I love this quote: “When I am silent the noise of the world fades and I hear the echoes of Eden in my soul, a desire stirs only God can fulfill” (Skye Jethani). It is very similar to the thought Augustine had some 2500 years ago, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

This idea that God had for the Garden of Eden is amazing. It was His thought that a perfect place could house a perfect people. He would walk and talk with them in a perfect existence.

And yet, sin entered the world through the rebelliousness of one man (Romans 5:12) and the fallen impact is confirmed everyday in the hearts of sinful people like you and me. The spiritual gulf is fixed between God and men by our willfulness as we choose the “pleasures of sin for a season” rather than a walk of faith rooted in the sacrifice of Christ.

And yet, God reaches out to redeem. He wants to redeem our souls through the propitiation on the cross. But He also wants to redeem our very lives. And He reminds us of that desire with those echoes of Eden. And they are all around us.

As you hold a newborn baby in your arms, there is an undeniable sense that God wants life to be precious, even perfect. It’s a moment when the echoes of Eden can be heard. As you hear the prayer of a child whispered in sweet innocence, the echo can be perceived.  As a sinner genuinely comes to Christ in faith and chooses baptism as the outward expression of the inward faith, watch their face. It will remind you of Eden.

God wanted it all to be so perfect, so without strain or struggle. His choice was for peace. We messed it up. But the message of Easter is so clear. Eden is coming again.

So this week let’s go ahead and read the last chapter in our Bible (Revelation 22) and take some time to notice that things get restored. The old is permanently made new. Sin gets defeated. Perfect balance will be revived. Peace will reign again.

Until then, keep your eyes open and your ears attuned to spiritual things. The echoes of Eden are all around us.