“And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good”
The story of the creation may be taken as a description of a singular event in the history of the world. But another way of viewing it is as an instruction guide to creating a “garden of AEden” here on earth… again. The beginning steps outline the priority of events that need to happen in order for it to work.
Day 1) First, there must be a separation of the light from the darkness. If this isn’t clear, there is no way to successfully proceed to any other step in the process. The truth needs to be embraced and errors clearly discerned. Also, when you are making your own garden paradise, you should do so in a place where there is plenty of light, as well as darkness.
Day 2) For anything to grow there has to be a good water source. If there is no water, nothing else is going to work. Just as nothing would work without light, you can’t go far without reliable water. With the water, you can begin to grow and life can flourish. Without it, nothing will survive. It does no good to plan for a paradisiacal garden if there is no good water.
Day 3) With a good source of water, life can begin. The first form of life that needs to be in place is plants. They form the basis for any other life forms. Plants depend on water, good soil, and sunlight. With these things in place, it’s possible for a garden paradise to be created.
Day 4) As you begin to grow things, you’re going to need to be aware of the seasons with some reasonable accuracy. Depending on exactly where you are, you may need to know this before even beginning to think about any plants at your location. So sometimes, this may be a “day 3” priority item. Depending on the area, the priority between “day 3” or “day 4” items, may need to be swapped. Either way, the stars and their alignments will indicate the seasons, that might otherwise be obscured by local weather conditions. If you depend only on what you are currently experiencing, you may not realize that the current weather is an aberration from the norm and not a standard expectation. Misreading the seasons can cause you to miss the best times for taking action in any given season. The sun, moon and stars can all work together to help you keep your bearings straight to act appropriately. Misreading these signs can cause you to err in your tasks in a given season.
Day 5) After there is appropriate forage in place, animal life can begin to take hold in the area. While small bugs that creep upon the earth may seem of little value, they can be a clue about how well more complex life forms may be able to survive. Perhaps the first place for such things to be is directly in the water itself. This provides a basis for more complex life to grow, such as fish in the water. If fish can flourish in the water, it is a good indication that the water itself is good and healthy by being capable of helping things live and grow. Fish in the water also provide nutrients that can help plants grow. They can provide a natural form of fertilizer for plants to flourish even more than they would if there were no fish in the water. With water life in place, more animals can survive including birds and mammals of all kinds.
Day 6) In a place where all of these things can survive, it is possible for man to live and grow, even flourish. Such a space my be a practical paradise, where man literally has everything he really needs to have an abundant life. With all things in place, it is enough for man to have a home to live in to have a good life for himself. But it would not be good for all of this to be in place and for a man to be living this way alone. A complete man, both husband and wife, can have children and teach them the ways of good husbandry to take care of the land, plants and animals so all of life can flourish.
Day 7) If things have been done properly, it is appropriate to take a step away once in a while to simply allow things to grow on their own, without having constant, direct intervention. This is a time when man can take a break from being actively involved in the daily operations of the garden paradise to take a step back and observe things. This may be a day to reassess what is going on and reprioritize necessary activities. Observing on this day, may be a kind of “work” but it is different from the regular labors on the other days. It provides an important opportunity to step back and observe what is going on, rather than being so, nose down in the thick of everything that we don’t properly see all that is really going on and how we may need to adjust our plans to do other activities as we help this garden paradise to prosper.
Observing the creation in this way, it may not only be viewed as a singular event but also as a way to recreate a successful paradise on earth. If such a thing were accomplished, it would, at this point, be a new creation, indeed.