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BIBLE BASICS:  The Fall of Mankind

2/20/2017

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Key Players:  God, Satan, Adam, and Eve

Read the story here: Genesis 3

In our last session, we saw that God had created a perfect environment and placed Adam and Eve in it, and in His words “it was very good.”  Genesis 2 ends by stating that Adam and Eve were not ashamed, which was because they were innocent of sin and had nothing to be ashamed of before God.
  But for there to be good, there must also be evil, and Genesis chapter 3 ushers in the first sin.


Sometime during this period, the archangel Satan had led a rebellion against God (1 John 3:8), and one third of the angels created by God followed Satan (2 Peter 2:4).  Because of this rebellion, God cast them out of heaven (Luke 10:17-18).  So then, the serpent we see in Genesis 3:1 is actually Satan in disguise  (2 Corinthians 11:3).  Satan proceeds to deceive Eve by twisting the words of God, causing her to doubt, distrust, and rebel against God.  Eve ate of the one fruit God had forbidden Adam and Eve from eating (Genesis 2:16-17).  After eating, she gave some forbidden fruit to Adam who also ate, and because of their sin, all of mankind was cast into rebellion against God—we call this the “Fall of Man.”
The age of innocence was over.  The time of creation being “very good” was ended by man’s simple choice to distrust God and to rebel against His command.  Genesis 3:7-8 tells of how Adam and Eve were now ashamed, and in that shame of sin they hid from God and attempted to cover their shame by sewing together “clothing” for themselves.  Genesis 3:9 says that God in His love sought after sinful man and called for Adam and Eve.  Though God created the world for us to enjoy in fellowship with Him, suddenly sin separated us from Him and broke our fellowship with Him. 

With the fall of man came a curse.  God went to Adam first and the blame game began.  Adam blamed Eve, and she blamed the serpent.  Adam said, “My wife made me do it.” Eve said, “The devil made me do it,” and God in His righteousness said, “You’re all guilty and you all will suffer the consequences of your sin.”  Adam was cursed to work the ground, which was also cursed with thorns.  From this point on, by hard labor, mankind would have to work to provide food for his family.  Eve was cursed in the pain of bearing children and by having a desire to rule over her husband.  The serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly and eat the dust of the ground.  And Genesis 3:15 prophesied the coming of a Savior (referred to in this verse as the "offspring of woman") who would destroy Satan (Romans 16:20) and place him in eternal punishment for his part in leading mankind to sin against God (Revelation 20:10).

We live in a fallen world where sin has cursed all of God’s creation.  Sickness and death and pain and suffering are all results of this fall of mankind, but there is good news!  There is a remedy for our sin curse which is found in God’s plan to restore mankind to a place of fellowship with Him through the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ.  Romans 5:12-21 tells us that through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and all who are born of mankind are born with a sin nature which rebels against God.  But this Scripture also tells us that one man, Jesus Christ came as a “second Adam” to live the sinless life we could not live.  He came to pay our sin debt through His death and to offer His righteousness to all who come to Him for forgiveness of sin.  Though we are still suffering the effects of the fall of man living in imperfect bodies on an imperfect earth, God offers us forgiveness of sin and eternal life through Jesus Christ his Son. 
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If you have more questions about the Fall of Man and God’s gift of salvation, please contact us!
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BIBLE BASICS:  In the Beginning

2/13/2017

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Picture
Key Players: 
  • The Trinity:  God the Father, Jesus as Creator (John 1:3; Colossians 1:6; Hebrews 1:2), and the Holy Spirit
  • Adam & Eve
Read the story here:  Genesis 1-2

GENESIS (means “beginning”)

Everything has to have a beginning, so we will really begin our study in the beginning of the Bible.  I just said that everything has a beginning, yet God is the exception to this rule and does not have a beginning—because He is God.  The Bible opens with an introduction to the eternal God who has always been and always will be.  He was not created by anyone, and He created everything from nothing.

The book of Genesis begins with God speaking everything into existence.  With little effort, God created everything over the span of six days, which I believe to be literal 24-hour days. He made the galaxies that make up all of outer space, the earth we live on, and all the plants and animals on this earth.  God then created mankind—His masterpiece—whom He formed into His own likeness with His own hands, and He breathed His breath of life into man (Gen. 2:7).

Mankind is set apart from the rest of creation by the fact that we are created in God’s image.  Like God, we have emotions, intellect, and creativity.  We’re made from dirt (Psalm 103:14) so our value is not found in our physical components that make up our bodies, but in the fact that we’re made in God’s image with an eternal soul. In Job 33:4, Job says, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”  You and I are special in God’s eyes because He made us in His image and desires to be in a personal relationship with each of us.

​These two chapters cover one week in time, but they are foundational in our understanding of who God is, where we come from, and who we are in God’s eyes.  For six days God simply spoke everything we see and so much more into existence. What God made in that week was perfect and in His words, “very good.”  The word “created” used in Gen.1:1 means “made without pre-existing material.”  God literally created everything out of nothing. This fact alone should leave us in awe of God’s amazing power and creativity!

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Read the Book...Don't Wait for the Movie

2/9/2017

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I’m not a big Star Wars fan (calm down Jedi fans…I’m not hating, just stating). In fact, I’m not a fan at all, but I’m familiar with the basic story that is Star Wars.  I do know that if you want to understand the story line of Star Wars, you need to consider that there is more than one movie and that they are not in chronological order.  After the first movie came out in 1977, when I was 10 years old, there were two more movies that followed in sequence.  Then the creators of the series did what is called a “prequel trilogy” in 1999 where they went back to the beginning and told the “back story” of the first three films. 
 

By now, if you’re still with me, you should be asking, “What does this have to do with the Bible?”  Good question!  The answer is that the Bible often isn’t always in chronological order, and many times there are several story lines running simultaneously.  Often, the same events are recorded multiple times but from different viewpoints.  The Bible also is written in many different types of genres:  from historical facts, to poetry, to love letters, to prophetic writings, to letters of instruction, to…you get the point.  Each of the 66 books that make up the Bible are unique and each serve a purpose while fitting hand in hand with the other 65 books.  To understand the Bible, a person needs to consider that there is more to the story than just what one book tells you. 

I have watched one Star Wars movie (the first one, which should really be the fourth one), so for me to say, “I understand Star Wars,” is crazy.  I only know some random facts like Luke kisses his sister before he knows she’s his sister (yuck), and Darth Vader is Luke’s father.  I know that Harrison Ford is cool, a light saber would come in handy sometimes, and that’s about it.  The same goes for us in our understanding of the Bible.  Most people have a vague understanding of God’s Word because they have only “seen the first movie” (which is really the fourth movie…).  Do you get what I’m saying?  To understand God’s Word and to really “get into” God’s Word, a person needs to see the whole entirety of God’s Word, not just a clip here and there.  It’s my desire and prayer that once we understand how God’s Word is put together, we will be able to better navigate the pages of the Bible and have a better understanding of how God’s story line goes and how we fit into all of this.

In the past few posts, we have seen that God’s Word is amazing, that it’s broken down into two testaments, and that we now live under the Testament or Covenant of Grace.  But the breakdown goes further when we consider the many events and stories of the Old and New Testament and how they fit into the big picture of Scripture.
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From this point on, I will be going through the Bible and highlighting some of the major events and stories, beginning in Genesis.  These posts will be labeled “Bible Basics,” while any other posts I make will not be labeled this way.  I hope you find these posts helpful and encouraging in your personal walk with Christ.
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    Author

    Kevin Weaver is the Pastor of New Valley Fellowship and a graduate of Piedmont Baptist College in  Winston-Salem, NC.

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