Mysteries In the Garden Part 1

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. —1 CORINTHIANS 15:45

In the Garden of Eden, the first Adam was not born through a normal birth process, and neither was the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The first Adam was formed from dust, and the second Adam was formed in the womb of a virgin (Gen. 2:7; Luke 1:27–31). The first Adam was perfect before the Fall, and the second Adam was sinless throughout this life (2 Cor. 5:21). The first Adam fell into sin while living in a garden, and the second Adam had the sins of the world placed upon him in a garden called Gethsemane. At the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the first Adam experienced death, and at a tree called a cross the second Adam experienced death. But through the cross, the second Adam conquered death, hell, and the grave and is alive forever more (Rev. 1:18). Eternal death began in a garden, and the plan of redemption began near the temple in Jerusalem, in a garden called Gethsemane.

There is a powerful mystery surrounding that fateful night of destiny in Gethsemane. It was in this very garden where Christ revealed to Nicodemus that, as Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so He (Christ) would be lifted up (on the cross) to draw all men to Him (John 3:14). The story of the brass serpent in Numbers 21:2–9 is an amazing picture of the redemptive work of Christ. Israel had sinned and was bitten by serpents. As people lay dying, Moses constructed a brass serpent on a pole. All who looked to the brass snake lived!

God chose a brass serpent to represent Christ, since brass represents humanity and the serpent represents sin. Christ became man and bore our sins on the tree!