A Garden
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:8-9)
The essence of this garden?
Every fibre in my being suggests, when I read reference here to Eden, that it is a quiet and peaceful place, full of trees, full of sunlight, full. It is eastward — but in relation to what that is westward? And why is it full of trees? Not flowers or waterfalls or animals are mentioned, all possible aspects of an idyllic world.
Why did GOD create Eden?
How spontaneous is GOD? Did He have a plan for man and Eden? Or did things just happen?
It is likely that Eden was special if not completely unique. The whole earth may have been damaged by the fall of Satan, which was “like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18) Perhaps Eden was a part of the earth that had not been damaged or…. less likely, perhaps the LORD reestablished it to its Creation state at some point before creating Adam. In either case, Eden was unique: guarded by angels, full of trees bearing luscious fruit. And therein were two particular trees: one of Life, the other of Knowledge of good and evil.
In that beautiful garden was complete freedom, total bliss for every living creature therein. Eden is peace, Eden is rest, Sabbath Rest, daily today and for eternity. An Eden existence is what was intended for mankind; that is what we are drawn back to when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
“Be anxious for nothing…” (Philippians 4:6)
Preparing the Bride for GOD’s Story
How do we prepare as the Bride of Christ? One aspect is to learn GOD’S STORY. He created us in His image…. Piece by piece, and peace by peace, we learn to walk as He has walked. And we learn His perspective.
In Eden lies the future of mankind
Eden represents the opportunity for a peaceful mental state. In Eden is our spiritual place of rest. In Eden is our life — abundant life without strife, without antagonism, with harmony and grace, love, joy… and peace.
Eden was a real garden. It is also a symbol and a destination of the heart and of the mind. We are in a tug-of-war between our will and GOD’s, between our residence and Eden.
A friend recently said when she prays, she “meets Jesus in the garden.” That garden is the garden of our hearts! When our hearts are pure, we are as though we are in Eden.
Where Adam fits in
GOD created beauty. He created life. He created opportunity: eternal life or knowledge of good and evil; a walk with GOD or a walk without Him. Adam didn’t know the detail, he wasn’t given the detail.
Adam was presented a choice: to remain in his current state, or to discover knowledge to be “as GOD” — he chose the latter and that, we shall unpack in the third and final part of our look at Eden.