Did God Really Say?| Tend I

Anchor Verses:

Genesis 2:15, Genesis 3:17–19, John 20:15–17

Focus Statement:

We were created to tend the garden — to cultivate life, guard holiness, and steward what God has entrusted. Through Christ, we are restored to our priestly calling to tend the soil of our souls, our relationships, and our world.

Introduction – What Happened to the Garden?

• Humanity was created with purpose — not just to exist, but to tend and keep.
• Eden wasn’t a park; it was a temple — the first sacred space where heaven met earth.
• We were designed to be priests, not consumers: to cultivate life, guard holiness, and reflect God’s care in creation.
• Sin fractured this vocation — now weeds grow in our souls, relationships, and world.

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Neglecting the Soil: The Fall of Formation

• “To tend” (ʿābad) means to work, serve, or worship — spiritual formation is worship.
• “To keep” (šāmar) means to guard or preserve — the call to spiritual vigilance.
• When we stop tending our hearts, spiritual weeds take root: pride, apathy, distraction.
• The priestly work of the garden was meant to be continuous — formation, not performance.

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Abandoning the Garden: The Curse of Neglect

• Adam and Eve’s failure to keep the garden led to decay — creation mirrored their neglect.
  The curse wasn’t punishment alone; it was consequence: neglected soil produces thorns.
• We echo this when we:
  • Neglect spiritual formation (the soil of our hearts).
  • Abandon stewardship (the garden of relationships, communities, and creation).
  • Cease guarding our minds and callings from distortion.
• The ground is cursed, but grace still grows — if we will return to tending.

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The Gardener Returns: Christ Restores the Call

• Mary mistakes Jesus for a gardener — but it’s no mistake; it’s revelation.
• Christ, the “second Adam,” tends what was lost: souls, creation, and calling.
• Through His Spirit, we’re reappointed as priests — restored to tend the soil of the kingdom.
• Sanctification is God gardening your soul — uprooting sin, planting holiness.
• Salvation secures eternity; tending restores purpose between now and glory.

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Walking it Out – Tending What’s in Your Hands

• Tend your soul: Prayer, Scripture, Sabbath — cultivate the soil of your heart.
• Tend your relationships: Forgive, listen, encourage — relational weeding and watering.
• Tend your vocation: Work as worship; see your job as a garden of purpose.
• Tend your city: Serve, create beauty, protect the vulnerable — restore Eden’s echoes.
• Tending isn’t busywork; it’s sacred work — priestly, purposeful, participatory.

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