The Lord planted a garden in Eden. We don’t know exactly how, except that it was fully grown. It has become another name for Paradise, but all Earth was like this then. So, why this special place?
First, God wanted to give mankind a home base. Hence, He put the man in the garden. He knew that a place for comfort and security would be important. Eden, then, was man’s first home. It was a place where – as children were born, grew up, and had their own families – they could leave and come home to whenever they wanted.
As Christians, our home is in Heaven; we are travelers in this world, on our way to what comes afterward, which depends on where we put our trust while alive here. In Heaven, there won’t be any pain, suffering, or anything else bad. God won’t allow any of that stuff to hurt us.
Will people leave New Jerusalem – Heaven on Earth as shown in Revelation 21-22 – and explore? I don’t know. It will probably be so different that human words would not be able to describe how incredible it is, and how unlike our existence today.
Second, it wasn’t just a home, it was a place God could show His grace. Notice that He put the man there, which seems to imply Adam was made somewhere close by. God had established linear time with the foundation of the world. He was further putting things in order by having an established place for people to be. They could go anywhere, but oh, what an incredible place that was which God had given them.
Just think what that may have been like, when God placed man there. Presuming Adam was not created there, this means God made him somewhere nearby, and placed him in the most incredible place, filled with all sorts of wonders. We don’t know how. Perhaps as the first theophany – God taking on human form before the Incarnation as Jesus Christ – He walked with the man, or He carried him. Whoever, whatever it was, imagine the thrill of knowing that God had not only breathed life into him, but had placed him in Paradise. What heights of love, that God would do this for man. Man had done nothing to earn or deserve it – He was simply placed there. What great love God had for this most special of all creations!
