RETURN TO EDEN, PART 1

RETURN TO EDEN, PART 1

             The reason for the new birth or the new creature the Word talks about so much, it to return God’s children back to where He created them to live.  The place where God intended His children to live was in God’s presence at all times.  For some reason we lost sight of what our Father had in His mind and heart for His family.  You find in Genesis that He created everything first, and man last.  I remember when my wife and I were expecting out first baby.  We painted the room for the baby first.  We prepared the crib, bought all the baby blankets, bought toys and stuffed animals.  We prepared everything just to have a place for our baby to be that would be as warm and cozy and beautiful as possible.  As in Genesis, after we saw that it was very good; we had the baby and placed her in the place that love had prepared just for her.

            Our Heavenly Father did the exact same thing for His new children.  Some of the greatest minds in the world are still trying to understand the reason for creation.  By understanding the heart of the Father, it all makes perfect sense.  Everything that was created was for you.  We were predestined in the heart of God, before the foundation of the world.  Ephesians 2:10 (Amp) God laid paths and plans for His children to walk and live the good life that He had planned and prearranged and made ready for us.

            Now you can understand John 10:10 (Amp).  Jesus came so that we may have and enjoy life, and have life in abundance (until it overflows).  In John 10:11 (Amp) He declared that He was the good shepherd and lay down His life for the sheep.  Do you remember what the Holy Spirit wrote in Psalms 23?  The Lord is my shepherd; though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  Once again John 10:10 (Amp) the thief comes to kill and to destroy.  This Psalm is used a lot at the times of funerals, but it is actually a road map through this world back to Eden.  We got the idea that our Father tries us and tests us in such a way that it will toughen us up.  No shepherd in his right mind will lead his sheep to anything but still water.  If you get sheep into turbulent waters and all that wool gets wet, you drone the sheep.  You lead the sheep into green pastures, not brush and brambles.  If sheep get into briars or brambles, they get the wool caught in the brush and either died or get caught by wolves.  If you read the Psalm properly, you find that grace and mercy are always there and the end journey is to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

            The whole purpose of the new birth is so that the Father can now commune with His family as He did with Adam in the Spirit.  God gave us the five senses to be able to deal in the natural world that He prepared for us to live in.  We had to have physical ability to contact the physical world.  But we were supposed to be guided by the spiritual contact of the Father.  Remember when Jesus said, I only say what the Father says, I only do what He says to do; I only go where He tells me to go.  In the Gospel of John 5:30 (Amp) Jesus said He did nothing of Himself, but only as He was taught by the Father.  He wasn’t moved by circumstances, but by the quiet voice of His Father speaking to His Spirit.  We still live mostly in the natural and not in the Spirit, but we are learning.

            God is leading us back to Him in the special place He made for us and that special place is in His presence!  (Psalm 91Amp) shows this perfectly.  The secret place of the Most High is to abide in the heart of God and the perfection of Eden.  We have this picture of the Garden of Eden as a little town called Eden that has a garden full of good things growing out behind a little house.

            The word Eden, according to Strong’s Concordance is #5731 Genesis 2:8 (Amp), #5830, #5727, and #1040 – it means pleasure, delight, delicate, Adam’s home.  #5727: to be soft, pleasant, to live voluptuously, delight ‘self”.  #1040: a house of pleasure and pleasantries.

            The word Garden #1588 God planted a garden Genesis 2:8 (Amp) from 1598 to hedge about, protect, defend.

            This was a protected place that the Father placed His first children in and it was a protected place of safety and beauty, filled with all of the goodness of God.