God Restores Order to Our Lives

Mel Lawrenz in “Everything New”: God Restores Order to Our Lives

I’ve been giving Mel Lawrenz’s most recent Everything New devotional some thought this week. In “Putting the Pieces Back Together,” Mel provides a powerful description of the order with which God originally imbued Creation—and the subsequent loss it suffered as a result of the Fall.

Eden was a place of perfect harmony. But as soon as we—in the persons of Adam and Eve—took our lives into our own hands, that harmony was disrupted and we were plunged into a new reality of brokenness:

Life would be easier, wouldn’t it, if all its pieces held together. If they always made sense. If nothing ever broke off. If no part were ever lost, or twisted, or detached….

Imagine life in Paradise. Eden was the wonderful opening chord of life, complete harmony with nothing in excess, nothing missing, nothing broken. But when that break did happen (and what an awful shattering sound it made), when human beings said, “we think we can do this on our own,” all creation shuddered and cracks spread throughout.

Our only hope from then on was that someone, somewhere would help us put the pieces back together.

Are we responsible for inborn sin?

This week's reading: Job 25:4 - "How then can a man be righteous before God? How can man born of a woman be pure?

"How can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?" (Job 9:2 ) is probably the most important question in life. The answer is clear: No one can claim personal righteousness equal to God's purity. Paul recognizes that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Ro 3:23).

The problem is, we are born in a sinful condition due to the sin of Adam and Eve (see Ge 3:6-7; Ro 5:12). David described this original sin (as some refer to it): "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Ps 51:5).

Isn't that unfair? How can we be held accountable for something we inherit? The problem with such questions is that we too have sinned. The question instead should be: What do we do with the sinful nature we inherit? Do we indulge it? Or do we trust in the way God has provided to overcome it? Through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, God gives us a brand new nature with a righteous standing before him. This is how we take responsibility for our sins.

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Life AFTER EDEN

Welcome to Life AFTER EDEN

These cartoons do more than make you laugh; they teach, too! The best of Dan Lietha’s hilarious, thought-provoking After Eden cartoons, collected for the first time in one book. Makes a great gift and conversation starter!

Ranging from the time of Adam & Eve to our modern day, the cartoons in After Eden are about the struggles and joys of life in a sin-cursed world. Using biblical history as the foundation, these cartoons convey a thought-provoking message in a humorous way. As you look at each cartoon of a familiar biblical account, you may find yourself saying, “Hmm, I never thought about it that way before.” So get ready to laugh and learn as you take a look at the world . . . after Eden!

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The Tale of Two Gardens

Let's go for a walk in the garden. The serenity of a garden is a good place to get in touch with your thoughts - where you've been and where you are going. And if you are listening, the garden itself may have something to tell you. For if the truth is known, all of life can be told in a tale of two gardens...http://www.awordfromtheword.org/productpix/taleoftwogardens.gif

The Garden of Eden
A well-kept garden is full of spectacular wonders as the shades of green foliage encompass the splashes of color. Yet in the garden of God, there was an exalted splendor above anything we have ever known. The Bible called it Eden and described it as a paradise of sensory pleasure where divine perfection reached out and touched human awe.
"No evil thoughts can enter here," you would say. A perfect environment is the ultimate answer for our human woes. Yet, that is where our pain and trouble began. In glorious Eden, man chose himself over God and plunged the perfect creation into a chaotic pattern of sin and death. The Bible says that every evil and all sadness can be traced to the rebellion of the human heart against God in that garden.
As you think about where you have been, you would do well to listen to the tale of Eden. You, like the rest of us, are the product of that rebellion and subsequent eternal alienation from God. You are a son or daughter of Adam, part of a depraved race that lost its innocence in the first garden. The record of Eden is the story of paradise lost. Your paradise lost.

The Garden of Gethsemane
It was dark as twelve men crossed the brook in the early hours of the morning. Shimmers of light from the not too distant city cast ominous shadows through the garden of gnarled olive leaves. Gethsemane was what they called the olive press so prominently exposed in the heart of the grove. Eleven men lay down to rest. One lone figure knelt to pray. It was a night for evil and the drama of our hope was beginning to unfold in the colorless recesses of the garden - the Garden of Gethsemane.
There was nothing spectacular about this garden. Only the symbolism of olives crushed and oils flowing captures our attention. Yet it was there that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, resisted temptation to rebel against the will of God and submitted himself to be sacrificed for our sins. What Adam had refused to do in the first garden, Jesus agreed to do in this garden - He obeyed. Only hours later, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world.

There is a Choice
The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the "last Adam." What the first Adam lost in the Garden of Eden, the last Adam regained in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now there is a choice. For all who are lost in Adam, there is the hope of being saved in Christ. It is simply a matter of repenting of your sin and placing your faith in Jesus Christ as the One who paid the penalty for your guilt.
After thinking about where you have been, perhaps you would like to think where you are going. Listen to the Garden of Gethsemane. You can go to God's heaven with your sins forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Paradise lost can be paradise regained - for you. That is the tale of two gardens. ■

Dr. Dan Hayden
awordfromtheword.org