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......,.... ' Lesson 5...,.. ' -"~~ : ~~. ~._'... >-. -"! _- Gon CREATES, H umans S rn Lesson Scripture: Genesis 3 Focus Scripture: Genesis 3:8-17, 20-24 Key Verse: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. Genesis 3:23 (NRSV) GENESIS 3:8-17, 20-24 (NRSV) Genesis 3:8-17 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him "Where are you?" 10 He said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself." ' 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman "What is this that you have done?" The woma~ said, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate." 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you." 17 And to the man he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground be- 28 GENESIS 3:8-17, 20-24 (KJV) Genesis 3:8-17 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman What is this that thou hast done? And the worn ~ an said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee '

Lesson 5 cause of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;..." Genesis 3:20-24 20 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"- 23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. KEY TERMS Enmity -Personal hostility Pangs - Toil Rule - Dominion, authority Good - Pleasant, agreeable, benefit, welfare Evil- Distress, misery, injury, calamity Cherubim -Angels INTRODUCTION Here we are at the end of the creation story. God took what was empty and void and filled it with life and resources. The creator brought light into darkness, separated waters, created plants and vegetation and animals to graze the earth and seas. The final act was creating a man to rule over what was created and giving him the authority to co-create. saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;... Genesis 3:20-24 20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. For this endeavor, he gave the man a helpmate in order to carry out the care for the land and flock. Unfortunately, what should have been a blissful and happy story has now turned into one of disobedience and shame and can even be considered greed. The story takes a drastic turn this week as we are introduced to the consequences of poor choices. This lesson will allow us the opportunity to explore the balance between living as creatures in God's image while also being tempted to sin. The story, however, also provides us the capacity to envision reconciliation with God through confession and repentance. Our journey seeks God's help in restoring creation to wholeness. TELLING THE BIBLE STORY The people, in their quest for more, 29

wanting to be more like God and expanding their knowledge, ignored and disregarded the one rule they were given, which ultimately removed their innocence and opened their eyes to a world God was trying to keep from them. As a result, they hid when they heard the almighty's voice. They covered themselves fo_r. they were now fully aware of the current state. Their childlike innocence and lack of inhibition was gone. They were now self-conscious and unable to fully enjoy Lesson 5 wonderful creation. As an act of discipline, God punished all three parties involved - the man to work, the woman to painful childbearing, and the serpent to roaming on its belly. It is worth noting that the same ground that God cursed was the same ground from which God made humanity (Genesis 2:7), and now that ground God gave them to farm. Once again, all of creation is inextricably connected. the gift that was given to them. The human drive The human drive for sankofa for self-importance had Self-importance had There is an African created separation from created separation from fable concerning ljapa God. the tortoise and the feast God. in the sky. The story A vivid, wide-ranging terminology for sin in the Bible reveals its devastating nature. This rich biblical vocabulary demonstrates the complexity of sin. The trilogy of words for sin expressed in the strongest biblical language are translated as (a) "missing the target," "deviating from a right way," or "going astray from a straight path"; (b) "transgression" or "bent," "twisted," or "crooked"; and (c) "rebellion" or "revolt." According to Genesis 3, sin is a broken relationship with God; it is an attempt to live an autonomous life - ignoring God, God's authority, and God's law. Sin is thus de-creation, the undoing of God's 30 begins with a famine in the animal kingdom, so ljapa is looking for food. He found out that all the birds were preparing for an annual feast with an abundance of food. ljapa found a way to get up to the sky to attend the feast. Read excerpts below to see how the story unfolds: When it was time for the feast, all the food was laid out on a table. /japa the tortoise asked, "Who does this food belong to?" and all the birds answered, "All of us." ljapa the tortoise said, "That is me, my name is 'all of us,"' and he ate a// the food while the birds had none. The birds were so angry that they grabbed

'all of us,"' but as they grabbed him, his feathers would come off until the tortoise was revealed. To punish him, the birds decided to leave him in the sky; they would not fly him back to land. Tortoise begged the birds to give a message to his wife. He asked his wife to lay out as.. many mattresses as she could find so he could have a soft landing. The birds who were still angry asked his wife to bring out all the furniture in the house and that was what she did. The tortoise jumped from the sky, but instead of landing on a soft mattress, he landed on wooden furniture and his shell broke into many pieces. His wife collected these pieces and glued them together and that is why the tortoise does not have a smooth shell. This folkloric story about ljapa, similar to today's biblical story about Adam and Eve, demonstrates for us what can happen when our greed overtakes the place of community in our lives. Just like Eve and Adam, ljapa was left with strained relationships, and with some damage to himself. CASE STUDY Today's question comes from an anonymous man: Hello, Pastor. There 's something I've been struggling with, and that thing has been not feeling convicted lesson 5 for my sin. 6 I know that as a believer I should feel bad for indulging in sin. Smoking weed, watching porn, lying - every time I do those things that I should not do, I never feel convicted, nor do I feel like God is punishing me or is angry with my sin. In fact, those things make me feel good in the moment. I guess my main thing is I don't know how to hate sin, especially when I don't feel any immediate backlash from God for indulging in it. It's almost like God is giving me a free pass. And I just am wondering why that would be. How do /learn to hate my sin? The gift of freedom presupposes choice and free wiii J Humans must always acknowledge that they are created beings. They need to cultivate their total dependency on God. God's generosity was plainly explained - everything I created is for you except one fruit. To ensure their freedom, Adam and Eve needed to respect their boundaries. These boundaries are those things that are prescribed to us in God's word. Then and now, restrictions must be kept. Even in a perfect world, there are limits that must be guarded, for discipline is a crucial ingredient of life. Humans need to accept that they are not gods. By accepting limits, Adam and Eve were free; they had a safe space in which they 6 Story adapted from: https:/ /www.desiringgod.org/interviews/my-sin-feels-good-in-the-moment -why-stop. 7 Adapted from: http://www. perspectivedigest.org/article/245/ archives/22-4/ sin -and-salvation -in -genesis-3. 31

could grow and develop their potential, true humanity, and the image of God in which they were created. LIFE APPLICATION Sin is described in Genesis 3 primarily m theological and relational terms, as it is aimed against God the creator and what God represents. 8 David 'expressed his understanding eloquently after he acutely understood the demoralizing nature of his own sinful Lesson 5 actions in his adultery with Bathsheba: Trust is the "Against you [0 God], you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" (Psalm 51:4 ). Joseph stressed the same conviction when he refused to give in to Potiphar's wife's lustful attempt at seduction: "My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:8). Sin reverses all three foundational functions and purposes of life for which we were created according to the first Genesis creation account. Sin breaks our closeness with God, destroys a trusting fellowship, and alienates us from the Lord's presence. By living in sin, people reveal distrust of God, deciding essential and for themselves what is right and wrong. Sin comes as a result of rejecting God's authority and refusing to acknowledge God as the creator to whom humans must be accountable. foundational element of all meaningful relationships. Trust is the essential and foundational element of all meaningful relationships. It is a quality of life without which nothing can function properly. We trust only a person we know, who has our best interests in mind, who loves and cares for us, is unselfish and gracious, and understands our hearts. This lesson provides for us a way to talk about sin in our daily lives, and a way to aim for faithful discipleship. Firstly, we must recognize that sin exists - and that sin has consequences. The laws that God has designed for us to follow are not just cursory, but rather they are set to help us remain in right relationship with God and with others in our communities. In addition, we also recognize that these relationships still have the capacity to be restored and reconciled. As people of faith, we are encouraged to recognize sin, to call it as such, and to strive to limit its presence and effect in our lives. We can then ask some engaging questions: 8 Ibid. 32

Lesson 5 1. If sin can be considered a broken life, material or ideological, that relationship with God, what sin(s) you desire that might lead you to do we need to challenge in our own distorting relationships? How can lives to become closer to God? we handle wanting something we 2. Take a moment to consider sin in a should not have? larger context such as institutional CLOSING DEVOTIONS or systematic actions. What are some sinful behaviors. that you see on an institutional level? Are there any responses as to how to bridge the gaps and to reconcile the relationships? 3. A large part of this lesson hinges on the sin emerging from desire. Adam and Eve ate of the tree that they were instructed to not touch (Genesis 3:3), but the desire overwhelmed them (Genesis 3:6). What are some things in your. Closing Song: I Am Weak, and I Need Thy Strength, AMEC Hymnal #378 Give Me a Clean Heart, Songs of Zion #182 Closing Prayer: Gracious Father, thank you for your promise of abundant life. Keep us ever mindful of what is most important in life so that we may share it with others and all may share your peace within. In Jesus' name. Amen. By: Bishop James L. Davis The Anvil: Living Well Everyday (2005) HOME DAILY BIBLE READINGS September 24-September 30 Monday Tuesday 2 Samuel11:1-5 (King David Gives in to Temptation) Romans 5:12-19 (Death by Adam; Life by Christ) Wednesday Matthew 4:1-11 (Jesus Overcomes Temptation) Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Mark 9:42-48 (Removing the Stumbling Blocks to Temptation) James 1:12-15 (Endure Temptation, Receive Crown of Life) Genesis 3:1-7 (The Serpent's Temptation) Genesis 3:8-17, 20-24 (The Sins of the First Humans) 33