Eden
The Garden of Eden, the narrative beginning point of human history (Gen. 2:8-15), is identified by Jones and Nee/Lee as a type of Christ as the true ground and of the ultimate restored creation. Jones describes Eden as Adam’s lost inheritance — an inheritance returned through the Jubilee principle — and identifies the restoration promise of Rom. 8:19-23 as the fulfillment of the Eden type. Nee/Lee reads the earth itself as a type of Christ: on the third day God brought the earth forth from the waters — a type of Christ’s resurrection.
Biblical Anchoring
| Reference | Context |
|---|---|
| Gen. 2:8-15 | The planting of the garden in Eden; the tree of life and the four rivers |
| Gen. 3:17-19 | Adam expelled; the earth cursed as a result of sin |
| Gen. 3:23-24 | Adam driven from the garden; guarded by the cherubim |
| Rom. 8:19-23 | Creation groans for redemption; the revelation of the sons of God as restoration |
| Rev. 22:1-3 | The river of the water of life in the New Jerusalem — Eden imagery restored |
Typological Treatment by Author
Jones
Jones describes Eden as the inheritance Adam lost in the fall and that is returned through the Jubilee principle. Adam lost his glorified “land” — an inheritance connected to God’s presence — and became a debtor to the law:
“Adam was made out of the dust of the earth, and yet his ‘land’ was glorified with the light of God’s presence before his sin. When he sinned, he lost that inheritance and became a debtor to the law. He was ‘sold’ into the bondage of sin… If Israel had chosen to receive the inheritance at the Tabernacles time of 2450, they would have literally returned to the inheritance which they had lost in Adam — the redemption of the body (Rom. 8:23).”1
The restoration promise goes beyond the original Eden: the outcome of God’s redemptive plan surpasses the beginning:
“As He resuscitates the whole earth by breathing into their nostrils the breath of life once again, we are brought into Immortality and Perfection, as at the beginning. Eden and more is restored.”2
Nee/Lee
Nee/Lee develops the Eden typology through creation-as-type: the earth that came forth from the waters on the third day is a type of Christ’s resurrection. The garden on that earth is thus a type of the Kingdom:
“On the third day God brought the earth forth from the waters of death. So you see, this is a type. On the third day God brought the earth out of the waters of death. From this type you can realize what the earth is. The earth, or the land, is a type of Christ.”3
In the same vein, Lee describes the city and temple built on the land as types of the fullness of Christ in his Body:
“In these messages we want to see something of the land of Canaan, which is the type of the all-inclusive Christ. We also want to see how the city and the temple built upon this land of Canaan are types of the fullness of Christ, which is His Body, the Church.”4
Related Types
- Connected: new-jerusalem (New Jerusalem as the restored realization of the Eden imagery: tree of life, river, God’s presence)
- Connected: exodus (The Exodus movement from Egypt toward the Land as type of return to the Eden inheritance)
- Connected: canaan (Canaan as the direct type of the all-inclusive Christ in Nee/Lee’s framework)
Footnotes
Footnotes
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Jones, The Restoration of All Things, ch. 2 — Adam lost the glorified inheritance; redemption of the body as restoration (Rom. 8:23). ↩
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Jones, Secrets of Time, ch. 3 — “Eden and more is restored” — the restoration promise surpasses the starting point. ↩
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Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1 — The earth on the third day as a type of Christ’s resurrection. ↩
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Nee/Lee, The All-inclusive Christ, ch. 1 — The city and temple as types of the fullness of Christ / the Church. ↩