God's Stewardship 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. 

Then the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him. Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. (Genesis 2: 15  to 20) 

There are two books in the Bible that the devil hates the most, Genesis and Revelation.  In Genesis, God announced the devil's sentence because he tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  In Revelation, God enforced the sentence by casting the devil to hell.  These two books also affected men in a great deal.  If we understand what it means, then it will help us to understand God's will in men and how to fulfill it. 

Before Adam's fall, God bestowed him two tasks.  One was to work and take care of the Garden of Eden.  The other was to name the livestock.  Why did God ask Adam to perform those tasks?  They might seem to be easy and trivial, but they meant a lot in God's will.  To work and take care of Eden meant for Adam to be God's servant.  So, Adam could be involved in God's works.  To give names to all the livestock meant for Adam to be God's steward.  So, Adam would have the authority to manage God's creation.  Too bad that Adam didn't realize and value God's will.  Instead, he fell into the devil's trap.  Not only that he and Eve lost the chance to live with God but also lost their glorious duties.   

The rest seemed to be history.  Lucky for us, it didn't end there.  We all know that to be a good servant, we need to be obedient.  To be a good steward, we need to be loyal.  The rest of the Bible taught us exactly how to be God's servant and steward again.  Not only that, when Jesus came, he not only saved us from the sin committed by Adam but also taught us how to be a perfect God's servant and steward.   

Now, you may ask, why is it so important?  In Revelation, you will find that New Jerusalem is a restored Garden of Eden.  Not only that, it says as below. 

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Rev 22: 3 to 5) 

So, in New Jerusalem, we will all be God's servants to serve God and the Lamb of God face to face just like the status that God had given to Adam before his fall.  If we understand that then we will know how to live in this life according to the example set by Jesus Christ so that we will be worthy to enter the New Jerusalem.  Emmanuel

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