EVERYTHING COOKIE – Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8-9)
What do you think of when you hear the word “paradise?” A tropical island, perhaps? According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, one definition for paradise is “a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight.” Felicity? I had to look up the meaning of this word. (I mean, who uses the word “felicity” in everyday language, eh?) Turns out, it means “happiness.” How fitting! If we change Wester’s definition a bit, then it would read as “a place or state of bliss, happiness, or delight.”
There are many things that feel like paradise to me: A bowl of my favorite ice cream; cuddling with my hubby on the couch and laughing at his funny stories and clever wit; sitting on my back porch on a cool morning and drinking a cup of coffee, listening to the birds sing while reading my bible; sitting on a beach and watching the waves roll in; admiring the beauty and majesty of the great Smoky Mountains. (God’s country, my husband calls it.)
When God created the earth, He created Paradise, a real honest-to-goodness paradise. He called it Eden and put Adam there to live and tend to it after Adam was created. According to Genesis 2:9, God caused every tree to grow from the ground that was pleasing to the eye and good for food. A river even went out of Eden to keep the garden watered (Gen. 2:10)! The Garden of Eden was perfect and provided everything that Adam and his future wife, Eve, would ever need for both survival and enjoyment – blissful, happy, delightful (in the words of Webster).
Like my Everything Cookies, the Garden of Eden had “all the good stuff!” It had everything anyone could ever need or want, and it was all good because God created it. God even told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden. . .. well, that is, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. That tree was completely off limits. No ifs, ands, or buts about it, because in God’s words, if Adam ate from that particular tree, he would die. Now, let’s park here for just a minute, shall we? When the Creator of the universe tells you not to do something or you’ll die, one would think you would NOT do it, correct? Unfortunately, after Eve was created, at some point, they both made the decision to disregard God’s instruction and eat from the forbidden tree. That pesky devil showed up in the form of a snake and talked Eve into taking a bite of the fruit from that tree, then she shared it with Adam, and he took a bite as well. And, here we all are, living in a sinful world ever since.
It would be real easy to sit back and judge Adam and Eve for being so foolish. After all, God knows everything, so they knew they could trust His warning to stay away from the tree. The thing is, you and I know how easy it is to give in to certain temptations in our life. We might not have succumbed to the same temptation that Adam and Eve did at that time, but I’m confident that there are other kinds of temptations that weaken our resolve and cause us to be disobedient to God.
However, even though Adam and Eve’s sin caused all of humanity to be born into sin, we don’t have to stay that way. God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to take on the sins of every human being through His death and resurrection. Jesus made a way to deliver us from sin forever and give us eternal life.
That’s not all of the story, though. Although God permanently closed the Garden of Eden following Adam and Eve’s disobedience, He has paradise waiting for everyone who repents and is saved. That paradise is called heaven, where Jesus has made a home for everyone who believes in Him through repentance and salvation. Not only that, but God promises that one day Jesus will return, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth, which will be a new paradise. Wow! It just gets better and better!
If you don’t know Jesus as your personal Savior, don’t let another moment go by without accepting the salvation He wants so desperately to give you. Nobody wants you to have a home in heaven more than God does. You were created by Him and for Him.
If you would like to experience a little bit of paradise now, then enjoy the Everything Cookie, the cookie that has all the good stuff. Be sure to share one with a friend and tell them how they, too, can have eternal life in paradise. And, remember, it’s all about Him!
