Crazy Good God

Was God angry at Adam and Eve when He drove them out of the Garden What was the flaming sword guarding the Tree of Life Is it really Good News

Nancy Teague Episode 25

E25  God drove out Adam and Eve from the Garden. Looks like God was angry at them. Does religious teaching make you believe that?  But, what if God wasn’t angry. Could it be His kindness on display, as well as the beginning of the Good News? Could the Cherubim with the flaming sword turning every way show us that Jesus was present? Indeed, it does! Even at the fall God was caring for mankind made in His image and likeness. 

25E Was God angry at Adam and Eve when He drove them out of the Garden What was the flaming sword guarding the Tree of Life Is it really Good News 

July 27,2022
Nancy Teague
crazygoodgod.org
nancy@crazygoodgod.org


Hi there! Welcome to Crazy Good God podcast. I'm Nancy Teague and thanks for listening. For more info go to crazygoodgod.org. Any scriptures shared are referenced at the end of the Transcript. 

00:23   Last week's episode was about finding Jesus in the garden. I shared Robert Farrar Capon's description of Adam as a “dead ringer for Christ Jesus”! Talk about finding Jesus in the Garden! Paul even said Adam was a type of him who was to come. 

00:44   Jesus being fully man, was able to take on the sin of the world and being fully God powerful to restore man back to their original identity, which is made in the image and likeness of Father Jesus Holy Spirit. 

01:01   Last week I also referenced a phrase I heard months ago, ‘The danger is not over exaggerating God, but underestimating Him.’ Do you know why we can never over-exaggerate God? Because, He is holy. In the Greek, that means ‘other than, nothing like it’. 

01:21   Scriptures say, “He is past finding out.” And yet, Scripture also say, ”It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to find it out.” Do you know that we're also referenced as kings and priests? Start searching. 

01:41  God wants to be found. Kind of like playing hide and seek with your child. You're hiding behind the door. The child is near, but not finding you and then you, ‘uh-uh-ahem’, because you want your little one to find you. And both of you are delighted with surprise! 

02:00   God is profound, but He wants us to know Him throughout eternity. We will be wowed at His goodness and kindness. Now speaking of kindness, was God kind in the Garden when He drove out Adam and Eve? Actually many believe God was angry with them, so He drove them out! 

02:22   Right? Nope. This is a good example of how we underestimate God. Remember God is love. Love is kind. Love is patient. Love is longsuffering. Love never fails. And God said, ‘I will never ever forsake you’. If we hold fast to the religious mindset of God angry at Adam and Eve, so drove them out, drove them away from Himself - then we contradict God’s love, patience, never forsaking. 

03:00   So was God's kindness shown in the Cherubim and flaming sword placed at the east side of the Garden? And that actually looks kind of scary, huh? But this was the first sign of the Good News, and Jesus’ presence is also there. 

03:23   God wasn't angry, He was showing mercy, kindness, protection for Adam and Eve made in His image and likeness. Seriously, can disobedience undo God's eternal purpose and plan of making us in His image and like this? My how we underestimate Him. 

03:48   Okay, what about the Cherubim that had the flaming sword that turned every way, and it was to guard the way to the Tree of life. The word ‘turning’ of the sword every way in the Hebrew implies to change, to return, to be converted, to turn back. 

04:09 Just think Jesus is the Word, alive and active, sharper than any two-edged sword. Jesus, the sharp flaming sword right in the midst of the expulsion from Eden. It's like Jesus saying, ‘I will change you back to who I made you to be. I will turn you back to me.’ And also, the flaming sword is a picture of God's love. Song of Songs speaks of God's love as the ‘flaming flame’. 

04:37   So here's the cherubim guarding the way to the tree of life, and in truth, the way to life was death. The Tree of Life became the cross on which He died, and death is the only way to redeem and restore mankind. 

04:56   The Cherubim and flaming sword were securing God’s Good News which actually means death to have resurrected life. And everybody gets to die! It's a profound truth to life. Many fear death because we don't understand the life hidden in the death. It's great news for all mankind. Sadly, religion makes death fearful because of their prescribed conditions to get Life. Jesus’ Life is a gift. It doesn't cost us anything! 

05:35   Jesus was there when man was driven out and the driving out was expression of Father Son Spirit's profound kindness, unconditional love, and faithfulness. God was not angry, He was caring for them. What a crazy good God! 

06:00   Until next Wednesday, Bliss to you and never forget God is absolutely crazy about you! 

 

References: Genesis The Movie  Robert Farrar Capon. Rom 5:14   Eph 1:3-8  Col 1:13-14,19-20   1Pet 1:16 Rom 12:33  Prov 25:2  Rev 5:10  Gn 3:24  1Jn 4:16  1Cor 13:4-8  Heb 13:5  Heb 4:12  Heb 10:10  2Cor 5:14-16