More Than Medicine
More Than Medicine
DWDP - Gen 2; 8-9 God Planted a Garden
With great humor Dr. Jackson compares his attempts at gardening to God’s creation of the Garden of Eden for Adam. Then the good doctor discusses the meaning of the probationary period that God offered to Adam in the garden and the choice that Adam made and thus the long-reaching implications for all of us. We warmly invite you to connect with the Jackson Family Ministry through our various platforms to stay informed about upcoming events and continue your journey of spiritual growth. Thank you for being with us, and may the Lord's blessings abound in your life.
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Welcome to More Than Medicine, where Jesus is more than enough for the ills that plague our culture and our country. Hosted by author and physician, Dr Robert Jackson.
Speaker 2:Papa, can you tell me a story? Do you really want me to tell you a story? Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Well, you go, get your brother and your sisters and I will tell you a story. Welcome to Devotions with Dr Papa. Gather around, grab your Bibles and let's look into the written Word, which reveals to us the living Word which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:Now we're at Genesis, chapter 2, verses 8 through 9, and let me read those verses to you as we begin. The Lord, god, planted a garden toward the east, in Eden, and there he placed the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground, the Lord, god, calls to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now let's look at these two verses. Understand that the whole world was under man's dominion. Man had the responsibility to study and develop the world, but God planted a special garden called delight. Did you realize? That's what Eden means, delight? This was where the first man would make his home. In this place, god planted a special garden that grew beautiful fruit trees that were already fully mature and bearing fruit. Now get this. When I purchased my 40-acre farm, I asked God to do me the same favor that he did for Adam, you know, with the fully mature fruit trees. Now, when I asked that, I distinctly heard angel laughter in the distance. Like you, I had to start with seeds or small saplings that I purchased from a nursery, and starting my fruit trees was a difficult task. I planted blackberries, a few apple trees, pecan trees, I had some plum trees. You see, I had to start with little, small saplings and they grew. But it was difficult.
Speaker 2:My house sits on what was a cow pasture before I moved here, and it was mostly a rock garden. My kids and I picked up rocks on top of rocks for the better part of 10 years. After we moved here, there was a giant ravine behind my house that was 20 feet deep and 60 yards long. Well, it's not a ravine any longer. You can walk across it because we filled it up with rocks. My first garden yielded more rocks than vegetables. When I plowed my first cornfield well, you guessed it, it produced mostly rocks. The first two years we picked up a five and a half by eleven trailer full of rocks, twice from that one and a half acre plot. Well, you get the picture.
Speaker 2:This beautiful garden that God planted was planted directly by God. It was not spoken into existence from a distance, like the plants that were planted on the third day. God paid special attention to this garden. It's apparent that the man Adam was located somewhere to the west of Eden, which itself was to the east, and his first awareness of his creator was of one who loved him and cared for him, cared for him enough to abundantly prepare for him this special garden and present it to him as a gift for his home. Which reminds me of John, chapter 14, verses 1 through 4.
Speaker 2:You know this passage where Jesus said to his disciples Do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God. You see, just like the heavenly father prepared a special garden, a special home for Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ has gone to prepare a special place for you and me, and he said if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am again, and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also. Oh, my goodness, what an amazing scripture verse. The heavenly Father prepared a special place for Adam in the very beginning and our Lord, jesus Christ, is preparing an equally special place for you and me. Well, let's keep moving. In verse 9, we are introduced to two special trees. The tree of life, in the center of the garden is the first one. Its fruit, if eaten regularly, would allow most men I'm sorry, mortal men, even dying men, to live forever. Revelations 22, in verse 2, informs us that this very tree, the tree of life, will grow abundantly in the new Jerusalem and will be for the health or healing of the nations.
Speaker 2:Now let me ask you a question Do the nations of the world need healing? Just look at the news, look what's happening in the Middle East, look what's happening all over the world. The nations of the world definitely need healing. And listen, we don't just need long life, we need the healing of broken relationships. Every day in my medical office there are patients who come who are brokenhearted because the parents can't talk to the children, or the children won't talk to the children, or the children won't talk to the parents, or brothers and sisters cannot speak to one another because of broken relationships. And I can't tell you how much that grieves my heart.
Speaker 2:And you see, the Arabs and the Jews cannot speak to one another. They have to have mediators and they have to meet in a far country and have intermediates to help them even speak to one another. They have to have mediators and they have to meet in a far country and have intermediates to help them even speak to one another. And there's warring going on between the Arabs and the Jews. That's been going on for thousands of years.
Speaker 2:Do the nations need healing? Yes, they do. And there's a tree, multiple trees of life that grow in the new Jerusalem. That's for what? The healing of the nations, not just long life, not just healthy life, but the healing of broken relationships. You see, brothers and sisters, when we get to heaven, when we get to the new Jerusalem, all of these broken relationships will be repaired in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's ask a question how can a tree and its fruit stop the process of decay, dying and death?
Speaker 2:Well, that's beyond our limited understanding. If you watch television at all, you see commercials on the television every day advertising lotions, potions and creams that reverse the aging effect on skin, and my patients ask me about these effects and the effectiveness of all these lotions and potions and honestly I just have to tell them I have no earthly idea if these things work. And probably they don't. Because there's a study, there's a field of medicine called gerontology that studies the effect of aging on human beings and no one has ever been able to reverse the process of aging. We're all distressed over sagging skin and wrinkles and age spots and bruising, but we don't have any way to reverse that. And I don't know if you remember watching Dragnet on TV when we were much younger, where that calm, rational officer would look at the overexcited, irrational female victim who was trying to explain to him what had happened in the crime, and he would say to her just the facts, ma'am, just the facts. In a flat, monotone, unemotional voice. Well, let me give you the facts, just the facts.
Speaker 2:Those who reject the good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ are headed to a place of eternal darkness, decay and death, separated away from the life of God, who himself brings life and light, healing and restoration. They're headed to a place of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, and the smoke thereof ascends to heaven forever. If you worry about your physical body decaying in this life, then you better concern yourself with your spirit man decaying for eternity in hell, separated from the presence of holy God. Contrarywise, those who put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ will experience life and light in this life and renewed bodies in the next life. For the Bible says that we shall be like Him. Mortality shall put on immortality, Corruption shall put on incorruption. Then will come about the saying death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death. Where is your victory, o death? Where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me say that again. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2:But alas, there was also a tree in the garden called the knowledge of good and evil, which was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. God promised everything. Well, let me say this. He pronounced God pronounced everything in. Well, let me say this. He pronounced. God pronounced everything in the garden good. So it's doubtful that there was anything toxic in this tree that would prove damaging to the physical body or the genetics of Adam and Eve and their posterity. Nevertheless, partaking of the tree would give him experimental and experiential knowledge of evil as soon as he disobeyed God. Sadly, this disobedience would sever the perfect fellowship that Adam enjoyed with his loving creator.
Speaker 2:So let me ask you a question what would you have done if you were in Adam's shoes? Think about it. We've been told all of our lives that the root cause of sin is poverty or a lack of education or a lack of opportunity. But Adam lived in a utopian environment a lush, tropical garden with everything provided Meaningful employment, a beautiful wife without any discord, no taxes, no sickness, no boss, no rush hour traffic, no whining children or dirty diapers. There was only one stipulation Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Speaker 2:You know I could live with that arrangement, couldn't you? You see, adam is on probation and we're going to learn in the next few lessons about the prototypical man and the choice that he made, and we're going to learn if sin is a consequence of environment or something more sinister. Well, I'm not out of words, but I am out of time, and you're going to have to listen in next week if you're going to learn the answer to all of these questions. And, like that famous theologian Forrest Gump said. That's all I have to say about that. You're listening to Devotions with Dr Papa and I hope you'll join us again next week, and may the Lord bless you real good.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this edition of More Than Medicine. For more information about the Jackson Family Ministry, dr Jackson's books, or to schedule a speaking engagement, go to their Facebook page, instagram or their webpage at jacksonfamilyministrycom. This podcast is produced by Bob Sloan Audio Production at bobsloancom.
