Prompt: Lost and Found, Precious Stones, photo, digital art, by Larry Elmore, by Justin Gerard

In Genesis 1:1 to 2:3, I shared with you a vision of a perfect world:

• Part 1

• Part 2

• Last Part

In that world, we are told in the following chapter that the first human couple lived in Paradise.

Whether we take this as a "myth" as most biblical scholars do today or as part of unrecoverable human history as traditional interpreters do, the lesson remains the same. It is about losing an ideal life and finding ways to regain it.

The Importance of Retracing One's Steps

If someone loses something that he considers precious, he will do his best just to find it. Maybe it's a book, a wallet, or a key. Usually, when that happened to me, my immediate response was to return to the places where I had been. In doing this, I tried to recall what I did hoping to remember where I might have possibly lost the thing I have been looking. We see here the importance of retracing your steps in finding something that you lost.

Genesis 2:4-3:24 is a story that Moses wanted to teach his generation to retrace the mistakes committed in the past to avoid them. Learning this lesson was very important for them to recover "life in paradise" as they journeyed from Egypt to the Promised Land.

The title of this article is "Paradise Lost and Found." This message teaches us basic truths about paradise. In reading the second chapter of Genesis, we see the blessedness of the life of the first couple in Eden, how they lost such blessedness, and how they would regain that original happiness.

In this post, I want to share with you three basic truths about paradise:

Life in Paradise was lost through disobedience

Paradise was Adam's residence and place of work (2:14-17). It was a very peaceful and secure residence and abundant workplace; work was not difficult.

However, though the situation was perfect, God still saw man's need for companionship and so God provided man with a suitable helper to fulfill his task (2:18-25).

Earlier in the story, we are told that God gave man a command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Unfortunately, Adam failed the test of obedience (3:1-21) and as a result, God sent them out of paradise (3:22-24). Since that time, the entire humanity has been born outside paradise. To regain life in paradise, humanity needs the Tree of Life (3:22).

Man's life before disobedience was characterized by harmony in terms of his relationship with God, with his wife, and with his work. As a consequence of disobedience, hostility followed in man's relationship with God, and with his wife, and work became painful.

Relevance of the Story to Moses' Time

Moses wrote this story of disobedience to warn his generation not to follow in the footsteps of Adam and Eve. We know that the life of the Jews in Egypt was like hell, the exact opposite of life in paradise. In Egypt, they suffered religious confusion, political tyranny, and economic slavery. Sin was destroying the life of Israel. That's why Moses wrote this story to encourage them in their suffering in Egypt and to provide them a vision for their journey to the Promised Land.

In many ways, life in paradise is similar to life in Promised Land. One connection is the emphasis on holiness. Moses stressed the holy character of Eden and related it to the holiness of the Tabernacle, and the holy character of Canaan. That's why calling the land of Israel a Holy Land is an accurate description. The point is that though God dwells everywhere, his presence lives in Eden, in the Tabernacle, and Israel in a special way.

Returning to the story, we see that the life of Adam and Eve started inside the Garden of Eden, but ended outside of it. In short, paradise was lost through disobedience.

Life in Paradise can now be restored in Jesus.

You will notice that inside Paradise God emphasized the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But since humanity is now outside paradise, the emphasis shifted to the Tree of Life. In other words, for man to re-enter paradise he must be allowed to eat the fruit from the Tree of Life.

In the Old Testament, the identity of the Tree of Life is not so clear. However, in the New Testament, we read that the "tree of life" is not a "tree," but is associated with the coming of Jesus.

In Jesus, there is life. Those who believe in him will be restored to God. In short, believing the gospel of Jesus is the way to regain life in paradise.

In Romans 5:18-19, we read that Jesus was compared to Adam in a way that as Adam's disobedience brought condemnation for all men, the obedience of Christ brought life for all men. This is the case because Adam was the head of humanity and Christ is also the head of those who have faith in him. This truth teaches something very important for us in applying the story of Adam's sin to our lives. The only way for the lost life in paradise to be found again is through the righteous obedience of Christ.

Life in Paradise entails a responsibility to remain faithful to Jesus.

Faithfulness is a very important theme in Moses' story about life in paradise. Though Eden was a place of great blessing, it was also a location that required fidelity to the word of God. Moses emphasized the theme because he wanted his generation to remember that the Promised Land to which they were going also required faithfulness to God's commands.

Notice how Moses emphasized this requirement:

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the Lord promised on oath to your forefathers (Deuteronomy 8:1).

In other words, if the Israelites would be faithful to God they would have the opportunity to receive long life and happiness in the land of Canaan, which is a foretaste of life in paradise.

In the New Testament, this call to faithfulness remains. Paul said:

But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

We see here that Paul appealed to Eve’s negative example to warn against the worst kind of infidelity — turning from the true gospel of Christ. Just as Moses used the story of Eve’s temptation to warn Israel to move faithfully toward the Promised Land, and just as the apostle Paul used the same story to warn the Corinthian believers, we are also admonished today to remain faithful to Christ if we want to maintain a blessed and peaceful life.

Remember that God's call to faithfulness is not a commitment to a losing cause but to a winning cause. Our victory both in time and eternity has been secured. However, the security of our victory requires a struggle to overcome the enemy. The apostle John said:

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).

Notice here the need to overcome for Jesus to give us the right to eat from the tree of life. I believe that this text is important both for Christian's present responsibility and the assurance of future victory.

In Genesis 3:15, we read God's word to Satan that one day the human race would crush the serpent's head. The apostle Paul used this exact expression in Romans 16:20 where he said:

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you (Romans 16:20).

In this text, the apostle was saying that God will soon destroy the enemy under the feet of Christians. Ultimately, this will be fulfilled in the second coming of Christ where Jesus Himself will personally destroy Satan.

Conclusion

We have seen that paradise was lost through disobedience, is now regained through salvation in Jesus, and that this new life requires faithfulness for us to enjoy a peaceful, happy, and victorious Christian life both in the present time and ultimately when Christ returns.

Grace and peace!