“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in
How does God’s garden grow? It was the ideal of all gardens ever on earth, so pleasing to the eyes, producing wonderful food, designed by God himself, and including a waterscape with a river flowing through, dividing into four headwaters. Beyond our dreams!
Adam was to be the gardener, “to work it and take care of it.” How well he did his job we never find out. Our attention is diverted to other areas, as was Adam’s.
The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, then took one of his ribs and made a woman. “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh,” Adam said, and from this point on there was something more interesting than trees in the garden.
But we’ve gotten ahead of our story. God had planted one tree in the middle of the garden from which they had been forbidden to eat. You know what happened. With encouragement from Satan in the form of a serpent, Eve ate, and then Adam did. Guiltily, the two of them used the beautiful trees as a hiding place, trying to escape the presence of God.
Sin had entered the garden. Rebellion against God had begun. Hell broke loose. The earth became a cursed place, death a reality. All this ugliness in such a beautiful setting.
But the story is not over. God has prepared another garden,
this one in “the
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as a crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb . . . . On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing fruit . . . and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 21-22).
God is still growing a garden. Enjoy thinking about it now as you look forward to walking in it later. God’s garden grows well.