The Garden of Eden Prototype

When God created mankind there was a strong bond between the Creator and the Created.  This bond extended to the rest of the earthly creation that God had made.  Man was to work with the environment to subdue it and have dominion.  In other words, he was to dress and keep it.

God and man walked together, they talked together, and they worked together.  All of those things are contained in the first chapters of Genesis. The Creator, Man, and the environment all worked together in perfect harmony in the Garden of Eden. Eden was a prototype for what man was to have in a relationship with God.  It is in this Garden setting, the prototype, that we are introduced to Elohim, God.

“In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth. . . . Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1.1,26-27). The entire earth was created to be man’s Garden of Eden dwelling place. The nature of God is quickly established at the beginning in Eden by the creation of marriage. This oneness, this unity was intended to reflect the Elohim family’s nature. It ties a marriage relationship with Him as its Creator.

“And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:23-24).  This “one flesh” of human coupling flows from the nature of God.  He was establishing His nature in the marriage relationship as a means for us to know Him and to understand His purpose. 

However, Man was separated from the Garden of Eden prototype by sin. God created the earth in order to create a spiritual, eternal family. The relationship between the Father and Christ brings a sharp focus to God the Father’s desire for man’s relationship with Christ.  We can only know and understand the Father through Jesus Christ.  “Jesus said to him ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”’ (John 14:9).   By our acceptance of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we have access, knowledge, and a relationship with the Father (I John 2:22-25).

 The Father/Son relationship that was first shown in the Garden of Eden continues to this day.  It is the model for human conduct.  Those who are “in Him” are connected to the Father and share a family relationship. But if God knew that Satan was going to cause man to sin, why did God do that? 

The book of Hebrews tells us that Christ is the captain of our salvation who was made perfect through suffering: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. . . . Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, . . . For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:10, 14,18).  God anticipated that we will be stronger spirit beings in His family for having gone through the process of overcoming Satan and his world.  It’s like spiritual muscle being built.   It’s also about choice and free moral agency.

Sin requires death, which Satan knew when he conned Eve. God’s plan incorporated a contingency.  In Revelation 13:8 we are told that Christ, as the Lamb, knew from the foundation of the world that He would be killed.  God’s plan was perfectly in place from the very beginning (Ephesians 1:4). We can look above and beyond the mess that’s going on around us and see something beautiful and wonderful in the future that God holds for us.

When Christ was the Word, when He was God and was with God, the Father had a plan of salvation in place (John 1:1-5,14). He knew that man would need to be saved from the result of sin.  Everything from “in the beginning” that we read in Genesis 1:1 to the final Amen of Revelation 22:21 is regarding God fulfilling His purpose of creating His family through the human family.

God set up a plan that gives humanity an escape from death.  It’s called salvation. Here is a quote out of the Theological Wordbook on this subject: “Elohim [God] functions as the subject of all divine activity revealed to man and as the object of all true reverence and fear from men. The title “Elohim” … pertains to His work of creation.”

That work of creation is going on today. “For your Maker [Christ, Colossians 1:13-18] is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God [Elohim] of the whole earth.” As our husband, Christ has redeemed the Church, the Bride of Christ, as the forerunner of salvation (Isaiah 54:5).  As the Elohim of the whole earth – all mankind is to be brought into that relationship with Him. The God/husband statement is an expansion of the union of man and woman in the Garden of Eden.  In fact, the whole creation design is in these concepts. Christ– the husband.  Church – the wife.  Together – the Elohim family.  The model for the “whole” earth.

“’For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,’ says your God.  ‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you.  With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer'” (Isaiah 54: 6-8; Colossians 1:13-18).

All of Satan’s destruction, whether it’s in heaven or on earth will be undone and the original creation will be restored. The Garden of Eden prototype will be restored for all the earth to see and enjoy. The fundamental aspect of human lives is to have a Garden of Eden type relationship.  We can walk with God, we can talk with God, we can work with God, just as Adam did originally. Our physical family, based on the Elohim model where the husband and wife are one flesh, is the basis of God’s work of salvation. A model of Oneness and Unity.

However, now Satan is waging a war, a two-pronged attack: #1 to destroy man’s understanding of God and #2 to destroy the family. “A secular society that has no end beyond its own satisfaction is a monstrosity – a cancerous growth which will ultimately destroy itself. For if Western civilization is so emptied of its foundational, constituting spiritual and moral ballast that it cannot lead world civilization into the future, other forces, hostile to freedom and bearing distorted notions of solidarity, will do so.”

Those who follow Christ have been called to build a strong spiritual and moral ballast to lead the world into the future. God’s plan of salvation involves the reconciling of all of humanity to Himself. Those called now effectively become members of the God family as Christ lives His life in them. This Elohim family is the standard bearer for God’s purpose for humanity and is to reflect the unity that exists between Christ and the Father. One which will be like the Garden of Eden:  

“Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it:  ‘I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles [Unbelievers],  To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.  I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.  Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”’ (Isaiah 42:5–9).

Simply put, God’s purpose is to create a spiritual family, sons and daughters, from the dust of the earth that are made into His image and nature.  He has never deviated from that plan.

Brian Orchard