Part 1
The Gospel’s Proclamation

Eden’s Redemption

two trees stand before me

one I know well

its fruit luscious, heady, and ripe

the scent of knowledge, vanity, pride

my ancestors knew it

their lineage sustained and appetites sated

with its fallow fruit and empty promises

the knowledge of good and evil

the hope of immortality

to be like God

the same old lie

its deceit as fresh as the day

why is man so simple?

fig leaves make pitiful clothes

my nakedness and shame refuse to be covered

scrambling, dropping, hiding

(a lot like those dreams of being naked in public)

but simpletons love their leaves

their futile efforts to mask weakness and failure

refusing to acknowledge their desperate need

refusing to accept

only blood can cover sin

footsteps come near

questions too

“why do you hide from my presence?”

accusations abound

excuses fly

everyone else must be at fault

to bear the blame would be a burden that would crush

I know the sentence

he did not lie when he said

“you shall surely die”

so why does he fashion clothes to cover my shame?

from what cloth do they come?

skins?

death has come

blood does cover

but it is not mine

this blood is from another

a foreshadow stretching long

across ages and time

from earth’s creation . . . to Gethsemane . . . to this moment

the garden is not so far from here

its drama repeated in every mortal life

to listen to the deceiver

or to believe my maker

yes, the garden is near

but the verdict, it has changed

for my advocate spoke and took all my blame

his hands bear the scars of my heart’s newfound healing

he invites me to walk

to taste of the other

this fruit not forbidden

but offered freely

“come and eat”

he says

“of the Tree of Life”