Thank God for the Fall?

Have you ever found yourself wishing you could go back to the Garden of Eden before the Fall? Even a vacation there sounds good, doesn't it? Think again. According to Genesis 2:8-17, though prefall Adam lived in the Garden without the effects of sin, he lived under the continual condition of having to live up to God's law of prohibition regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. According to Romans 5:12ff., Adam did not merely live under the pressure of continual obedience to avoid death and God's wrath for himself but for all who would come after him. Adam's obedience before the Fall not only put such pressure to perform on him, his achievement (until he fell) made him an object of self-gained glory. Suddenly, life before the Fall doesn't sound too great.

In contrast, what a blessing it is to live on this side of God's gospel promise in Genesis 3:15 where Christ (the second Adam) perfectly performs in our place both fulfilling God's law and dying for our sins. And our current context, in contrast to life in the Garden, turns the spotlight of glory fully on Christ where it belongs.

So, the next time you wish you were in the Garden of Eden, think again. Life in this fallen world for those of us who enjoy God's grace isn't so bad after all. Heaven, though, will be best of all.