Paradise Lost

Adam and God were very close at the beginning of their relationship. Adam was created perfect from the un-cursed earth of God’s beautiful paradise.  The Scripture says: So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Gen 1:27 (NLT). The first two people were very intelligent but the Devil deceived the woman into disobeying God. This ruined their close relationship with God.

Separation of our fellowship caused the earth to be placed under a curse. God told Adam the following: And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. Gen 3:17. This was a paradise lost for all the people of the earth, but sadder still was the loss of their relationship with the Creator. 

Some people still feel as though God has abandoned them on this earth because He returned to Heaven which is not under the curse of disobedience. But God loves the people he created and has a great plan to redeem them. This means that someday we can live together with Him in Eternity. We cannot keep these old bodies because they are cursed. The Bible says: For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” Gen 3:19 (NLT). 

The center of God’s plan is for His Son to recreate us into brand new creatures. We can look back in history and see that Jesus came to earth to accomplish God’s requirements for our redemption. Now it is time for us to yield to God’s Spirit and find a new relationship with God. Today we have the unique opportunity of returning to fellowship with the Almighty. People all fell into sinfulness together but we must be redeemed one at a time.

Returning to paradise is the hope of every Christian. Paul tells us: …we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. Romans 8:23-24 (NLT). Serving God has the reward of a new body and life in the new world forever. 

The reentry of the “new” people to paradise will be a very big event. The Bible says: For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Romans 8:19-21 (NLT). What great plans God has for the redeemed. 

Even the angels of Heaven look forward to our reunion with God. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen. 1 Peter 1:12 (NLT). The Good News is that Jesus has come to redeem people and make them into new creatures. God’s plan for Christians is thousands of years old. 

Everything God has done in human history has had the goal of returning people to Him. Unrighteousness cannot exist in the presence of our Holy Creator. Therefore we must have faith that the Lord can change us into a righteous creature. Our new life can enjoy the Paradise of God’s perfect world. We will certainly enjoy our relationship with God as a new perfect us. Wow! The Gospel of the Scriptures is fantastic.

Communication is a Problem

The first step in communication is simple. Some first party expresses themselves in one way or another. They might wriggle their eyebrows or bang on something. Speaking is the most used but it points out a big problem, a second party must understand what is being said. Communication has not taken place until another person understands the message. Our point is that God has sent messages to man for thousands of years but many people have not received it.  

Humans are born into a sure death. If God does not rescue us we cannot enter into eternal life. The Creator is continually sending us the message of salvation. We must receive and obey it. One of the ways God communicates is through the written word. Many times in the Bible we can read this phrase “It is written.”  As the instructions for eternal life are given by God’s servants they will many times repeat great truths given many years before. 

These great facts are timeless. Because God is absolute truth anything He says is good for earth’s 7000 years and all of eternity. This is why many times the New Testament writers will quote the Old Testament. God gave His written word to 44 different men and everything they wrote fits together perfectly. Paul gave us the heart of the New Testament message as given to Him directly by Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). It is that Christ can make us into “new” creatures.

In order to solve most of the communication problem the “new” person that we have become has the Spirit of God living inside. If we make the effort to talk with Jesus, the Spirit in us will make us aware of His answers. Paul guarantees us: You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. Romans 8:9 (NLT). Normally the Spirit does not speak in an audible voice but He has many ways of moving us if we allow it. 

Listening for the directions from the Spirit is mostly a matter of want-to. Most people are ignoring the Spirit of God because they would rather do their own thing. Usually when someone says they cannot “hear” the Spirit it is their own fault. Christians have different levels of reception but they should all understand that the Spirit is supposed to direct their life. There is no other way to live an acceptable spiritual life than to follow the Spirit.

The language of the Spirit is always in love. When a Christian says something that is not in love we can know that it is not a message from the Spirit. There are times when we will say the right thing to another person and both will know that it came from God. It is a wonderful feeling to know that we have done our Lord’s will. Communicating the Lord’s will to others is our part but the receiving must be done by someone willing to “hear” God. 

This is why the Bible says “it is written” so many times. The writers are trying to show us that God has not changed His message to people. There are people today saying that the Old Testament has gone out of date and its stories should not be believed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Learning what God said in the Old Testament shows us what the plan of God has been from the very beginning when Adam and Eve first sinned. 

It is the work of a Christian to communicate God’s plan to those around us. Our work is serious because it involves eternal life. Paul said: So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 2 Cor 5:20 (NLT). The world has a communication problem with God. They will not listen. Our life long work is to plead with people to desire their God.