CULTIVATING OUR KINGDOM CULTURE

Text: Gen 2:14•Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.INTRO: •In the Garden of Eden there was only one culture, one government, the government of heaven•Mankind duty was to tend and to keep it.

AIM:•FOR US TO CULTIVATE OUR GARDEN SO AS TO BE FRUITFUL. I. OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE•To be fruitful-we are good seeds of the kingdom-Matt 13: 37•To multiply•To replenish•To subdue and rule over all the earth•To DO this we have to influence the world with the kingdom of heaven’s distinctive culture.

• We have to cultivate our kingdom culture.

• Another version of Gen 2:14 is to tend and keep our culture.

• A garden needs a gardener, for this reason God placed Adam and Eve there not just to inhabit in it but to keep it and tend it.

II. ADAM AND EVE’S FIRST FAULT• They allowed the existence of the

enemy.• To tend means to pay attention, to

act as an attendant.

• To keep it as it is, keep it FREE from anything that would destroy it

• They allowed satan to exist in the garden.

• When Jesus said, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven…” was just a reinstatement of Adam & Eve’s authority to us.

• We can now understand more His words, “Do not give an inch to the devil”. Ephesians 4:27

• They should have prohibited Satan to gain access on their territory.

• This is why garden needs fence/hedge to stop intruders.

• Job 1:10 "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

• We know that satan is not omnipresent, he cannot be here and there at the same time.

• He got his hierarchy of demons and evil spirits.

• Unfortunately, he has intruded our gardens, minds, families, relationships, culture, church, homes, etc.

• There is no point planting in the garden and you allowed it to be destroyed.

III. WHAT ARE THE NECESSITIES IN CULTIVATING A GARDEN/CULTURE?

• Prepare and use (land) for crops or gardening.

• Break up (soil) in preparation for sowing or planting

• Cultivating a land would include ploughing, removing debris, fertilizing

• Hebrews 3:15 while it is said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.“

• Hebrews 3:13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

• Illustration: Suyod sa palayan• Old roots or weeds should be

removed

• Fertilizers enhance seeds’ growth• Pro 19:6 Many entreat the favour of

the nobility, And every man [is] a friend to one who gives gifts.

• Pro 18:24 A man [who has] friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend [who] sticks closer than a brother.

• Gen 32:20 "and also say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.' " For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.

• When your enemy is hungry, give him food…

• Rom 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

IV. REPLENISHING• To make new supply or make

complete• It is now our turn to plant and have

our own garden• G12 idea-look after 12 believers and

make them disciples.

• Pass over the seeds of God’s word.• Mat 28:19 "Go therefore and make

disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

• Illustration: Thesis on population• Judges 2:10 When all that generation

had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel.

• We could not keep a culture if nobody knows about it. Pass it on.

• Mat 28:20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, [even] to the end of the age." Amen.

V. ADAM & EVE FAILED TO KEEP THE GARDEN/CULTURE-WHY?

• Eve wasn’t equipped with God’s word.• Gen 3:3- her knowledge was, even if

they touched it, they gonna die.• 2Cr 2:11 lest Satan should take

advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

• Eve listen to satan.

• She look on it. What you see is what you need.

• Fix you eyes unto Jesus. Hebrews 12:2

• She desired for the pride of life.• She didn’t even stop from there, she

manipulated Adam to eat it.• 1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not

deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.

• Gen 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife,

VI. THE RIGHT AWAY EFFECT OF LOSING THE CULTURE•Envy, anger, hatred, murder, lies, etc.•These are the culture of satan•Gen 4:7 "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you should rule over it.“•Instead of man ruling the earth, sin rules on mankind. •This is what we are facing today.

VII. LIVE WITH GOD’S PURPOSE IN YOUR LIFE NOT YOURS•Fulfil your destiny•Nothing worth doing than to live with a purpose•Rom 14:7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.•Rom 14:8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.•Do not allow the world’s culture to influence your life.

• Jam 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, [and] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

• Display the kingdom of heaven distinctive culture:

• SERVANTHOOD• HUMILITY• LOVING • CARING

CHALLENGE:•Are you keeping and tending your garden?•Are you replenishing?•Are you ruling your world?CONCLUSION:

Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to

tend and keep it.

V. THERE WOULD BE NO CLASH IF THERE IS ONLY ONE CULTURE•In the garden, there was one culture•One government, the government of God•Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.•Rom 13:2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.