Eden, in the Hebrew scripture, means “pleasure.” God created the man and woman and put them in the garden of pleasure. They were both naked, completely open and honest with each other, with no shame, fear, and or inhibition (Genesis 2: 8-25). In every realm of life, everything was pure, perfect, and pleasurable. God designed life this way and intended for us to enjoy life to the fullest in every way, especially in marriage and home life, which is the foundation of society.
There are seven realms of life in which we should be having pleasure: spiritually, in one’s soul (mentally/emotionally), physically, family, financially, socially, and eternally. Jesus taught that the devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy – to rob us of pleasure – but that he, Jesus, has come to give us a super abundant life. Jesus has come to give us a life filled with pleasure in every way in every realm (John 10:10). Sin, living independent from God’s Word and Way, brings fear, rebellion, shame, disease, death, and destruction, into the world today. Sin twisted pure pleasure into perversion.
Jesus came and lived the perfect life and conquered sin for us. As we believe in and rely on him, his purity and victory is given to us. It is God’s gift to us just because of his goodness, mercy, and grace. If we take the gift that he offers to us through Jesus Christ, we are in the position to again partake of the pleasures of Eden in every realm of life. If we refuse the gift he offers, we are destined to a life of transitory pleasures that fade into the emptiness of fear, guilt, shame, and condemnation, with an eternity in the torment of the flames of unfulfilled desire and gnashing regret.
The good news is that what Jesus did for us positions us to partake of a lifestyle of pleasure in every way. We receive this by hearing the Word, turning from our own way of thinking, speaking, and acting, and going the way of the Word following and loving Jesus in every realm. The Word and the Spirit has the power to change all things. As our faith persists in God’s Word, we are changed and we can live in our own Eden, the garden of pleasure that God designed for us to enjoy in every realm of life.
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