Paradise Lost, Paradise Restored 10-22-11 Bend 10-29-11 Medford 

Introduction – As I mentioned in my Last Great Day message, this sermon will be a follow-up to that message. 

SPS – The title of the sermon is “Paradise Lost, Paradise Restored.” · We will see how God plans to reverse the cycle of events that resulted in mankind’s loss of paradise and restore an even greater paradise. Original paradise created NLT Genesis 2:7-12 7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. 8 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9 The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground -- trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 ¶ A river watered the garden and then flowed out of Eden and divided into four branches. 11 The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12 The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 

NLT Genesis 2:15-17 15 ¶ The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the LORD God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden 17 -- except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die." · “garden” = paradeisos – LXX (30 occ.) · “The starting point for all Jewish thinking about paradise, under the influence of the LXX, was the garden of Eden" (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, article "paradise"). Paradise Lost NKJ Genesis 3:1-6 ¶ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 

Genesis 3:17-19 17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." Genesis 3:22-24 22 ¶ Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" -- 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Earth destroyed by the Flood (Genesis 6-8) 

Genesis 6:5-7 5 ¶ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." Genesis 6:11-13 11 ¶ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 

Genesis 7:11-12 11 ¶ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:19-23 19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. 

Genesis 8:13-17 13 ¶ And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. 15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. 17 "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." · But mankind was still cut off from God, and paradise was still lost. · Separated from God due to sin NKJ Isaiah 59:1 ¶ Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. 

NLT Romans 5:12 ¶ When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 14 Still, everyone died -- from the time of Adam to the time of Moses -- even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 15 ¶ But there is a great difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ began the restoration of paradise by dying for the sins of mankind. Hebrews 2:14-15 14 ¶ Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 

Luke 23:39-43 39 ¶ Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." 40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41 "And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." 43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." · What did He mean? · "While speculation flourished, there was a growing consensus that the abode of the righteous after their resurrection would be the Garden of Eden, or, as some called it, 'Paradise"" (Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, article "paradise"). · "Used in later Jewish and Christian thought, it appears in religious language as God's garden, where man was placed at first by his Creator. Lost or hidden since the Fall, it will be regained at the end…." (Dictionary of the Bible, Revised Edition, by Hastings, article "paradise"). Paradise restored NLT Isaiah 51:3 The LORD will comfort Israel 1 again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air. · Parallelism proves that Eden is called “the garden of the LORD.” 

NKJ Ezekiel 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God…. NLT Ezekiel 36:33-35 33 ¶ "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed. 35 And when I bring you back, people will say, 'This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!' But we know from the fall Holy Days and the chronological order of events in Revelation 19-20, that Satan must be put away before paradise can be restored. 

NKJ Revelation 20:1-6 ¶ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 4 ¶ And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. · But the greatest, most wonderful paradise is beyond the millennium. The millennial paradise is but a foretaste of the eternal paradise that awaits God’s people. 

NKJ Revelation 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." ' · We learned from Ezekiel 28:13 that the garden of Eden is called “the garden of God.” · The prophecies in Isaiah 51:3 and Ezekiel 36:35 refer to the restoration of the earth. · But this is only a temporary paradise. · Eternal paradise is described in Revelation 21-22 Before the eternal paradise begins, the millennial paradise will be destroyed along with the physical earth. 

NLT 2 Peter 3:2-7 2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. 3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created." 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. 6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. 7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment when ungodly people will be destroyed. 

2 Peter 3:10-13 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 ¶ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. But also before the new heavens and new earth are established, Satan and the demons will be permanently removed. NLT 2 Peter 2:4 ¶ For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness,2 where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world -- except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 

NKJ Revelation 20:1 ¶ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. NLT Jude 1:6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. Revelation 20:7-10 7 ¶ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. · Lake of Fire = what is described in 2 Peter 3? 

NKJ Matthew 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. NKJ Jude 1:13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. NLT Jude 1:13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness. NLT Revelation 21:9-23 Then one of the seven angels … showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone -- like jasper as clear as crystal. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. 19 The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones…. 21 The twelve gates were made of pearls – each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. 

CJB Revelation 22:2 Between the main street and the river was the Tree of Life producing twelve kinds of fruit, a different kind every month…. · “The Tree of Life was in the Garden of Eden…, but after sinning, Adam and Eve had to be kept from it…. Here in restored Eden, the tree of life too is restored. Like the other phenomena of the new creation …, it is unlike anything we now know, producing twelve kinds of fruit, a different kind every month” (Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern). · Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states that in later Judaism of the New Testament Period, "The site of reopened Paradise is almost without exception the earth" (vol. 5, page 767). Under the heading "The Return of Paradise in the Last Age," It continues, "The belief in resurrection gave assurance that all the righteous, even those who are dead, would have a share in the reopened paradise" (vol. 5, page 767). 

Conclusion – So here is the progression of major events leading from paradise lost to paradise restored: 1. God creates Adam and Eve and places them in the original paradise in Eden. 2. Satan deceives Adam and Eve and convinces them to disobey God. 3. Their sin results in paradise lost. 4. Sin increases to the point that the earth is destroyed by a universal flood. 5. Jesus Christ dies to free man from the penalty of sin. 6. Satan is put in restraint. 7. Paradise is restored during the millennium. 8. Satan and the demons are permanently removed. 9. All unrepentant sinners and all traces of sin are removed when the earth is destroyed by fire. 10. Eternal paradise begins, and Paradise is permanently restored. NKJ Revelation 22:14 ¶ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. · …and to live forever in paradise restored.