Wednesday 28th January - From Eden to the New Jerusalem

DAILY BYTE

On either end of the bible there are two glorious scenes that seem to frame the message of the Bible as a whole.

The one is the story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2 – 3. The other is the story of the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem, in Revelation 21 – 22. The first is a story about our origins, our earliest beginnings as people created by God. The second is a story about our destiny, our ultimate destination at the culmination of human history.

You’ll notice that the settings for these stories are quite different – the one is a garden, the other is a vast and dazzling city. Yet I’d ask you also to notice some striking commonalities in both.

In both the garden and the city there’s this river that flows.

In both the garden and the city there’s this tree that grows, called the tree of life.

And in both the garden and the city there’s this presence of the holy – which is experienced in the one as the gentle sound of footsteps in the cool of the day, and in the other in the dazzling light of glory. It is none other than the presence of the Living God.

I want to suggest that these two scenes from the very beginning and the very end of the bible, so different and yet so strikingly similar, represent the framework for the message of scripture as a whole and the picture of God that emerges within it.

I want to suggest that the images of a flowing river and a tree of life go to the very heart of who God really is, and what God’s truest intentions are for the world.

And the point, quite simply, is this. In all of life, from the simplest dimensions of our existence to the most complex, from our most primitive beginnings to our most glorious destinations, there is this presence of God that flows through our midst enabling life to be known and experienced in all its fullness.

That is a great biblical truth worth pondering. Especially as you reflect on the particular circumstances of your life right now. God is present with you. God’s presence may be perceived in different ways, and sometimes you may struggle to perceive God’s presence at all. But through all of our life the presence of the Holy flows, like a river of life, nourishing and nurturing us and enabling us to stand firm and strong, and to live lives of fruitfulness and purpose.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, thank you for the witness of scripture that reminds us that from from the very beginning until the very end of all things, you are present, and that your presence brings life. Open our eyes that we might recognise this reality more and more, and open our hearts that we might take hold of this truth and live out of it more and more. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

Genesis 2:8-10

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden

Revelation 22:1-2

Then 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.