A Return to Eden

The angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:1-2

In 95 A.D. the apostle John, exiled on the isle of Patmos, was given a peek into the forever Heaven—after the return of Christ, after the “lake of fire” (20:14), when God will make His dwelling place with the redeemed (20:3).

There, God will dwell with us (Revelation 21:3) as He dwelt with Adam and Eve in Eden. I like what Courtney Doctor quotes in From Garden to Glory, p.229: “God has never given up on his original creation…Reconcile. Redeem. Restore. Recover. Return. Renew. Regenerate. Resurrect. Each of these biblical words begins with the re- prefix, suggesting a return to an original condition that was ruined or lost.”* Ah, but never to be ruined or lost again.

In Eden, in the middle of the garden was the tree of life (Genesis 2:9). In the renewed Heaven life flows from the throne of God with a fresh supply of fruit, hence life, for eternity. And the evergreen leaves of this tree of life will sustain that eternal life forever.**

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the sants.) (Revelation 19:7-8).

The bride, the church, has chosen to make herself ready. She first chose Christ as her bridegroom (Savior). And in so doing, she chose to live that fragrant life of love in God, as Christ would have her live (Ephesians 5:1-2).

What a glorious day that will be!

Nancy P

*Heaven by Randy Alcorn, Tyndale, 2004, p.88

**Thomas Constable Sonic Light online

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted.