Last updated on September 25, 2023
“Jesus answered and said to him [Nicodemus], ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”
John 3:3
What would it have been like to live in the Garden of Eden? I used to think it was gone forever because I didn’t clearly understand what God had planned for us in the future.
If we are honest, we know that death overshadows today’s sinful world. We don’t like to think about it, but someday, if the Lord tarries, we will die. However, all is not lost. A thread of love (perhaps it’s hidden in our DNA) links the perfect world that was (the Garden of Eden), the tainted world that is (the Kingdom of Darkness), and the redeemed world of the future (the Kingdom of Heaven).
No good author would pen a book without knowing how the story will end. God has already published the book, and it has the most remarkable ending of any book ever written: The Bible.
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:2
God wrote many chapters of this magnificent story through the prophets as poetry.
“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
And the fish of the sea will explain to you;
Who among all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this,
In whose hand is the life of every living thing,
And the breadth of all mankind?”
Job 12:7
As a Christian author, when I look for goodness in this great universe God has created, I feel His story in verse:
Long ago,
in the Garden of Eden,
I imagine sunsets dancing to colors our eyes cannot see
and waterfalls trumpeting God’s ownership
over the Earth.
Rocks proclaiming His glory
and flowers singing His praises.
The earth’s crust beneath our feet
hints at His creations from ages past.
The stars that shine as angels in the night sky
proclaim His lordship over every living creature.
The winds that mount on eagles’ wings
fill the earth with
His Spirit of redemption.
God longs to live within our hearts. As Jesus said, we will see the Kingdom of God when we are born again. Until that day, God delights in helping us to become more like His Son. I am comforted that God wastes nothing. I can learn from my mistakes if I repent and turn to God. Then, my biggest failures can become God’s fertile soil to birth something better in His Garden of Love.
PRAYER: Please help me, Jesus, to take every thought captive and help me to use every opportunity You give me for Your glory. As a born-again newbie, please help me to be Your ambassador for Good in this fallen world.
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