Introduction: There is an old saying: "You
get one shot at the king; either you kill him or he
kills you." Imagine the thinking of Satan: if you
were given one opportunity to test the loyalty of
Adam and Eve, wouldn't you bring your best argument,
your best temptation? Everything was riding on that
"one shot." I wonder if Adam and Eve gave as much
thinking to their upcoming test? Let's jump into our
lesson and consider how sin entered our world!
1.
The Shot
1.
Read
Genesis 3:1.
Some people do not believe that the Biblical account
of the fall of humans into sin is literal. Do you
think a snake is really speaking to Eve?
1.
Most Christians think the snake is Satan.
Revelation 20:2 calls Satan "that ancient serpent."
If this snake really is Satan, does that prove this
story is an allegory and not literal?
2.
Why does the Bible tell us that the snake was
the smartest animal around? Why is that detail
necessary? (This explanation suggests the story is
literal. If any animal could speak, this one could.
Thus, Eve would not have been surprised to have been
speaking to a snake.)
3.
Do we have to choose between a smart snake
and Satan? Between believing this story is literal
or believing the snake is Satan? (A New Testament
story helps unravel this mystery. Mark 5 contains
the story of the demons "Legion" (
Mark 5:9) who possessed first a man and
later a herd of pigs. The demons spoke through the
man, according to the Biblical account, and they
could have spoken through the pigs. I think Genesis
3 is a literal account and Mark reveals what is
happening here. Satan takes control of a snake.
Because snakes are so smart, Eve is not shocked to
hear a snake talk. Note that the apostle Paul refers
to this as if it were a literal event. 2 Corinthians
11:3.)
4.
Why does Satan (
Genesis 3:1) ask about eating from trees?
Why does he state what is obviously not true?
(Remember, this is the "test," the "one shot." You
don't want anyone arguing later that Eve "missed the
meeting" about eating from the trees. Satan did not
want a dispute about whether she understood God's
command, so he misstated it so that she would
correct him.)
2.
Read
Genesis 3:2-3.
What do you think about Eve's response? Does she
answer correctly? (She is both wrong and ambiguous.
Read
Genesis 2:16-17.
God did not say anything about "touching" the fruit.
According to the Bible He merely said "Don't eat."
Notice that there were two trees in the middle of
the garden: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
and the Tree of Life. (Genesis 2:9))
1.
Was refraining from touching the fruit a good
idea? (If you are going to avoid eating it, it helps
if you avoid touching it.)
2.
Was Eve doing the right thing in saying that
if she touched the fruit she would die? That would
be a good idea, right? (Read
Deuteronomy 4:1-2.
I think it is a serious mistake to confuse what is a
"good idea" with what God actually said is sin. When
you teach your children about sin, do not confuse in
their minds what is actually sin and what are good
ideas to avoid sin. Otherwise, when they violate
your "good idea" and find no harm, they will think
that the same is true with sin.)
3.
Read
Genesis 3:4-5.
This is Satan's "shot" to obtain the loyalty of
humans. Analyze Satan's approach. What does he do?
(First, he flatly contradicts God. Second, Satan
suggests that God has lied to Eve so that she will
remain inferior. She can be like God.)
1.
How would you characterize Satan's temptation
to Eve? Is it appetite? Is it trust? Is it greed? Is
it vanity? Is it pride? (I think it is all of these
things except appetite. Eve decides to trust in her
(about to be acquired) knowledge, rather than trust
in God. This is pride.)
2.
Compare
Genesis 3:22
with
Genesis 3:5.
Was Satan telling the truth? (In part.)
3.
Did God hide the fact that He did not want
humans to know about evil? (Read
Genesis 2:17.
God gives the tree the label "knowledge of good and
evil." In the Bible account, He does not explain why
they should not eat it. He just tells them the
penalty.)
1.
What lesson is there in this for you today?
(We laugh at parents who answer the "Why?" of their
children with "Because I told you so!" I determined
that I would always give my children a reason for my
rules. Perhaps that was the wrong approach. On some
things we need to learn that God does not need to
explain His rules to humans other than to say, "I'm
God and you are not.")
4.
What percentage of the population does not
trust the Creation account or the story of the fall
of humans?
1.
Where do they find an alternative account?
(The theory of evolution, for one.)
2.
How ironic is this? Let's assume for a minute
that this is all allegory, myth or whatever label
they use to say "I cannot believe this is literal."
If anything is to be taken away from this story,
what is it? (That we are to trust God and what He
says rather than depend on our own understanding. If
even the "myth" people believe there is a lesson
here, why don't they apply it to this story? Why
would they think they should supply their own story
based on their own supposed knowledge?)
2.
The Fall
1.
Read
Genesis 3:6.
Why did Eve eat the fruit when she knew what God
said? (The text says that the fruit was desirable to
look at. It looked like good food. It would give her
wisdom.)
1.
Why would the appearance of the fruit be a
major factor in Eve's decision? (What she saw
contradicted what she expected from a tree that God
said would cause death. Surely a "death tree" would
have ugly, or at least suspicious looking fruit.)
2.
Was Eve's sin a gradual one? (I think a major
problem was that Eve misstated the law of God (
Genesis 3:3). She touched the fruit
before she ate it. Because she did not die when she
touched the fruit, she was led to believe that God
was not trustworthy and she would gain wisdom by
eating it.)
3.
How many times have you thought that God was
untrustworthy when the real problem was your failure
to read and understand God's word?
2.
Why did Adam eat the fruit in violation of
God's command? (Read
1 Timothy 2:14.
Paul tells us that Adam was not deceived.)
1.
Paul seems to conclude that Adam is entitled
to some credit because he was not deceived and Eve
was deceived. How do you look at this? (All sin is
sin, but I look at deliberate disobedience in a far
worse light. Consider how you compare the two when
your children disobey you.)
3.
If you were giving advice to Eve, what would
it be? (She should have been on full alert when the
serpent contradicted God (
Genesis 3:4). She should have been more
familiar with God's word. She should have trusted
God and not her own intellect. She should have been
satisfied with the knowledge God had given her.)
4.
What advice would you give Adam? (With Eve,
it seems there is room to get this right "next
time." With Adam, he just seemed to flatly disobey
God.)
3.
God's Reaction
1.
How would you react to Adam and Eve if you
were God?
2.
Read
Genesis 3:8-11.
What does God do after Adam and Eve sin? (He comes
looking for them.)
1.
Read
Isaiah 59:1-2.
Why didn't God just abandon the earth when Adam and
Eve sinned? Isaiah seems to say when you sin God
turns away from you. How do you explain the apparent
contradiction between what we observe about God in
Eden and Isaiah's statement? (When I was a young
man, I was taught that if I sinned God would not
listen to me. It was a horrifying thought - I could
make decisions that would cause God to abandon me.)
2.
Read
Ephesians 5:5-6.
Do Paul and Isaiah agree? If so, what is God doing
in Eden?
3.
Read
Luke 15:3-7.
What does Jesus teach us about His attitude towards
sinners?
4.
Read
Romans 5:6-8.
Considering all of these verses, what do we learn is
God's reaction to sin? (Eden gives us a good view of
our God. He loves us, He comes after us, He
confronts us with our sins. But, if we finally
reject God, He will turn away.)
5.
Put yourself in God's place in our point in
time. You created the world, but many people doubt
your word about that. Your creation - humans -
doubted you and believed Satan. As a result, you
sent your Son to die for their sins. Humans killed
your Son. What would be your attitude, as God,
towards humans? (Read
Hebrews 10:29-31.
I certainly do not want to be lost. But if I reject
everything which God has done for me, His judgment
is fair - more than fair.)
6.
Friend, consider what God has done for you.
Will you walk away from Him or give your heart to
Him right now?
4.
Next week: Atonement and the Divine
Initiative.
