Eden

by Robert Marshall
(Clinton, PA)

Everything God did was written in His book called the Bible. At the very beginning Eden was a glimpse of eternal life. Since God had a plan to give eternal life to people, He wanted people to know both sides of life. Good and evil. Since God could do no evil He knew that once He put into play the knowledge of good and evil, Man was condemned to be thrown out of the Garden of eden, which was symbolic of heaven. God's plan took into consideration that man had to pay for his sins but He made a way out through Jesus. If man only knew good what purpose would man be to God. Where would the test be. God knew man would fail, because man was thrust into a situation with a sin nature because of disobedience to God. There was no way man could undo what Adam and Eve did. Man was born into the world ignorant of a sin nature. Man started out not knowing he had a sin nature, but the world soon taught him of that nature. We know we should do good and sometimes we do, then other times we do evil. That is not good enough for God. It will not get us into Heaven. Jesus came to undo what man did. He lived a sinless life and gave that life to man, then God could look at man through Jesus eye's and see Jesus rightousness and faith in those that God would save. Man is here to serve God, not the other way round. God gave man a measure of faith, but that faith will not save man. If a man dies and is not saved then what good is the measure of faith for salvation. It takes the full faith of Jesus to save man. That faith is the gift that God gives man when God saves man. That is What God sees when he looks at a saved man. The faith of Jesus and the rightousness of Jesus. Man thinks he is an okay person. he never stole anything or killed anybody so he thinks he should go to Heaven because of all the good things he does. That is not how it works. God said a leopard can't change his spots and and a person can't change his color. People see differences in other people and since it is not what they think it should be they hate. Blind people are not prejudiced. Only God can change the spots on a leopard and the color of people. Jesus faith and rightousness changes people because it makes them aware that God created everything in the world for his purpose not man's. Man can only overcome evil with good by the strength of Jesus not on their own. The Bible say's all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Man can't change that, only god can. It is a good thing God made man a two part man, Spirit and flesh. Otherwise there would be no salvation. Look at the Angels. There was no provision for the angels to be saved, otherwise satan could have had salvation. By God giving man a body and a spirit God could reverse man's sin by saving the spirit and Giving man a new body that would last forever without sin. So if your looking for Eden, your looking in the wrong place. Eden is a picture of eternal life with God in Heaven.