Lenox Federated Church - Firm Foundations, Creation to Christ

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Firm Foundations

Creation to Christ

Lesson 11 - God's Promise and Curse

Questions for the LFC Firm Foundations Coordinator may be emailed to firmfoundations@lenoxchurch.org

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REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. When Satan came to deceive Eve, did he come and talk to her face to face so she could see him and know who he was? No.

2. What did Satan use to disguise himself when he spoke to Eve? A snake.

3. God told Adam that, if they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would definitely die, but Satan told Eve they would not. What was Satan suggesting God to be? A liar.

4. What did Satan tell Eve would happen to them? Satan said that they would not die but that they would become like God and be able to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil.

5. Does Satan still try to deceive and trick people? Yes.

6. How does Satan speak to people today (not specific instances, but what channels does he use)?

a. He and his demons can speak directly to people’s minds.

b. He speaks through other people.

7. Does Satan want you to listen to and believe God’s words? No.

8. Why doesn’t Satan want people to hear and believe God’s words?

a. He hates God.

b. He hates every person and wants them all to go to the everlasting fire.

9. God said that Adam and Eve would die if they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan said they would not die. Who spoke the truth? God did.

10. Satan is very strong. Was it all his fault that Adam and Eve sinned? No. Adam and Eve chose to sin. God had made His instructions clear to them; He had been very loving to them. He gave them a will to make choices; they chose to disobey.

11. Adam and Eve didn’t fall dead immediately when they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had said they would die for their disobedience. What did He mean?

a. They would immediately be separated from God, the source of their life—their relationship with God would die right then.

b. Their bodies would eventually die because of their disobedience.

c. They would eventually be separated from God forever—body, soul, and spirit—in the Lake of Fire.

12. What did Adam and Eve do when they realized they were naked? Why did they do this? They made clothes of leaves because their attitudes toward their bodies had changed. They tried to take care of their own needs instead of asking God to help them.

13. What did Adam and Eve do when they heard God coming to see them? Why did they do this? They hid because they no longer felt comfortable in God’s presence. Their attitude toward Him had changed because of their sin, and they were no longer His friends. They were ashamed and afraid.

14. Is it possible to hide from God? No, God is everywhere.

Genesis teaches us a great deal about God.

- As we mentioned in our first lesson about the Bible, we are not just reading stories; we are learning about God:

We are learning what He is like.

We are learning what He does.

We are learning how He deals with man.

- Let’s listen carefully as we study God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin. Keep in mind:

- God had created them—in His own image and for His glory.

- They belonged to Him.

- He loved them.

- He had given them everything they could ever need.

- He had warned them of the consequences of disobedience.

- They had chosen to disobey Him.

Because Adam and Eve didn’t come to talk with God, God called out, “Adam, where are you?”

- Why did God call out? Didn’t He know where they were hiding? Isn’t He everywhere? Wasn’t He there beside them among the trees? Couldn’t He see them all of the time?

- Yes, God could see Adam and Eve where they were hiding.

- Why then did He call Adam?

God called Adam because, although God intended to punish Adam and Eve for their sin, He still loved them. God was giving them the opportunity to agree with Him that they were wrong in believing Satan instead of Him. God was giving them the opportunity to agree that all He had said to them was the truth. God has not changed; He still calls today even though we cannot hear His voice like Adam did.

- How does God call to us today?

God calls us through all the things we can see around us.

- Illustration:

Every day, God’s voice is saying to us, “Listen to Me. I am the Creator of all things. I am the true God. I know everything. I am almighty. Look at all the things I have created for you. I love you. Look at all of the food I have made for you. I love you. Look at the life I have given to you. I love you. Listen to Me and seek Me.” As we look at all the things on the earth and as we look above and see the vastness of the sky and all of the stars and think about the universe that reaches beyond our sight, remember that God is calling out to us, and He wants us to listen to Him.

- God calls to us because He wants us to know Him. The great variety and beauty and expanse of His creation should make us stop and think:

- There is someone greater, wiser, more powerful than man.

- We need to know Him!

- But God is not only speaking to us through the things He has made; He is also calling us through His Word. The Bible is God’s message to each one of us.

- Do you remember learning what a privilege it is for us to have God’s Word readily available to us? What a horrible thing it would be for us to ignore God’s Word! How important it is for each of us, for me and for you, to know, understand, and believe God’s message! Remember that we discussed how, down through the ages, God has brought His Word to us with extreme accuracy?

He has preserved His message carefully:

- So that we, of this century, may know Him.

- So that you may know Him.

- So that I may know Him.

Adam and Eve were afraid of God because they had disobeyed His command.

- Consider:

If children decide to do something their parents have forbidden them to do, they will wait and do it when they think their parents aren’t around. But if they hear their parents coming, they will try to hide because they are afraid of being caught and punished. And when a child knows he has disobeyed, he is ashamed and doesn’t want to come close to his parents at that moment. Just as children hide because they are afraid and ashamed, so Adam and Eve hid from God.

Adam and Eve had reason to fear.

- They knew what they had done.

- They knew what God had told them would happen because of their sin.

God questioned Adam and Eve in order to give them an opportunity to repent, that is, to change their minds and agree with God that they had done the wrong thing.

- God had the authority and power to question Adam because He created him.

God created Adam and then made Eve from Adam’s rib. They both belonged to God. He made them to love and obey Him so they would bring glory to His name.

Isaiah 43:7 says, “...whom I have created for my glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.”

- God also gives life to us and all people.

- Acts 17:25 says, “...He gives to all life, and breath, and all things....”

He is our rightful owner. Adam and Eve had to answer to God for what they did, and we, too, will all have to answer to Him for everything we have thought and done during our lives.

- This verse expresses Adam and Eve’s situation, and it also expresses our situation right now. God sees everything. We must give account to Him for everything we have done.

Adam put the blame on Eve ~Eve blamed the serpent. But God already knew everything that had happened; nothing is hidden from Him.

- Consider:

When a person gets caught for something he does wrong, he usually tries to blame someone else. Sometimes an innocent person is punished because the one who did wrong puts the blame on him. We may try to pass the blame onto someone else, as Adam and Eve tried to do; but God knows everything and will not allow us to escape punishment by blaming someone else. Young and old, men and women, will go to great lengths to try to avoid taking responsibility for their own sins. In our society, people often spend large sums of money to buy their way out of punishment for crimes they have actually committed. Unfortunately, clever lawyers, judges who do not uphold justice, and a twisted system of laws all contribute to a legal system in which we see less and less just punishment for crime. Often it is the victim who suffers the worst abuse, even at the hands of the courts. This is a sad picture and does not reflect in any way what God intended for justice to be. Some lawyers may be “bought;” some judges may be unwise or easily swayed or even dishonest; some of our laws may be very unjust. But God has not changed. Whatever has slipped past man’s justice will not slip past God’s justice. God’s judgments are firm and unchanging. He is holy and righteous and knows everything and will always do exactly what He has said He will do.

God cursed the serpent because it had been used by Satan.

- God does not tell us what the serpent was like before Satan used it to deceive Eve, but we know it did not slide on its belly when God first created it.

- But now God said it must slide on its belly and eat dust. God knew it was Satan who spoke through the serpent to tempt Eve.

- God knows everything that Satan and his evil spirits think and plan to do.

- They can’t hide anything from God.

God will punish Satan and all of his followers for all of their evil deeds and their horrible disobedience to God. Once Adam and Eve disobeyed God and followed the advice of Satan, they were separated from God and controlled by Satan.

- They were no longer the children of God.

- They were Satan’s children. Satan had become the god of this world.

- At this point, Satan probably thought that he had beaten God and that he would now have complete control of the world and all people.

- This was what Satan had wanted. But no one can win against God.

- God is the almighty Creator. God promised that He would send a Deliverer who would overcome Satan and deliver mankind from his power

- God planned that the promised Deliverer would be the child of a virgin woman. Notice that it does not say “their” offspring. The man is not even mentioned in this verse.

- When we read of crushing the “head,” this is a picture of crushing the leadership or authority of a great power. When the “head” is crushed, the rest of the body cannot survive. But the one whose “heel” is crushed survives, even though wounded.

- Explanation:

The Deliverer would fight against Satan, the god of this world and the ruler of evil powers, and the Deliverer would overcome him. Satan would fight against the Deliverer and wound Him, but Satan would not be able to overpower Him. This promised one would destroy Satan and deliver mankind from Satan’s power so man would again be in oneness with God.

We have already learned many things about God through studying Genesis 1 and 2.

- We learned that:

He was already there when all things began.

He is eternal.

He never had a beginning.

- We also learned through observing His acts of creation that:

He is all-powerful.

He is everywhere all the time.

He knows everything.

He is loving and kind.

- We have also learned that He is holy and righteous; He punishes those who fight against Him and disobey His commands.

- Now we also see that God is gracious and merciful.

Grace and mercy are two wonderful words. Someone has said that:

- “Grace” is giving us the good things we need but do not deserve to have.

- “Grace” is God’s kindness poured out on undeserving people.

- “Mercy” is not giving us any of the punishment we deserve!

- Explanation:

We know from what we have learned about God that He always punishes sin. But in His great love, God promised to make a special way out by sending a Deliverer so that man could be saved from the punishment he deserved. He could have just left Adam and Eve to die and go to everlasting punishment. That is what they deserved, but God promised a Savior who would deliver them and all mankind from Satan’s control and bring them back to God. God is gracious and merciful.

- Illustration:

Think about a young man who has gone against his father’s instructions and has taken the family car out for a drive. The young man loses control of the car and is seriously hurt. When the father hears of his son’s accident, he immediately comes to the hospital to be with his son. The son is very ashamed and fearful to even look at his father. The son knows he is fully deserving of an outpouring of his father’s anger. But instead of displaying his anger, the father shows his concern for his son’s needs. He is kind to his son. Though he knows there must be serious penalties for his son’s disobedience, the father concentrates on helping his son recover from his injuries. The father has displayed grace by giving his son what he needs instead of what he deserves.

- Consider:

But God is more loving and gracious than any earthly father could ever be. God gave Adam and Eve everything they needed when He created them. God did not have to give so many good things to them; but He did, because He is loving and kind. When Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they deserved the wrath of God. But what did God do? Did He immediately send them to everlasting punishment? No! Because He is merciful and gracious, He promised to send a Deliverer to save them from the punishment they deserved.

- When we speak of God’s grace and God’s mercy, we are usually contrasting it against the background of man’s sin. God’s love is shown throughout creation. But we see God’s grace and mercy after man has rebelled against the God who loves him.

God spoke to Eve and told her that because she had disobeyed the Lord:

- She and all future mothers would suffer in childbirth.

- Her husband would have authority over her.

Adam had foolishly listened to Eve instead of obeying what God had said to him.

- Adam knew what God had said.

- But he was willing to follow Eve’s suggestion rather than to do what he knew to be God’s will.

- How subtly Satan works to cause us to believe him instead of God!

- Consider:

Even our own families can hinder us and make us think that we don’t need to believe God. Satan used the snake to deceive Eve. But he used Eve to cause Adam to disobey God. Neither Adam nor Eve made right choices, and both of them knew what God had said. We need to be sure that we are believing God instead of believing men. As we learned before, Satan often speaks his lies to us through people; and he tries to make those lies seem very attractive. You may remember that our first lesson was on the authority of the Bible. We must keep continually in our minds that God’s Word was written to us so that we could know Him and know what is right. God is the supreme authority for all truth; no one is as wise as He is. Eve decided to find out if Satan was wiser than God. And Adam decided he would like to make his own choices about life. The story of the results of Adam and Eve’s sin should be enough to warn us to take a good, long look at the Bible, to learn what it really says, and to believe what God tells us in His Word.

Because Adam and Eve listened to Satan, they fell into his trap and disobeyed God; therefore, God said that, from that time, the ground would be cursed.

- Consider:

Before Adam sinned, he took care of the garden.

- Everything grew without Adam doing any hard work.

- Weeds didn’t grow; there were no pests. But when Adam sinned, God cursed the earth.

- Many weeds began to grow.

- This made Adam’s work difficult.

The results of sin impacted not only Adam and Eve but also the lovely garden God had given them. In fact, all of the bad things in the world exist because of disobedience to God.

- Satan and his followers disobeyed God and now roam the earth.

- When man disobeyed, man’s sin affected all of God’s creation. Why should man’s sin have affected all creation?

- God had made the earth for man.

Because He loved man, God had given man everything he needed. Because He loved man, God had made things not just adequate, but also very beautiful and abundant.

- Now man had rejected God’s love for him.

- Part of the consequence was that man would no longer live in a perfect environment. We live in a world that still suffers from that curse.

- We constantly struggle against sickness, pain, weakness, pain in childbearing, hard work, difficult weather conditions, animal and insect pests, weeds, sorrow, grief, and death.

- None of these things were in the world before Adam and Eve sinned. God had given them a perfect place to live and wanted them to live in perfect harmony with Him forever. But man chose to rebel against God, and that rebellion brought disastrous consequences which we still suffer under to this day. Adam’s body must die, just as God had said.

- God had made Adam from the dust of the ground.

- Because Adam sinned, God told Adam that his body must die and go back again to the earth. When He created Adam and Eve, God did not intend for them to die.

- But now Adam and Eve must die because of their disobedience to God.

- The punishment for sin is death— Not just physical death but separation from God now and forever and eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.

Even though people have different colors of skin, we all originally came from the same parents, Adam and Eve.

Acts 17:26 says that God “has made from one blood every nation of men…”

- Eve is the first woman and the mother of every human being.

- Adam is the father of us all. Adam was separated from God because he turned away from obeying Him.

- Adam’s sin ruined his perfect relationship with God and also the perfection of the earth that God had given him to live in.

- His sin set off a chain of sorrows. Because of Adam’s sin, he would die, and all of his children would also die.

All people in every country die because we are all the descendants of Adam. The Devil did not “make them do it.”

- Adam and Eve knew what God had said.

- But they disobeyed Him anyway.

Think about the tremendous love that God had poured out upon Adam and Eve.

- He had created everything good and beautiful and useful for them.

- He created them and gave them life.

- He was their loving Creator, and He communicated with them, telling them everything they needed to know. Think of the horribleness of their sin and our sin in the face of our loving, holy God. But think of the grace that God displayed in His promise to send a Deliverer! God’s love is absolutely amazing. How sad sin appears in light of His love! Sin brought terrible consequences. - We live with those consequences every day.

- In the Bible we have seen how all the sorrows of life began.

- And we can see a holy, righteous God—just and true and perfect in all He does.

In our next lesson we will see what God did to graciously provide for Adam and Eve.

QUESTIONS:

1. Did God call Adam because God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were?

2. Can anyone hide from God?

3. Why did God have the right to call Adam and question him?

a.

b.

c. .

4. Why does God have the right to demand obedience?

5. What was God’s curse on the snake?

6. What can Satan and the spirits hide from God?

7. Whom did God promise to send?

8. How was this Deliverer to come?

9. What did God say that the virgin’s Son would do?

10. Why did God promise to send a Deliverer for man?

11. Did Adam and Eve deserve God’s love and His promise of a Deliverer?

12. How would you describe to someone else the meaning of grace?

13. Why didn’t we talk about God’s grace and mercy during the first lessons on creation?

14. In each of the areas listed, contrast Adam and Eve’s situation before they had sinned with their situation after they had sinned and had been put under God’s curse for their sin.

a. Their relationship with God.

b. Their relationship to each other.

c. Their daily life and health.

15. What evidence is there in the world today of God’s curse on Adam and Eve?

16. Who were the first parents of all people?

17. Why do all people die?

Suggested Daily Bible Readings:

Day 51: Leviticus, Chapters 11 and 12

Day 52: Leviticus, Chapters 13 and 14

Day 53: Leviticus, Chapters 15 and 16

Day 54: Leviticus, Chapters 17 and 18

Day 55: Leviticus, Chapters 19 and 20