"THE GARDENER"

MF Blume
September 20, 1998 am


In Genesis we see a

  1. Tree of Life,
  2. A River of Life,
  3. A Man
  4. And a Bride Woman,
  5. A river that holds precious stones (gold, onyx and bdellium - pearl)
  6. And God with them
This same picture is seen in Revelation.
  1. A Tree of Life (Rev. 22:2)
  2. River of Life (Rev. 22:1)
  3. A Man, Jesus, the Lamb (Rev 22:1).
  4. A Bride, the Church (Rev 21:2)
  5. Precious stones, gold and pearl (Rev 21:18-21)
  6. And God (Rev 22:1).
Keep this in mind as we study this message today.
 
 

Jesus appeared to several people the day He rose from the grave.

Mark 16:12  After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

Knowing that Jesus could decide which form to take upon Himself as He appeared to people, tells us that when Mary saw Him as a Gardener that Jesus wanted her to see Him as a Gardener.

Gene 2:8  And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

Gene 2:15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
 

Gene 3:23  Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
 
 In the Garden we read that there were both spiritual and physical provisions for mankind. Gene 2:9-10  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
  Reve 22:1-2  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.
  It is interesting that on the third day of Genesis we read that God provided the fruit and herbs with man after the land resurrected from beneath the waters.

Gene 1:9-13  And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry [land] appear: and it was so. And God called the dry [land] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that [it was] good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
 

In John 6, Jesus multiplied physical bread and fishes for the 5,000 gathered to hear Him. John 6:26-27  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
  Earlier, bread kept coming from Him as He multiplied it. John 6:54-55  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
  John 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
  It was the same thought he mentioned in John 4.

John 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
 

John 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
  Since Adam ate of the evil fruit, sin and death entered his flesh. We labour too much for food that perishes. Revelation 22 shows the production of Water of Life and Fruit of Life.

Notice this also:

Reve 7:16-17  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
 

Psal 23:1-2  A Psalm of David. The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
  We are so faithful  to labour regularly for natural meat that perishes. People saw Jesus multiply the bread and fish but did not even stop to realize the MIRACLE He was performing. That sounds insane to think that people ignored the fact that a miracle was occurring before them, and were only concerned with natural eating. John 6:66-67  From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
  Ephe 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

The Garden provided both spiritual and natural food.