Garden City by John Mark Comer
Week 4: Chapter 3 — The Garden
Read Chapter 3 of Garden City. Primary Scripture: Genesis 2:4–25.
Previewing Week 4 of Garden City
Read 3 of 6 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
Genesis 2 zooms in on what Genesis 1 declared — and shows us a God who gets his hands dirty, who plants a garden, who shapes a man from dust and sets him to work. This chapter invites you to look at the garden as the original workplace.
Discussion Questions
6 questions1.Comer draws attention to the Hebrew words used in Genesis 2 for Adam's work in the garden: 'abad' (to work or serve) and 'shamar' (to keep, guard, or protect). These are the same words later used for priestly work in the tabernacle. What does it mean that Adam's gardening was priestly — that ordinary work was always meant to be an act of worship?
2.The garden is described as a place of beauty, abundance, and delight — not just a farm for survival. How does the aesthetic dimension of Eden (the gold, the precious stones, the rivers) inform how you think about beauty and creativity in your own work?
3.Comer notes that Adam was given work before the fall — before sin entered the picture. This means work is not a result of the curse; it is part of God's good design. How does this correct any theology you may have absorbed that treats work as a necessary evil or a post-fall punishment?