The Garden of Eden is the only paradise that has ever existed on planet earth. Did you notice why God put Adam in the garden? Adam’s purpose was to “work the garden and to take care of it.”

When people think about heaven, people think of angels floating on the clouds strumming harps. And they think, “What a boring way to spend eternity!” And they are right if that’s what heaven is like. It’s a good thing that they are wrong.

When we are in heaven we will be working and tending to our garden. We will be doing what we were created to do. That will differ for each of us, but we will be plenty busy living out our created purpose. AND we will absolutely be filled with joy and satisfaction as we live out our purpose.

The second thing I want you to notice about God’s creation is the forbidden fruit. God gave us the entire creation for our own freedom. There was just one thing that God warned us about. What is that one thing? Self-autonomy is our forbidden fruit. When we convince ourselves that we don’t need anyone or anything telling us what is right and wrong, how to live and what to stay away from. When we believe ourselves to be self-autonomous…that is what leads to eternal death and damnation. Because when we believe ourselves to be self-autonomous, we convince ourselves that we do not need a God or a Savior.

And when we do not believe we need a God and a Savior, we will certainly die.

God is God. And this God loves you. Put your trust in God and his word.

“But God demonstrates his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Yesterday’s meditation asserted, “one of the most dangerous and hateful things we can do is to celebrate and affirm what the Bible calls sin.”

If the Bible is true and if God is truly God, then celebrating and affirming sin makes it impossible for sinners to repent. And when sinners don’t repent, sinners will never be saved.

The most tragic thing about all of this is that God has already made a way for sinners to be saved. God sent his Son to die for sinners. That is great news! That is the most amazing news our world has ever heard.

The reason why this is such good news is because we are sinners. And if we are sinners, and there is a God who has made a way for sinners to be saved, then that is tremendous news!

And, that’s just the thing. The starting point is to agree that we are all sinners in need of a savior. In a world that clamors and demands that we affirm and celebrate sin, declaring that we are sinners in need of a savior is frowned upon.

But, Christian, whether it is frowned upon or not, it is true. Not only is this true, this is the greatest news in the history of the world!

Let the world know that Christ is Savior!

Let the world know what God has done for sinners in Jesus!

“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)

We live in a world where anyone who stands for a biblical worldview is viewed as a bigot, hateful, and discriminatory. The currency for our current world is tolerance and acceptance. Anyone who claims a view that is contrary to the spirit of tolerance and acceptance is not tolerated.

Absolute truth? About the only thing absolute is tolerance.

But, what if the Bible is true? That’s what Christians believe.
What if God is the only one who gets to define what is sin and what is not? Because that’s what the Bible says.
What if there is no other way to God except through Jesus? Because that’s what Jesus said.

God never asked for our opinion. God never asked if we agree. God merely declares.

God can – just declare. Because he is God.

Because God is God, because the Bible is true, one of the most dangerous and hateful things we can do is to celebrate and affirm what the Bible calls sin.

Either the Bible is true and God is God, or we can do away with all of this Christianity stuff. But if the Bible is true and God is God, we need to find more loving ways to communicate God’s truth to a world who is hell bent on rejecting it.