As the Garden gate closed, God had another in mind

Listen here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/1f4b2a5d/the-garden-gat...

This Garden . . . O, this Garden. 

Isn't it just like God to put the first couple, Adam and Eve, in a perfect paradise?  Everything the two could desire, and certainly everything they would need, surrounded them in the Garden, located in Eden.  God himself planted this garden for them,¹ [Words fascinate me. Did you know that 'garden' came from the Persian word paradisum meaning paradise?  God intended for human beings to live in Paradise!], where there was no corruption of any kind, no unbearable heat or humidity or drought, no gophers, Japanese Beetles, aphids or blight of any sort. And how were things relationally for the first couple? Well, things were never better than for the this first husband and wife; no problem figuring each other out, no guilt, no shame. Adam and Eve also enjoyed a perfect relationship with God their Father. Life was as it was meant to be. Then, they erred~ the link: Genesis chapter 3: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&versio....

When Adam and Eve had to leave, as they were no longer perfect, the gates of the Garden closed behind them, but, God began making a way for close relationship again. His plan included another garden--this one was set in an olive grove near the base of a small mountain just outside of Jerusalem. The Garden in Eden at the start of all things and another garden as part of God's plan to be reunited with mankind.

->we learn something about our loving Father here--he is fond of gardens.

As for the next garden, Paul wrote, 'In the fullness of time', meaning 'at the most advantageous time',   God gave us Jesus, his own son, so that we could become his children again.²    

I remember when I was a kid wondering 'why in the world did God wait so long to send Jesus?' But now I get it.  Listen up - Jesus was born in Bethlehem, under the rule of the Roman Empire, where there was relative peace (Pax Romana), a common language(Greek), and enjoyed a system of roads and highways.  All of these enabled the Gospel - the Good News of Jesus - to spread, to take hold, and indeed to start a revolution of grace, and that, forever.

Jesus often went into the garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives - Gethsemane - to be alone and to pray. However, one night, after three-plus years of ministry, things could have ground to a screeching halt.  You see, it was on that night in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus agonized with the Father about another way for mankind to be made right - other than his suffering, his crucifixion, his separation from the Father (when God had to turn away from Jesus as he became sin on the cross).  On this night, it was for all the marbles. 

You know, the Bible is full of rich symbolism, but much of it is not readily obvious to the reader, which is why studying the Bible is so worthwhile. For instance, the name/word Gethsemane comes from an Aramaic word meaning "olive press." Get this--olives went through three pressings to remove every ounce of oil.  The three pressings of the olives are symbolic to the three times Jesus asked his Heavenly Father to 'let this cup pass from me', (Matthew 26.39. 42, 44).³  Yet Jesus allowed himself not only to be pressed for our sake, but crushed.  He made that decision in the beautiful Garden of Gethsemane, in which he was soon betrayed by his friend, arrested and shackled.  

I've been in that Garden, prayed in and around those old olive trees several times - it is so powerful to picture how Jesus must have knelt there, probably with twigs under his knees, eyes cast upward toward the One he loved more than anything.  In. the. garden.

A prayer: Thank you, Father, and thank you, Lord Jesus, for making a way for us to have relationship with you . . . direct access, no less. We are invited to come directly to you ourselves. Thank you that you not only love us so much, you desired for us to live in a garden paradise like the one you planted in Eden, but it was in another garden that Jesus would do what he came to do, and as a result, we could be in Paradise  again , but this time,  forever. Help me live today with one eye cast toward Paradise with you forever. Hmmm... forever is a long time. Amen.

Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx5VsSkjP0w

In.the.Garden.

Christine

PastorWoman.net

^{1 Genesis 2.8}

^{2 Galatians 4.4-5}

^{3 The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi, Kathie Lee Gifford, 2018.}