The First sin: How Can We Deal with Temptation?
Genesis 3
If God is good and powerful, why does he allow so much evil and pain? Although the Bible doesn't answer this question directly, it shows how sin and its consequences entered the world.
GROUP DISCUSSION. How would you explain the difference between temptation and sin?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. What areas of temptation cause you the greatest concern?
The last chapter left Adam and Eve at peace with God, themselves and the natural world over which they had been given stewardship. They were free to eat any fruit of the garden - with one exception. In this chapter we will see how they handled that test and what lessons we can learn from their experience.
Read Genesis 3.
1. As you heard the drama unfold, what impressed you about the serpent's strategy and his representation of God's command?
2. What do you think of Eve's response (vv. 2-3)?
3. In what ways do we tend to make God's commands more restrictive than he intends?
How does this affect our view of his requirements?
4. As the serpent interprets God's instructions, what does he promise (vv.4-5)?
5. From your experience how does Satan try to deceive us about the consequences and supposed benefits of sin?
6. How have the serpent's words distorted Eve's thinking (v. 6), and what action does she take as a result?
7. In verses 7-13 describe the effect of Adam and Eve's disobedience on their attitude toward themselves and God.
8. What mistakes do Adam and Eve make?
Have any of these kinds of mistakes led you to disobey God?
9. Describe in your own words the punishments the Lord pronounces on the serpent, the woman and the man (vv. 14-19).
10. In what ways is life now different from God's original plan?
11. How does God finally end this era in Eden?
What shows his continuing concern for Adam and Eve (vv. 21-24)?
12. What lessons have you learned in this study that can help you recognize and resist a temptation you are facing?
Pray for the Lord's strength to take this action.
Now or Later
Reread the three divine punishments and consider what relevance they may have for you today.
If God is good and powerful, why does he allow so much evil and pain? Although the Bible doesn't answer this question directly, it shows how sin and its consequences entered the world.
GROUP DISCUSSION. How would you explain the difference between temptation and sin?
PERSONAL REFLECTION. What areas of temptation cause you the greatest concern?
The last chapter left Adam and Eve at peace with God, themselves and the natural world over which they had been given stewardship. They were free to eat any fruit of the garden - with one exception. In this chapter we will see how they handled that test and what lessons we can learn from their experience.
Read Genesis 3.
1. As you heard the drama unfold, what impressed you about the serpent's strategy and his representation of God's command?
2. What do you think of Eve's response (vv. 2-3)?
3. In what ways do we tend to make God's commands more restrictive than he intends?
How does this affect our view of his requirements?
4. As the serpent interprets God's instructions, what does he promise (vv.4-5)?
5. From your experience how does Satan try to deceive us about the consequences and supposed benefits of sin?
6. How have the serpent's words distorted Eve's thinking (v. 6), and what action does she take as a result?
7. In verses 7-13 describe the effect of Adam and Eve's disobedience on their attitude toward themselves and God.
8. What mistakes do Adam and Eve make?
Have any of these kinds of mistakes led you to disobey God?
9. Describe in your own words the punishments the Lord pronounces on the serpent, the woman and the man (vv. 14-19).
10. In what ways is life now different from God's original plan?
11. How does God finally end this era in Eden?
What shows his continuing concern for Adam and Eve (vv. 21-24)?
12. What lessons have you learned in this study that can help you recognize and resist a temptation you are facing?
Pray for the Lord's strength to take this action.
Now or Later
Reread the three divine punishments and consider what relevance they may have for you today.
posted by Christinewjc at
3:52 PM
3 Comments:
GROUP DISCUSSION. How would you explain the difference between temptation and sin?
Temptation is the desire to see, hear, or do something that may or may not be good for you. Sin is giving in and willfully acting upon a temptation, despite knowing that it is an act of rebellion against God. Sin is also something that can be willfully done against another person(s)that often ends up harming both the person doing the act as well as the person perpetrating the act. Sin affects us spiritually, emotionally, physically and intellectually during our lives here on this earth.
PERSONAL REFLECTION. What areas of temptation cause you the greatest concern?
I tend to get angry with certain political groups and the people that lead and promote sinful ideologies that often cause great harm to our nation and the moral path that we are on. I am especially grieved when it affects children. I need to remember that the true enemy is a defeated foe and his power is limited. I need to remember to keep the faith, hope, love and live in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ as history unfolds into prophecy foretold in the Bible over 2,000 years ago. There is no reason to fear when you are a child of God. I will do all I can to help persuade people to come into His Kingdom and leave the rest up to Him!
1. As you heard the drama unfold, what impressed you about the serpent's strategy and his representation of God's command?
The serpent was crafty in that he subtly twisted the Word of God while trying to place doubt about God's goodness and generosity into the mind of Eve. He said, "Did God REALLY say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?
2. What do you think of Eve's response (vv. 2-3)?
She actually corrected the serpent's misinformation about what God did say. She said that they could eat of any tree except the one in the middle of the garden where they were told not eat of the tree. She did a good job countering the lie of satan here and backed it up with what God truly had said.
3. In what ways do we tend to make God's commands more restrictive than he intends?
I think that we could all be guilty of thinking that what he commands us not to do is restrictive rather than protective and instructive. We are given boundaries for a reason. He wants only the best for us and He can provide that. Satan (the serpent), on the other hand, does not have our best interests at heart. He is the father of lies and the truth is not in him.
By
Christinewjc, at 4:19 PM
3. (b) How does this affect our view of his requirements?
We could have the wrong attitude that He is stingy, or, the wrong belief that He doesn't want us to know or do certain things because He is trying to squelch our natural curiosity. But because our desire to gain additional knowledge was, in reality, an act of rebellion, this led us to disobey and sin in order to get such knowledge. Our 'natural' curiosity is now polluted and corrupted so that what might look like freedom on the outset, is, in fact, more like bondage (to sin, evil and death).
4. As the serpent interprets God's instructions, what does he promise (vv.4-5)?
He says that Eve will not surely die. He told her that her "eyes would be opened" (as if they have not already been opened to good) and that she will be like God, knowing good and evil.
5. From your experience how does Satan try to deceive us about the consequences and supposed benefits of sin?
He tries to get us to doubt God's goodness. He lied to Eve stating that she would not die if she disobeyed God. He tempted her to make a wrong choice by making the one thing that God commanded of her so appealing that she forgot the abundance of the rest of the garden already given to her. Today, He tries to get us to doubt God's goodness while he (satan) is the one responsible for leading others into sin, evil, and deadly havoc in this fallen world. He tries to make the benefits of sin look more appealing than obeying God who is trying to help us avoid the terrible consequences of evil and sin.
6. How have the serpent's words distorted Eve's thinking (v. 6), and what action does she take as a result?
Satan used temptation in order to change Eve's mind about God's command to obey. He tried to make sin appear good, pleasant and desirable. Eve's train of thought went from the fear of the warning of death from God for disobedience, to thinking that knowing evil as well as good (which she already knew) would be harmless and, in fact, beneficial. She was deceived into thinking that the temptation to "be like God" by sinning against God was a good thing. However, what she was really choosing was to be her own 'god' instead of continuing to recognize the proper place of her existence to obey God and thus have unlimited fellowship and ultimate love with Him. With this distortion, Eve made the wrong choice and succombed to the temptation.
7. In verses 7-13 describe the effect of Adam and Eve's disobedience on their attitude toward themselves and God.
Prior to sinning, Adam and Eve and God had only good in their relationships with each other. After sinning, they immediately saw the evil they had done and tried to cover their nakedness and hide from God. When God asked, "Where are you" He was probably referring to the condition of their hearts. They were now in rebellion against God and even against each other. Each tried to blame someone else for their transgression. The fellowship that had been so perfect was now broken because of sin. Barriers were placed in front of their relationships that severely harmed their ability to be with, and walk with God. The first evidence of conflict between humans happened here, too. All the good they had known was now marred with sin, evil and death.
8. (a)What mistakes do Adam and Eve make?
(see above)
They tried to cover up their sin from God which is impossible to do anyway. Then, they blamed each other (and the serpent) for it in the first place. Neither one wanted to take the responsibility for their own sin, so they ran away from God. We (mankind)have been running ever since!
8 (b) Have any of these kinds of mistakes led you to disobey God?
Yes! Many times! I see the rebellious, unrepentant attitude(s) that filled my life prior to confessing my sin and asking Jesus to forgive that sin so that I could be re-born in His name.
Secular society today is filled with rampant sin which leads to evil and death. These sins are made to appear so appealing and pleasurable that we take part in them without even a thought of how it hurts the heart of God. He was saying the same thing about me, "Where are you"? It wasn't until I answered the call of Jesus Christ in my life that I see clearly how commiting sin against God and people is, in fact, bondage. Freedom is only found in Jesus Christ. Thank God for His forgiveness, mercy, grace and love!
9. Describe in your own words the punishments the Lord pronounces on the serpent, the woman and the man (vv. 14-19).
The serpent was punished by being reduced to an animal crawling on its belly and at enmity with women. Don't most of us hate snakes?
The woman would have great pain in childbearing (don't I know THAT!). We will desire our husbands and he will be the head of the household in the Christian home.
Because the Fall affected all of creation, men would have to work hard all the days of their lives. The ground was cursed with thorns and thistles where before, only beauty was present.
10. In what ways is life now different from God's original plan?
The presence of sin in our lives changed our existence for the worse. Fellowship with God was broken, relationships with each other are difficult, we were banished from the perfection of the Garden of Eden and now we have to live in toil, pain, influence of evil and physical death. We are constantly battling that which Adam and Eve wanted to know: evil. Satan will do anything to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. We are subject to the consequences of this during our entire physical lives on earth. I guess you could say we got what we wanted!
11. (a)How does God finally end this era in Eden?
He sacrificed the first animal to clothe Adam and Eve. He then banished them from Eden. After sending them out, he placed cherubim angels with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
11. (b)What shows his continuing concern for Adam and Eve (vv. 21-24)?
Since the weather would not longer be perfect, he clothed them to keep them warm. He also didn't want them to eat from the tree of life because he didn't want them to live forever in the state of sin. To live like that would mean hiding from God forever and eternal separation from God. Because God hates sin and does not allow it in heaven (angels that didn't fall with satan and his demons are now sealed with God), we would suffer the same fate as them that rebelled in heaven. But God sending Jesus Christ shows that we don't have to stay separated from God forever. Plus, the tree of life reappears in Revelation 22 where saved believers in Christ will get to eat of it freely and live eternally with God.
By
Christinewjc, at 8:04 AM
Additional Notes: Study 3. Genesis 3. The First Sin.
Purpose: To see how sin initially entered the world, and to learn something about the way we can be tempted to disobey God.
Question 1. Notice how devious and concerted the serpent's strategy is. He begins by asking questions intended to obscure God's command (v. 1). Next, he flatly contradicts God's warning about eating from the tree (v. 4). Then he misrepresents God's motive (v. 5). This strategy encourages Eve to make her own decision about the value of obeying God.
Question 6. Adam and Eve's response to their nakedness has nothing to do with sexual guilt or shame. The Bible has a high view of sex, despite certain church teachings throughout the centuries. Just as their nakedness was a sign of innocence and lack of self-consciousness, it now becomes a symbol of guilt to be covered up so they can still appear presentable.
Question 8. Adam and Eve made many mistakes. They listened to the creature instead of the Creator, followed their own way instead of God's instruction, doubted God's concern for their best interest and made self-fulfillment their goal.
Question 10. The result of their sin was profound disorder. They experienced relational estrangement with one another and with God, and they were put into battle with evil.
Question 11. God knows good and evil habitually by choosing the good and rejecting the evil. We know good and evil by the guilty experience of an evil choice. God's action in sending Adam and Eve out of the garden is also a protection. He does not want them to eat out of the tree of eternal life in their present broken state (vv. 22-23).
Question 12. The experience of temptation itself is not a sin. Martin Luther once said that while we may not be able to stop the birds from flying overhead, we can keep them from building nests in our hair.
By
Christinewjc, at 11:58 AM
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