"Law Meets Love"
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
Adam and Eve break trust with their Creator and open the door of death and destruction that would ultimately cost Him His life.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
OVERVIEW
Have you ever been told not to do something? For many that command only makes the situation worse. Being told not to do something provides motivation to do that activity—seems counterproductive, doesn’t it? Adam and Eve were given instructions on how to live in their new environment, but their happiness and contentedness didn’t last very long which brings up the question—why? Let’s take a look at our scripture passage and see what we can learn about human behavior.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Materials needed: Lego bricks
TRANSITION
Have you ever watched a parent put a dent in a car? You have? Why didn’t you stop them? (Just kidding because accidents happen.) How did they feel afterward? Happy, sad, frustrated, angry, embarrassed? Ruining something usually isn’t a great experience and today’s lesson isn’t any different. Let’s join Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read Genesis 3:1-3.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 3:4-7.
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 3:8-13.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Read Genesis 3:14-19.
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
QUESTIONS
Read Genesis 3:20-24.
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
QUESTIONS
APPLICATION
The speed limit in a school zone is 25 miles per hour. What happens when you go faster than that? Why is the speed limit there so slow? The consequences of driving too fast in a school zone could be disastrous and costly which is why people are asked to go slowly. In Eden, Adam and Eve were given a warning not because God didn’t want them to have a good time; He wanted them to live their best life. When God’s original plan didn’t work out, God made a new plan which would ultimately save them. God didn’t leave Adam and Eve in their sin, but instead explained to them and showed them how life would ultimately be restored.
FOLLOW UP
This is the second Sabbath of the new year.
SCRIPURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
In Genesis 3, Eve encounters a snake in the garden who is crafty and cunning and lies to her, enticing her with the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. He tells her, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 describe Satan as being this serpent, and Satan deceived Eve. When she ate of the fruit, her eyes were opened but opened to the experience of sin and hurt as she and Adam discovered, firsthand, guilt and shame. Indeed, they did not surely (seem to) die…that day, but the entrance of sin caused them to be removed from the garden and eventually experience death. Some would say they did not physically stop breathing that day, but they did die spiritually as evidenced by the fact they started to hide from God rather than be drawn to Him. From that point forward, they would need to be “born again” to be restored to life.
When Adam and Eve hid after they sinned , God called out to Adam. It wasn’t because God didn’t know where Adam was. In the Bible, God doesn’t ask questions to obtain information as He knows everything (John 3:20), even the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and He knows what is within every human heart (1 Kings 8:39, Luke 16:15). He asked where Adam was so that he could reveal himself and acknowledge the shame and guilt that he and Eve felt.
When asked how he knew he was naked, Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. Neither of them were honest in accepting responsibility for their own actions in disobeying God. Sin brought shame, guilt, and fear into this world. As swiftly as evil entered this world, God had a plan for redemption and Genesis 3:15 alludes to a future when evil will end. Two things are introduced here: (1) the curse on mankind and (2) a Savior who will one day take that curse upon Himself (read Galatians 3 to see how Jesus fulfilled this).
In verse 22, Adam and Eve are removed from the garden so that they will not live forever and sin will not go on forever. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, we can be forgiven from our sins when we choose to stop hiding from God, be honest with where we are, and ask Him for forgiveness from our sins and freedom from our shame, guilt and fear.
“Where Are You?”
How can you tell that someone is lying?
Read Genesis 3:1-13.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Read Genesis 3:22-24.
22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
1. What does the serpent want Adam and Eve to do?
2. What did it mean for Adam and Eve to be “like God”?
3. After Adam and Eve disobeyed God, what did they see for the first time?
4. Why did God ask Adam and Eve, “Where are you?”
5. When have you felt ashamed and tried to hide?
6. When I apologize and I’m forgiven, I feel __________.
7. What is freeing about honesty?
8. When you feel ashamed, what promises of God remind you that He forgives, loves, and cares for you?
SUMMARY
In the garden, Adam and Eve were the first to experience the terrible effects of sin— it breaks relationships and destroys lives. Romans 5:6-21 brings this story full circle because it tells of how through one “Adam” (Hebrew word for “man”) came sin and how another “Adam” (or “a man”—in this case, Jesus) came and freed us from our sin. Romans 5:15 calls it a free gift.
Thousands of years later, Satan the serpent tries to deceive God’s people. One lie he tells them is that God will not love or forgive you again when you do wrong, but the Bible affirms again and again that He loves and is willing to forgive anyone that can be honest and repent of their sins. Acts 3:19 encourages us to, “Repent…that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” And 1 John 1:9 is a promise we can claim anytime that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We are not powerless when it comes to temptation and to sin. The author of James 4:7 pens, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” When we submit ourselves to God continually, He has power to help us overcome temptation. And if we fall in sin, God is able and willing to lovingly forgive.
APPLICATION
King David wrote in Psalm 119:11, “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
