“Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever— ‘therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken” (Genesis 3:22-23).
When God created the first humans, He put them in a beautiful garden in Eden. This garden was planted by God Himself, and it was the perfect home for Adam and Eve.
But it did not take long before Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord. As God had warned them before, the consequences of their disobedience were severe. From that moment on, humans, animals and the whole natural world were subjected to death. This also implied that Adam and Eve could no longer live in the garden where the tree of life was. God did not want them to live forever in their sin. Therefore, He sent them out from the garden of Eden and placed angels with a flaming sword at its entrance to guard it.
Adam and Eve had to spend the rest of their earthly lives outside their original home, in a world that was cursed and affected by sin. Even worse, sin alienated them from their Creator. Ever since, humans naturally live as “foreigners … without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12).
Do you feel “at home” here on earth, or are you longing for your original ”home” in God’s perfect garden?
Over the next few days, let’s read some Bible verses about God’s care for (spiritual) refugees, foreigners and strangers.