October 10, 2019
Last night we continued our journey through the story of the Bible and looked at Genesis 3-8. In this section of scripture, we see more and more how sin is an infection that infects all of humanity. In Genesis chapter 4, we learn of Cain who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy. Furthermore, he lies to God, and then complains to God that the consequences of his actions are too much for him to bear. In Genesis 6, we learn that ALL of humanity is only evil continually. God is so grieved by this that He says He will blot out mankind from the face of the earth because of their sin.
We split up into groups to look in depth at specific sections in Genesis 3-8 and made observations about the sins that we saw, the consequences of those sins, and then, lastly, we looked for God’s grace in the midst of sin. Amazingly, despite mankind’s wickedness, God always showed grace! Instead of taking Cain’s life, God protects Him with a mark, keeping him safe from his enemies. Instead of wiping out the human race, God remembers Noah who finds favor with God! Then, recognizing the sinfulness of humanity, God makes a covenant after the flood saying that He will never again destroy the earth! He will carry out His plans to save humanity from their sin through the Snake Crusher He spoke of in Genesis 3!
We learned that there is indeed punishment for sin, and that God takes sin seriously! But we also learned that God is a gracious, loving, forgiving God who remembers His people, and His promises!
Here are some questions to help recap youth group with your students:
- How did God show grace to Cain?
- How did God show grace to humanity, even in the flood?
- How have you felt/seen God’s grace despite your sin?
- Why does God grieve sin so much? Why is it such a big deal to him?
- How does God follow through on His promises given what we’ve read in Genesis 1-8 thus far?