Garden Of Eden (Part 2)

(Read Garden Of Eden, Part 1 First)

Garden of Eden - Land of Paradise
God gave the Garden of Eden to man to tend and keep it, and while it was indeed spectacular, it was not yet paradise. The final jewel in the crown of perfection, the pinnacle of earthly beauty, was yet missing. God declared, "It is not good that man should be alone..." (Genesis 2:18). And even though "Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field," he was unable to find one "comparable to him" (Genesis 2:20). And so, "the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.' Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" (Genesis 2:21-25).

Returning to the alleged contradiction mentioned on the previous page, it's important to note that Jesus Christ accepted the literal accounts in Genesis 1 and 2. In Matthew 19:3-6, we read, "Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?' And He answered and said, 'Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.?" So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate. '" Here, Jesus cited from Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, which shows that He didn't regard Genesis 1 and 2 as contradictory creation accounts that need fixing.

Garden of Eden - Land of Choice
Man was created and placed in the Garden of Eden for one purpose - to share a true love relationship with his Creator God. A necessary component for a true love relationship is free will. By definition, true love cannot exist apart from free will. Unless we have the ability to choose, there is no capacity for true love. A common misconception is that love is an emotion or a desire. No, lust is an emotion or a desire. Love is a decision. Lust is selfish. Love is selfless. Lust is your desire. Love is your decision to put the object of your affection's desire ahead of your own. And so, God gave man the ability to choose -- to choose to love God or to put himself first. "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat'" (Genesis 2:16-17).

Thus, man had a choice: to obey God or to disobey God -- to put God's wishes first, or to put his own desire to eat of the forbidden fruit first. Man ate of the fruit and God expelled him from the Garden of Eden. Paradise was lost. Because of man's rebellion, God has cursed the world for man's sake. God created man with the potential for sin, but did not create sin. Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, actualized that potential and brought sin into the world, and every man and woman since have been "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:4).

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