The Garden

 Genesis 2: 8-17

“8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

God placed the first humans in a place specifically designed for them; a place where all of their needs were met.  They were also confronted with a choice; whether to obey God or disobey God.  

They were free to choose.

They chose to disobey Him.  And they were banished from Eden.

Although we are no longer living in the lush garden of Eden, God still offers us the abundance of His presence and His love.  And, God still presents us with the same choice of obedience.  

Each day we either choose to obey God or to disobey God.  

The choice is ours.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? (Luke 6:46)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Seventh Day

 Genesis 2:1-3

“1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2 And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.”

People seem to be busier today than ever before.  With our dependence on our cell phones we are always connected to our work, always within reach, never out of touch.

But God believes that we should rest; that rest should be a part of the rhythm of life; that we should plan for rest the same way that we plan for work; that we place the same importance on our rest as we place on our work.

God created something beautiful and wondrous.  

And then he rested so that He could enjoy the fruits of His creation.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Sixth Day

 Genesis 1: 26-31

“26 Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

God created humankind in His image and gave them dominion over every living thing on earth, plants and animals, seeds and fruits.  

Being created in His image meant that we were capable of love, grace, mercy, kindness, goodness, forgiveness, patience, wisdom, righteousness and justice, truthfulness and faithfulness.

God gave us free will so that we could choose the path of love, grace, mercy, etc. over other options.    After all, none of these attributes would mean anything if we could not freely choose them.

Dominion meant that humankind was to choose to manage God’s earth with the attributes of His image (love, grace, mercy, etc.,).

Instead, because of humankind’s bent to sin and fallenness, we have twisted the definition of dominion to mean dominance and control.  As a result, the earth is suffering under our dominion.

Almost a year before he died, Professor Stephen Hawking, a world renowned physicist, wrote that, in his estimation as well as other scientists, humankind has 100 years to find another planet and move to it before the earth becomes uninhabitable.

If we move to a new planet in a 100 years or so, will our basic nature as humans remain the same?  Will we manage the new planet in a different way that we managed the one God created for us?  

Will we choose to manage it as God would manage it?  

Will we manage it in His image?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Fifth Day

Genesis 1:20-23

“20 And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.”

God’s creation is a creation of abundance the breadth of which we are just beginning to realize.  According to the latest estimates there are 100 billion galaxies in the universe containing 200 billion trillion stars. There are 3,200 solar systems in our galaxy alone.

On our earth, scientists estimate that there are 8.7 million species of animals, but the vast majority of them are unknown to us and it could take us up to 1,000 years to identify them all.

Humankind knows only a small fraction of the knowledge that is available to know in the universe.

God’s creation speaks His name to us.  The whole of the universe sings out, saying,

“God is truly great and wonderful.”

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Fourth Day

 Genesis 1:14-19

“14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

Since the beginning of time, people have valued light.  We learned to guide ourselves by the stars and the sun.  We have used fire as a source of heat and light.  Because very few of us like to sit in a dark room, we invented artificial light so that we could light up our houses at night.

We are a people of light.  Light gives us good physical and mental health.  The sunrise brings a new day and a new beginning.  Light gives us hope.

The God of creation is the God of new days, new beginnings, new hope.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Third Day

Genesis 1:9-13

“9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

Have you ever stood on the top of a mountain and looked across the horizon in front of you and below?   Or stood in front of the Grand Canyon feeling its depth and power rising out of its depths?  

Have you ever watched a sunrise or sunset on the beach?  Or listened to a mountain stream while you drifted off to sleep?

No picture, poem or song has ever been able to capture the beauty and power that we feel when we experience God’s creation first hand.

And when we, God’s creatures, stand before such wonders, we know that there is a God…

and we know that He is a good and loving God.  

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Second Day

Genesis 1: 6-8

“6 And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8 God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”

God put structure to the waters and caused the atmosphere to come into existence on earth.  Without water or air, life on earth would have been impossible and the earth would have been a desolate, empty planet.

The normal human has a blood oxygen level of 95%.   Our bodies are composed of 60% water, with the brain and heart composed of 73% water, and the lungs about 83% water. The skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79%, and even our bones are composed of  31% water (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 158).

Life on earth was not a random act.  God meant for the earth to be full and abundant, teaming with life,...

and filled with His presence.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)