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| Adam and Eve talking with God in the Garden of Eden. By Thomas Cole |
By: Glenn Dallaire
The sense of the nearness of God was a part of God's Divine Intimacy with Man that was lost at the Garden of Eden, the Terrestrial Kingdom
Apart from Original sin coming into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve, perhaps one of the greatest additional losses for humanity that stemmed from their disobedience was the loss of the direct communication between God and man, along with the sense of the nearness of the presence of God. In the Garden of Eden, the Father shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature. But we must realize that God's original intention for mankind was to share in an intimate union with him, literally feeling his divine presence and conversing with Him, as a child with his loving Father.
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:8-10)
Oh! how close and intimate was the communication between God and Adam and Eve, and how close they felt His Divine Presence! The Garden of Eden was truly a Paradise lost!
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven
The Lord's prayer---the only prayer Jesus ever taught us in the Gospel---states in part"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
But what is this Earthly Kingdom to come that Jesus is referring to in His prayer, wherein God's Will will be done upon the earth, as it is in heaven? Apart from sin, what is there that differentiates our relationship with God here on earth, in comparison to the beings of heaven with God? While those in heaven enjoy the beatific vision of God, they also enjoy His Divine presence and they participate in open and free communication in Divine intimacy with God in an intense closeness and union. Not only do the beings and creatures in heaven see God, and gaze upon His infinite glory, they literally feel His love and closeness to them at every moment, and they communicate openly with Him.
Now while Adam and Eve did not completely share in the Divine Presence to the extent that the beings in heaven do, they certainly did have an deep sense of the nearness of God, and they communicated with Him openly, as we read in the Book of Genesis. It is because of the sin of Adam and Eve that we--as the sons and daughters of these our first parents---lost a significant part of the Divine intimacy and communication with God that our first parents originally had, along with the sense of the presence and nearness of God. However we must recognize and realize that in the story of the Terrestrial Paradise, this loss of ours was not God's original intention, for His Will was and is based in an infinitely loving desire for an intimate, unitive, and communicative relationship with humanity, His beloved children. While He has remained ever present with us, through the sin of Adam and Eve we lost the intimate sense of feeling His closeness and nearness to us.
The new Adam and the new Eve
Jesus came as the new Adam, and the Immaculate--Virgin Mary, Mother of God--was sent as the new Eve, to open the gates of heaven which were closed through the sin of Adam and Eve. Through His passion and death on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of humanity, so that we might be forgiven of our sins and enter heaven. He did not come to restore humanity's place in the Garden of Eden or what was lost in the fall-- he came to cancel Original sin, along with our own personal sins, thereby opening the gates of heaven once again.
God's original Will for humanity will be restored upon the earth
Many theologians and scholars believe that God's original will for mankind in the Garden of Eden, that is, His desire for his creature to feel His closeness and His Divine presence strongly, will one day be restored upon the earth. Some even believe that all the individuals of humanity will once again be able to openly communicate with God in a renewed Divine intimacy and conversation.
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| The Mystics share in a special Divine intimacy with God, and therefore foreshadow the people of the upcoming Kingdom |
Earlier in this article it is stated: "In the Garden of Eden, God shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature."
We can also recognize how Mystics of the Church foreshadow the people who will live in upcoming earthly kingdom. In their ecstatic visions, the Mystics see Jesus, and they speak with Him in conversations so very loving and intimate. They almost constantly feel His nearness and closeness to them, and they live with a deep and abiding trust in Him. In this most intimate union, some even share in His wounds, and in their suffering as victim souls, His blood is mixed with theirs for the conversion of sinners. And so it is that the mystics of the Church foreshadow the people of the upcoming "Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven."
Not that the people of the upcoming Kingdom will be "mystics" in a strict sense, but they will be more mystical, because they will have the renewed sense of God's nearness and closeness to them, but in a very ordinary and natural way. And it may very well be that they will not simply talk TO God, they will talk WITH God, as Adam and Eve did in the Terrestrial Paradise. The people on the renewed Earth will see most everything from a heavenly perspective, unlike the people of this current age in many ways. It is believed that the Kingdom come will be very much like a restoration of the way things were between God and Adam and Eve before the fall---not in all ways of course, but in many ways. And some believe also that in the upcoming earthly Kingdom, God will communicate with the individual, and they with God, much like Adam and Eve in the Garden. In other words, the people of the Kingdom will be much more closely united with God in their overall disposition than we (humanity) are now. They will sense His nearness and closeness to them in a most extraordinary way. Oh, how blessed are those who will live in the renewed Kingdom on earth!
The Kingdom on Earth---"When all will seem lost, in the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph"
The words of Our Lady of Fatima were a prophesy:"When all will seem lost, in the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph". It will be the Immaculate Heart of Mary who will bring forth this Kingdom of a renewed humanity upon a renewed earth, but first will come a period of intense purification for all of humanity. And many sense that it will likely be very, very soon. We must recognize that for this to happen---"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."---we (humanity) will all first have to be brought to our knees, in recognition of our sins and of how far we have strayed from God and His commandments, and thus humbled, we will deeply repent of our sins and will thus draw down upon us the infinite mercy of God, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary we will obtain our miraculous Rescue, and thus it will be the Immaculate who will give birth to the Kingdom on Earth.
Then it will be that God's original Will and desire in what He intended His relationship and interaction to be between His beloved sons and daughters---much in the way it was between Him and our first parents in the Garden of Eden---will be in many ways renewed once again. Or to put it as a great friend of mine has stated it:
"....The world will remain perfectly ordinary and completely transformed: people will know and love God as Father - and want to be friends with Him."