Genesis 2:8-20

⁸ Now the LORD God had planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow up every tree that is nice to look at and good to eat. The tree of life was in the middle of this garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was also there.

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.

¹¹ The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

¹² And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush.

¹⁴ And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,

¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it – dying, you shall die.”

¹⁸ Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

¹⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living soul, that was its name.

²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a partner fit for him. _________________________________________

Having it all

The LORD created a paradise in which Adam had the potential for obedience and greatness, but also for failure and death. It was not the future paradise that awaits those whose victory is won by Christ. It was a world with potential for life, but also the threat of mortality and eventual death. It is important that we have this story, because we need to know that we can have it all, and still fail. Having it all is not the right objective in life.

Divine Redeemer, come to us and bring us the salvation that we need. Without you, having it all is meaningless.