Man In The Garden Of God
Posted: June 10th, 2009, 1:21 am
HEALING SHELTER MINISTRIES #131aag Re-Written 10JUN09
Save Me Today—Part Fifty Nine: Man In The Garden Of God
by rev dave c
When God says in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground" (NIV), I don’t believe that He was just referring to Adam, or to Adam and Eve. Rather, God was referring to all of us—from the first couple, to you and me right here and right now, and all the way through this particular era of existence to the last baby conceived before Christ’s second advent. I also suspect that when God said, “let us make man in our image, in our likeness…,” He had the entire timeline of humanity in view as a process leading up to the final resurrection and glorification of the redeemed.
Genesis 2:7 ...The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ...15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).
Interestingly, just as we exist on this planet within the three material states of land, water, and atmospheric environments that were created by God, we are each made up of solids, liquids, and gasses as brought to life through Divine will. In Genesis 2:7 we learn that we are formed from dust of the earth and infused with the life giving “breath of God.” Then in Leviticus 17:11&14 we are told, “The life of a creature is in the blood (NIV).” It would be thousands of years after the writing of these verses before medical science would discover that the life critical cardio-vascular system delivers nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, while simultaneously disposing of carbon dioxide and other poisons. Blood (which in itself is made-up of liquids, solids, and gasses) is, indeed, the bearer of life within our physical bodies.
When God commanded mankind in Genesis 1:26-28, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (NIV), it is apparent from the language that Adam and Eve were to be the beginnings of our inhabiting the entire planet and having dominion over all the earth; and this in the face of any, and all, difficulties, obstacles, and opposition. Then, in Genesis 2:7-9, we are told that after God formed man from earthly material He placed Adam within a garden which was in turn contained within a place called Eden. Here is a paradox: If mankind was to exert dominion throughout the planet against all odds as God’s representative on Earth, how does that relate to the first man, Adam, being placed within a limited, protected, and abundant environment that we have come to Biblically equate with an eschatological heavenly Paradise?
It was in the Garden of Eden, which is also called “ the Garden of the Lord” (Ge 13:10/Is 51:3) and “the Garden of God” (Ez 28:13, 31:8&9), that Adam received his first instructions from his Creator regarding eating from any tree except the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, and where he was given the responsibility to name all of the animals. It was there Eve was built from his side and presented to him as his bride. It was also within the garden within Eden that the original couple faced their greatest challenge—the serpent’s temptation for them to disobey God. We know, of course, from reading Chapter Three of Genesis that Eve was deceived and Adam willfully disobeyed the Lord’s command by eating the forbidden fruit; they lost direct and full communion with God due to their spiritual death; and they were driven from the garden with a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life (Ge 3:24; NIV). In the day they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they did surely die and life became desperate, hard, and unsatisfying. In short, life became for them and their progeny as we find it today—no matter how big, how powerful, how gifted, or how motivated a person might be.
Perhaps we can find an answer to this paradox in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1-11), Luke (4:1-13) and Mark (1:1-13) where we are told that after Christ had been baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Father had spoken of His Son, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon Jesus as a dove, At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him (NIV). While the first couple was placed into a garden paradise fully in the presence of God, they did not bear up under the temptation to disobey the Lord’s one commandment to abstain from partaking of the knowledge of good and evil. On the other hand, Jesus Christ, as the second man and last Adam (1Co 15:45-47) successfully withstood the very same temptations from the person of Satan as the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life (1Jn 2:16; ASV)—but from within a wilderness, or desert, where He fasted for 40 days. Through His obedience to the written and living Word of His Father, Jesus overcame the curse and, through His willing sacrifice as God’s redeeming Lamb, He opened the door to reconciliation not just for you and me, but for all of creation (2Co 5:17-19). “Thank you, Jesus, for saving me today...and saving today for me. Amen.”
Save Me Today—Part Fifty Nine: Man In The Garden Of God
by rev dave c
When God says in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground" (NIV), I don’t believe that He was just referring to Adam, or to Adam and Eve. Rather, God was referring to all of us—from the first couple, to you and me right here and right now, and all the way through this particular era of existence to the last baby conceived before Christ’s second advent. I also suspect that when God said, “let us make man in our image, in our likeness…,” He had the entire timeline of humanity in view as a process leading up to the final resurrection and glorification of the redeemed.
Genesis 2:7 ...The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ...15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).
Interestingly, just as we exist on this planet within the three material states of land, water, and atmospheric environments that were created by God, we are each made up of solids, liquids, and gasses as brought to life through Divine will. In Genesis 2:7 we learn that we are formed from dust of the earth and infused with the life giving “breath of God.” Then in Leviticus 17:11&14 we are told, “The life of a creature is in the blood (NIV).” It would be thousands of years after the writing of these verses before medical science would discover that the life critical cardio-vascular system delivers nutrients and oxygen throughout the body, while simultaneously disposing of carbon dioxide and other poisons. Blood (which in itself is made-up of liquids, solids, and gasses) is, indeed, the bearer of life within our physical bodies.
When God commanded mankind in Genesis 1:26-28, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (NIV), it is apparent from the language that Adam and Eve were to be the beginnings of our inhabiting the entire planet and having dominion over all the earth; and this in the face of any, and all, difficulties, obstacles, and opposition. Then, in Genesis 2:7-9, we are told that after God formed man from earthly material He placed Adam within a garden which was in turn contained within a place called Eden. Here is a paradox: If mankind was to exert dominion throughout the planet against all odds as God’s representative on Earth, how does that relate to the first man, Adam, being placed within a limited, protected, and abundant environment that we have come to Biblically equate with an eschatological heavenly Paradise?
It was in the Garden of Eden, which is also called “ the Garden of the Lord” (Ge 13:10/Is 51:3) and “the Garden of God” (Ez 28:13, 31:8&9), that Adam received his first instructions from his Creator regarding eating from any tree except the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, and where he was given the responsibility to name all of the animals. It was there Eve was built from his side and presented to him as his bride. It was also within the garden within Eden that the original couple faced their greatest challenge—the serpent’s temptation for them to disobey God. We know, of course, from reading Chapter Three of Genesis that Eve was deceived and Adam willfully disobeyed the Lord’s command by eating the forbidden fruit; they lost direct and full communion with God due to their spiritual death; and they were driven from the garden with a cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life (Ge 3:24; NIV). In the day they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they did surely die and life became desperate, hard, and unsatisfying. In short, life became for them and their progeny as we find it today—no matter how big, how powerful, how gifted, or how motivated a person might be.
Perhaps we can find an answer to this paradox in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1-11), Luke (4:1-13) and Mark (1:1-13) where we are told that after Christ had been baptized by John in the Jordan River, the Father had spoken of His Son, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon Jesus as a dove, At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him (NIV). While the first couple was placed into a garden paradise fully in the presence of God, they did not bear up under the temptation to disobey the Lord’s one commandment to abstain from partaking of the knowledge of good and evil. On the other hand, Jesus Christ, as the second man and last Adam (1Co 15:45-47) successfully withstood the very same temptations from the person of Satan as the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life (1Jn 2:16; ASV)—but from within a wilderness, or desert, where He fasted for 40 days. Through His obedience to the written and living Word of His Father, Jesus overcame the curse and, through His willing sacrifice as God’s redeeming Lamb, He opened the door to reconciliation not just for you and me, but for all of creation (2Co 5:17-19). “Thank you, Jesus, for saving me today...and saving today for me. Amen.”