Gardens

Since the beginning, we have been made keepers… agriculturists of God’s garden.

What an honor, to be so loved in God’s eyes that He gave us such an amazing assignment. It’s like imagining God say, “Here, I created all of this for you. Now tend to the earth and all of its creatures. Take care of this world that I have given you.” And we are not merely keepers of His creation but reflections of God’s image (GEN 1:27). This is the way it was always meant to be, until sin entered into mankind. We were whole, fulfilling our purpose, until we turned our eyes from His garden, to the seed of another.

Read GEN 2:5-15
Since the beginning, we were given the gift of a responsibility to care for what He has made, not only the plants and animal life but every living thing, including each other (GEN 2:18). As a related observation, when God (YHWH) created us, because of His love for us, He also gave Himself the responsibility to take care of us as our head agriculturalist (GEN 2:8)… We can be likened to a plant, because from the earth we were formed, given life by His breath, and then placed in His garden, where we were meant to bare fruit, flourish, and be living proof of His glory. What a beautiful purpose.

Reference GEN 2:9 + Read on from GEN 2:16-17 & GEN 3:1-7
Freedom was free. We were given access to EVERY living thing… Except for one tree. Isn’t it interesting that our human (sinful) nature, many times, tries to avert our focus onto the things we can’t have. That old saying “you want what you can’t have” was used against us in such a way that only a snake would use. (GEN 3:1-6) Our hearts were tricked and our selfish desires were stoked like a flame. The tree that was forbidden suddenly became seducing to the eyes, seducing to “logic”, and seducing to personal gain. They ate of the fruit, therefore, their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. This obviously caused distress because they were compelled to sew fig leaves together for clothing to cover themselves. What they saw (for the first time) in their nakedness was sin… and because of their sin, they were ashamed. Their nakedness was tangible, visible proof of their disobedience to God. This isn’t just an old story about the beginning… It still happens each and every day.

God’s word is life. Anything opposite is death, sin, and rebellion.

ROM 7:7-12
⁷ What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

In all of this, we see that sin causes pain. But pain itself is always a bi-product… a bi-product that can either lead to sin or lead away from sin, to love… leading to death or life.

We were given a flawless, beautiful garden to care for, with what only seemed to be infinite provisions, fulfillment, and sustenance, but with our curious nature, easy persuasion, lust of the eyes, and selfish desires, our focus was shifted away from God’s original purpose, even if for a moment. As we learn in life, although we have received salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, a momentary lapse of judgement has its repercussions.

How many moments like that do we experience over the course of our lifetimes?

Ultimately, we were exiled from the original garden, which I will refer to as “the garden of the spirit” (because in spirit we are one in God), and we were sent out into the world, which I will refer to as “the garden of the flesh” (because in the flesh we are separated from God).

The good news is that because God loves us and His love conquers all, it is not the end of our story!

God is love (1 JOHN 4:7-8)
⁷ Beloved ones, let us love one another, because love is of Elohim, and everyone who loves has been born of Elohim, and knows Elohim. ‭⁸ The one who does not love does not know Elohim, for Elohim is love.

We are taught that love is great and conquers all (1 COR 13:8 + 13)
⁸ Love never fails.

¹³ And now belief, expectation, and love remain – these three. But the greatest of these is love.

God is love, so to be in Him and Him in us is to become love (JOHN 14:19-20)
¹⁹“Yet a little while, and the world no longer sees Me, but you shall see Me, because I live, and you shall live. ²⁰“In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

In this life, we experience pain and suffering, but that is because after “the fall” we now physically dwell in “the garden of the flesh”. But through Jesus’ saving grace, He re-granted us access back in to “the garden of the spirit”, in Him. So that although we may physically dwell in “the garden of the flesh”, we are not bound to or enslaved by it, because we have been liberated, embraced, and equipped with the word of our God and His saving grace through Jesus Christ.

As any gardener knows, in order to have a thriving garden, it takes a relationship. We need to take care of it, nurture it, focus on it. The world is vast and we are presented with many different gardens. If we experience pain, sufferings, or longings, is that what we spend our time focusing on? What overflows from within us?… Is it a garden of love, life, or death? Which garden is bigger than the other? What gardens in our lives are we tending to, tilling the soil of, watering, sheltering from the elements? Let it be love and life above all else, because God is love and God is life, love prevails, and in Him is “the garden of the spirit” which overflows with infinite provisions, fulfillment, and sustenance. In Him and His love, not only are we taken care of, and can take care of what He has given us responsibility over, but we can then (and only then) be living examples of His glory, serving a purpose far beyond our own. In this moment and each moment to come, which garden are you tending to?