Formation & Healing Lessons From Genesis” ~ A 90-Day Journey Into the Heart of Yahweh’s Order.

DAY 29~ The Apprehending God (Genesis 2: 15- 17)

Over the past 14 days, we have talked about the beautiful four river heads and how God uses them to really express the level of grace He has for man. We’ve seen how He has done everything for our own good. Now, I feel like we’re getting to this point where after God has given us all the things that we could ever ask for—and now, there are “terms and conditions.” This is the very first time that God is literally giving terms and conditions.

And this for me really looks like Christ in action. I remember that every moment that Christ wanted to actually save someone in the New Testament or heal someone, it actually really does look like Genesis chapter 2, verse 15—in fact, the entirety of chapter 2. We’ll get into the heart of that in a bit.

But this week, we are sailing through “Genesis chapter 2, verses 15 to 17”.

> *”And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eat thereof, thou shalt surely die.’”*

The Divine Verb: “God TOOK the Man

God is an amazing Father. How many of our earthly fathers would tell us not to do something and then tell us *why* we should not do it?

God understands fatherhood. He understands parenting, and He understands that when you give somebody instructions without giving them the reason why they should follow them, it makes it harder for them.

God is not interested in controlling us, even though He is sovereign over us. If He wanted to control us, we would have no say and could not question Him. But He’s still giving us a choice to choose if we will follow His instruction or not by giving us the reason why. If you now decide not to follow the instruction after He has given you the “why,” then God is justified. He is so just that He would never let you do anything that you don’t want to do. Isn’t this Heavenly Father just so beautiful?

Here, God is deciding to take the man after He had created the garden out of Eden, going as far as giving the water and the rivers to flow through the garden, giving life to it, and eventually that same river giving life not just to the garden, but to the four distant parts of the world—the entire Eden.

The river flowing from Eden and flowing back into four different riverheads is God’s pattern and process of ordering mankind, the world, and the heart of man, bringing healing and formation to it.

After God had done that, He now **took** the man. I’m so interested in the verb “took” here because “took” really means that you’re grasping something—like you’re grabbing it, laying hold of it, or apprehending it. What is coming to me now is when the Apostle Paul says that he’s apprehended for the Gospel, apprehended for Christ, and apprehended for the purpose of serving the assignment God called him to do.

This really looks like what God would do to any one of us when He calls us. When God comes into our existence, our experience, and our perspective—when we receive Christ in our hearts—He calls us to come into His fold. He’s taking us from the world and setting us in His kingdom. He’s laying hold of us. Just as I believe that you and I have also been apprehended.

Wherever you are right now, doing your quota is not a mistake- God "took" you and "placed" you. You didn't stumble into your business or current role; you were apprehended for a purpose. A Gardener doesn't choose the land; the Landowner (Yahweh) assigns the Gardener to the plot. You are exactly where He positioned you.

Let grace cover you…