EDEN

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Eden is where it all began and Eden is where we look to for answers to questions about man’s life here on earth. God created the world and finally as the masterpiece among all his creation, formed man. He placed man in the garden of Eden which was located in the east, with a river flowing through it, providing man and the garden with water.

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(Genesis 2:9)

Eden was obviously a most beautiful place. God created numerous different types of trees in the garden and they were pleasing to behold and gave man a variety of food to eat. He could both enjoy beauty and satisfy his hunger while living in the garden. The latter represents the satisfaction of the various physical needs that come with being a human being, including the need to eat, drink, get sleep, obtain rest and so on. But being human is much more than satisfying physical needs. The former represents the need that man has to satisfy the non material urges within him, including the need for appreciating beauty, reflection, wonder, gratitude and so on. 

Living in Eden was much more than that. His life had purpose and meaning, without which life becomes empty. His purpose was to work the garden and take care of it. Being a gardener in Eden was likely very different to being one today. It is unlikely that the plants and trees decayed and died like they do today because death was not yet part of human experience. But trees do need water and pruning.  He was also to rule over all the other living things on earth. Man is made far superior to all other animals and operates at a level far higher than what animals do. Despite attempts by science and media to portray that chimpanzees are smart and orcas learn and adapt, it would be quite silly to conclude that animals are like man. In fact when we consider animals and see them being limited by instinctive behavior and operating at a much lower level, it gives us a glimpse of how God could be- operating at a higher level that is quite incomprehensible for man, yet able to interact with and love man, like we are able to with animals.

Working the garden and ruling over the other living things set man on a course of enjoyable exhaustion. The ground readily grew things and working the garden was not laborious, rather a matter of joy. Man needs to work and do things while on this earth. The nature of work might range from professional work to charity work to taking care of the home, but without meaningful work of some sort, man won’t be satisfied as his urge for meaning remains partly unfulfilled. Ruling over the earth and working the garden also gave man the means to let his initiative and leadership come to fruition. When God creates man as the ruler of the earth, it indicates that man is formed with the ability for some initiative and leadership. This becomes manifest as man names the animals and birds. It is likely that the naming was much more than giving names, it probably also indicated the roles these animals would play in creation as decided by man. Initiative and leadership manifests in various ways and expresses itself to varying degrees in different people but is a need nevertheless in man.

God sees man’s loneliness and creates Eve out of Adam’s rib. The need for social interaction and partnership between humans and the need for a deep union between husband and wife is seen in the workings of the first couple. And because she was taken out of man’s own flesh, she would in union with him become one with him.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bonesand flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’for she was taken out of man.”That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23,24)

At Eden, Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with each other and with the rest of creation leading it, nurturing and enjoying it. Everything changed though, when sin came in and ripped through the paradise that Eden was.

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