STEWARDSHIP SERIES
# 1 “The Garden”
Introduction
A steward is one who is entrusted to be the keeper of another’s goods and interests. Since the steward is given a great deal of control over the interests of the owner, there is a considerable degree of trust involved on the part of the owner.
God has entrusted His church and every member with His interests – the building of the Kingdom of God on earth. Each of us are stewards and to each of us are given personal trusts that we alone have the ability and responsibility to keep. No one else can do it for us. These trusts are precious, of greater value than anything else in this world. God gives us our family, our church, its mission, our individual spheres of influence and a great deal more and asks us to be good stewards of all that he has given. We must remember that everything belongs to God and He gives it to us to superintend as stewards. In recognizing this great truth, Saint Paul wrote:
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I Corinthians 4:1-2.
We are summoned by the Lord to understand what it is He has given us as a church and to be faithful stewards, faithful keepers of that which has been given and that which He will add in the future.
Essential to good stewardship is the understanding that, we, as stewards do not own the things God gives us. He alone is the owner. More than that, our entire being, spirit, soul and body belongs to God as well.
You are not your own; you were bought at a price.
I Corinthians 6:20.
Therefore, God’s ownership encompasses everything. Not one part of our lives is beyond the sphere of His ownership and control.
The Trees in the Garden
When God created the first man and woman, He placed them in a garden called Eden. The word Eden means, “delight”. God placed the first humans in the best possible circumstances. Everything about Eden was good and when creation was complete with the forming of the man and woman, God said it was very good. Everything God does is good! (Genesis 1:31). It is important to know that this hasn’t changed for you and me. We live in a broken world full of sorrow and pain. But, God did not create the bad, only the good! Through Jesus Christ we are restored to the good!
The Garden of Eden was filled with plants of every kind. Among them were trees that flourished and provided beauty, shade, rest and many wonderful varieties of delectable fruit. Among these trees were two that were very special:
And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9
The tree of life was first and foremost. It represented the nature of creation, especially the creation of mankind. Life alone filled the garden – death was non-existent. This life was not the bane dreary life often experienced in our world of sin. It was the abundant life of God, the kind Jesus said He came to restore to us. (St. John 10:10). This was life at its fullest, life like none known since then. The earth was in complete harmony with its creator, and nothing could be better. When sin entered the human race, the tree of life was lost to mankind. God expelled the first man and woman from the garden. Mankind lost the life they had known and death took its place. This actually was an act of mercy for if God had not done this man would have lived forever in his sins. The rest of the Bible is a record of the efforts God puts forth to restore man to the life he lost through sin. In the end, in the last chapter of the Bible, the tree of life appears once again.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life… Revelation 22: 1-2.
In the Book of Revelation, we see the tree of life in even greater splendour than we saw in the Book of Genesis. Notice that the tree stood at both sides of the river. This is unusual since a tree normally must be on one side of a river or the other. That the tree of life stood on both sides of the river is a wonderful portrayal of the all-encompassing influence of the tree of life in God’s coming kingdom. The end of the Bible paints a much better picture than the beginning does. With God the end is always better than the beginning!
Between the tree of life at the beginning and the tree of life at the end is another tree – Calvary’s tree – the cross of Christ. Without this tree the tree of life could never appear again.
The second special tree in the Garden of Eden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems peculiar that good and evil were contained in the same tree. Why weren’t there two trees? Therein lies one of the great mysteries of life. There are many things in this world that can be either good or evil. The difference is how they are used and in what regard they are held. Take music for example. It can either be used for the greatest good possible – the worship of God, or, it can be used for the greatest evil. Many songs are devil inspired with themes of lust and sin. Sexuality is another part of life that can be used as the greatest joy and blessing in a marriage that honours God and honours one another. Or, human sexuality can be turned over to the basest of sins that bring the curse of sorrow, disappointment and disease.
God forbade the first man and woman to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As long as they obeyed God, good prevailed. The way the man and woman related to the tree was symbolic of the way they related to God. If they observed the divine right of God to prohibit their eating from the tree, they lived in recognition of His right to be God – to be the Lord of His creation. If they violated God’s command they would displace God, His authority and His blessing. The test of their stewardship, the test that would determine their very future, was the test of recognizing, that which represented God’s ownership. In Eden, the test was the tree.
How do we experience that same test today?
Today there is no tree in the centre of our city that represents the same thing to us as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did to the first man and woman. But, there are many ways in which we encounter the same tests that our first parents encountered. The greatest struggle of every person’s life is the struggle of ownership or, as we so often see in the New Testament, Lordship. Who is Lord – man or Christ? Salvation itself depends on how we answer this question. Paul wrote:
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10.
Salvation is a matter of the heart. It is true and full acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ. Confession without yielding to His Lordship does not result in salvation. Lordship, ownership, is the issue. Salvation comes when we recognize His divine right of ownership of our lives and we yield that ownership to Him. Jesus must be Lord of all! - our spirit, soul and body.
The Lord of Heaven and Earth
Several times in the Old Testament we see the expression, “Creator of heaven and earth”.
or, “God of heaven and earth”. For example in the account of Abram’s encounter with the priest, Melchizedek, the priest said:
Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.
Genesis 14:19-20.
Abram had just fought and won a great battle against much superior forces. He did this in order that he may rescue his nephew, Lot, who was a citizen of Sodom. The king of Sodom and his people had been taken captive by their enemies and Abram rescued them. The king wanted to reward Abram and proposed that Abram take the spoils of the battle he had won. Here is how Abram responded:
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will take nothing from you. Genesis 14: 22.
In both instances, God is referred to as the Creator of heaven and earth. The sphere of his influence, power and government was recognized as absolute encompassing both heaven and earth.
In contrast, notice this prayer of Nehemiah:
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. Then I said: “ O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands… Nehemiah 1: 4-5.
Notice that Nehemiah did not say, “God of heaven and earth” but said, “God of heaven” only. He omits the word “earth”. Why? The difference between Abram and Nehemiah was the situations each was in. Abram was a man who kept covenant with God. He followed the Lord and obeyed the Lord. He acknowledged that God was the Creator and he was a part of the creation. He lived in recognition of this fact in every sphere of his life. As a result God could be God of the part of the earth where Abram dwelt. The kingdom of God could touch the earth.
Nehemiah was also a good and God fearing man. But, at the time he lived, the people of God were suffering in foreign captivity. Through disobedience and sin they broke covenant with God and the land, the earth, lay desolate. The gates of Jerusalem, the holy city, were burned and the great walls of the city were broken down. This symbolizes a loss of control and protection that results when man rejects the Lordship of God and takes control of things himself. When man submits to God, God is the Lord of heaven and earth. When man does not submit to God, God is the Lord of heaven only and the earth suffers under the curse of sin.
It is always better to let physical or material place where we live, be under the control of God. It is always better to live in the sphere of God’s kingdom than to live a life devoid of that power and influence.
The Tithe
Throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, we see reference made to the tithe. Why is the tithe so important? It is not because God is short of money and wealth?
The tithe is the means God has given us whereby we recognize His ownership of the material world around us. Through the tithe we acknowledge God’s ownership of the earth in which we live. More specifically, it acknowledges God’s ownership and power, His right to rule, in the personal physical spheres of our day-to-day lives. Through the tithe we acknowledge that our money is not really ours it is His. He has given it to us to superintend as good stewards.
May the Lord bless you as you receive His word!
All scripture quotes are from the NIV of the Bible
sermon preached at Emmanuel English Church
Hong Kong, Sunday March 16, 2003
Brucemarlene@netvigator.com
