A Country for Man

Understanding Genesis is essential to rescuing our biblical worldview. This book is foundational to everything we believe, which is why it is the most attacked book in the Bible. We are in chapter 2 today, moving on from the creation week, a topic of attack, to another topic of attack the country which God created for man to dwell…Eden, specifically the Garden of Eden.

Real quickly let me summarize verses 1-6, because that is what they are, a summary. We read in Genesis 1:31 “31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Then we read in Genesis 2:1–2 “1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

Two words are important there:

Finished = complete.

Rest = To cease.

Understand God wasn’t tired. These two words taken together explain to us that God rested from His work because His work was finished. Just like on the cross, Jesus cried, “It is finished!” meaning there was nothing else that could be done. All His creative work was done, just like all of Jesus’ redemptive work was done.

Verses 4-6 are a summary of the entire creation week. God created the world to be self-sustaining. Notice in verse 5 that it did not rain on the earth in God’s original creation. Verse 6 tells us that conditions were such that a heavy mist came up form the ground to sufficiently water the plants.

Next we see the creation of man in verse 7 - we learn that we were formed out of the dust of the ground. Our bodies are composed of elements of nitrogen, calcium, oxygen, etc. All these elements are found in the ground! Verse 7 also tells us that we are different than the animals. God not only made us in His image, but He breathed into us the “Breath of life” (spirit) and man became a living soul. We did not evolve from animals because animals were already living before humans. We are different from the animals in that it took a special act of God to energize our bodies.

The rest of chapter 2, and truly, the rest of the Bible, is focused on God’s dealings with mankind.

It wasn’t enough that God gave us dominion over the earth, but God placed us in a specific region on the earth known as “Eden” and this is where we begin, read with me Genesis 2:8-14...

There are admittedly, more questions surrounding Eden than answers, and today we are going to ask them! Question one...

The Where?

Where is the garden of Eden today? Nowhere. By that I mean it no longer exists. If you are interested in digging a little deeper I have shared a link on our Facebook page to a Biblical archaeologists YouTube channel that does a great job exploring some of the geographical locations and answering questions. I encourage you to check that out today around 1 PM.

The gist is we can ball park where Eden is based on Biblical evidence but we cannot be definitive. While the rivers may offer some clues to its location, we must understand that Moses was writing about a world he never saw. Moses was living in post-flood world, while we are reading about Adam living in a pre-flood world. The flood in Noah’s day was catastrophic, it destroyed anything in its path, including the Garden of Eden. It re-routed rivers, it changed the topography of the land, it made valleys lower, mountains higher. It cooled the earth causing an ice age, carving out oceans and canyons, it caused volcanic eruptions and seismic disruptions.

My point? Don’t get caught up on those who claim to have found anything of the magnitude of Eden or the ark, or you fill in the blank. It’s not important we know where it was, but that it was. That’s called faith. Of all the questions surrounding the garden of Eden, the “where” is probably least important. The next is more important...

The What?

What is it about Eden that is so important? It represents everything we are longing for. It was:

Paradise - perfect.

Beautiful tropical paradise

No sin to corrupt its beauty

Where God met with man.

Perfect, face-to-face fellowship with God.

None of us, none of us has ever experienced that!

Church, I don’t care who you are, deep down in the pit of your soul, this is what you are longing for. This type of fellowship and closeness with God is what your soul is craving.

There is not a pill, not a drink, not a drug that can fill this hole in your life. There is not a man or a woman that can fulfill this desire in your life. There is nothing that can, nothing that will ever fulfill this need in your life except for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Eden is wonderful picture of Christ and God’s love for us. It speaks of His provision in the way He watered it, it speaks of His care for us in the variety of food, and and is speaks of the fellowship He desires from us.

Conclusion:

I don’t know where you find yourself today in your walk with God, but I know deep down in your heart you are longing for something more. My friend, there is nothing on this earth that can, nothing that will satisfy what you are longing for but knowing Him in forgiveness of sin.

Eden shows us that God’s love for us is deeper than we can imagine and more powerful than we can know. Just as we long to find satisfaction in Him, He longs to satisfy us! What are you waiting on?