Bad News – Sin

[Annemarie, Rita, and Paul taught this to eight kids on Saturday, January 23, 2010 -- part 3 of 9]

Themes: “original sin,” fallen humankind, Satan/temptation

Topics from previous lessons: disobedience, creation, fear, kings, prophets, and shadows

Scriptures: Genesis 3; Psalm 102:25-27; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 5

Materials req’d: possible coloring pages: serpent in the garden, temptation, world not so happy; new psalm/hymn verse (Juvenile Ornate Ghost Pipefish Image © 2008 Steve Childs, reproduced here under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.):

Psalm 8 (verse 5 Genevan Psalter) prepared as 4x6"

Outline

1. Prayer
2. Singing psalms/hymns of choice
3. Review 2wtl point one as they have drawn it in their exercise books (we broke it up into two sequential drawings, the second introducing man/woman to creation) — remind them to start with the circle for the earth lower on their pages so there is room for the crown/etc above
4. Lesson
5. Break
6. Activity
7. Hand out coloring pages
8. Review questions for today’s lesson
9. Draw points 1 and 2 of 2wtl in exercise books — the scripture text under point 2 will be “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
10. Singing psalms/hymns
11. Prayer

Lesson (outline #4)

[Hand out the 'fill in the blanks' activity first, so the kids can write some answers in as they listen to the story.]

A. Introduction

Remember how God made the earth and people in six days, and saw that it was very good, and rested on the seventh day? Adam and his wife were happy and healthy– they did not feel guilty, and they had nothing to worry about.

This week we are going to learn about why the world is not “very good,” like it was back then. This week is going to be about bad news, and next week it will get even worse. We would not even want to talk about this if we did not know that God has given us a powerful King to save us– the only solution to all of our problems. Jesus, that baby born in Bethlehem, is the perfect King.

If there were only bad news, then there would be no reason to learn anything. There would not even be any good reason to make plans or to work hard at anything.

However, if there is good news, then we must first know about the bad news before we can learn about the good news properly.

B. Adam, Eve, and the Serpent

Last week we mentioned the serpent, who was very clever, and the most crafty animal in the garden God had made for Adam and his wife.

One day, the serpent asked Adam’s wife, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?“

The woman correctly remembered what God had said, and answered the serpent, saying, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.’“

Then the serpent told a lie to the woman. He said, “You won’t die!” He also told her that if she eats from that tree, she will be “like God,” and will gain knowledge of both good and evil. The serpent was tempting her, which means he was inviting her to disobey God. We are all often tempted like this, but we do not need to accept the invitation to disobey God, just as Adam’s wife did not need to. Jesus proved this, because He was tempted a lot by this same serpent, but He never disobeyed His Father.

The fruit on the tree looked delightful, and the woman also wanted the wisdom that the serpent had spoke of, so she ate some of the fruit, and also gave some to Adam. They both ate this fruit that God had told them not to eat.

Once they ate the fruit, they had a new understanding about everything. They suddenly noticed that they were naked and they felt embarrassed about it. This had never happened before. They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When they heard God walking in the garden, they hid in the trees! They felt guilty, which is something they had never felt before. Oh, how happy they would still be if they had trusted God as their king!

God called out to Adam, “Where are you?”

Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.“

So God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam blamed his wife, and she blamed the serpent; however, they both knew that they had disobeyed God. Adam had not even warned his wife when she took the fruit; instead, he ate some with her. Their explanations to God were foolish excuses. They still felt guilty because they were guilty– they had disobeyed God. Disobeying God is called sinning.

We have learned about the very first sin ever committed by humans.

For the first time, God told Adam and his wife about a lot of bad news– the way things were going to be now that they had sinned like this. Life would not be so lovely any more, and Adam and his wife (whom he now named ‘Eve’) would not live forever– they would surely die, even as God had promised. God placed powerful guards and a flaming sword to block the way to the tree of life.

No human being since that time has ever figured out a sneaky way to live forever, even though they almost always act surprised when they find out that someone has died– as if some new or unusual thing has happened!

So God really did keep His promise with Adam and Eve. He would be a sloppy father and a liar if He did not keep His promises. We are glad that He is a good and perfect father, unlike any father we know.

C. How Does Adam and Eve’s Sin Affect us Today?

Condemned Under Adam

Apostle Paul wrote [Romans 5] that “sin entered the world through one man” (Adam), and that “in this way death came to all men.” Paul even explained that death became the king of men, ruling over them! [basileuō; aorist tense.] We are the children of Adam and Eve, so we all suffer under the punishment they received.

And what an evil king death is! Who can escape it?

Even when people think they are free– living as kings over their own lives– they are still slaves to death.

A whole Bunch of Bad Kings and an Unhappy Temporal Life

Remember when we learned about the people in Israel asking God for a king? God’s prophet Samuel knew that the people did not need any king beside God, and Samuel warned them that they would have troubles with a human king. And they did have troubles! King after king, the people of Israel had very many troubles. As we know, it has also been like this with all people of all times and places. Powerful men think that they have created a great new place and a great new kingdom on this earth, but soon it fades away, often before that proud man even dies!

Where is the Roman empire now? Where is the Persian empire? The Babylonian empire is nothing but crumbled rocks sitting in museums. Alexander the Great is nowhere to be found when he might come in handy. He’s just another story in a book. Why did Britain lose control over the world? We thought everything might be okay for awhile.

What about today? Are there any countries where all the people are very happy with their president, prime minister, queen, or king?

What about the things that people set as kings to rule in their hearts, minds, and lives? The schools are trying to help kids to be self-confident instead of being confident in God, the One who created us. Confidence is a very good thing to have, but not confidence in any terrible king!

When I have trusted myself to be the boss of my own life– trusting myself to know and understand what to do and say– it has never gone well for me, and it has also not been good for other people around me. Even worse, God notices when I disobey Him. Next week we will talk about the cost of disobeying God.

Over thousands of years, humans have shown that they are very good at fighting, hating, murdering, having wars, telling lies, getting drunk, bragging, being selfish, and being greedy. This is evidence that their kings are not good kings– the ideas that rule their lives are not worth trusting. There are also earthquakes and diseases, and our bodies get old. There is so much suffering!

D. Conclusion

Remember we said that baby Jesus was formed by the Holy Spirit inside the womb of Mary? So Jesus was not condemned under Adam. Apostle Paul called Jesus the “last Adam” [1 Corinthians 15]. Like Adam in the very beginning, Jesus felt no guilt before His Father in heaven. And unlike the first Adam, Jesus never disobeyed God. Because of this, Jesus never hated, lied, or envied other people. Who else has been like Jesus? Not even king David was! How silly we would be to trust or want any king in our lives other than Jesus Christ. How kind the Creator has been to give His son to us!

Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this earth. His kingdom does not fade or die like everything on this earth does. There are no earthquakes, no jealousy, no sickness, and no tears in His kingdom.  Psalm 102 says this:

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.

But you remain the same,
and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:25-27)

Activities (outline #6)

1. Game involving a command, a lie/temptation, and children’s opportunity to discern & decide. A game called “the general says” HERE goes like this: Directions: The “general” stands in the middle of the circle of chairs and gives commands to each child. These commands are not to be obeyed unless the command begins with the words, “The general says.” Any child that follows orders without this authority are out of the game and must leave the circle. Sample commands might include: “Scratch your head,” “Step forward one step,” “Salute,” or “Turn around twice.”
2. Check “dominoes” and “two oranges” activities HERE.
3. Idea from Rita: Dart board with magnetic (or Velcro) darts… kids standing 10′ back will see that it is nearly impossible to hit the bulls-eye. Can move farther back if necessary. Object of the lesson is to illustrate our (sin) incapacity to attain perfect obedience.
4. Fill in the blanks:

FRUIT, GOD, GOOD, EVIL, DIE, DEATH, PROMISE, FLAMING, BETHLEHEM, TREE, LIAR, SERPENT, ADAM, WOMAN, GARDEN, GUILT, SIN, CRAFTY, KING, ONE, SIX, SEVEN, WIFE, HID, FEAR, DISOBEY

God made the world in ____ days, and rested on day ____.

God promised Adam and his wife that they would surely ____ if they ate fruit from the _____ of knowledge.

The serpent was ________.

The serpent asked Adam’s wife, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the ________’?“

Temptation is an invitation to ___________ God.

The woman saw that the ________ looked delightful.

Before Adam and his wife committed ______, the world was very good.

It was the _________ who gave some fruit to Adam.

We cannot understand the ______ news, if we have not learned the bad news.

It is good to desire wisdom, but the beginning of wisdom is to _______ God, not to disobey Him.

After they sinned, God kept His __________.

_________ was the very first bad feeling Adam and Eve ever felt.

This was sin number ____ of very many sins committed by people.

When they heard _____ walking in the garden, the man and woman _____ in the trees.

The woman blamed the serpent, and ______ blamed the woman.

Adam gave the name ‘Eve’ to his _______.

God placed guards and a __________ sword to block the way to the tree of life.

Death is an ________ king.

God would be a ______ if He had broken His promise to Adam and Eve.

Jesus was also tempted by the ___________.

Sin leads to ________.

There is only one _________ who can save us, and He was born in ____________.

Review questions (outline #8)

We may either go through the ‘fill in the blanks’ questions above as a group, or play our usual two team game using those questions without peeking at our papers.