January 2nd, 21

The Way Back to the Garden

Genesis 3 - 5, Luke 2

We were banished so that in our blindness and delusion we would not do something that cannot be undone.  God is going to do something to awaken us from the lie that now clouds our eyes so we can be restored to who we really are.  And what he will do for us, cannot be undone. 

Sometimes we think we have to get ourselves straitened out, at least a little bit before we can expect God to come near to us. But that is not the gospel at all.  We are the ones that run and hide from him, he is the one who come to us.  Yes he had to bannish us from the Garden, but that was to keep us from doing something that could never be undone.  No he banished us, so he could restore us.  Not because he was too holy for us.  God is    he cannot be with us 

We often think that God has driven us from the Garden because his holiness will not tolerate us in oursin.  But that is not why God banished us from the Garden.  But what we see in scripture is that God is not so holy that he must separate himeself from us.   God is not so holy that he must seperate himself from you.  No God has come to us, just as we are, in our delusion, in our darkness, he comes.  

 to restore us to 

Somehow we’ve got to get back to the Tree of Life -  back to Life.  Here at the beginning of this story we see that the Man and Woman have been banished from the garden of Eden.  The with-God life that were created for and were enjoying, is shattered and gone.  After they’re sent out of the Garden we’re told that God stationed a mighty cherubim east of the Garden of Eden and he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.  

After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. (Gen 3:24 NLT)

If anyone tries to get back to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life, they must go under the flaming sword. Payment for our rebellion must be made.  The With-God life that we were created for is a gift.  It can not be had apart from God.  It cannot be stolen or usurped.  It must be received by faith.  But now, tragically, it seems as if there is no way back, through the fiery sword.

But our reading in Luke today tells us that there is Someone who has come.  The Messiah has come to lead us back to the Tree of Life.  He gave up His life, on a Tree of Death, for us. He endured the fiery sword of the Cross, taking the punishment for our rebellion.  And in doing so, He won, for us, a way back to the Tree of Life.  That is the Gospel.

Walk with the One who has made a way for you to return to Life -  the Tree of Life. Jesus has made a way for us to be restored to the With-God life. He offers hope  and joy.  Do you feel stuck and barred from life?  Jesus has come and made a way for you to get back to the Tree of Life.  Follow him and live in him!

You are loved!