Not waiting for the new year to crack open my new bible to begin again a new year of readings directed by my reading plan. And so, I start this morning in Genesis 1, (a very good place to start). And while it is the story of my beginnings, what I’m chewing on this morning is how it maps out also my future.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in His own image,
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.

. . . And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden.

(Genesis 1:26-27, 2:8-10b ESV)

Made in the image of God, after His likeness. Responsible for all God’s creation on earth, stewarding it faithfully and fruitfully. In the midst of a garden planted by God. A garden with a tree of life and a river flowing out of it. That’s what men and women were made for.

Oh, but hasn’t something gone wrong? God’s image within men and women so marred by sin and rebellion that often it’s unrecognizable. A garden so overgrown by weeds and thickets that its presence is, for the most part, undetectable. The tree of life hidden. The river of life seemingly run dry.

And yet, what once was will be again. I know that ’cause I just finished reading the end of the book earlier this week. An end where “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Rev. 21:3). When they again, without distortion, bear within and blaze forth the image of their holy God. Again stewards, this time of a new creation. A creation embodied within a heavenly city. A new Eden, again with a tree in its midst and a river flowing forth — “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month” (Rev. 22:1).

Eden restored. Image bearers redeemed, reconciled, regenerated, and again perfectly reflecting God’s image.

As I read again about beginnings this morning, I’m reminded again about the ending and that I’m on a pilgrimage towards fully realizing it.

A journey begun by seeing with faith’s eye another tree. A tree, as it were, not of life, but of death. A tree of sacrifice some two-thousand years ago. The cross of Calvary where the Lamb of God’s blood was poured out so sin and death’s bondage would be broken, and men and women might know anew the freedom to become what they were always meant to be, image bearers.

Through the power of that tree, blood-bought children of God set again on a path and process of being conformed to the likeness of God (Rom. 8:29). The agency of such transformation sourced in a river springing forth from within their souls, its source the Spirit of God infused within them (Jn. 7:38-39). On their way again to inhabiting again a garden, a place where God is in their midst and “they will see His face . . . and night will be no more . . . for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:4-5).

As I read again about how it all started, I’m reminded again of how it will all turn out. As I read about where I’ve been, I’m reminded of where I’m going. As I read once more about my beginnings, I catch once more a picture of my future.

Buckle up. The journey continues . . .

By His grace. For His glory.