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September 26, 2019

Last night we continued to dig into scripture together, focusing on Genesis 3. In every good story, there is a problem that’s in the process of being solved. For Harry Potter, that problem is Voldemort. For Bilbo Baggins and company, that problem is Sauron and the Ring. For the Pevensey children, it’s the White Witch of Narnia. The difference with the Bible is that the problem is real, and that problem is Satan and Sin.

As we studied through Genesis 3, we found that Sin is a disobedience to God’s clear command. Adam and Eve were given the command to “Fill the Earth and subdue it,” along with the command to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge. Adam, with Eve through the entire encounter with the Serpent in the garden, did not fulfill God’s command to rule over the creatures of the Earth and to protect the garden. Adam let the serpent continue twisting God’s very words. We also find that Eve listens to the Serpent’s voice over God’s voice, and she takes the apple and eats of it because it was “to be desired to make one wise,” that is, like God. Adam and Eve were twisted into thinking that they must need more than God had given them, forgetting that they themselves were image bearers of God Himself! In their pride, and disobedience, they ate of the fruit, and sin entered the world.

The first response to sin is shame. We’ll constantly see that as a theme throughout scripture. The second response is fearing God. We talked about how Adam and Eve had no reason to fear God. After all, He provided for them, and set them as the authority over all His creation. But we also see God respond graciously… as a loving parent would ask a child that’s spilled their dinner all over the ground, so God asks Adam and Eve “what happened?” He gives them the opportunity to respond in truth, and to own up to their failure. Instead of repenting, Adam blames God! And Eve blames the Serpent.

The truth is, sin is always the result of us disobeying God and trying to become like God. It’s always the result of us thinking that our way is better. We must know that Satan will be crafty, and he’ll try to twist God’s words around to get us to question God. But we can have confidence in the fact that the rest of the Bible is all about God solving the problem of Sin and Satan. We’ll look at that more next week.

Here are some questions to talk through with your students: 

• What did you learn about sin at youth group? How does what you learned about Adam and Eve’s sin help you to spot sin in your own life? 
• In what ways do you see the craftiness of the serpent in your school? What ways has God’s word been twisted and held up as truth? 
• In what ways have you justified sin, like Adam and Eve did? 
• How should we respond to sin in our lives? Can we come before God and confess? Will He act angrily toward us? 

I’m loving this study so far, friends. It’s been so cool to see the students get into it, and to ask great questions and make great observations!