Life was lost. Man was created perfect – in the image of God. Genesis 1:27-28 (KJV), “So God created man in his own image…And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” 

How was man in God’s image? God is just, loving and wise. Adam had God’s law written in His heart and he too was just and loving. (He was learning wisdom.) 

In Eden, Adam and Eve were physically, mentally, and emotionally perfect. (Deuteronomy 32:4 – all God’s work is perfect.) They had all their needs met and lived in harmony. They had peace with God.

God gave man language, which lets him reason at a level much higher than the other creatures on earth. (Even now, in our fallen condition, God wants to reason with us. Isaiah 1:16, “Come let us reason together.”)

They could also converse with God. Genesis 3:8-10, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are you? And he said, I heard your voice in the garden…” 

Additionally, God gave man dominion over earth. Man was to rule over and subdue this beautiful earth. This is a brief summary of what was lost in Eden.

God has promised that all this will be restored in Christ’s 1,000-year reign. Acts 3:20-21, “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:  Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution (restoration) of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” 

Mankind will again have perfect, human life. Isaiah 35:5-6, 10 (ESV), “5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; … 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (ESV), “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people…. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Zephaniah 3:9, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.”

For a more detailed study of God’s plan, download the free PDF: “God’s Grand Plan of the Ages”