Jesus came to lead us back to Eden as the dust of our lives is turned back into a rich and fruit-bearing soil…

There’s a powerful picture of this hidden right within the natural world involving the largest desert on the planet. The Sahara Desert is a barren stretch of sand and rock that fills almost all of northern Africa. It’s an enormous swath of infertile ground that leaves little room for human beings to thrive. As a result, the area has historically been filled with heartbreaking amounts of poverty and death. But despite this, we have discovered this was once a plentiful land filled with lush valleys and sprawling greenery. This is why the area is very much connected to the cradle of civilization where the earliest people groups gathered. Sadly, something happened here that caused the lushness of this region to wither up and die at an alarmingly fast rate. During a major shift in the climate, a rapid desertification took place leaving everything dried up and dead. Interestingly enough, scientists date this devastating event to about 6000 years ago, which corresponds to the biblical timeline of when human sin began to intensify and grow. 

Today, the Sahara remains one of the most barren parts of the earth; however, something quite amazing happens with all the dust this desert conjures up. Fierce dust storms grow from its bleak terrain and end up billowing across several African nations until they reach the western shorelines of the continent. From there, they spill out over the sea and travel on the wind across the Atlantic Ocean where they eventually end up in South America. There, the dust settles back into the ground and becomes fertilizer, creating an incredibly rich soil that goes on to produce the most complex and oxygen-rich forest in the world—the Amazon rain forest! And so, what began as a violent storm of dust arising from the ashes of an arid land, ends up transforming into something that helps create the most life-filled place on the planet.

There’s another parable of the Gospel here; one that spans continents and seas. Right within the region where so much of our brokenness originally multiplied, a promise of restoration lies hidden. Thousands of years ago, the “dust” of human flesh transformed into an enormous desert, producing an abundance of poverty and death. Like the Sahara’s ancient past, this happened at an alarming rate. But Christ came to our spiritual desert and wrapped His own Spirit up with our dust. He faced the hopelessness of death head on and conquered its seemingly undefeatable power. After this, He ascended into the clouds in a furious storm of love, and now pours His Spirt back upon the earth in order to re-awaken the true purpose of human flesh—the purpose of being lush and fertile soil that brings forth the diverse fruits of holiness, prosperity, and grace.   

In this scientific parable, the rain forest is much like the Promised Land of an awakened humanity. Like the Amazon, humanity has looked out to the east and beheld the approaching march of smoke and dust. But what at first glance has seemed like the approach of something dry and deadly has now been transformed into a message of good news. Through Christ, hope has come to us in the form of something that previously looked hopeless—the human dust of flesh and bone. This message of hope now travels across the sea of humanity on the winds of the Spirit with the ultimate goal of restoring everything that’s been lost. This is a wondrous parable of God’s kindness in Christ who has come to transform our biggest wastelands into the richest sources of life and diversity. It’s the great promise of seeing the desert blossom once again; a promise that is as literal as it is spiritual.

The desert and the parched land will be glad;
  the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.

– Isaiah 35:1-2 NIV –

Excerpt from Nick Padovani’s “The Song of the Ages: Eden’s Return”

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