8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. Genesis 2:8
The man was in the garden alone. At this point he had no limitations put on him. He was free to do whatever he wanted and go wherever he pleased. It was a sinless existence, and with that meant he could live forever. How long was he there before God formed Eve? No one knows.
I someimes try to imagine what it’s like to live in a sinless society: no pain, no violence, no anger, no wars, no pride, no evil acts committed against one another, no disappointment, no sorrow. It doesn’t take me long to get depressed over what has transpired these last thousands of years, from pure bliss to what we have today. What acts man has has been able to devise to hurt someone else is mind-boggling, and much of it in the name of power and money.
But, all is not lost. There is hope. As long as there is sin in the world, we will not be returning to that garden of bliss any time soon. We can certainly ease the pain and burden of a few, but all of that junk is here to stay unfortunately.
We can, however, look forward to that place where there is no darkness, no sorry, no pain, and no tears to dim the eye. I, of course, am talking about heaven. And we do have the opportunity to lead others to that place of eternal bliss as well.