SERMON SUMMARY:
In "The Four Gardens of Easter," we explored how the Easter story unfolds through four significant biblical gardens. We began in Eden, the original garden where humanity fell and was exiled from God's presence. Eden wasn't just a pleasant location—it was a sacred space where heaven and earth overlapped, where humans worked alongside God as gardeners to protect and preserve His creation. When sin entered, that intimate connection was broken, but God immediately planted seeds of restoration through His promise in Genesis 3:15.
The second garden, Gethsemane, represents surrender. Here, Jesus reversed Adam's rebellion through submission: "Not my will, but Yours be done." We saw how surrender isn't weakness but wisdom—the pathway to resurrection. In our own lives, Gethsemane moments come when we must choose between our way and God's, ultimately determining who's truly Lord.
The third garden is the resurrection garden where Jesus was buried and rose again. Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener—a beautiful mistake, as He truly is the divine Gardener bringing new life from death. The resurrection demonstrates that no situation is beyond God's power to renew. As Romans 6:4 tells us, we're united with Christ in both death and resurrection, walking in "newness of life."
Finally, we glimpsed the garden city of Revelation 21-22, where heaven comes to earth. This isn't just a return to Eden but its expansion—a place where nature and culture, wilderness and civilization harmonize perfectly. Through Christ's resurrection, this future has already begun breaking into our present. As we practice noticing signs of new life, embrace the rhythms of death and resurrection, and participate in God's restoration work, we become gardeners of resurrection hope—citizens of the garden city already breaking into our world.