I live on the Bill Rice Ranch where we have thirteen hundred acres, twenty houses, and a lot of staff with their families. It is a wonderful place to live. We are all believers, are all serving the Lord in specific ways, and are all living together on this large ranch. I’ve learned that people tend to think that living on the Ranch is either living in some kind of utopia, a paradise, or living like slaves with a terrible life. Neither is true. The distinction between living in paradise or living in something far less really comes down to the way we relate to God.
Having just read Revelation, I am struck by how many parallels and contrasts there are between Genesis, the first book, and Revelation, the last book. For instance, in Genesis 3 you read about the serpent, the devil. In Revelation 20 you also read about the old serpent the devil. In both books you read about the tree of life. You find fellowship with God in both places. In Genesis that fellowship is broken. In Genesis you find people, Adam and Eve, dressed in fig leaves, and in Revelation, you find those who belong to the Lord Jesus dressed in white garments. In Genesis work is characterized as toil and in Revelation it is called service.
What is missing in heaven? Well, there is no sun or temple because the Lord is there. What you find is the presence of God. What you find missing is sin. So, you have both paradise and paradise lost in Genesis. It is lost because of sin. In Revelation you find the new Jerusalem, the heavenly home, and all that is present when we are in fellowship with God.
What came to mind today is the fact that paradise is the presence of God. Sin is just seeking paradise without God. None of us lives in a perfect world, but it can be better than it would be otherwise if we realize what makes it a better world. Paradise is the presence of God.
In Genesis 3 we find how that paradise was lost. First, you find Satan’s ploy. Verse 1 says, “The serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” What you find is so familiar. Satan is questioning God. Second, Satan is contesting God, flat out saying that God is lying. He says to Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die.” Then he accused God in verse 5, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened.” He is saying, “God is holding out on you.” He questions God, contests God, and then accuses God outright.
Then you find a familiar pattern of sin. Verse 6 says, “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” She saw, she wanted, she took, and then shared with another.
Another familiarity is the excuses of humankind for sin. Verse 12 says, “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” He is saying it wasn’t his fault. He is accusing the woman. Ultimately, he is accusing God. As for Eve, she said the serpent beguiled her. That may be true, but you find excuses.
Paradise was no longer paradise with the absence of God and the presence of sin. We live in a sin cursed world and we are not yet in heaven, but the extent to which your day is a paradise and not a mess is a matter of choice. God is in control, but He has given you choices.
As you read this story, two things change with sin. One is our relationship with others. Adam and Eve’s relationship with each other was never quite the same again. That was because of their disobedience to God. Their sin was not explicitly against one another; it was against God, but everything is connected. If I take care of my relationship to God, everything else can take care of itself to some extent. Putting the relationship to God first helps with other relationships.
Adam and Eve’s first child was the first murderer ever born. It did not take long to mess things up, did it? Why? It is because paradise is the presence of God and sin is merely seeking paradise without God. Sometimes we just want to be right or noble or morally superior. When we do that and no longer have the presence and fellowship of God, paradise is lost. So, sin changes our relationship with others.
Sin also changes our relationship with work. Genesis 3:17 says, “And unto Adam he [God] said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.” Adam would work with difficulty and Eve was to bear children in sorrow. Now, children and work are not sorrow, but in today’s sin cursed world there is sorrow mingled with them.
In Revelation 22 the tree of life is again mentioned. Verse 3, speaking of the new Jerusalem, says, “And there shall be no more curse.” In Genesis 3 we read about the curse. Sin’s curse is toil; God’s plan is service. It continues, “But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.” When we are with God forever, we are not going to be bored. We will be serving. It will not be the kind of joyless work so many of us know today with sweat, toil, and thorns. No, this is a joyful service, and bearing children will not be mixed with sorrow. We will be with God and because we are and in fellowship with Him, there will be great joy.
Today you don’t live in paradise. No one on this earth lives in paradise, whether you live on the Bill Rice Ranch or downtown Philadelphia. Paradise is the presence of God, and sin is seeking paradise without God. Without God, our relationships with others sours. Without God our relationship with work sours. We want love, not animosity and service, not toil.
There is no utopia on this earth and no human can make it so. The one thing that makes a humble cottage and simple life a place of joy and purpose is fellowship with God. Paradise is the presence of God. May God help us to be aware of His presence today and to live in light of that.