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Feb 01st 1994

Debrecen Messages #10 – The Garden of Eden: Heaven and Earth Together (Genesis 2 Teaching)

In this message, Gene Edwards opens Genesis 2 and reflects on the deeper meaning of the Garden of Eden, offering a rich and thought-provoking look at humanity’s original design and spiritual habitat. Beginning with Genesis 2:8–10, he traces the biblical story of Eden as the place where heaven and earth meet—where God placed man not merely to exist, but to live in fellowship with Him.

Edwards explores the creation of Adam as a being formed from earth yet filled with the breath of God, a “hybrid” belonging to both realms. He emphasizes that God’s purpose for humanity has not changed: man was created to reflect God’s image and to rule the earth while living in the place of divine fellowship.

Moving beyond Eden, the teaching connects Genesis with Revelation, portraying the New Jerusalem as the fulfillment of God’s eternal intention—a city more glorious than heaven or earth alone because it unites both. Edwards suggests that believers today experience a foretaste of this reality through the ekklesia, the living community of Christ’s body, which he describes as the believer’s true “home.”

The message also contrasts the tree of life with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, challenging listeners to consider whether much of modern Christianity centers on knowledge rather than life. Edwards warns that an overemphasis on moral knowledge and intellectual understanding can miss the deeper reality of Christ living within His people.

Throughout the teaching, Edwards blends biblical exposition, imaginative reflection, and pastoral exhortation to invite believers into a deeper awareness of their identity and calling. This message is especially meaningful for those seeking insight into Genesis, the nature of the church, and the believer’s relationship to heaven and earth.

If this message speaks to you, consider sharing it with others who are exploring Scripture or longing for a deeper walk with Christ.

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Do not think that you cannot take scripture and turn it into an intellectual feast. We have been feasting intellectually, philosophically, on scripture since the days of Gregory the Great, and

a lot of other people I don’t have time to talk to you about. And we have a Christian religion that is as much the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as it is the tree of life. I want to

emphasize the word knowledge. You pick up a Bible, a dictionary, and everything is Aristotelian. You pick up a theology book, and everything is systematically analyzed. Pick up

a Bible commentary, and it is full of Greek words being analyzed.

And then go to a class, a Bible class – “Well, brothers, this was written by Paul and the word is Apostolos. Apostolos, I know this word. Apostolos means the sent one. Now, Paul was a

sent one. This meant that he was sent out. He was an apostle. Now, the word ecclesia means assembly. It first appeared 200 years before the Christian faith when a man would walk into

the square and announce a meeting. And everybody were “called out” ones, called out of their shops, called into the middle of the square in order to have a meeting, to make decisions.

And we are the “called out” ones of God. We have been called out of the world.” Now, that all sounds good, but that’s all you get. Just information and more information. And boy, you’re a new Christian and you’re sitting there with your notebook and you’re writing all this down. That crazy. Oh, this is really good. Man, this is fantastic. This is wonderful. And it goes in one ear. Yeah, it stops here. And then it leaks out here, it doesn’t do anything for you, it’s eating fruit, that’s all that God said don’t eat.

I’m not telling you not to find out what Apostolos means or ecclesia means or even whether it’s feminine or masculine, it’ll probably help you to know that well, brother, sister. That’s where it all stops for us. That’s where it stops. And we do not know how to deal with matters of life and spirit.

I thank God that in this room, there’s been a little movement. Maybe we’re all the way down to here. Maybe every once in a while, we get all the way down to Adam’s apple, here. And hopefully we will get somewhere down here, even before this month’s out. I hope the elevator goes a little further now.

Now, I’m going to stop this. I don’t want to go into that. I could talk on this for hours and hours and hours and hours and tell you all sorts of stories, and I would show you how much knowledge I’ve got. Aren’t you folks impressed about how much I’ve eaten off of that tree? 😊

Listen, I’m an expert at that tree. What do you think I went to the seminary for? The only thing is that the seminary makes these men heroes. My seminary is considered, this is not a personal opinion, this is an international opinion. The seminary I graduated from is considered the best, greatest, and finest Protestant seminary on earth. It’s not only the largest, but the best. That’s secular and in the religious world, and in the secular world, both is judged to be the best seminary in the world. And my seminary boasts of putting out intellectual men who are knowledgeable in all things that have to do with religion.

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