Paradise Lost!

By Doug Rhind

Since the beginning of time, people have contemplated the possibility of the existence of paradise, along with the prospect of untold rewards that awaits those who find it. Just mentioning the word fuels the imagination with hope that there exists something far better than our day-to-day personal realities.

What does paradise look like for you? Is it an isolated, uninhabited, lush, tropical island boasting sandy beaches, cool breezes, where there is not even the remotest possibility of snow? If this is your version of paradise, I would remind you that even your idyllic world is not immune to hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions.

For others, your version of paradise is far more pragmatic. It is a place of incomparable delight where the miseries of human civilization are dissolved in the collective harmony of peace, love and happiness. Perhaps it’s this version of paradise that inspired the lyrics of John Lennon’s song, Imagine, the best-selling single of his solo career.

Where is paradise? To a convicted criminal, suffering an agonizing death on a cross, Jesus assured him that paradise was his sure reward for a sincere expression of faith (Luke 23:43). Paul alludes to an experience of paradise so incomprehensible where inexpressible things dare not be repeated in this world (2 Corinthians 12:3-4).

Could it be that paradise existed at the dawn of human history? The book of Genesis records the mystery, wonder, and beauty of the first five days of creation and extols that it was good. On the sixth day of creation, God gathers up bits of dust, the worthless residue of creation, and He breathes His divine Spirit into it and dust turns into a living, breathing being. The worthless becomes priceless (Psalm 8:3-9) and God prepared a garden as a cradle for the crowning glory of His creation. The Garden of Eden— the place where the creator and the created share intimacy, unity, trust, community, love, joy and peace— this sounds like paradise to me.

And then, one-day, one-question, one-temptation, one-choice resulted in sin and paradise was lost. Thankfully, this was not the end of the story. God would orchestrate the greatest restoration plan in human history: Divinity wrapped in dust and nailed to a cross, payment for sin rendered, death defeated, and just beyond the veil of an empty tomb, paradise restored!

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1).”