Exile - East of Eden

The first exile – SIN. And its consequences. One of which was living East of Eden.

Eden. Earthly reflection of heavenly Paradise. We were created good and put into a good place. Very good.

 Unbroken communion with God. 

Cooperative relationships with others. 

Meaningful and purposeful work. 

Stewards of God’s creative beauty. 

Rulers of his dominion. 

Alive and well.

And only one clear instruction in Eden Paradise – do it God’s way. Have all. Enjoy all. All in a sense of stewardship. Only one tree was off limits.

Cue suspense music. 

 Danger.

A tempter. 

A slithery snake like spirit. 

A rebel. 

A renegade from the heavenly Paradise – the heavenly kingdom.

An angelic worship leader – created to reflect the glory of his creator. 

 But Proud. Not happy to sing another’s story, to sing to another’s glory.

Turned from glory reflector to glory monger. 

He lost his place in the original Paradise so he was not happy to see God’s created human agents enjoying their own Eden.

Question causally asked. Probably even with a smile. But loaded with hidden intention. Crafty.

“Did God actually say?”

Rhetorical intonation to the question - surely not! – but rebellious undertone embedded in the answer.

From question to statement. A little more force. Overt suggestion. And clearly loaded with implication and accusation. 

“God is hiding something from you.”

He has something that he doesn’t want you to get your hands on. Because when you get your hands on it then you will be like God.  And who doesn’t want to be like God?

Why would you want to remain a prince and princess when you can be king?

Go ahead, you will see; your eyes will be opened.

That sounded good and looked even better.

The anatomy of temptation – we saw, it was a delight to our eye, we desired, and so we took!! 

Desire. One of the original gifts from God. But sadly when directed toward the wrong object or purpose. Idolatry. Glory-less worship.

The crafty serpent works in half-truths. Yes eyes were opened. But what they saw did not make them godly and they were suddenly afraid.

Cover-up. Shame. Hiding.

Deflection. Blame. Kicking the can down the road. 

Relationships broken. 

Rulership forfeited. 

Exiled from Eden.

Paradise Lost. 

And the rest of the story is every human effort to get back to Eden.

The Genesis account keeps reminding us that we are a wandering people east of Eden. Longing for Paradise again.

Centuries of wandering with clues but often aimlessly. And then the New Adam.

He left the original Paradise. He emptied himself of all of its benefits (Philippians 2:6-11) to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

The restart of the Eden story sounds familiar to the original plot line.

Spirit hovers over darkness– this time a virgin womb (Luke 1:35).

And God said – the Word became flesh (John 1:1,14).

Good and very good – he was born flesh as us but without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Crafty snake with similar approach of question followed by statement – 

Did God really say? 

I have a short cut for you to royalty!

But the Second Adam will have none of it and does not fold under the pressure (Matthew 4:1-11).

He came in blood and flesh with a purpose - to destroy the work of the devil (Hebrews 2:14; I John 3:8). He came to fulfill the original promise by stepping on the head of the crafty serpent spirit (Genesis 3:15). And so he triumphed over him (Colossians 1:15).

Humanity could now get back to Eden. The Way Maker had made a new road. But knowing that there is a road home is not the same as being on that road. Thomas expressed our dilemma clearly - Lord, we do not know the way.EXILE. Still east of Eden. Implication – show us the way.

The Eden longing. The God-man, Jesus, gave humanity a return ticket to Eden, to Paradise. “I am the way . . . no man comes [back] to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Eden – abundant life. Paradise – eternal life.

And the road to both is a person not a set of directives.

And as it turns out, Eden is not really a place. It is a traveling kingdom within you and among you. 

And Paradise is beyond our wildest imagination – “no eye has seen, no ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Corinthians 2:9).

The discovered Way makes the realized Exile worth it.

Name it – I’m lost east of Eden.

Claim it – I’m found in the Way. Eden is now here with me. It is God’s Kingdom rule with all of its blessings.

Ahh, there it is again. From in exile outside of Eden to on exile with Eden.

On exile with you in a long tradition of exiles.