Amen. Amen. Let's turn now in the Smaller Forms and Prayers books, page 203, near the back of the Smaller Forms and Prayers. And we go to Lord's Day 3. We are Looking especially at question and answer six will relate to our Genesis and Revelation reading, but we'll read the three question and answers of this Lord's Day. I'll read the questions, six, seven, and then eight, and together let's say the answers. Lord's Day three, question and answer six, page 203. Did God create man? so wicked and perverse? No, God created man good and in His own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might truly know God his Creator, love Him with all his heart, and live with God in eternal happiness for His praise and glory. then where does man's corrupt nature come from? From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in paradise, this fall has so poisoned our nature that we are all conceived and born in sin. I'm turning the page, question and answer eight. But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil? Yes, unless we are born again by the Spirit of God." It's the confession we hold in common. Let us turn to the very Word of God. Genesis 1 verse 31, that's page 2 in the Bibles under the seats. And we'll begin our reading just for a little context from verse 24. Again, we're kind of taking the theme of paradise. We're going to pull that through to Revelation. But we'll begin our first reading here from Genesis chapter 1, verses 24. Beginning our reading at verse 24. and reading to verse 31. And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind, And God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. male and female He created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth and every tree with seed and its fruit, you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. And then we turn over now to the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 2, page 1311. And we'll read just one verse from Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2, verse 7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. And so far, The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our Lord endures forever. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, certainly all scripture is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness and we can also at the same time say that there is a special place to the beginning and the end. We know that if we have books that are falling over and we put a bookend on either side, well, that helps to prop them up. And that's one picture of the importance of Genesis and Revelation. They are the bookends. If we take away Genesis and Revelation, we are losing foundational and eschatological final purpose statements, and the things in between start to fall over. We're not going to understand them rightly. And so it's beneficial for us to take a evening here where we pull just really one especially of the themes, there are many between Genesis and Revelation, but the theme of paradise, of goodness, of the blessing of being in a place where there is no sin. And we take that theme and we pull it through. And so we're going to do that a few different times. You see that we have even sub points tonight. We're going to look at really four different places then where we pull the blessing of paradise and what it was in Genesis and what it will be in Revelation. And we'll just briefly talk about the brokenness tonight. But we're focusing on the beauty of God's paradise, on the beauty of what it is. to be in a place where there is no curse, where there is no sin, where everything is very good. So our theme tonight is this. There is perfect beauty and bliss in the complete goodness of God's paradise. And first point is the perfect fellowship of paradise. First fellowship with God we'll look at and then fellowship with man. And then second, we'll look at the perfect order of paradise, creational order and bodily order. We begin with the perfect fellowship with God. Man was created in perfect fellowship with God. Brothers and sisters, this is foundational. After the fall, if we read through Genesis 2, Adam and Eve, and into Genesis 3, they know that they need to try to hide from the face of God. Why is that? Because they know God's voice. They know God's presence coming to them in the garden. But after the fall, after the sin, that relationship is broken. They have to hide. They have to try to get away. But before that brokenness, it was just the perfect fellowship. They knew God's voice. Consider, they knew what God had said about where they should eat and the one tree of which they should not eat. Those are the only exact words we have recorded, is in Genesis 2, verses 15, is in Genesis 2, and it's the command of God to what they are to do and to not do. And so they knew perfect fellowship, perfect blessing. Brothers and sisters, this is where it begins. This is foundational. Everything else flows from this. That's why Lord's Day 3, question and answer 6 is focused on this perfect relationship between God and man. Did God create man so wicked and perverse? Going back to the sinful nature we now have described in question and answer 5. No, God created man good and in His own image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might truly know God, His Creator, love Him with all his heart, and live with God in eternal happiness for His praise and glory. Brothers and sisters, that is, for some time, the beautiful and perfect fellowship that Adam and Eve knew. They knew perfect fellowship with God, unhindered by sin. They knew His voice, they knew His coming, and they knew this in perfect blessedness and holiness. It is foundational to the blessings of paradise that this relationship was perfect. Everything else flows from here. And then, as we think briefly about the brokenness, this is foundational to the brokenness that we now experience. That that perfect fellowship between God and man is disrupted. It is torn apart by our sin. And so now, now we stand in need of God to come to us and to say, I will reconcile, I will bring you back, I will restore you to myself. And so, we think of the language of paradise. Turn with me to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23. This is one of the few places that the word paradise actually appears in the text of scripture. And it's when Jesus is on the cross. And as Jesus is suffering, as the one man without sin, as the one God-man who is in a perfect relationship with God the Father, and who can alone stand in the gap and restore the relationship between God and man. As Jesus is suffering for our sins on the cross, He speaks to the repentant thief who is next to Him. One thief did not repent. The other thief did repent. And Jesus says to him in Luke 23, verse 43, Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. Because sin is what has broken it, but when we repent and when we look to Jesus Christ and trust in Him, then paradise is restored. The relationship between God and man is restored. All of the brokenness, which starts with the broken relationship between God and man, is restored. as Jesus stands in the gap and says, because I stand for you and I love you as you repent of your sins, it is now right again. It is reconciled. It is restored. And so you will be with me in paradise today. Now that word paradise, brothers and sisters, there is the first paradise. It's the Garden of Eden. Paradise is a Greek word. The Greeks borrowed from the Persians. It's the word that the Greek translators in the Old Testament used repeatedly in the first chapters of Genesis. The Garden of Eden is the first paradise. Jesus, in Luke chapter 23, when he says, today you'll be with me in paradise, he's talking about the intermediate paradise, where we're taken immediately as God's people when we die. We are immediately in some fellowship with God. It's not bodily fellowship yet, but it's real fellowship. It is paradise. And then there's also the final and eternal bodily paradise. That's the paradise emphasized especially in Revelation. That's the paradise of the new heavens and the new earth. That's the paradise where our resurrection bodies will be taken to. But all of paradise, even the intermediate paradise, has this at the center, that we are in relationship with God, and we have fellowship with God, and it is unhindered by sin. We worship Him without sin, without any brokenness, without any hindrance. Perfect fellowship between God and man. And there's also, brothers and sisters, when we think about the blessings and the beauty of paradise, there's perfect fellowship with man, between man and man, between man and woman. There was, for a time, not only this perfect relationship with God, but Adam and Eve in perfect relationship with each other. They have the blessing of an unhindered relationship. There's no sin between Adam and Eve. It is only a perfect marriage and relationship. No sin, no hindrance, nothing that brings any kind of brokenness, any kind of sadness, any kind of harm, any kind of miscommunication, none of it. It is unhindered blessing in the relationship between man and man, which at the first was only two people. And sadly we know it didn't last too long and one of the reasons why we know that is because it was only ever two people. There was no birth until after the fall. And the implication of that in Genesis 4 verse 1 would also hint that there's not even conception of the first child until after the fall. So the implication of that, brothers and sisters, is that the blessings of the first paradise were only briefly enjoyed. But for a brief time, Adam and Eve were in a perfect relationship with each other, unhindered by sin, unhindered by any corruption. It was their own sin that brought the poison from which every child would be born and conceived in sin. No woman would ever know what a painless and blissful childbearing would have looked like. Because too soon they fell into sin and now question and answer seven from the fall and disobedience of our first parents Adam and Eve in paradise. This fall has so poisoned our nature that we are all conceived and born in sin. And then with that sin comes all the effects of sin, all the pain, of childbearing and all the other pains and all the other relational difficulties that we now have. Brothers and sisters, in the family, outside the family, in the church, outside the church, there is no perfect relationship between man and man. It's all now been disrupted and corrupted. even as we're gathered together as God's people, even as we're beginning to be renewed by the Holy Spirit, which is the language of Colossians chapter 3, even there, and even in the relationship between two godly people, and even in the marriage relationship between two godly spouses, what are we going to have? We're going to have disruption and corruption. and it is not going to be a perfect relationship ever. There's going to be all kinds of ways that we sin against one another, all kinds of brokenness, even again within Christian circles. Indeed, in recognizing our brokenness, there's a wisdom in saying that the only difference is that the closer you are to a person, the more the more you're going to see that weakness. And so even a Christian and spouse only do what? Sin against each other more than anyone else because they're each other's closest neighbor. This is the brokenness, but it will all be restored. And so then we pull the language of fellowship through and And there are many different places in Revelation where we could go where, yes, there won't be marriage and giving in marriage in the same way. Jesus teaches us that. But God's people will now be gathered together. And finally, there will be no squabbles, no misunderstandings, no weakness, no broken fellowship. It will be perfect. communion with each other, perfect worship with each other to the one and only holy, holy, holy God, as we join together with each other and with the angels, singing His praises, the people of the Lamb from every tribe and nation and tongue. People of God, it is paradise restored. It is all of the goodness of being in fellowship together that is never going to be perfect on earth, even as we pray for the renewal of the Holy Spirit, even as we love already Christ's church. But it is only in heaven that we will be presented as the spotless bride and come together to that marriage feast of the Lamb. That's the only time our fellowship will be perfect. And so we can simply put it this way. Have you ever been hurt by other people inside or outside the church? Well, yes, you have, because this is a broken world. But God made the world a perfect paradise. For a brief time, two people knew that together. And God will restore the paradise of perfect relationships. And forever and ever, we will be praising the Lord together in a perfect communion as his people, washed by the blood of the Lamb, set free from our sins by the only sinless man, Jesus Christ. This is what we were made for, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever together. And people of God, we have also other blessings to consider. The relationship blessings are foundational, especially the relationship between God and man is the foundation from which everything else flows. It's good for us also to think about the perfect order of paradise and the perfect creational order of God's paradise. When God made the world everything was very good. And so it's not just that we're in a sin-free relationship with God, it's that God puts us into a curse-free place of happiness to enjoy that fellowship with him and with each other. That's how God made it to be. And that's the kind of goodness that God will restore. And so we think about the very good, order of God's first creation. And we can just ask a question like this. What is your work environment like? Whether you work inside the home or outside the home. Is your work environment perfect? Is it unhindered in every way? Is it exactly how it should be? No, it is not. But brothers and sisters, the first work environment was perfect. There was no such thing as a bad day at work. There was no such thing as going to work and not doing the work the way you wanted it to. There was no such thing as brokenness of any kind. And so Adam and Eve, again, for a brief time, they enjoyed a perfect work environment. They enjoyed a perfect order and the good jobs and tasks that God gave to them. Sometimes we talk about the first job of Adam being a gardener and And there's something to that, although there's also a priestly language within Genesis 2. But the first job, in a sense, is zookeeper. Genesis chapter 2, verses 19 and 20. Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. And the man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field." And then the end of the verse leads into the first wedding, which was later that day. This was the first job that God gave man. It didn't have to take that long. Why? Well, because Adam did not need to name black bears and brown bears and Alaskan brown bears and sun bears. grizzly bears and polar bears and growler bears, which is the offspring of a male grizzly and a female polar bear, and pisley bears, which is the offspring of a male polar bear and a female grizzly bear. No, he just needed to name bears. And also, more importantly than just the fact that there weren't actually that many animals, more importantly, This was not a zoo full of all kinds of bars and gates and glass and you have to keep this animal apart from that animal and this and that. No. This was perfect creational order. All of the animals were living in happiness and harmony together. And so the wolf could have been right in line behind the ram. And there is no disruption, there is no pain, there is no ugliness, there is no death, there is no blood, even within the whole creational order. Everything is happy and blessed. They are all eating all into every verse 30 of Genesis 1, into every beast of the earth, into every bird of the heavens, into everything that creeps on the earth, Everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. There's no predator-prey relationship. There's no disharmony. It was the only day of perfect, unhindered, beautiful zookeeping that's ever been known. That's the first job that God gave to Adam as the steward of creation. It was a perfect work environment, a perfect creation in which to live. Now the beauty of God's creatures, it's broken. I saw, sometimes you see these videos that come on like a Facebook feed or something, and I saw one that was a little bit startling the other day. It was this collection of videos where A child is standing next to a glass wall at a zoo, and there's animals creeping up behind the child, and they are stalking, they are hunting. And they try to pounce on the child, and they bounce into the glass, and they bounce off. And then thankfully, the glass isn't usually rattling, It was a leopard and a lion. It was a whole series of different animals doing this, attacking children. And the only thing that stopped them was the glass wall. Things are broken now. It is not perfect fellowship. It is not perfect harmony. We can appreciate the beauty and the grandeur of the creatures that God has made, but especially for the predators, we have a wall. Many of our members have worked with different animals that are not predators in their lives and they know that the relationship between man and cattle is not perfect. And the relationship between man and any other animal is not perfect. There's all kinds of things that break the perfect harmony of what God first made. But when God made paradise, Everything was very good. The relationship with God was good and the whole environment was perfect and beautiful and blessed in which to enjoy that fellowship in every way. And the work environment and the creational environment, brothers and sisters, it will all be restored. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 65. Isaiah chapter 65. which is a text where starting in verse 17 we have the prophetic description of the new heavens and the new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. And there's many precious blessings here and promises, but we'll focus on the creational order promises. Look at verses 21 and 22. Here are the perfect work environment for God's people. Verse 21 and 22, They shall build houses and inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat. For like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be. And my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor. in vain. It is the perfect work. It's the work of paradise. It's the work of happiness and beauty. And then for our relationship with the other creatures, the lesser creatures that God has made, we are the stewards of God's creation over all of those lesser beasts without a soul. But do they have a place? And can we appreciate their beauty in a whole new, wonderful, and happy way? Yes, we can. Verse 25, The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. It is a perfect creational order. And then, brothers and sisters, we have one more sub-point. Perfect bodily order. Adam and Eve in paradise, there's no pain, there's no death. Even after the fall, some of that original order is maintained in that they live for Adam lives for more than 900 years and so do many of his descendants. But those were painful years. Before the fall, there was no death at all, there was no pain at all, there was no brokenness of any kind. Perfect bodily order. no weakness, no dishonor, no struggle. People of God, that is how God made the world. When we think about this and all of these things together, brothers and sisters, are we not reminded that this is not our home? All the relational brokenness, all the brokenness within our own bodies, all the brokenness in our very relationship with the world around us, our work environment and the creation which, yes, it's still God's creation. There's still beauty that we can see in the brokenness and God still uses the brokenness for our good as he watches over his people in a special way, but brothers and sisters, this is not our home. And the brokenness and the disorder, this is not how it was made to be. God made it very good. Our relationship with Him and everything around us. And as God first restores our relationship with Him, that's the first thing God does. Already now, the body is not yet renewed at all, but already now, Colossians chapter 3, God's people are experiencing the beginnings of the renewal of the Spirit. Our hearts are already now being renewed to love Him and praise Him and confess our sins and trust in His goodness and His salvation. And yes, we have various blessings in the brokenness, but God makes us to see the brokenness of our own sin and the brokenness of this cursed world for what it is. And we should have a longing for paradise restored. We should have a longing for the relationship with God, restored. The relationship with our neighbor, restored. The relationship with the whole created order, restored. And our body, and the body of all those around us, we do not need to feel pain, we do not need to see pain, because God will restore paradise. And the restoration of paradise means perfect. bodily order. And so the promise of the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation chapter 21 includes these words, these promises, Revelation 21 verses 1 to 4, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." What do we start with? We start with the restored relationships. We're the church now worshiping God perfectly together. And what else? What else do we read? And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. and God will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." It is paradise, the blessing of paradise, which begins with restored relationship between man and God, accomplished by the God-man, Jesus Christ, but includes all of the blessings. It will again be very good, but even better, and with blessings that can't be lost because the tree of life is there. Revelation 2, verse 7. Revelation 22, verses 1 to 5. The tree of life is there, but there is no longer any tree of the knowledge of good and evil. because Jesus has done away with sin and even the possibility of the curse in every way. Brothers and sisters, our struggles against our own sin and our struggles in this whole sin-cursed world It will not be forever. There is perfect fellowship. It is promised. It is sure. And we should long for it. And so we go from the very first words of God's Word to some of the very last words of God's Word. Revelation 22 verse 20, Jesus says, Surely I am coming soon, and let us say, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let us pray. Lord God, our glorious Creator, we do thank you for beauty that we see in the brokenness But Lord, we rejoice that You made the world very good.