“Extending Eden”

“Extending Eden”

Pastor Josiah Nordgren

November 16, 2025

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

Eden restarts with the restoration of us. 

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

“…As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭21b‬-‭22‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

You have been restored for a . 

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

“…As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

‭‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭21b‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

To extend Eden is to what sin has broken. 

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬ ‭(NIV‬‬)

Eden is meant to through our hands.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

“Extending Eden”

This weekend, we continued our series Extending Eden.

In the first week, we talked about how Eden was the overlap of heaven and earth — a place of beauty, order, and unbroken relationship where humanity’s work was worship and God’s presence was home.

Eden was meant to spread through humanity. But when Adam and Eve chose sin, Eden stopped expanding — and brokenness spread instead.

The second week, we talked about how Eden restarts through the work of Christ. Through Adam, we were all born into death, but through Christ, we have the opportunity to be reborn into life (1 Corinthians 15:21–22). Adam brought condemnation, but Christ brought justification.

Just as God breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7), Jesus breathed on His disciples (John 20:22). He gives us the Holy Spirit and makes us entirely new — restored, reborn, and set right, just as our souls were in Eden. Eden restarts with the restoration of us.

And we are restored for a purpose. Just as God placed Adam in the garden to work and cultivate it (Genesis 2:15), the Lord places us with purpose — “sending us in the same way He was sent” (John 20:21b).

Just as Adam was, we are called to extend Eden — to restore what sin has broken. Not only by addressing spiritual needs, but physical, relational, emotional needs as well, just as Jesus did when He walked the earth.

One day, all creation will be renewed and restored (Revelation 22). But until that day, Eden restarts in us. As we’re reconciled to God, He invites us to join Him in reconciling the world — both people and the circumstances they find themselves in — back to His original design.

The plan for Eden has not been destroyed. It restarts through Christ… and it extends through our hands.

1. When you think about Eden not as an escape but something meant to expand, how does that reshape the way you see the relationship between church and everyday life — work, family, neighbors, your OG?
2. Which video spoke to you most this weekend and why?
3. What is a problem in the world that you feel passionate about helping Christ restore (poverty, human trafficking, the environment, single parents, etc.)?
4. What is one practical way you can extend Eden this week in your own life?
5. What is one way this group can extend Eden together? Spend a moment planning a simple outreach your group can do during or after the holidays.
6. Pray.