The Garden of Eden on Earth Again

March 31st, 2017 § 0

Consider what Jesus said again: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9)

Most teach that Jesus is saying here that He is the only Door to heaven when our bodies die. And that is true. Gloriously true! Thank God there is a Door! God did not have to provide a Door, but He did. God so loved the world that He gave us a Door. But most do not know what to do with the rest of His statement. They who are His “shall go in and out, and find pasture.” Jesus is speaking of the use of “the Door” while we live now on earth and not just when our bodies die.

Jesus is saying that the believer lives in two worlds at the same time. In heaven and on earth. Just like Jesus. The believer finds “pasture” or nourishment and rest in another world, in heaven, and we bring that reality into this world, as we “go in and out,” so to speak. This is how Jesus lived every day and it is how the apostles and early disciples learned to live. The Spirit seeks to renew our minds to this new and living “Way.” The scripture speaks of angels ascending and descending on Jacob’s Ladder and then Jesus claims the same thing for Himself, clearly telling us that He is the reality of which Jacob’s Ladder spoke. He is the Door of Heaven! When angels ascend and descend from heaven to earth, they are still angels. We are the sons of God and we “go in and out” between heaven and earth and remain the sons of God.

In context, Jesus is speaking of His followers as sheep. What do sheep find in a pasture? They find grass to eat, or nourishment, and they lay down in pastures of green grass to rest. It is another world. His world. And that world is now inside of us who believe Him. He said that He gives to us His peace and His joy, not as this world gives. Only believe, Jesus said, and we will experience His new world within, no matter what trouble surrounds us in this world. This new world is the Kingdom of God within us through the Spirit. Jesus said that in this old world we would have trouble and pain, but that we can rejoice in it all because He overcame this world and brought us to His new world. Not just when our bodies die, but now.

Rarely, if ever, is this awesome truth taught to the church. But when it is explained to the bride of Christ, her heart leaps within for her Beloved and the Spirit bears witness to the truth. He is the Door not just for us after our body dies but now while we live on earth. Now we are where He is, seated in heavenly places together with Him, and now He is with us on earth, always, even until the end of the world. All possible because there is a Door.

In His world the great love of God continually shines upon us without hindrance or pause. He knows your name and He is for you and not against you. This is the glad news of the Kingdom of God! The miracle of Eden is here again on earth for all who believe, yet better! Eden was a place on earth where heaven and earth intersected. Where two worlds met. A place where God and men could walk together in the beautiful garden on earth. A place where the heavenly Tree of Life stood in all its majesty freely accessible by mankind. Where all things were on earth as they were in heaven. Eden is back because of Jesus, the true Tree of Life. Paradise is not lost. Let him who has eyes to see and ears to hear enjoy his inheritance now and forever. There is a Door.

James Barron