"The LORD God
planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had
formed."
―Genesis 2:8 Suggested reading: Genesis 2
The garden of Eden is a microcosm of the loving, detailed, wise, and lavish provision
of God for man as the crown and glory of creation. The world God prepared for
man included:
●
Physical provision. God gave man food to eat from the trees of the
garden (Gen. 2:9), and He has been supplying food ever since. God also supplied man with physical
work. He put Adam in the garden "to dress it and to keep it" (v. 15). Work is a
pre-fall gift of our Creator. We were created to be industrious. Lack of
discipline and laziness are results of our fallen condition.
●
Spiritual provision. God gave man the
Sabbath for his spiritual profit and physical rest. God wove rest and work into
the pattern of His creation by His own example (vv. 2-3). The Lord offers the Sabbath
as the day in which we meet with Him, learn of Him, enjoy Him, and commune with
Him. In this communion, we find our highest work and chief glory. Do you know
the Sabbath joy of communing with God?
●
Moral provision. Having set man in the
bounty of Eden, God told him what he must and must not do (vv. 16-17). Without
this moral stimulus, man would have remained less than man. This moral
requirement of man is often caricatured as only prohibitive, but God did not
put man into the garden and say, "Now don't touch," like a parent warns a child
going into a department store. Rather, God said: "The entire garden, with all
its trees, is for you, except one, so that you might learn obedience to Me as your
perfect Creator and Father. You will remain free and happy as long as you live
in obedience to My holy commandments, which are good and perfect. My
commandments are not a burden to be carried but a blessing to be embraced."
●
Aesthetic provision. God provided
trees "pleasant to the sight" (v. 9). Eden's trees were not just useful; they
were beautiful.
●
Social provision. God met Adam's
social needs by providing a helpmeet for him (v. 18). He provided a marital
relationship that was complementary (v. 18) and exclusive (v. 24), creating
another means by which man could give God glory.
That
is lavish provision, indeed! Still today, God, in and through Christ, meets all
our needs as He sends us into the world to live for Him. But our true freedom
and full humanity can be realized only when we live within the boundaries of His
perfect will. We become fully developed as God's creation when we live in obedient
faith to our Provider and pursue His glory with all that is within us.