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Why We Need Eden
Why We Need Eden
“God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”” (CSB’17 Genesis 1:28)
• Subdue – to subject, subdue, force, keep under, bring into bondage (BDB)
• Rule – to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down (BDB); to rule, to have dominion, to subjugate (CWS)
That “world” sounds absolutely nothing like Genesis 2 where the animals are brought by God to Adam and he names them (v.19). That picture is serene. How do we harmonize the two?
1. Some suggest these are two, disparate stories, written by different authors, describing two creation accounts. No doubt they are written from two different perspectives (geocentric vs anthropocentric). That, however, doesn’t need to be the explanation.
2. I’ve wondered if Genesis 1 is foreshadowing the exile out of Eden – peaceful before sin and struggle outside. That is a possibility.
3. It has been suggested only Adam and Eve lived in the garden as God’s priests, while all other created beings lived outside.
4. Another thought is, Genesis 1 is outside of Eden, and Genesis 2 is inside Eden and its garden. This fits a theme throughout the Bible. This fits the trifold language of Genesis 2:
OUTSIDE EDEN: “These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,” (CSB’17 Genesis 2:4)
GARDEN OF EDEN and EDEN: “The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed.” (CSB’17 Genesis 2:8)
Peace is found within God’s presence. God walks in Eden (3:8). This also fits the trifold nature of the Tabernacle and Temple. The Garden of Eden would then be akin to the Holy of Holies.
The church today, and its assembling together in person, is God’s dwelling place. Yes, God is everywhere, God being omnipresent. But there is something special about our assembling together in person (1 Corinthians 14:25). Being sick and missing services, (and even Zoom), then coming back one “experiences” something spiritually different and needed.
That’s the real meaning of John 14, not heaven, but the kingdom Jesus had been preaching as near, or “at hand”. “Dwelling place/mone” (wrongly translated “mansion”) appears only twice in the NT, both in John 14:
“In my Father’s house are many rooms (mone); if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.” (CSB’17 John 14:2)
“Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home (mone) with him.” (CSB’17 John 14:23)
But like Eden, evil creeps into the church. Instead of turning down the Serpent’s song, too many sing it. Eden is lost. Again.
This brings us back to the differences between Genesis 1 and 2. I wonder if Adam and Eve were originally to live both in Eden, to take care of God’s temple garden (Genesis 2); and outside where it is rough and dangerous (Genesis 1). They lost their escape from one reality of ease due to sin.
Another application is, this is what Isarel was to be, a light to the world. But the world darkened God’s chosen nation where His temple was. Then came exile. Outside of “Eden”.
We believers must also dwell in God’s temple, while simultaneously living in the wilds of this fallen world. We must do this without letting the world into the church. The church must change the world, and not the world change the church.
Mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, we need the calm and comfort of fellowship with God, His people, and worship. Yes, we can worship and must worship when not assembling, so every analogy has its limits. Sin can cause us to lose that soothing presence.
Life is challenging. Don’t give up our spiritual Eden, because that’s where we find calm. We need assembling together in person. When together we need peace. Who wants to fight and struggle continually, outside, where we need to survive by subjugating our world? Who wants that same struggle inside the church?
That is one reason we – I – need Christ’s church! It is our Eden.
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