of the Lord throughout Scripture is a symbol of judgment. The sword that guards the tree of life is sheathed when Christ's death (blood) is trusted. Why? He bore on the tree the sentence for me. My violations of the law of God deserve the wrath, justice, indignation and vengeance of a holy God. Christ bore it all for me. By faith in His Work, I receive the grace, mercy and blessing of God. Have you found the Way to God?

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