The Table and The Garden
Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the direct knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Introduction
This morning we continue our two part study on the Eucharist.
Now remember last week we began our study by pointing out that the picture presented to us at the Lord’s Table (what God sets before the eyes of our faith, what we see when we step back and take in all the details- that the picture presented to us at the Lord’s Table) depicts the heavenly Holy of holies. In other words, the Lord’s Table is the New Testament Holy of Holies. It is the fulfillment (already ours in Christ) of everything that the Old Testament Holy of holies promised. Therefore, to partake of the Table by faith is to participate in the spiritual reality and fellowship of the Heavenly Court.
This morning, in part 2 of our study, I want to show that it is God’s direct throne room presence (the very reality that defines the heavenly Holy of holies and the very reality depicted and engaged at the Table) that distinguishes the New Creation and is the fullness of the new life that is ours in Christ.
However, to accomplish this we must first turn our attention not to the end of time, but rather to the beginning of time. That is, our study this morning begins in the Garden of Eden.
II. From the Garden to the World
A] Notice then, one of the great misconceptions that we have about the Garden is that we often think of it as God’s full and final blessing for man. It is the goal, the reward, the paradise to which we are all trying to return. However, such is not the witness of Scripture. (FN #1)
a) Instead, the Garden is best understood as a model or a prototype for the work that man was given to do throughout the earth. What work? Remember, man was sent out from the Garden into all creation to subdue creation after God’s will.
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;
b) Notice the result: man was to realize God’s purpose for creation by making all creation a garden sanctuary fit for the fellowship of God with His people (a sanctuary based on the model of the Garden). (FN #2) Importance: throughout Scripture God’s purpose and goal for creation have been the same. From the very beginning God has intended the whole earth to be His sanctuary (See also: Matt 6:10, Rev 21:1-3)
Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the direct knowledge of the glory of the LORD (i.e. the Shekinah glory of God’s presence), as the waters cover the sea.
Bottom line: from the beginning God intended the whole of creation to be a garden sanctuary fit for His presence/fellowship with His people.
B] Problem- Adam failed to subdue the earth and make it a sanctuary. Instead, Adam sinned and so brought death, pollution, and separation from God into creation. However, God does not abandon man nor does He cast off creation. Instead, God sends Christ as the second Adam (I Cor 15:45) to redeem not just man, but the whole of creation.
Colossians 1:19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself, whether things on earth or in heaven, (Romans 8:18-21, Matt 5:5, II Pet 3:13)
Notice then, Christ, like the first Adam, is given the task of subduing all creation according to His Father’s purpose. In other words, Christ, like the first Adam, is to present the whole earth to His Father as a finished garden sanctuary (FN #2)
1 Corinthians 15:24 then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
Bottom line: so far we have seen two key points in our study:
· The whole earth was always intended to be God’s garden sanctuary
· The fullness of the Salvation that Christ accomplished for us comes when He presents this completed Sanctuary/Kingdom (along with its people) to His Father
Our third and final point brings us to the Lord’s Table
III. From the Garden to the Table
A] Remember, last week we saw how Scripture establishes the Lord’s Table as the New Testament Holy of holies. Why is this so important to our present study? Answer:
1. The Holy of holies is the preservation and promise of God’s Garden presence on the earth FN#3. God did not abandon man or relinquish creation. Rather, He promised to redeem them both. And that promise was preserved and set forth in the Holy of holies. Notice then the Garden imagery central to the Old Testament Holy of Holies
1 Kings 6:32 So Solomon made two doors for the entrance of the inner sanctuary out of olive wood, and he carved on them carvings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
Genesis 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim (plural), and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
2 Chronicles 3:10 Then he made two sculptured cherubim in the room of the holy of holies. 11 the wing of one, touched the wall of the house, and its other wing, touched the wing of the other cherub.13 The wings of these cherubim extended twenty cubits, and they stood on their feet facing the main room (i.e. facing the entrance into the Holy of holies and thus guarding the way to the ark).FN#4
2. Notice the Point: when Scripture describes the Lord’s Table as the New Testament Holy of Holies it once again identifies God’s garden presence on earth. However, unlike the Old Testament promise, at the Table the believer has been given entrance into God’s sacred presence through the body and blood of Christ (see also Mark 15:37-38). (FN #5)
Hebrews 10:19 We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, (FN #6)
B] Notice then the result:
1. Every week as the Eucharist is celebrated throughout the world we see the fulfillment of God’s plan for creation unfolding before our very eyes. How? Every week, as the sacrament is celebrated throughout the earth, God’s sanctuary fills the earth, though the earth is not yet fully God’s sanctuary. In other words, at the Table you have the divinely given assurance that even now your life has been caught up in a torrent of grace that is washing and reclaiming every aspect of life (inside and out)
2. Not only that, each week Christ (the second Adam) does what the first Adam was supposed to do: He sends His people out from the Garden to subdue the earth. That is, He sends us out to proclaim, offer, and model Kingdom life to an on looking world. In other words, participation at the Table not only means that you share in Christ’s grace. It also means that your mission/life/work has been caught up in the mission and reign of Christ. (FN #7)
Matthew 28:18 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations
Bottom line: each week at the Table we share in the most comprehensive disclosure of the New life this side of Christ’s return. How? God’s garden sanctuary is already filling the earth and already God’s grace is remaking a people fit for fellowship in that New Creation.
2 Peter 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Footnotes
1] The Garden is never portrayed as the permanent or final destiny of man.
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God caused 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.
Importance: notice at once that both warning and reward are present in the Garden. In other words, planted right in the midst of the Garden is the promise of future development (be it one of life or death).
2] Notice, just as the sons and daughters of Christ were not to stagnate in Jerusalem; but were to proceed out with the Gospel to Judea, Samaria, and to all the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8); so too were the sons and daughters of Adam to proceed out from the Garden to fill and subdue the earth.
Or to put this another way: just as the first Adam was to employ his offspring in the work given him,
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;
so too Christ employs His spiritual offspring in the work given to Him.
Matthew 28:18 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven earth. 19 ” Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations
3] In other words, it is in the Old Testament Holy of holies that we find God’s Garden presence after the fall
Deuteronomy 12:11 then it shall come about that the place in which the LORD your God shall choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand,
4] Notice the position and purpose of the Cherubim at the entrance to the Holy of holies are very different from the Cherubim on the mercy seat of the Ark
Exodus 37:9 And the cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.
The Cherubim on the mercy seat face the Mercy seat and attend to the Throne of God; while the Cherubim at the entrance face away from the throne and guard the way to it.
5] Does this mean that God’s presence, grace, and reign are only operative at the Table? Absolutely not! In fact, right the opposite is the case. The Table is a sign and a seal guaranteeing that what we see at the Table is indicative of and what is most true about all reality. Thus while God’s presence, grace, and reign are not exclusive to the Table, the Table is the most complete and comprehensive disclosure of these (i.e. of the Resurrection life) this side of Christ’s return.
6] Notice at once that it is at the Table of the Covenant that the reality of God’s unfolding Kingdom and Garden presence is presented to us in the most comprehensive sense this side of Christ’s return. Again the Table is not a weekly fix where the realities new life are alone enjoyed. Instead, it is the Table of the Covenant where the divine assurance of what is indicative, true, and determinant of the new life is placed before your eyes in the most comprehensive sense this side of Christ’s return. Thus, at the Table of the Covenant God assures you that His presence and grace are already at work in the details of your life. Not only that God assures you that your life has been caught up in the divine torrent grace that is not only remaking you, but is also subduing and remaking the entire cosmos. (Notice then right now, in the midst of life and standing in God’s house on this planet, God gives you His official, divinely certified assurance)
7] Notice that each week God’s people display before the world (in real time) the very unfolding of the reality that is shaping the future of all creation. Each week we are called out of the nations. We come to the mountain of God, to His house. We are nourished and loved at our Father’s Table and then sent back out into our Father’s vineyard to be about our Fathers work.