When you get together in your small group, open with a prayer and ask each other how you did on your daily prayer and study time this past week. Also, ask the group if God has answered your prayer needs, the needs that each member prayed for daily. This is very important. Share what God is doing in your lives. He will answer the prayers of your group in many different ways, but always in ways that encourage you to continue to follow Jesus.
This is the second lesson in a series on developing a biblical understanding of life. In the previous lesson we learned God created the world very, very good, he created only one human race, and he intended to bless all people. In that lesson we learned that we came from God, that we belong by birth to single human family, and that men and women are created to be in relationship with each other, with God, with other members of the human family, and to govern the world according to his ordered creation.
From that lesson we were also able to answer certain important questions. Where did we come from? We came from God who created us. Who are we? We are persons created in the image of God. Where are we now? We are in the midst of a creation that God intended to be good. Where are we going? Genesis 1 and 2 do not really say, but in Christ, we can say that believers are destined for a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, Revelation 21:4. What must we do? Worship God, be obedient, raise our families, and care for God’s good creation.
Although God created the world good, we also know that something has gone terribly wrong with the world, and in this lesson, we will learn why. Before we study this lesson, however, let us pour out our hearts to God in prayer.
O living and eternal God, thank you for blessing us with such a good and beautiful world. Forgive us for our part in ruining the world you have created, and by the mighty name of Jesus, help us to work to restore the good life you gave us. In his name we pray. Amen.
As you meet together, ask someone in the group to read Genesis 2:4-3:24. Read it out loud and read it only once. As this person reads, many questions and ideas will occur to you. That is one of the wonderful things about the Bible; it awakens our hearts. Nevertheless, let us restrain ourselves and concentrate only on a few ideas, the ideas we will need to understand the nature and scope of sin. After Genesis 2:4-3:24 has been read once, go back and read Genesis 3:8-19 a second time. Let us notice the following points.
Genesis 2:4-3:24
1. God placed Adam, and then Eve, in a garden. In the middle of Eden was the tree of life which represents the presence of God in the garden. In God’s presence, Adam and Eve were blessed with life in all its goodness. God walked in the garden in the cool of the evening, work was a blessing since the land was not cursed, and Adam was overjoyed to be with Eve. When we are in God’s presence, we also will be blessed.
2. The blessing of God’s presence depended upon obedience. Adam was told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but both he and Eve ate of it. As a result of this disobedience, Adam and Eve were driven from the garden. Since then, because of the sins of those who came before us and our own sins, we no longer live in the presence of God.
3. According to Genesis 3:8-19, the four relationships described in the previous lesson, have been damaged by Adam and Eve’s disobedience. And, as we shall see, we have added to their disobedience. Here are four areas of life that have been corrupted by sin.
a. First, above all, the relationship between the human race and God has been broken. Humanity now lives far from the presence of God in a world filled with sorrow, conflict, suffering, and death. We do not know God fully, nor do we walk closely with him on a daily basis. Rather, and this is true of all of us, we hide from God even as he seeks to find us.
b. Second, there is enmity between the serpent and the woman’s offspring. The devil has, because of human sin, been allowed to prey upon the human race.
c. Third, childbearing has become painful, and further, the relationship between the man and woman has been damaged. Instead of the man rejoicing in his wife (Gen. 2:23), the relationship is now one of shame, blame, and dominance. Further, the broken relationship between the man and the woman represents the fact that all human relationships have been broken and marred by sin. On all sides, human beings dominate, deceive, exploit, and kill each other. Everything is infected -- families, churches, nations, business enterprises, and all institutions.
d. Fourth, the relationship between the human race and the ground has been damaged. There is now a constant struggle for survival. The soil, the created world, is no longer the blessing it once was. Even more, human beings because of their technological power, have not tended the earth as a garden, but rather, wasted and wrecked it.
As this passage shows, sin is disobedience to the commands of God, and it leads to destruction on all sides. Everything, all of life, and all relationships have been maimed and marred by sin. Now, with the following discussion questions, let us ask the living God to have mercy upon us, helping us to see our sin that we may continue to repent and receive forgiveness.
Questions for Discussion
1. How have you disobeyed what you know to be God’s will? Do you ever feel far from God, or condemned because of your sins? Let us remember with great thanksgiving that we have been justified before God by faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Have you or your community been afflicted by evil spirits? Have you done things that would give the devil power over you such as practicing sorcery, witchcraft, or worshipping any god except the Father of Jesus Christ?
3. In what ways have relationships in your family, community, or nation been damaged by conflict, hatred, prejudice, and other forms of sin? Have you contributed to this in any way?
4. God intended the land to be a blessing to all people. Have you, in any way, contributed to the hunger, lack of work, or economic oppression that is around you?
5. How, in light of what we have learned in this lesson, would you answer these questions: Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we now? Where are we going? What must we do?
6. Our first series of lessons called us to repent and receive forgiveness. As a result of this lesson, perhaps some of you will need further forgiveness. Please help each other receive this forgiveness, confess to one another, proclaim forgiveness, and lay hands on each other to deliver each person from the power of sin and death. Let us end this lesson with a prayer.
O living God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pour out our hearts before you. We need your blessing. We need your forgiveness. Please come to us. Show us how we have been disobedient. Send your Son Jesus to come among us, to forgive us and make us new. All this we ask, trusting in your eternal goodness, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
In our next lesson, we will be studying how God began to redeem the human race. He did so by choosing a people, and the first of those people was a man named Abram, or Abraham. You, as a follower of Jesus Christ, belong to that people and God, and as you follow Jesus Christ, he will use you to redeem the world.
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
February, 2013
