GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 3)

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GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 3)

In the last part of our new series we saw that God created humans to ‘rule’ (have dominion) over the earth. We find that in the first chapter of Genesis. In the last Book of the Bible, Revelation, we find humans ruling and reigning with God forever. If those were the only two portions of Scripture we read, we’d think everything worked according to God’s plan and purpose. However, there are thousands of years where humans did not (and are still not) ruling and reigning with God on the earth. Why? What happened?

Let the Training Begin!

God’s eternal plan and purpose is for humans to rule and reign with Him. However, His plan includes training us to reign with Him (Train to Reign). The training period began soon after God created the first human being – a male named Adam.

God the Creator made a place for Himself to dwell on the earth with the humans He created. It was called Eden. God created Adam in Eden, then took the man to live just east of God’s land in a place called the ‘Garden of Eden.’ Lots of homes around the world have beautiful gardens near them, so that should be a surprise that God built a special ‘Garden’ for humans to live.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Genesis 2:7-8

Think about that. You are living next door to God! You live in His Garden!! And what a Garden –

And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9

Every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Yummy! But wait a minute – what’s this? “… and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ ?? We know about ‘good’ from Genesis 1, but why a tree that contained knowledge of ‘evil?’ Did somebody sneak into the Garden overnight and plant the ‘evil’ tree? Nope. Genesis 2:9 says ‘the Lord God made every tree,’ including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God created that tree for some reason – but why?

Basic Training

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you^[shall surely die. Genesis 2:15-17

We have just been introduced to God’s plan for ‘basic training.’ It started in the Garden. God gave Adam his first orders –

tend the Garden
keep the Garden
eat from the Garden, except for the fruit of one tree

The Hebrew word for ‘tend’ is עָבַד (abad -to work, serve). The Hebrew word for ‘keep’ is שָׁמַר (shamar – keep watch, protect, preserve). Okay, I get the ‘work, serve’ part, but why ‘protect, preserve?’ Protect from what? Keep that word in mind as we continue through this series – shamar – because it is at the heart of our training.

Moving on. Not only did God plant the tree of the ‘knowledge of good and evil,’ He told Adam that if he ate from that tree he would ‘die.’ Die! What? Wait a minute. God created Adam in Eden, built a Garden next door where Adam would live, created lots of trees with great food to eat, then said there was one fruit that would kill him if he ate it? Why would God do that?

Next Time

There has to be something more going on here – and there is – a lot more. We’ll dive even deeper into that vital topic in the next part of our special series – Train to Reign.

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GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 3)