The Lord gave Adam and Eve a very beautiful thing - the free will to choose.
He told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And when they did they lost their innocence - they saw evil and darkness for the first time and as a result death, pain, sorrow, suffering, sickness and disease entered the world and they were sentenced to till the earth and toil for their food.
But most tragically the relationship between Adam and Eve and the Lord had been broken. The evil and the darkness which they now knew separated them from their pure and holy Creator and they could no longer walk and talk with Him in the cool of the day. The communion and the fellowship which they once enjoyed was gone.
In spite of Adam and Eve’s decision to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the Lord put forth a plan by which He would restore everything back to the way it was in the Garden of Eden - He would send forth His Son (the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, the Sent One) into the world.
According to Hebrew thought the role of the Messiah is that of restoration - the restoration of Man’s relationship back to his Creator and the restoration of heaven and earth back to the way it was in the Garden of Eden.
The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus at His first coming accomplished the first part of the restoration. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us. Jesus died so that you and I might live. Jesus is the antithesis of the apple in the Garden of Eden. And just as Adam and Eve chose to eat the apple and died it is up to you and me to choose Jesus and live.
The Lord gave you and me a beautiful thing - the free will to choose.
And if you and I choose Jesus then through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit our relationship with the Father can be restored - we can once again commune and fellowship with our Creator.
Just as the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus at His first coming accomplished the first work of restoration the power, glory and majesty of Jesus at His second coming will accomplish the second work of restoration.
2 Peter 3:13
But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
At the second coming of Jesus He will establish His Kingdom which will have no end. There will be a new heaven and a new earth - one where there will be no death, no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, no sickness, no disease and food will be in abundance.
But most importantly you and I will know Jesus and the Father in all of Their fullness, majesty and glory because we will see Them face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
When Jesus returns the restoration will be complete and you and I will be able to walk and talk with Jesus and the Father in the Garden of Eden.
So…
