Anticipation of Eternity
Paradise lost, in Genesis, becomes Paradise regained, in Revelation.
Oh what a world we can eventually expect as God restores what sin destroyed. Be careful how you handle the book of Genesis because it affects every other part of the Bible.
Genesis is important not only as a history of man’s origin, but also as a prophecy of man’s future. The Book of Revelation should be taken literally no less than the Book of Genesis. Paradise lost, in Genesis, becomes Paradise regained, in Revelation.
The first chapters of Genesis describe a perfect world, made for man and placed under his dominion. Had man not sinned, he would have continued to rule and develop that perfect world, for man’s good and God’s glory. Since God cannot be defeated in His purpose, even though sin and the curse have come in as intruders for a time, we can be sure that all God intended in the beginning will ultimately be consummated. The earth, therefore, will be restored to its original perfection, and will continue eternally. Sin and the curse will be removed, and death will be no more.
It is instructive, therefore, to compare the people and events in Genesis with those in Revelation, and to a lesser extent in other prophecies of the future. We can learn much about the original world by the study of Revelation, and much about the final world by the study of Genesis, since in a very real sense, these are essentially the same.
Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Record: A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1976), 32.
