FROM EDEN WITH LOVE...
“Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed” Genesis 2: 8.
By default, man was intended to stay in Eden. The passion with which a horticulturist puts a garden together tells a lot of the measure of LOVE he has on the inside. Taking a pictorial description of a garden, the definition of our emotional response is LOVE.
God did more than just make the earth habitable for humans. He planted a garden in which “He put the man He had formed” .This gift of garden is an unmistakable sign of God’s LOVE initiated, for it provided a framework in which God could train humans and give them the reference points needed to face the vast new universe that lay around. It was a place of initiation into life and LOVE! Man would need a model to understand what it meant to subdue the earth.
Suffice it to say that God had always desired that we stay in a most enabling environment for the life of dominion that He would have us live.
The Psalmist puts the pursuance of a LOVE relationship with God thus: “Who may ascend the hill of The LORD? Who may stand in His holy place?” Psalms 24: 3. May in any sentence, by implication exposes that the person / people being addressed cannot accidentally be entitled to a target reward! May explains the reality of requirements for an offer! Who may be permitted to stay-put on the height of authority God intends for man is who may ensure a LOVE relationship with God and fellow humans!
The concept of Eden was for an uninterrupted communion with God. With “unveiled face”, man was open to the reality of nature- no doubt, man saw God in His works of nature, and the atmosphere was just perfect, very Eden. In whichever form God came down “in the cool of the day” to fellowship with man, must have been so enchanting. God’s emphasis is that He seeks a LOVE RELATIONSHIP (AFFAIR) with man!
God’s arrangement that Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to earth is for the reconciliation of man to Himself. The first Adam lost focus due to sin. He abused God’s given opportunity for dominion on earth. “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” Genesis 2: 15.
God always initiates an enabling environment for communication with man; we in turn are expected to keep it well nurtured like a garden.
Sin reduces anyone; in whatever magnitude it manifests, it disrupts communication flow between God and man. Scriptures put it that “If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord would not hear me” Psalms 66: 18.
Sin pulls man off any height of ascending the hill of The Lord, for He is holy and cannot condone iniquity. Sin knocks anyone off existing LOVE cordiality with God. Sin disqualified Adam of the peaceful ambience of Eden! Man lost dominion! Man earned enmity with the creatures he christened! LOVE relationship with God became sour (bitter) and man had to work out his own idea of dominion – he had to till the ground for mere survival. Alas a veil was placed at the door of the temple – man needed a third party link to communicate with God!
My friend, if you have searched all your life for something that seems to evade you. Really, you have diligently pursued dominion yet there is an aching inside that tells you something is missing, I recommend JESUS – the only thirst quencher that satisfies the longing of the human soul. His arms are stretched wide. Oh! behold He knocks at the door of your heart: He wants to help you, LOVE you and commune with you. He will restore the LOVE affair you lost at Eden!
“He is more than a weekly visitation to a stone (cemented / ceramic) building that we call Church. He is more than the historical perspective we find in the leather-bound book we call a Bible. He is more than a morsel of bread and a small cup of wine we call communion. He is the epitome of life (and LOVE). He is the central force from which all things emerge” T.D Jakes (in The lady, her lover and her Lord).
We must reckon from this description that God expects more than our religious routines. It is for our good that we take a step further with God. We must LOVE Him because He first loved us, LOVE must become habitual in our relationship with one another. “Dear friends, let us LOVE one another, for LOVE comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” 1John 4: 7.
To Him who initiated a LOVE for me...
To Him who separated morning and night...
To Him who designed that seed and harvest time be...
To Him who knows the paths of the winds, the tides of the seas and where the moon hides till evening...
To Him who created all that lived in Eden and thought I should be created in His image to subdue...
I offer thanks for your LOVE, for having you in this life of mine, I offer thanks...
My heart goes out to thee in LOVE and thanksgiving...
How secured it feels to know that you LOVE me immeasurably...
Thy countenance explains the beauty of Eden...
You are my beloved... You are my friend...
“For you have freely given me LOVE” Hosea 14: 4a.
The brightness of the morning...
The fairness of the moon...
The glory of the sun...
The breath-taking view of the iroko...
...all reflect your LOVE...
No equivalent of alabaster so my tears I offer to cleanse your faultless feet...
This life you have given me... This LOVE we share... The times we spend...
Just Eden...
Chant I The Lord’s wondrous LOVE!
I stand in awe of you...
From Eden with LOVE,
ayanfeLAMPROS