Dandelions In The Garden Of God

[dave c]

simpletruth #139d revisited 19NOV11 salicart@msn.com

For This Reason—Page Four: Dandelions In The Garden Of God

by rev. dave carter

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1Co 14:33; NIV). The difference between the wilds of a jungle and the organization of a garden (whether speaking literally, or metaphorically) is a matter of the conscious decision to mark-off a segment of time and space; making plans regarding purposes, design, and scheduling; and then getting to work initiating and maintaining the cultivation of what is desirable and the elimination of all that is undesirable. Anyone who has ever made a commitment to any type and size of garden is well aware of how intensive that commitment can become.

The real seed planted in the Garden of Eden, however many thousands of years ago, is to be found in the creation of the First Man...the First Adam. Genesis Chapter Two tells us: 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (NIV).

Why would a good God place His beloved creature, Adam, into a situation where he would be required to resist temptation upon pain of death? The answer is found by returning to Genesis 1:26 ...God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…. In His image we are created trichotomous beings (spirit, mind, and body) as a kind of “snapshot.” In His likeness we are created with the ability to communicate (logos; “And the word was God”; Jn 1:1), with the capability of discernment (“I am the light…;” Jn 8:12), and with the need to establish and maintain relationships (“God is love;” 1Jn 4:8&16).

A part of God’s divine nature and eternal power is centered upon His volitional sovereignty—His choosing to do, or to not do, according to His will. In His likeness, God gave to humanity (you and me) the opportunity of choice to love Him, or to hate Him...to talk with Him, or to ignore Him...to recognize and choose Him, or to reject Him. We must decide for the Kingdom of God, or for the Kingdom of the World. By placing the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the Garden of Eden, God was presenting to Adam a choice as to whether the man would live in eternal communion with his Creator via the tree of life, or to sample the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and so die in his separation from the Divine—first spiritually, then mentally, and finally physically. Without choice, real love is impossible. God chooses to love us and He asks for our love in return (1Jn 4:19). It is our decision as to whether, or no, we kneel in affirmation to His request.

It is volition...our free will/the ability to choose...that is perhaps the strongest “natural” evidence that we are God’s beloved creatures. If my wife remains with me because she has no other choice, we may have a relationship, but it is certainly not a loving one. On the other hand, if she has the freedom to choose day-by-day, moment-by-moment to stay or go—to care for me and to share her life with me...or to withdraw her time and favor—then an environment for real love has been established. This is the gift that God bestowed upon the first man, the first Adam. In Genesis 2:16&17 we see God beginning the process of teaching Adam that love requires willful commitment. John 14:15&21 tell us that the decision to love God commands a continuous choosing to obey His Word. This is a process that endures to this very day in the persons of you and me, and all of mankind.

There are many types of gardens, but there is only One Gardner, and He loves variety. Not all are trees. Not all are flowers. Not all are edible plants. God did not create everyone as an oak, or as a rose, or as a carrot. It is God who decides who, and what, and where we are. It is God who works to cultivate the good within our lives through pruning and weeding and protecting us from the evil that would destroy us. It is, and must be, solely the work of the Holy Spirit to work out the matters of our daily existence. It is, and must be, solely God’s decision as to whether a dandelion is a beautiful golden flower or just an annoying weed destined for destruction (although I do suspect that there is a great multitude of dandelions in the Garden of God).

God is the Master Gardener and we are His eternal produce. His garden may be planted in space and time, but His harvest extends into and throughout eternity. Humanity (each of us individually) is created in the image and likeness of God and each one is deserving of our prayers and the ministry of our hearts, our heads, and our hands. As we read Christ’s parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13:24-30, we learn that weeds have been sown among the wheat in the kingdom of heaven. My friends, there are also weeds among the wheat in the Church...and there are, for sure, weeds among the wheat in my life. Jesus tells us, "The servants asked him, `Do you want us to go and pull them up?' "`No,' he answered, `because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them (Mt 13:28&29; NIV). I fear that too often we are quick to “help” God by deciding for ourselves to pull the weeds (even spraying herbicide) and much wheat has suffered in the process.