OP-ED: FROM PARADISE REMOVED

Genesis 3: 24 “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

By Van Yandell

Genesis chapter three is known as “The Fall of Man” Biblical account of mankind’s fall from the grace of God. The blessings God gave to Adam and Eve were to experience a paradise and live without encumbrance forever.

Genesis 3: 3 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” Many interpret “lest ye die” as meaning that before Eve partook of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, she and Adam were created eternal.

Thus, with the fall of man, Eve determined a future in which we would exist. Would they have reproduced had the serpent and the fruit not happened? That question is of course, up for grabs and opinions flourish.

Genesis provides us with a lot of information. But it leaves me with a few questions for which there are no definite answers. We often confuse opinions with facts.

How long had Adam lived before God made Eve from his rib? How long did they live in Eden before the serpent showed up? Why does Genesis 1: 27 indicate God created man by His spoken word (verse 3) and then Genesis 2: 7 says He made Adam from a material; the dust of the earth?

Handed down generational information teaches these things all happened in a few twenty-four hour days, but read word for word, that is likely not the case. Similar non-Biblical sustained information promote that Adam was the first and only man God created; but was he? The easy answer is sometimes wrong!

The word day in Hebrew is “yom” which can be a twenty-four day, a generation or an indefinite period of time. Some astronomers claim the universe is 13.7 billion years old which is also nonsense. Perhaps we should admit, we do not know!

Nonetheless, Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3: 23 “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground (dust) from whence he was taken.”

To be removed from “my paradise” is not just disturbing; it is terrifying! But that fear could also be rationalized by understanding.

America, to many, is a paradise. To live here is to have opportunities many in our world do not have. We have freedoms few have. Many of those freedoms we take for granted but when (if) we realize millions in our world do not have those freedoms, an awakening is experienced.

The freedoms of speech, the press, religion and assembly are a few many assume are basic human rights had everywhere by everyone: not so!

This paradise allows us to work, earn, develop an expertise, save for our future and provide for our families. To capitalize is to use one’s ingenuity, inventiveness, creativity, intelligence and imagination to earn capital to spend and invest in our futures. The American dream must not die!

To capitalize however, can be a two-edged sword. If it leads to greed, selfishness and love of money, it can be dangerous and destroy humanity.

America is also a beautiful land with which we are blessed. The first verse of “America the Beautiful” says volumes. “O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”

Can this paradise be lost forever? Are the ideals of our founding fathers being circumvented and disintegrated by those not understanding how precious this paradise really is?

What is your vision of paradise? Is it witnessing a beautiful sunset or sunrise on a beach along one of America’s many miles of coastline? Is it a mountain trail or walk in the woods? For some their paradise is sitting on the porch listening to the rain.

Jesus said to the believing thief on the cross (Luke 23: 43) “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

Not all of the world’s religions teach an afterlife. The Bible teaches we are spiritual beings, becoming indwelt with God’s spirit the moment we believe that Jesus Christ was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected. Many choose not to believe. What if they are wrong?

Emblazoned above the gate to hell in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno are the words, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”

From paradise, Adam and Eve were removed, but from the place Dante is referring, there is no removal and it certainly is no paradise..

From John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” the first verse reads “Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit, Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man, Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat.”

The one and only one “Greater Man that restores and regains that blissful seat” was and is Christ Jesus. He is past, present and future tense (John 1: 1-3). He is alive, ascended into Heaven to be until He returns to take up His church (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18).

The true believer-followers of Jesus will never be removed from paradise. No man can take you from Him (John 10: 29).

Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary. His email is vmy3451@gmail.com