The Faith I Live By

September—The Christ-centered Home

The Eden Home, September 1

The Home God Built

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:8. FLB 250.1

That home [the home of our first parents], beautified by the hand of God Himself, was not a gorgeous palace. 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 his dwelling. The blue heavens were its dome; the earth, with its delicate flowers and carpet of living green, was its floor; and the leafy branches of the goodly trees were its canopy. Its walls were hung with the most magnificent adornings—the handiwork of the great Master Artist.^{1Patriarchs and Prophets, 49.} FLB 250.2

It was the design of God that man should find happiness in the employment of tending the things He had created, and that his wants should be met with the fruits of the trees of the garden.^{2The Adventist Home, 27.} FLB 250.3

In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time—that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. If men would ... cultivate greater simplicity, they would come far nearer to answering the purpose of God in their creation.... What are the possessions of even the most wealthy, in comparison with the heritage given to the lordly Adam? ^{3Patriarchs and Prophets, 49, 50.} FLB 250.4

The Garden of Eden was a representation of what God desired the whole earth to become, and it was His purpose that, as the human family increased in numbers, they should establish other homes ... like the one He had given. Thus in course of time the whole earth might be occupied with homes and schools where the words and the works of God should be studied, and where the students should thus be fitted more and more fully to reflect, throughout endless ages, the light of the knowledge of His glory.^{4Education, 22.} FLB 250.5