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| Adam and Eve talking with God in the Garden of Eden. By Thomas Cole |
By: Glenn Dallaire
The sense of the nearness of God was a part of God's Divine Intimacy with Man that was lost at the Garden of Eden, the Terrestrial Kingdom
Apart from Original sin coming into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve, perhaps one of the greatest additional losses for humanity that stemmed from their disobedience was the loss of the direct communication between God and man, along with the sense of the nearness of the presence of God. In the Garden of Eden, the Father shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature. But we must realize that God's original intention for mankind was to share in an intimate union with him, literally feeling his divine presence and conversing with Him, as a child with his loving Father.
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:8-10)
Oh! how close and intimate was the communication between God and Adam and Eve, and how close they felt His Divine Presence! The Garden of Eden was truly a Paradise lost!
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven
The Lord's prayer---the only prayer Jesus ever taught us in the Gospel---states in part "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
But what is this Earthly Kingdom to come that Jesus is referring to in His prayer, wherein God's Will will be done upon the earth, as it is in heaven? Apart from sin, what is there that differentiates our relationship with God here on earth, in comparison to the beings of heaven with God? While those in heaven enjoy the beatific vision of God, they also enjoy His Divine presence and they participate in open and free communication in Divine intimacy with God in an intense closeness and union. Not only do the beings and creatures in heaven see God, and gaze upon His infinite glory, they literally feel His love and closeness to them at every moment, and they communicate openly with Him.
Now while Adam and Eve did not completely share in the Divine Presence to the extent that the beings in heaven do, they certainly did have an deep sense of the nearness of God, and they communicated with Him openly, as we read in the Book of Genesis. It is because of the sin of Adam and Eve that we--as the sons and daughters of these our first parents---lost a significant part of the Divine intimacy and communication with God that our first parents originally had, along with the sense of the presence and nearness of God. However we must recognize and realize that in the story of the Terrestrial Paradise, this loss of ours was not God's original intention, for His Will was and is based in an infinitely loving desire for an intimate, unitive, and communicative relationship with humanity, His beloved children. While He has remained ever present with us, through the sin of Adam and Eve we lost the intimate sense of feeling His closeness and nearness to us.
The new Adam and the new Eve
Jesus came as the new Adam, and the Immaculate--Virgin Mary, Mother of God--was sent as the new Eve, to open the gates of heaven which were closed through the sin of Adam and Eve. Through His passion and death on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of humanity, so that we might be forgiven of our sins and enter heaven. He did not come to restore humanity's place in the Garden of Eden or what was lost in the fall-- he came to cancel Original sin, along with our own personal sins, thereby opening the gates of heaven once again.
God's original Will for humanity will be restored upon the earth
Many theologians and scholars believe that God's original will for mankind in the Garden of Eden, that is, His desire for his creature to feel His closeness and His Divine presence strongly, will one day be restored upon the earth. Some even believe that all the individuals of humanity will once again be able to openly communicate with God in a renewed Divine intimacy and conversation.
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| The Mystics share in a special Divine intimacy with God, and therefore foreshadow the people of the upcoming Kingdom |
Earlier in this article it is stated: "In the Garden of Eden, God shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature."
We can also recognize how Mystics of the Church foreshadow the people who will live in upcoming earthly kingdom. In their ecstatic visions, the Mystics see Jesus, and they speak with Him in conversations so very loving and intimate. They almost constantly feel His nearness and closeness to them, and they live with a deep and abiding trust in Him. In this most intimate union, some even share in His wounds, and in their suffering as victim souls, His blood is mixed with theirs for the conversion of sinners. And so it is that the mystics of the Church foreshadow the people of the upcoming "Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven."
Not that the people of the upcoming Kingdom will be "mystics" in a strict sense, but they will be more mystical, because they will have the renewed sense of God's nearness and closeness to them, but in a very ordinary and natural way. And it may very well be that they will not simply talk TO God, they will talk WITH God, as Adam and Eve did in the Terrestrial Paradise. The people on the renewed Earth will see most everything from a heavenly perspective, unlike the people of this current age in many ways. It is believed that the Kingdom come will be very much like a restoration of the way things were between God and Adam and Eve before the fall---not in all ways of course, but in many ways. And some believe also that in the upcoming earthly Kingdom, God will communicate with the individual, and they with God, much like Adam and Eve in the Garden. In other words, the people of the Kingdom will be much more closely united with God in their overall disposition than we (humanity) are now. They will sense His nearness and closeness to them in a most extraordinary way. Oh, how blessed are those who will live in the renewed Kingdom on earth!
The Kingdom on Earth---"In the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph"
The words of Our Lady of Fatima were a prophesy: "In the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph". It will be the Immaculate Heart of Mary who will bring forth this Kingdom of a renewed humanity upon a renewed earth, but first will come a period of intense purification for all of humanity. And many sense that it will likely be very, very soon. We must recognize that for this to happen---"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."---we (humanity) will all first have to be brought to our knees, in recognition of our sins and of how far we have strayed from God and His commandments, and thus humbled, we will deeply repent of our sins and will thus draw down upon us the infinite mercy of God, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary we will obtain our miraculous Rescue, and thus it will be the Immaculate who will give birth to the Kingdom on Earth.
Then it will be that God's original Will and desire in what He intended His relationship and interaction to be between His beloved sons and daughters---much in the way it was between Him and our first parents in the Garden of Eden---will be in many ways renewed once again. Or to put it as a great friend of mine has stated it:
"....The world will remain perfectly ordinary and completely transformed: people will know and love God as Father - and want to be friends with Him."
9 comments:
Thy kingdom come....
How generous is Our Heavenly Father!
He just wants us to trust Him!
Is it so hard?
Hello, This is an interesting post but raises some questions, especially this part:
"It is believed that the Kingdom come will be very much like a restoration of the way things were between God and Adam and Eve before the fall---not in all ways of course, but in many ways. And some believe also that in the upcoming earthly Kingdom, God will communicate with the individual, and they with God, much like Adam and Eve in the Garden."
1. Who are the theologians who you say are proposing this view, and what preciselly do they say?
2. Are you referring to life on earth before the second coming of Christ? If so, are you saying that there will be no sin because everyone will be united to the will of God? How could that be, because until we die and actually get to heaven we are still in a state of trial. Even in the state of original innocence when they had sanctifying grace and were free of concupiscence, Adam and Eve sinned.
thank you for any clarification.
Mack
Hi Mack,
I only have time to reply to you question briefly for now, but I will try to answer in more depth tommorow.
Most importantly no--what is coming is definitely NOT the 2nd coming of Christ. The perspective that I have of what is soon coming is the renewed Kingdom on earth, where by we (humanity) will be much more closely united with God, and this third and final epoch (or era) will come to us through the Holy Spirit and the Immaculate. In fact it will be the epoch of the Holy Spirit and the Immaculate.
As far as whether we will still have the ability to sin, yes, we will still have that ability since we will have our free will intact, but the devil and the demons will be chained, so the temptation to sin will be greatly diminished.
Thanks again for your questions. May God bless you and your loved ones!
-Glenn
Its the 'when all seems lost' part that is a bit worrisome! Such a great loss of faith these days. High clergy turning their back on Church teaching with impunity. Confusion abounding. Oh, Lord, how long?
Hi Glenn, thanks for this article. I would like to ask some questions:
1) Will this final era start right with the Triumph of the Immaculate Hearth of Mary?
2) How long would this final era last?
3) Where would you place the Great Monarch and the Holy Pontiff? During the reign of the Holy Spirit, or before it? Because there are two hypothesis:
a - Before the third and final era: then this new era (and the subsequent Triumph of Mary) would have to start in no less than 20 years. This would contradict those stating that the Triumph is only few years away (2017?).
b - During the third and final era: then the Great Monarch and the Holy Pontiff could appear in the next few years (no more than 7), and they would reign during the new era.
Or, and this is what I currently think:
4) Do you think that this sequence of events could be plausible? If not, how would you modify it?
a - War.
b - Rise of Great Monarch.
c - Defeat of the enemies (Islam).
d - Three days of darkness.
e - Triumph of the Immaculate Hearth of Mary.
f - Limited, non-supernatural, peace (25 years?).
g - Rise of the Antichrist.
h - Death of the Great Monarch (and eventually of the Holy Pontiff),
i - Defeat of the Antichrist.
j - New Heavens and New Hearth.
k - Third and final era begins (supernatural peace, the "1000" years).
l - Final rise of Satan.
m - Defeat of Satan.
n - End of the World.
o - Last Judgment.
Thanks again! :)
Hi Anonymous,
Well, for sure many people have their own perception and opinion concerning these future events. While God has "lifted the veil" a bit through a number of mystics over recent centuries, the specific chronology is still difficult to ascertain. I would say that your predictions above contains most of the main elements for what I personally understand is to come, and I believe what is coming will be the Time of the Holy Spirit and the Immaculate recognized as the 3rd era or "epoch".
In summary, the First Era was that of the Father (Old Testament) = 4000 years
Second Era is that of the Son, Jesus Christ (New Testament) = 2000 years (culminating in the year 2033)
And the Third Era will be that of Holy Spirit with the Immaculate = 1000 years, for a GRAND TOTAL of 7000 years. This will begin with a kind of "New Pentecost" and will bring forth a sort of restoration of humanity to what God originally had intended for us through Adam and Eve, prior to the fall. While no, we are not going back to the Terrestrial Kingdom (Garden of Eden) nevertheless some of what was lost through Original sin will be restored to what God had originally intended for humanity.
As for myself, I am not too sure about "d" which you have listed as the 3 days of darkness. Only a couple of noteworthy mystics have forseen this, so it is kind of a "fringe" prophesy in my opinion, but that's not to say it will not happen. God is full of surprises and if I have learned anything it is to always keep an open mind when it comes to the things of God.
Also, personally I would not venture to put any time frame on "f" because I personally am also open to the possibility that "f" AND "k" could be one and the same. One thing is for certain and that is that your point #1 is certain---"e" will definitely come before "k".
I would add that in regards to "a", along with war(s) quite a few mystics have spoken of a period of severe economic hardship and accompanying global upheaval. I personally think we may be entering this period now (not to be a gloom and doomer, but the storm clouds are certainly building at this time).
There you have my .02 cents, for whatever it is worth.
May Jesus bless you and your loved ones this Christmas season and throughout the New Year!
Glenn Dallaire
Hey Mark,
for your question of where to find theological basis for the Kingdom to come, I recommend you the book:
Joseph Iannuzzi, The Splendor of Creation. The Triumph of the Divine Will on Earth and the Era of Peace in the Writings of the Church Fathers, Doctors and Mystics, (2004).
Those are most excellent books.
Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi really puts things into perspective.
In taking the messages of the Gift of Living in the Divine Will given to Luisa Piccaretta, which, in my humble opinion (and others), is the Devotion from which all other devotions spring from ... that is, the Supreme Fiat of God.
Fr. Iannuzzi's books go through the eschatological messages of the desert fathers and the saints right down to the present age linking and interpreting it all in Light of the Divine Will, and the New Era to come ... the Era of the Holy Spirit and His Holy Spouse, Our Mother Mary.
It is not 'doom-gloom' or 'the end' or what have you, but a time of hope, of fervor, and of the most beautiful and significant passage of human history ... when God's children shall live not of their own wills, but united and one with and within His Divine Will, just as prelapsarian Adam did.
We shall finally communicate and be one, and by one, I mean Living Tabernacles in which God with His Divine Will dwells, and finally ... Love, will no longer be misunderstood (or rejected), but will become our one and universal language in the Light of His Fiat.
So I highly recommend Fr. Iannuzzi's books that put everything into sequential order, making sense of it all ... and with ample solid reference.
May God bless you all,
k +
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