Devotional: Life Out of the Garden Genesis 3:17-24

“Therefore the LORD sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken” (Gen. 3:23, NASB)

I am scrolling through the posts on Facebook. I come to this posted video in which a young black woman is complaining about what a white man says to her on the bus. Her feelings are hurt, and she just does not understand how this is taking place in 2020.To be honest, I do not understand why people think that things in the world has really changed. In the book of Ecclesiastes the writer tells us that there is a time and a season for everything. Everything remains the same; nothing really changes. “That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed away” (Eccl. 3:15, NASB).

We are under an illusion if we think that the world changes with time. At this time in our history the politicians are telling us that they are going to change things; that they are going to make things better for everyone. Because of their promises we try to determine which politician will do the best job. Unfortunately, we do not realize that although different administrations institute different policies, life does not really change. “Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness” (16, NASB). How did the world get this way? What should I be doing in a world of wickedness?

We learn from the first three chapters of Genesis that God created the world. God is completely satisfied with everything that is. “God saw all that he had made, and behold it was very good” (Gen. 1:31, NASB). However, we learn in chapter three that the man and the woman disobey the Lord. God is displeased and He cannot allow sin to exist in His presence. God describes to the man the conditions that he will live under. The world that the man will now live in is described as a field. The field is the domain of the serpent, the devil. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (3:1). God drives the man from the garden into the field. “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (3:24, NASB).

We live in a field; not a garden. You and I cannot change this truth. Yet, we can have a good life in the world. Because of His great mercy God has revealed His ways that offer to us a good life. First, God makes Himself known to us through laws, statues, and ordinances. These are designed to teach us how to live in the field. In the Gospels Jesus comes to show us the Father. He comes to reconcile us to God by sacrificing His life for everyone who believes in the Son of God.

I can live in the field. I can have a good life in the field. I cannot change this field. I can allow the word of God to change me. I can know God’s words, and I can be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Lord God, I want to have a good life in the field in which I live. Amen.