Read: Genesis 2:4-17
The LORD God planted a garden in Eden. (v. 8)
My wife and I enjoy gardening. It’s hard work, but the end result can be so satisfying: blooming flowers, shading trees, delicious vegetables. Even those who don’t garden enjoy spending time in a beautiful garden.
Genesis 2 tells us gardeners are in good company because God himself is a gardener—he planted a garden in Eden. It’s hard to imagine the beauty of a garden designed by God!
God placed Adam in the garden “to work it and keep it” (v. 15). Eve soon joined him in that work. It was the ideal gardening job. Why? There were no “thorns and thistles” in Eden (3:18)! And no wrestling with hoses or sprinkler systems—Eden was watered by streams that came up from the earth to water the ground. Adam and Eve enjoyed the best parts of gardening and didn’t have to deal with the worst. Indeed, they lived in a world without sin—a world that was like heaven on earth.
But Adam and Eve eventually chose to sin against God and were banned from the garden (vv. 22-24). Which leads to a question: Can we ever experience the kind of sin-free world Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden of Eden? Can we experience heaven on earth? The Bible assures us that we will when it tells us about a new heaven and earth (see Isa. 65:17; Rev. 21:1). Journey with me over the coming days as we explore God’s promise of the new heaven and new earth.
As you pray, thank God for the beauty of his creation.
Rich Bawinkel is a retired pastor who has served churches in the Reformed Church in America and the Kingdom Network. He is married to Anne and serves as a musician in their local church, as the administrator of the Kingdom Network, and on the Words of Hope Board of Directors.
