Adam and Eve were driven from their garden home, driven from security and safety and serenity and success and satisfaction, separated from God! The loneliness and desperate agony of loss must have been overwhelming. As they looked back, they could see at the entrance to what had been their home a powerful angel standing guard with a sword swirling like a mad dervish, preventing any thought of return. The finality of their separation from all they had been created for must have been devastating.
Since there was only one entrance into the Garden and it was guarded carefully and constantly, it was not just hard to get back into God’s presence-it was impossible! God Himself prevented it. Neither Adam nor Eve, nor you nor I, nor anyone ever born into the human race could ever get back into God’s Presence. The Garden of Eden, God’s heavenly home, can never be regained through human effort. Paradise was lost!
But, praise God! Heaven’s door is opened and paradise regained at the cross!
Most days, my schedule is so packed that although I love my friends, I resist interruptions. Because of the pressure of time, without meaning to be rude, when someone rings the doorbell, I sometimes go to the door, stand inside the house with the screen door still fastened, and talk to the person on the other side. If it is a neighbor, we can share common experiences in raising a family or discuss the weather or neighborhood news. I may not invite the neighbor in because I know if I do, our visit will involve much more time than I have to give.
Many people seem to have a “screen door” relationship with Jesus. They talk to Him in prayer, and He talks to them through His Word; they can enjoy His presence, but they never invite Him to come into their lives as Savior and Lord. He’s on the outside, looking in. So the apostle John gave you and me motivation to open the door and invite Him to come in: “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
So . . . open the door to Jesus.
God left His throne at the center of the universe. He set aside His glory, and He humbled Himself as He took on human flesh.
He came to His own – those whom He had created for Himself – but they didn’t receive Him.
They contradicted His Word.
They challenged His authority.
They denied His claims.
They questioned His motives.
They mocked His power.
They rejected His Person.
And God in Christ submitted Himself to their slapping, spitting, mocking, taunting, flogging, and stripping then allowed them to nail Him to a cross where He gave His own life as a sacrifice for their sin. And mine. And yours. His own death satisfied His own judgment for sin, and we are saved. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
