Out Of Place

I met a friend and her daughter for breakfast the other morning.
I tried to give myself enough time to finish things here and get there on time.
I don’t know about you…but I always think I can do that one more thing!

That one more thing sometimes causes me to be five minutes late.
I made up my mind that this particular morning…I would not do that one more thing.
I planned to arrive on time…perhaps a bit earlier.

I was very delighted that things were moving along.
This just might be the morning!

There is one main road that we take to get to our neighborhood.
There are some back roads…but they are not as direct.
The main road is lovely…only two lanes.

There is no passing on this road because of the hills.
If you get behind a school bus or a truck, you know that there is nothing you can do.
You wait…and you go up the hill at a snail’s pace.

I was feeling so good about being on time.
Proud of myself that I could do it…I could leave…and not do that one more thing.

There it was.
Right in front of me.
A truck carrying a port-a-potty.

I came up the hill and approached the truck.
Really?
This morning?
On this hill?

Yes…yes…and…yes!
I laughed at the absurdity of it all.
How out of place!

A port-a-potty on the back of a truck.
It was not where it should be.
It didn’t belong there.

Now the Lord planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He put the man He had formed. 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…You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. (Genesis 2:8,9, 16,17)

Adam needed a helper suitable for him, so the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man.
There was a crafty serpent in the garden.
The serpent planted seeds of doubt.
Seeds of doubt that questioned the authority and inerrancy of God’s Word.

Did God really say?

God really said!
Eve did not listen.
Eve disobeyed God…and so did her husband, Adam.

Sin entered the garden.
Sin entered where it was not supposed to be.

Adam and Eve received curses for their sin.
Eve would have pain in childbearing, and would struggle with submission to her husband.
Adam would now toil in his work, which would now be difficult and painful.

And the Lord said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

What grace!
God made sure that the man and woman…though they disobeyed Him…would not live forever in their sinful state.

God provided a way back…to the way things were meant to be.
God provided a sinless Substitute to die in their place.
Someone who would receive the punishment they deserved.
Someone who would die…so that they could live!

God spoke the Gospel…in the beginning.
Protoevangelium…the first Gospel…the first announcement of salvation.

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. (Genesis 3:14,15)

Satan will always hate God.
Satan can’t get to God…but he can get to God’s children.
The ultimate prize for Satan was Jesus, God’s Son.

If he could get Him to the cross…If he could get Him to die.

But…God said…He will crush your head and you will bruise His heel.
Satan could only bruise Jesus.
Satan never counted on the Resurrection.
Satan never counted on finally getting his head crushed by the victorious Son of God.

He will be crushed!

All because Jesus left where He was supposed to be.
All because Jesus came to where His Father wanted Him to be.

Who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

We, who are in Christ, often feel like we are out of place here.
There is One who felt just like us.
He came where He didn’t belong…so that we can go back where we do belong.

Praise Him!