The very first book of the Bible, Genesis, opens with God creating the most wonderful paradise!
Imagine for a moment the most fabulous vacation resort ever … can you see the immaculate, beautifully landscaped grounds … lush green foliage, filled with the sounds of tropical birds. Delicate flowers spill in profusion over hedges and walkways, in captivating shades of purples, yellows, reds. Imagine the most beautiful lakes you have ever seen … clear, blue, and deep … filled with brilliantly colored fish of every kind imaginable!
This was the paradise God created in the beginning. This was our world.
And God gave it to mankind to enjoy.
The most delicious fruits to eat! Animals of every sort … docile and tame. Brilliant sunshine … perfect temperatures!
No mosquitoes. No humidity. No endless cold cloudy days. No heavy grey fog.
There was no pain or suffering. There was no work stress. No high blood pressure. No cancer. No disease.
There were no mean people. There were no mean hurtful words. No biting remarks; no criticism; no tearing people down.
Paradise was for mankind to enjoy … along with a close personal relationship with God Himself!
It was fabulous! There was only one rule … God had commanded mankind not to eat the fruit of the tree that would give knowledge of what was evil. Everything in paradise was so beautiful and good! If mankind were to eat the fruit from the tree that would give knowledge of what was evil, then it would ruin paradise! God warned mankind that the result would be death.
But alas … the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, were tempted by Satan to disobey God. They took the fruit from the tree that would give them knowledge of what was evil. And sure enough … sin & evil entered the beautiful perfect paradise God had made.
Paradise was lost! Mankind’s close relationship with God Himself was broken! Sin had ruined everything!!
No longer could Adam and Eve live in the beautiful garden home God had given them. They were forced to leave the paradise they had known. From now on thorns, briars, and weeds would grow on the earth. Pain and sickness now entered the world. Jealously, envy, greed, lying … hatred … oppression … murder. Sin had ruined everything!! The world was now under the curse of sin.
But a promise was given. Even as paradise was being lost, God gave a promise to humanity. A promise of hope.
A redeemer would come. A redeemer would come to break the curse! (Genesis 3:15)
Our background photo for today shows a gate … and from where we stand, we are on the side of thorns, briars, and weeds. But looking through the gate we see beautiful landscaping … a paradise which has been lost. We stand and gaze longingly through the fence. How humanity longs for paradise! But humanity is locked out of paradise because of sin.
But a promise was given! A promise that a redeemer would come! (Genesis 3:15) A redeemer would come to be the gateway … by which we could once again have access to paradise.
Fog hangs heavy in the air of our background photo. When will this promised redeemer come?? We don’t know … the future is foggy and unclear.
So we wait …
