Hello Everyone,
Planted in the garden of God. A flower garden is place of created beauty. Some of us love to tend our gardens and others simply enjoy the bouquets of beauty. From the beginning of creation to our 21st century villages, with our suburban back yards and balconies, gardens remain a feature of human life; for humanity was born in the most magnificent, flourishing, abundant garden of God. The Bible speaks metaphorically about God as the ultimate Gardener and gardens embody some parallel realities with our journey as Christians as we are all planted in the garden of God.
So, what are some of our parallel realities we find in the garden metaphor? Eden was created as a place of exquisite beauty and delight; it was a Kingdom garden. As a perfect, holy sanctuary for life, it was the meeting place of humans with their God. Humanity was the rarest, most exquisite and unique creation of God. They were planted in perfect union with Him. In this magnificent garden we find God as the ultimate Gardener, tending his creation. Tragically, humanity “uprooted and overturned” the garden of God by trying to garden their way through life on their own terms. They rejected the ultimate Gardener and were expelled from their creational home. Thankfully, God is a passionate Gardener who set out to redeem His garden and every human that was ever to be planted in His grand garden of life.
Even in our wilted state, humanity yearns to be restored to the ultimate Gardener and be securely planted in the garden of God; it’s where we belong; in relationship with Him. It is in God’s garden we find truth, meaning, beauty, purpose and fulfilment.
We cannot go back to the original garden, but we can remember Eden and the promise it originally held. The promises of God have not changed. What God deposited in the seeds of our original creation, He longs to bring to fruition through our salvation. In God’s garden, this side of the resurrection, we find a far more extravagant garden. Being planted in the garden of God is utterly dependent on the utmost sacrifice of the Gardener, and this time, the design of the seed of salvation is a little different. In 1 Peter 1:23 we read about a new kind of seed that still holds the DNA of original creation, but is now imperishable. God replants us into His garden with an imperishable seed, which is tended by His grace, cultivated by His forgiveness, watered by His kindness, and nurtured by His love. We cannot perish in this garden, even though the weeds of destruction may come and try to ruin us. This imperishable seed allows us to bloom and flourish in response to our grand Gardener. Being planted in the garden of God means we can put our roots down in the garden bed of grace and become all God created us to be.
So, friends, get your “garden” on today.
Best days to come
Wen