The Garden of Eden and the Blood of Christ

“And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken” Genesis 3: 22, 23.

Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, from the presence of God and from life because of their sin. To read the passage for context, click here.

The Garden of Eden in the Bible: One Sin

They only sinned once when they ate the forbidden fruit. But in order to dwell in the presence of God, you can’t sin at all- not even once.

Every person who has or ever will exist on this earth would also have been forever banished. But thanks be to God that the blood of Christ cleanses us and makes us acceptable to God once again.

It again enables us to have access to God. And experience His presence and favor and blessings.

Because of the blood of Christ, Adam and Eve could have been ushered back into the garden, back into the presence of God. And they would’ve been free to eat of the tree of life.

The blood of Christ would’ve justified them which means “just as if I had never sinned”. And the blood of Christ does the same for us as well.

Banished from Paradise

Our sin has banished us from paradise, from the presence of God and from life. But when we accept the sacrifice of Christ, we are cleansed and made holy and pure in the sight of God once again.

This means we are free to go back into the garden- back into paradise and eat freely of the tree of life. And bask in God’s presence and protection and blessings.

The Blood of Christ Restores What We Lost

The blood of Christ restores to us what we lost because of our sin. We are again accepted by God and have access to Him. And we experience His favor and blessings, which are a by-product of His presence.

The presence of God also signifies rest. In the presence of God, we don’t work for anything, not to get saved, not to be accepted, not to be blessed.

These things are all fully and freely given to us in Christ. Our part is simply to trust and obey. “We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. . . but if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them” 1 John 2: 3, 5. 

But when Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, they were relegated to a life of painful toil: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life” Genesis 3:17.

We can’t possibly ever earn or labor hard enough to attain salvation, to be accepted by God or be blessed.

But apart from God and His mercy and saving grace, Adam and Eve had no choice but to toil and labor in futility.

Garden of Eden in the Bible- Ours in Christ

The Garden of Eden represents everything we can have in Christ- everything He died to give us- the presence of God, life, rest, paradise.

And if we continue to walk in the fear of God and allow the seed of wisdom within to mature, we will also attain long life, wealth and honor.

“For she [wisdom] is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.
 She is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
 Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor” Proverbs 3: 14-16.

This is the fruit of wisdom or the knowledge of good and evil. I believe the Lord would’ve allowed Adam and Eve to partake of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil after the seed of wisdom within them had matured.

And it would’ve matured as they feared God and His command to leave that tree alone. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” Proverbs 9:10.

And what was true for them is true for us as well.

But we would do well to remember that everything we do as a Christian should be a response to what He’s already done for us.

From Foolish to Wise to Foolish Again

In fact, growing up and becoming wise is only the first step in the Christian experience. As we’ve seen, wisdom and maturity bring rich rewards. But that’s not the end of the journey.

Once we’ve done the hard work to become wise and are experiencing the benefits, the next step is to give it up for Christ. In other words, to become a fool for Christ. We then have come full circle. We’ve gone from foolish to wise and back to foolish again. To learn more about this click here: What It Means to be a Fool for Christ.

To read another recent post, see Trials, Humility and Honor in the Bible.

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