Randy Veal - Getting Back to Eden: How It Once Was

The Beginning

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, and all darkness was upon the deep, and the Lord God spoke, Let there be, and it was. The awesome ability of God performing His words was perfected. God watched over His word that it didnt return void Isaiah 5:11 says, So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void [emphasis mine], but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The word of God is like rain and snow that waters the earth and causes it to produce fruit, which will be sown in the hearts of men, producing fruit into the mortal world. Deuteronomy 32:2 says, My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Doctrine are Gods instructions that comes directly from His mouth.

Here are the four similes of the true doctrine, according to Second Timothy 3:

1. As the rain. It shall come drop by drop, beginning slowly and increasing more and more until the whole revelation is complete.
2. As the dew. It shall descend gently, silently, and mysteriously upon the heart and ear, moistening and bringing refreshment.
3. As the small rain. It will be like sweeping showers, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.
4. As the showers. It shall be like the continual rain, necessary for the planting and harvesting of the crops.

The Sixth Day
Man Formed and Created (Gen. 2:7)

The Lord God in Christianity is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. God has many names to describes His character. First is Jehovah , which means the Eternal; the Immutable One; and He who was, is, and is to come. Another is El Shaddai , which means the one who nurtures us. He molded man and squeezed man into shape, as a potter does. The body was formed; but the soul and spirit, the inner man, was created.

Man was made in the image of God (the Spirit), and the body began to shape itself into iniquity because of mans disobedience. There are three parts to manthe spirit, the soul, and the body. The body came from the dust of the ground (earth, ashes, mortar, or rubbish), and God breathed into his nostrils (to breathe out; puff; inflate; or blow hard) the breath of life. This is the air we inhale and exhale, part of our respiration. Breath is not the soul or spirit of man, for spirit and breath are distinguished in Job 34:14: If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto Himself His spirit and his breath. The breath of life made the body, soul, and spirit and lives together, and man ( Heb , hayah ) became a living soul ( Heb , nephesh ).

In the beginning, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. It was once said when man stood by God and the angels saw it, they couldnt tell them apart. Man became a speaking spirit just like God, and he was given the ability to control everything that God put into his hands. Man named all the animals, and God wanted him to spread Eden all over the earth. Adam was the first man who could see into the spirit as well as into the natural. Why was this? Before God gave man dominion, his shape, the garden, his wife, and his children, God gave man His exact image. Man had the ability to be like his Creator.

Mans First Home

Genesis 2:8 reads, And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. This is the Garden of Eden. The garden was located in the east of Eden, which was evidently a large district. Two of the rivers had well-known names, Euphrates and Tigris. The other two are not so easily identified. Gihon encompassed Ethiopia, which man referred to as the Nile, and Pishon encompassed Arabia.

There is no known spot where the physical features which fits exactly according with the description here. The garden has been destroyed, and the surface of the earth changed, due to disobedience. Eden was a place of paradise and a place of relaxing. And there, God put the man whom he had formed. This seems to indicated that Adam was formed before the garden was planted.

When God created Adam, who became a speaking spirit like God, He said, Let us make man in our image. First of all, what does God mean with our image? This refers to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. After He planted the garden, He place the man (Adam) to tend to his home. In his surroundings, Adam had everything he would ever needed. He had his peace, rest, and communication with God. His every dependence was from God. Everything he ever need was there in front of him.

After he sinned, he failed and lost the revelation of God. Why do I say that? When Adam was with God in the garden, the Lord God created every animal from the ground and brought them to Adam to see what he would name them. Adam was the first man to have an encounter with God, face to face. (This gave him the revelation of God.) After he sinned, he lost that revelation and gained information (trying to find God). When he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (no, it was not an apple), his eyes became open. Werent his eyes already open?

Yes, his natural eyes were open, but his spiritual eyes became closed. When he sinned, his spiritual eyes were closed, and his natural eyes remained open. Thats why he couldnt see God. When Adam sinned, everything became affectedthe birds, animals, fish, the land and seaeverything. When God called Adam, he heard his voice but couldnt see or feel his presence.

This is what happens when you sinyou lose Gods presence. When God asked Adam where he was, what would you say if God asked you that same question, Where are you? God wants to know where your position is. When God sees you, what is He looking at or what is He looking for?

He Lost His Provision

When God placed man in the garden, he had everything that he would ever needed. He didnt have to toil, scrape, scratch, or sweat to get what he needed. God had already provided for man his provision, without any price. Adam didnt have to bear the weight of his own provisionGod was his source and his supplier. All he needed to do was rest and wait on God.

When Satan had set up his kingdom (the Babylonian system), this caused man to fall from trusting God and relying on Satans perverted, corrupt system. Somehow, man began to leave God out and put Him on the side. They took God out of the schools, the courthouse, and some places you are not allowed to pray openly. This is the Babylonian system. Somehow, some men left from trusting in the only Supplier who always supplied every need to trust in a system that will fail.

Systems like welfare, food stamps, social security, and retirement, to name a few others, when these run outand, yes, they will run outthese things will fail because it is based on a falling state. Thats why when man created some things, they always have some side effect. Thats why we also have a falling state of mind. God never meant for man to take care of His people; He always wanted us to depend on Him for everything. Man was never meant to bear the weight of his own provision or his burdens. Man was created to worship and rest in God. Hebrews 4:111 will tell you all about the rest of God. A lot of people find it hard to rest in God because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:11 reminds us, Let us labor therefore to enter into rest lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

What then should we do? Here are some ways:

1. Admit that you are in trouble. Whats keeping you from resting? James 5:16 tells us, Confess your fault one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The reason why many people cant rest from their struggles because of hidden sin.