Our devotional readings today took us through Psalm 104 and also the first nineteen verses of Genesis. Such beautiful images in these passages...I commend them to your reading. Here is a portion of Psalm 104...
1. "Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with honor and majesty.
2. Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment,
Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.
3. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters.
Who makes the clouds His chariot,
Who walks on the wings of the wind;
4. Who makes His angels spirits,
His ministers a flame of fire."
(Note: some of the photographs are from earlier times...not necessarily taken today, but appropriate for this powerful imagery.)
As I read through the whole Psalm 104, I am filled with awe & majesty of our God, our Creator.
Verse 24 says:
"O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions."
Verse 31:
"May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
May the Lord rejoice in His works."
33:
"I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being.
34:
"May my meditation be sweet to Him;
I will be glad in the Lord."
I've been thinking a lot lately about how all of life, as we know it, began in a garden...
when God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it...then He created man out of the dust of the ground (see Genesis 2), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
In verse 8 it says "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed..."
Verse 15: "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." Then He commanded the man, saying (16)"Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat.
(17) "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
And then God created Eve for the man Adam, and they both lived in the garden. We don't know how long it was before the serpent came along and deceived Eve and then Eve convinced Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit...but we all know the terrible consequences of that sin.
Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden (Genesis 3:23-24), "to till the ground from which he was taken", and they were barred from ever returning to Eden because of their great sin of disobedience.
From that day on mankind has had to live a life of toil and much sorrow, because of this great load of sin that was passed on to all of the human race.
And then Jesus came!!
One sat alone beside the highway begging,
His eyes were blind, the light he could not see;
He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows,
Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee.
His eyes were blind, the light he could not see;
He clutched his rags and shivered in the shadows,
Then Jesus came and bade his darkness flee.
When Jesus comes the tempter’s pow’r is broken;
When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
From home and friends the evil spirits drove him,
Among the tombs he dwelt in misery;
He cut himself as demon pow’rs possessed him,
Then Jesus came and set the captive free.
Among the tombs he dwelt in misery;
He cut himself as demon pow’rs possessed him,
Then Jesus came and set the captive free.
“Unclean! unclean!” the leper cried in torment,
The deaf, the dumb, in helplessness stood near;
The fever raged, disease had gripped its victim,
Then Jesus came and cast out every fear.
The deaf, the dumb, in helplessness stood near;
The fever raged, disease had gripped its victim,
Then Jesus came and cast out every fear.
Their hearts were sad as in the tomb they laid him,
For death had come and taken him away;
Their night was dark and bitter tears were falling,
Then Jesus came and night was turned to day.
For death had come and taken him away;
Their night was dark and bitter tears were falling,
Then Jesus came and night was turned to day.
So men today have found the Savior able,
They could not conquer passion, lust and sin;
Their broken hearts had left them sad and lonely,
Then Jesus came and dwelt, Himself, within.
They could not conquer passion, lust and sin;
Their broken hearts had left them sad and lonely,
Then Jesus came and dwelt, Himself, within.
When Jesus comes the tempter’s pow’r is broken;
When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.
The only begotten perfect Son of God, pure and sinless, born of the Holy Spirit...the only perfect sacrifice Who could atone for our sins and open up the way back to "Eden"...that heavenly garden in Paradise...where the tree of life shall be for all those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God...Jesus Christ...Who takes away the sins of the world!
In Revelation 22:3 we are told that there shall be no more curse, and the "throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him."
That beautiful garden in the new paradise where the tree of life shall be forever...
Revelation 22:13 says;
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End, The First and the Last."
We were banished from the first garden...but because of Jesus' great sacrifice, we will live forever in the last garden! What a beautiful and precious promise is this...all because Jesus came for YOU and for Me!! I hope to see you in that glorious garden someday!
