"Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made." Genesis 2:8
Every springtime, my allergies set in. When this happens, I always remind myself, “It is not supposed to be this way.” After all, the weather is beautiful, things are blooming, and I cannot step outside without sneezing and having itchy eyes. It was never supposed to be that way. Maybe you have felt this tension, too. It might not be spring allergies, but when sickness comes, relationships fracture and natural disasters like hurricanes happen, we are all reminded that things are not the way they were supposed to be. God never intended for life to be this way. When He created the world, He created a place for humans to live that was perfect in every way, without sin, sickness, pain, or heartache. In that place, humans could openly talk to and hear from God. It was perfect, just the way God intended things to be.
After God created the world, he made humans to enjoy the beautiful world He had created. He placed Adam, the first human He had created, in a garden called Eden. It was perfectly beautiful. The garden contained lush trees, pure gold and other precious stones, and rivers flowing that kept all the vegetation watered and thriving (Genesis 2:10-14). Then, God created Eve, a companion for Adam, so that he would not be alone (verses 22-23). Eden, by all accounts, was paradise. It was beautiful and lush. Something else interesting about Eden that is clear in Genesis chapter 3 is that Adam and Eve talked with God and had open communication. They could audibly hear God’s voice. They could even hear God walking around the garden (verse 8). This, my friends, is how God intended everything to be. He intended for people to live in a beautiful world with open communication with Him. There was no pain, no sickness, and no death. It was paradise.
Unfortunately, sin corrupted this beautiful world that God had created, and suddenly there were many things in the world that God never intended there to be. There was sickness, pain, death, conflict with other people, and a broken relationship with God, and all of these things needed to be restored. All hope seemed lost, but it was not. You see, God set a plan in motion to restore everything. One day, He will create a new heaven and earth and everything that was lost in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned (Revelation 21:1). Sin corrupted everything, but all was not lost because one day, everything will be made right again. We serve a God who is in the business of restoration.
Although we will live in a sinful, broken world until Jesus returns and makes everything right, we can play a part in restoring what was lost in Eden by helping meet needs. If you are not already, find an area to serve in the church. You can sign up to serve on the Sagebrush App or at sagebrush.church/serve. As you faithfully serve, you will be a part of restoring what was lost in Eden.
Genesis 2:1-15 (NLT)
"So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6 Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person.
8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground-trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13 The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14 The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it."
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