A Taste of Heaven

 

By Pastor Nick Bibile

 

Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

 

Moses wrote the book of Genesis. The audience of that day was the children of Israel. The children of Israel have been delivered from the grips of Pharaoh and they are leaving Egypt. Moses is their leader and we are sure they asked Moses, “Moses where are we going?”  Moses would have replied, “We are on our way to the land of milk and honey, the promised land.” “What is it like Moses?” This is where Moses may have explained the creation of God, the Garden of Eden, entrance of sin and the rest.

 

Adam means mankind. Adam represented all mankind. Adam took a leadership role as he named all of the animals, yet he couldn’t find anyone suitable for him. God gave Adam the provision of companionship. As God made Eve, Eve means the mother of all living. When Adam saw the woman he said:

“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman, because she was taken of Man.”  They were both naked and they were not ashamed.  (Gen 2:23)

 

Eve was Adam’s helper. The word woman in Hebrew is a very strong word; it means contribution and assistance to the husband.

 

Adam and Eve enjoyed the Garden of Eden, which God made for them.  They were fully naked and were not ashamed as clothes came in with sin, so did houses. The heaven was the roof of Adam’s house and the earth was his floor. Everything was natural, God made, nothing was mad made; there were trees under them were his dining-rooms, his lodging-rooms, and never there were any rooms so beautifully naturally created like these. God planted a garden with natural beauty as God created natural furniture for Adam by the wisdom and the knowledge of God. The word Eden means, delight, pleasure, it was a garden of great delight, a place of paradise, a place of supreme pleasure and delight. It was a place of delight as God made the garden and there is no true paradise only if God was the creator of the paradise. It was a paradise because there was the highest perfection; joy and the glory were displayed in the paradise. There were no weeds, thorns or thistles in the garden as it was a perfect garden. There was no heat, hot humid type weather or cold climate, it was just perfect, and it was a paradise. It was a place where there was no pain, no tears, no sorrows, no hardships, no trials and difficulties, my beloved this was heaven on earth. Yes, the Garden of Eden was exceedingly delightful and could be also called a temple garden, as there was that beautiful fellowship of God. God himself came and had fellowship with them. There was the tree of life. Christ is now to us the tree of life (Rev. 2:7; 22:2), and the bread of life, Jn. 6:48, 53. There was a river flowing from the Garden of Eden. Water is always a picture of blessing. River flowing through the garden was God’s blessing to man. Jesus said he is the living water, as he said, “He who believes in Me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)  Yes, it was a place of delight and pleasure as God himself had fellowship with man, man had the highest happiness.  What a great blessing!

 

Psalm 46:4 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

 

Also in Ezekiel 47 and 48 there was the vision of the new heavens and the new earth. There is the temple of God and water flowing.

Ezekiel 47:1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar.

 

Just a footnote. The modern day dispensational church believes Ezekiel 47-48 is about the future temple that is going to be built when the Lord reigns in the millennium. They believe there will be sacrifices. Question is why there should be sacrifices when the Lord Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice, also there is another big problem Ezekiel 47 and 48 there is no ark of the covenant, there is no golden lamp stand, no altar of incense etc., 

 

Let’s get back to our message, see Revelation 22:1

 

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

 

Genesis 2:15 “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it.”

 

The Hebrew word for tend is ‘abad’ and keep it in Hebrew is ‘shamar’. Abad and shamar are used for priestly work in the Bible. Adam was doing priestly duties, working on behalf of God to the honor and glory of God. So the Garden of Eden was a temple garden, as there was God himself having fellowship with Adam, there was the tree of life and the river flowing, which shows the waters of life. Adam was doing priestly work in taking care of the garden on behalf of God for his honor and glory. Adam’s work was not a work of hardship with sweat, but a work of delight and pleasure for God’s glory.

 

After we taste the heavenly bliss (extreme happiness) how is it possible for man to fall? We see the fall in Genesis chapter 3. We see the Big Lie of Satan, when he said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” (Gen 3:4)

God knows in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

God is the one who decide what is good and evil but now Adam and Eve wants to be like God, so they can decide what is good and evil. They wanted to throw God out of the Eden and they wanted to be like God. Beloved, isn’t this what is happening today, people wants to decide what is good and evil and not what God says in the Bible. It is their authority and not God’s authority. We are living in a culture where people want to get rid of God, as they wants to be like God.

 

We know the story how sin entered the human race. What a fall, man fell from the heights of delights, heights of pleasure and blessing to the lowest of curse, pain, sorrow, tears, hardships, death and hell. He fell from the light of God to the darkness of sin. From the heights of perfect happiness to the lowest of deep sin. Beloved that’s why it is called a fall.

 

However God in his mercy didn’t leave to be ended up in the lake of fire, he sent his beloved Son to this fallen world.

 

Jesus first message, as he said in Matt 4:17, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Yes, we lost heaven on earth when we sinned, yet if you do repent of your sins, there is the promise of the kingdom of heaven again.   God is not through yet, for all those who believe and trust in him, he has prepared a city for them, and this is a heavenly city.

 

Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

 

Read Revelation 21:1-8; 22-27.

 

Moses is telling the children of Israel these stories but now they are in the wilderness, there is hardship, trials, difficulties instead of going forward to the promised land, the land of milk and honey they wanted to go backwards as they remembered, the fish the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic they ate in Egypt. Yes, Satan is working 24 hours a day seven days a week still deceiving and lying to people, he knows he is going to the lake of fire but he wants to take many as possible with him. He is tempting for you to have worldly pleasures, worldly delights, this is the happiness the enemy wants to give. Beloved, this was not the ultimate happiness where Adam enjoyed, Satan is promising an earthly happiness, fallen world happiness, happiness that can turn into sorrows, happiness that is temporary, happiness that is against God’s will, happiness of sin, happiness that will lead you to the lake of fire. 

But there is a real happiness. God is perfectly happy. He is constantly happy. The angels are always happy. Heaven is a perfect happy place; there is no sorrow or tears in heaven.  God is the author of true happiness. God manifested in the flesh in Christ Jesus. Jesus is inviting us to partake this true and everlasting happiness.

 John 7: 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

In the Garden of Eden there was a river flowing, and that river was a blessing to Adam and Eve. Water is always a blessing. But who is the true water of life? It is Jesus who said he is the water of life; he is the fountain of life. He is the source of blessedness. He is the fountain of living water open to all.  He is the source of happiness, joy and peace. Whether you are poor or rich you can have that peace and joy in Christ Jesus as out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.

The well of living water is Jesus; this well is never shut or sealed, always flowing. There is a double call. “Come, and then drink” The invitation is not limited but he said, “If any man thirst…”  The invitation is to all. The invitation of the gospel is not limited but universal.

Adam and Eve was banished from the garden of Eden, they lost the paradise, there was no more heaven on earth, but there is our beloved Savior Jesus Christ, there is hope for us God has promised a heavenly city to those who believe and trust in him, come to him. 

 

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