by Don Hatfield
Adam The Garden
Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul”
I can talk about it now although I could not for years. As a matter of fact I could not talk about it for nine hundred and thirty years for that is how long I lived on earth. Nine hundred and thirty and years of painfully seeing what one moment of disobedience cost. For I am Adam the first, not the second or the third but the first. I am the first created by God. The first formed of the dust of the ground. That is what Adam means red clay or one made from red clay. The first who had the breath of God breathed into him. That breath of life which is spirit for our Creator is also Spirit. That breath that took the red clay and turned it into a living soul comprised of body, soul (personality) and spirit. Forgiven, I was forgiven back there in the garden but often with forgiveness there is regret. I am so thankful for forgiveness from my Redeemer but memory and regret stayed with me for those nine hundred and thirty years.
“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden: and there he put the man whom He had formed.”
I guess I should start at the beginning and the beginning was in Eden. Eden means paradise and paradise it was. Again I was not born there I was placed there by God. You might ask but how did you know? How did you learn if you had no one to teach you? I don’t know but I knew that I just knew certain things. I knew what colors were. I knew what leaves and plants were. I knew that the orb that gave heat and light was the sun and the ones that came out at night were the moon and stars. God placed this knowing in me when He created me. Perhaps if I had not disobeyed all who came after me would just know. Let me take you back to the garden. How do you describe Paradise? It is beyond description but I will try to give you a glimpse by using the five senses that I was endowed with.
First, to see it was awe inspiring and humbling at the same time. My sight was better before the disobedience. I could look at the sun and see its flames darting in every direction. They were never the same always changing their magnificent display. The moon was always full for there was no changing of the seasons then. Stars glowed much brighter than they do now. They were like diamonds one turning on and another turning off. I would lay at nights and watch there magical show for hours. Sometimes my Father would have them put on a show as they fell to the earth in great white flashes only to be quickly replaced by another burning brightly. Often when this would happen I would fall to my knees in worship when I observed the awesome power of the one who loved me. Me, just one little person and He made all of this for me. Each morning as I awoke and looked around the garden things would be different. For just as my eyesight was better things grew so much quicker. The only word that comes to mind as I remember its beauty is exquisite and even that word does it no justice. Imagine if you can the most beautiful place that you have ever seen and multiply it by a thousand and it would still dull in comparison to my first home. Flowers blooming in vivid colors forming their own tapestries while they floated in a sea of green plants and trees. Fruit that glowed with ripeness twinkling as the sun would melt the dew off of it. Trees that swayed while a gentle breeze caressed their leaves. The river that flowed through the garden sparkled in its clarity. I would often see gold flowing down its currents. Gold which meant nothing to me at the time. The river was deep and the creatures which lived in the sea would often swim in it for everything was fresh water at that time. My disobedience brought change to everything that existed. My disobedience polluted the whole earth from the plant that grows in the ground to the soul that grows in man. Stay true to your God and Savior for regret can last a lifetime. I never even got to the very boundary of the garden for it was huge. Huge like the boundary of His grace. His grace which is limitless. The grace that I am so thankful for. I could talk forever about the glow of the garden that I saw with my eyes but now I need to tell you what it sounded like there in palace that God built for me.
Did you know that the stars used to make music? At night you had to listen very carefully but if you concentrated just on them your ears would began to hear their music. Millions of violins, trumpets, drums all the instruments that you can think of in perfect harmony. That is the only way you can describe the music that came from them. The parts that each star played would sometimes come to my right ear and then another part would sound in my left ear as they played their music. I might hear the violins in my right ear and then coming to my left ear would be the trumpets. Always in perfect harmony and never the same. A different concert was performed every night and the show was put on just for me. What a loving Father we have. At times when one part of the music would take over the stars that it came from would glow brighter. I know they were all playing music in honor of their glorious creator. It was glorious. I believe that they still sing their songs but the sound of it has been hidden by the sin that has enveloped the earth. Every morning I would wake to a chorus of animals singing their morning songs of praise. You are probably thinking that the birds were singing in tune with one another and you would be right but did you know that lions, bears and all the other animals could also sing in harmony together. I would laugh and laugh when the elephants would wake me up in the morning singing together down at the river. Often the lions would be there mingling among them and if they started singing you would hear the elephants trumpets and then the big bass of the lions intermingled with them. That too is gone now lost in the chaos of sin. Oh, the glory He had planned for me and oh the shame I brought upon it. You might ask but why did He let that happen for He is the creator of it all. Think about it and you will see for what other power can you think of that would love you like He does and still give you the right to choose to disobey Him. The serpent wants to enslave while our redeemer wants to give us the freedom to choose. True love desires that you choose to love not be made to pretend that you love.
I will now tell you how it was to use the sense of touch there in the garden. My bed at night was the ground but oh what a bed it was. Softness that conformed to my body. The grass blanketed me with its softness. I never worried then about being bitten by bugs at night nor attack by animals. I could just lay there on a bed of flowers or grass staring up at the stars. Walking on the grass was like walking on a cloud each step cushioned in comfort. Have you ever had a lion lay it’s head on your lap while you felt the silkiness of its mane. I have. Have you ever petted a skunk? I have. I have ridden on a dolphins back feeling the slickness of its skin under my hands. I have sat upon an elephants back while we paraded through the garden. It was nothing to have a squirrel riding on my shoulder, a parrot on my head and a monkey holding my hand as I walked on the silky grass.
The fragrance there was new each morning to my sense of smell. One morning I would wake to the smell of lilacs while the very next morning I might wake to the smell of roses. Each flower, plant and tree had its own fragrance. Each one would bring its own aroma to my nose. A nose which had not been tainted by sin. The animal’s hides and furs had their own smell different from the flowers. But you had to be close to them to smell it. Often I would snuggle with a bear and her scent was always a fresh clean smell. Perhaps the smell of morning dew describes it best. Morning dew when the sun is just beginning to dry it off. Perhaps the most obvious of the change in smells was of course the skunk. Back then before the sin and chaos began the smell that she would secrete was that of a fresh ocean breeze. Gone, all of it gone in a moment destroyed by a lie that we chose to believe rather than the truth that was so evident to our senses.
Last, the sense of taste that has been so diminished. How I do miss that sense of taste that was given when I was first placed in the garden. Did you know that before sin entered into the world that you also would eat all of the fruit or veg
etable? There was no waste to be disposed of. For example when you would bite into an orange the skin would have a slightly different taste than the pulp. But both would taste delicious. There was no bitterness to the skin of a banana. Everything was delectable. My taste buds were alive then not dulled as they were after the disobedience. Everything thing tasted ten times better then. There was no rot as the fruit and vegetables stayed ripe until you ate them. They were just waiting for the picking. If only man could learn what a price disobedience costs. It promises what it does not give. It promises freedom and gives enslavement instead.
I end my description of the garden knowing that I did not even began to describe its beauty or comfort. I do know that after my shame the eyes became blind,, the ears became deaf the smell became foul, the touch became calloused and the taste became bitter. That is how it was and is for each generation that followed. Born into sin with no idea of what paradise was. Thank your Father and His Son for
