In general, how would you define “paradise”??
The first man and woman lived in paradise.
Please open your Bibles to Genesis 2, page 2 of our red church Bibles. Read along with me verses 7-16……….
These verses talk about man. But again, in context, man in this passage can refer to both male and female. Gen. 1:27-28 reads…… And Gen. 3:1-2 states …………
And so, when God talks about man in Gen. 2:7-16, man represents both male and female.
What did God provide for the first people, Adam and Eve?
In v7, God provided life.
V8 tells us about a beautiful Garden made by God.
The first part of v9a, God provided all sorts of trees for enjoyment and for food.
And God provided 2 specials trees in the second part of v9b; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In v10-14, God provided precious water and other resources. In v15, God provided work and responsibility.
Did Adam and Eve needed anything else in the Garden of Eden??
God provided everything for the first people on earth! What does this tell us about God? God is a good, wonderful, loving, providing God!
There is one more thing that God provided for Adam and Eve. We read a command in v16. Are all commands bad?
Absolutely not!
When your parents tell you “Watch out where you are going when you’re talking on the cell phone”, that’s a good command! A girl was recently killed as she was talking on her cell phone and walked right into a running train.
If God is a good, wonderful, loving God, shouldn’t His commands also be good?
Because God is always good, God’s commands are always good! And so in v16,
God’s command provided man the power to choose.
Think about this for a moment; If God didn’t give man the power to choose, what kind of a God would He be???
If God created people without power to choose, people would be like “robots”.
If God created people without the power to choose, people would just be slaves to God.
If God created people without the power to choose, God would just be a bullying tyrant!
God is not a tyrant, He is a loving God!
Because God gave man free will, knowing that man would fail, what else can we say about this God?
God is a powerful God who can handle man’s sins!
Why would God create man who would disobey Him if God didn’t have an answer to this disobedience?
God was very clear in v16, if man disobeyed God, man would surely die! God provided everything for Adam and Eve, including the power to choose. But God made sure Adam and Eve knew the difference between right and wrong! Choose rightly and follow God and you will live! Choose wrongly and disobey God and you will die!
Turn with me to Genesis 3:19-22……..
We can read in Gen. 3:19 that sin caused physical death.
And we read in Gen. 3:22, sin also caused spiritual death.
Did Adam and Eve have the power to choose rightly??
Absolutely! Yes, Adam and Eve were given a choice, but they were also given the power to choose rightly!
What did Adam and Eve had right in front of them along side the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Adam and Eve had the tree of life right in front of them! God was allowing Adam and Eve eat all they wanted from the tree of life! God gave Adam and Eve eternal life right in front of their noses!
God provides! God is a good, loving God! God’s commands are always good! God is not a tyrant! God gives people the power and freedom to choose right or wrong. God can handle anything man does. God reveals the consequences for choosing right or wrong. God revealed all of this at the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was paradise for Adam and Eve.
Does God still desire paradise for people today?
Let’s all take a deep breath………..
Do we have life giving oxygen available to us?
How many of you have food in your refrigerator and freezer for a day?
How many of you have food in your refrigerator and freezer for a week?
How many of you have food in your refrigerator and freezer for a month?
I found in our freezer last Wednesday a box of Salisbury Steaks dated January 2007!
God still provides for our lives today!
Now, how do we know if God still loves people today?
John 3:16 tells us………………
Do we have commands from God today?
Our church has a motto, what is it?
This of course is from Matthew 28:19-20………..
God gives His commands through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd!
And do people still have the power and freedom to choose right or wrong?
Can God still handle man’s foolishness?
Does God still reveal the consequences for choosing right or wrong?
Remember what happened at the cross?
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had no sin, was dying on a cross for man’s sins. There were 2 sinners crucified along with Jesus. One of the sinners cursed at Jesus; the other sinner believed by faith in Jesus. And Jesus said to the sinner who believed in Jesus as Savior and God, “Today, you will be with me in paradise!”
God still desires paradise for people, even though people have sinned. Paradise is available today, not from a tree but, from Jesus Christ, who is Savior and God.
Like with Adam and Eve, right and wrong (eternal life and eternal death) are right in front of people’s noses today. Please turn to the Book of Romans Chapter 1; v20……..
No person will have an excuse about their destiny.
God has revealed that He is holy and righteous and has to judge sin. But look at Romans 1:16-17…………..
There is a gospel from God which provides salvation to those who believe by faith. Romans 1:2-5 states…..
The gospel is Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ is paradise!
Let’s look at one more verse, Revelation 2:7, page…….
Jesus is speaking……………
The tree of life which would have kept Adam and Eve from dying is in heaven. And everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will go to heaven and enjoy the tree of life forever!
God’s plan for Adam and Eve was the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God’s plan for us today is Jesus Christ or something else.
Choosing Jesus Christ will give you eternal life!
Choosing something else besides Jesus will give you eternal death!
Do you believe in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation from eternal death?
Your family background, your good works, your belief on other beings, your association with a church, will not get you to heaven. We must all have faith in Christ alone!
God still desires paradise for everyone!
For sure, eternal paradise is only available through belief by faith in Jesus Christ; Belief that Jesus Christ is God and the only Savior for people’s sin.
And Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!” Eternal paradise is waiting for us who believe in Jesus Christ; but,
We can experience paradise now on earth!
Are you experiencing paradise right now? There are many reasons why we have troubles on earth. Of course the answer to paradise is always Jesus Christ. If we do not yield every part of our lives to Jesus Christ, there will be trouble.
Trouble can also happen in our lives because someone close to us is sinning against God. Our sins impact those around us. Pray for those close to you! Encourage those close to you to walk in Jesus Christ.
But the first thing is to always check how you as an individual are yielding to Jesus Christ.
The commands of Jesus are for our own good.
God has given you the power to choose.
Make the right choices!
Always choose Jesus!
