From Eternity Past

The Beautiful Garden of Eden

God placed man under law, a subject of the divine government. God might have created man without the power to transgress; He might have withheld Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would have been forced. Such a course would have been contrary to God's plan, unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would have sustained Satan's charge of God's arbitrary rule. EP 19.4

God made man upright, with no bias toward evil. He presented before him the strongest possible inducements to be true. Obedience was the condition of eternal happiness and access to the tree of life. EP 20.1

The home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes as their children should go forth to occupy the earth. Men in their pride delight in magnificent and costly edifices and glory in the works of their own hands, but God placed Adam in a garden. This was a lesson for all time—true happiness is found not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find pleasure in the enjoyment God has placed within the reach of all. EP 20.2

To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.” God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. Those who regard work as a curse, attended though it be with weariness and pain, are cherishing an error. The rich often look down upon the working classes, but this is at variance with God's purpose in creating man. Adam was not to be idle. Our Creator, who understands what is for man's happiness, appointed Adam his work. The true joy of life is found only by working men and women. The Creator has prepared no place for stagnating indolence. EP 20.3

The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels and were granted communion with their Maker with no obscuring veil between. They were full of vigor imparted by the tree of life, their intellectual power but little less than that of the angels. The laws of nature were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan among the waters to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. On every leaf of the forest, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God's name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke of infinite wisdom and power. EP 20.4

So long as they remained loyal to the divine law they would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer conceptions of the immeasurable unfailing love of God. EP 21.1