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gulick

Adam & Eve 5

Hide, He's Coming: Why is the world so messed up?

Bible Passage: Genesis 3: 6-24 Bible Truth: Adam and Eve's sin caused a barrier between them, and all their descendents, and God and brought suffering and death into the world Lesson Ob e!ti"e: !hat students understand that se"aration #alienation$ from God and all suffering and death in the world is a direct result of man's sin What you need: a dec% of cards, a large coin, stor& '(andora's )o*--!he +econd ,illennium,' )ibles, handouts '-nderstanding the .eadlines,' "encils, a smell& shoe or soc%, a fragrant rose Opening: /ivide into grou"s of about 0 and give to each grou" half a dec% of cards !ell them the& have three minutes to build a tower of cards as high as the& can After the& have finished wal% around loo%ing at the towers 1om"lement their wor% and announce which tower is the highest Go the winning tower, sa& that &ou 2ust want to add a final decoration, and "lace #or dro"$ on to" a large coin !he tower should colla"se under the weight of the coin !hen as%,
How did you feel when I dropped the coin on your tower and why? How do you think God felt when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? What similarity do you see between dropping the coin on the card tower and Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit? 3with one wrong action, the whole thing is ruined4

Sometimes when we think about Adam and Eve s sin we think that we would have been able to do things differently if given the chance! after all who believes what a talking snake says? "efore we look at the results of their sin! let me read you a story#

#ntera!ti"e Learning: As% the students to close their e&es and imagine themselves in the following situation !hen read stor& '(andora's )o*--!he +econd ,illennium ' As%
$o you think you would have opened the bo%? Why or why not? &ell about a time when you were a child that you did something you knew was wrong# 3if &ou have
limited time, get e*am"les from several students5 if &ou have more time, have ever&one in the grou" share4

At first glance! it doesn t seem fair that all of mankind suffers the effects of Adam and Eve s sin# We want the chance to 'make our own destiny#' "ut our lives and history show that none of us would have done any differently#

Bible $ppli!ation: As a grou" read out loud Genesis 3: 6-63 then divide the grou" in half and call one grou" the "rosecution and the other the defense !he defense will consist of Adam, Eve, and the +er"ent and their legal team !he "rosecution will consist of a 2udge, a "rosecuting attorne& and a 2ur& Give the students several minutes to "re"are their cases based on Genesis 3:624 .ave the "rosecution "resent its case, followed b& the defense, and finish with the 2ur& "roclaiming the verdict and 2udge "ronouncing the sentence !han% them for their "artici"ation and as%:
What was the first clue that Adam and Eve knew they had done something wrong (v#)*? 3the&
made coverings for themselves4

What was the second clue (v#+*? 3the& hid themselves from God4

In these actions we see the first effect of their sin! which was alienation! a breakdown of the intimacy they used to have! both with each other and with God# If you have ever e%perienced the loneliness and sadness of losing the intimacy in a relationship that means a lot to! you know that this is very painful# What did God do to Adam and Eve which shows that their relationship with God was broken (v#,-! ,.*? 3he threw them out of the garden4 /ot only did God throw Adam and Eve out of the garden! but all of their descendents00that means you and me00 were also forced to live their lives outside the garden and in a state of broken intimacy

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Adam & Eve 5

with God# &his passing on of their rebellious nature and their state of separation from God is called 'original sin#' "esides the shared punishment of being thrown out of the garden! God specifically punished each guilty person# What punishments did God give Eve and her descendents (v#12*? 3"ain in
childbirth, desire to usur" her husbands authorit&4

How did God punish Adam and his descendents (v#1)013*? 3wor% and "roviding food becomes more
difficult and un"leasant, will die and their bodies will return to the dust of the ground4 What punishment did God give to the serpent (v#1.! 14*? 3has to crawl on it's bell&, +atan will eventuall& be defeated b& one of Eve's descendents4

$o you think these punishments are fair? Why or why not?

We see that Adam and Eve s sin brought not only separation from God but also caused suffering and death to enter the world# &his change from a state of blessing! happiness and harmony to the state of being cursed and of discord! suffering! and death is called 'the fall#' We see that the fall doesn5t 6ust affect people! but it affects the whole earth and everything in it# 7et s look a little closer how the fall and original sin affect our lives today#

Commitment: Give students a co"& of the handout '-nderstanding the .eadlines' and read through the instructions out loud Allow several minutes for the students to fill out the handout 7hen &ou see that most students have finished, review the answers together
Leader's guide to answers: hurri!ane%&all' born blind%&all' attra!tion%original sin' shooting%personal sin' (idnapping%personal sin' )no)% original sin' train wre!(%&all*

7hat can we do about suffering caused b& living in a fallen world 8 3hel" alleviate their "ain in
whatever wa& we can whether "h&sicall& with their needs, emotionall& and s"irituall& with giving them ho"e and encouragement, and of course "ra&ing for them4

7hat can we do about original sin in our lives8 3fight against tem"tation and our fleshl& desires, %nowing
what God wants us to do and as%ing him to give us the strength to do it4

7hat can we do about "ersonal sin in our lives8 3li%e with original sin, fight against it, but when we sin,
re"ent and as% forgiveness4

Closing: As% the students to close their e&es !hen wal% around the room, "assing in front of their noses the following: a smell& shoe or soc%, a fragrant rose As% them what the& smelled !hen e*"lain:
&he "ible says that 6ust like this shoe and this flower! we give off an aroma# We smell# Every single day we have the choice of 'smelling' like 8esus or not# We can be part of the disharmony and suffering in the world by being selfish and sinning! or we can be an agent of God bringing a little harmony and blessing to the world# What do you want to smell like?

1lose with a "ra&er as%ing God to hel" the students resist sin in their own lives and be agents of his blessing in the world

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Adam & Eve 5

(andora's )o*--!he +econd ,illennium

9ne afternoon &ou go out to get the mail and find there an invitation to a ver& s"ecial event being held b& &our boss :ou had heard rumors that she was inviting the heads of all of the de"artments to a s"ecial wee% at a beautiful resort in the mountains and that a few em"lo&ees would be rewarded for their good wor% with an invitation :ou so e*cited &ou s"end the ne*t wee% counting down the da&s until &ou can go 7hen &ou arrive, the resort is even more beautiful than &ou had imagined :ou can't believe that &ou get to s"end an entire wee% in this fresh air and among the lovel& "ine trees and magnificent roc% formations !he first evening, as &ou dress for the o"ening ban;uet, a note is sli""ed under the door to &our room <t sa&s that because of an une*"ected emergenc& the host and hostess will be unable to attend the ban;uet, but the& re;uest that the guests carr& on without them and en2o& the feast the& have "re"ared in their honor At the bottom &ou see a small note that reads: '=ear the front door there is a bo* on the floor 7e as% that &ou "lease refrain from o"ening it !he contents ma& be ha>ardous to &our health ' 9f course this ma%es &ou wonder what could "ossibl& be in the bo* and wh& the& mentioned it in the note At the ban;uet &ou notice to &our "leasure that several of the other guests are friends of &ours As &ou tal% with them &ou notice the delightful arra& of food laid on the table Great food, good com"an&, the "romise of a wonderful wee% ahead, what more could &ou want8 )ut one thing %ee"s nagging at the bac% of &our mind, '7hat on earth could be in that bo*8' !he ban;uet gets underwa& !he food is even better than it loo%s :ou are "leased to reali>e that some of the "eo"le at &our table are ;uite nice, even if the& are in com"an& management As ever&one tal%s &ou wonder, '7hat dangerous thing would the& have in the house8 7h& would it be in a bo* where an&one can o"en it8' .alfwa& through the evening &ou decide to go to the bathroom, and find &ourself not too far from the front door :our curiosit& overcomes &ou and &ou decide to loo% down the hall and see how big the bo* is :ou can't see it +o &ou loo% around and, seeing no one in sight, wal% towards the door '9h, that must be it 7h&, it's even smaller than a shoebo* 7hat could be so dangerous and be in 2ust a small bo* ' Actuall& in the bac% of &our mind &ou %now that "lent& of small things are dangerous, but &ou don't want to thin% about that right now Almost before &ou %now it, &ou've lifted the lid :ou ;uic%l& dro" the lid bac% on <nside was a dead rat :ou ;uic%l& return to the ban;uet, but the evening has been s"oiled because &ou %ee" seeing the rat in &our mind <t had obviousl& been caught in a tra" because its bod& had burst o"en and its guts were coming out !he thought of it ruined the rest of dinner for &ou :ou couldn't even eat desert because the strawberries reminded &ou of the rat entrails 9nce in &our room, &ou loo% an*iousl& around for signs of other rats and then, feeling dissatisfied, go to slee" )ut the worst was &et to come !he ne*t morning at brea%fast the hostess made an announcement: '9ur video surveillance recorded that a dangerous virus has contaminated some of our guests !his ha""ened when the& handled a bo* containing a rat that was a carrier of this virus An& of &ou who have become contaminated "lease re"ort to the "h&sician in the infirmar& so &ou ma& be treated before &ou become gravel& ill 7e regret to inform &ou that treatment of the virus will re;uire s"ending the wee% ;uarantined in the infirmar& '

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Adam & Eve 5

+nderstanding the Headlines

As we have seen all suffering and death and se"aration from God are a result of man's sin and are called 'the ?all ' )ut even though all suffering and "ain share this common root, it is "ossible to distinguish between suffering that results from living in a fallen world, suffering that comes from a "ersonal decision to sin, and the tendenc& towards sin that is called 9riginal +in )eside each headline write the cause of the event: 'A ?allen 7orld'5 '9riginal +in'5 or '(ersonal +in ' !hen answer the ;uestions at the bottom of the "age SON OF FAMOUS SINGER BORN BLIND HURRICANE ADAM STUDY MAN MOTHER'S
STRIKES

PACIFIC COAST: 100 BELIEVED

SHOWS

90%

OF MARRIED PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ATTRACTED TO SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THEIR

KILLS HIMSELF AFTER SHOOTING HIS GIRLFRIEND

TWO SUSPECTS

JAILED IN

JUDGE'S

KIDNAPPING

AGREE:

MOST

COMMON WORD USED IN A YOUND CHILD'S VOCABULARY IS

30 6 2 3

WOUNDED IN FREAK TRAIN

7hat can we do about suffering caused b& living in a fallen world8 7hat can we do about original sin in our lives8 7hat can we do about "ersonal sin in our lives8

+nderstanding the Headlines

As we have seen all suffering and death and se"aration from God are a result of man's sin and are called 'the ?all ' )ut even though all suffering and "ain share this common root, it is "ossible to distinguish between suffering that results from living in a fallen world, suffering that comes from a "ersonal decision to sin, and the tendenc& towards sin that is called 9riginal +in )eside each headline write the cause of the event: 'A ?allen 7orld'5 '9riginal +in'5 or '(ersonal +in ' !hen answer the ;uestions at the bottom of the "age SON OF FAMOUS SINGER BORN BLIND HURRICANE ADAM STUDY MAN MOTHER'S
STRIKES

PACIFIC COAST: 100 BELIEVED

SHOWS

90%

OF MARRIED PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ATTRACTED TO SOMEONE WHO IS NOT THEIR

KILLS HIMSELF AFTER SHOOTING HIS GIRLFRIEND

TWO SUSPECTS

JAILED IN

JUDGE'S

KIDNAPPING

AGREE:

MOST

COMMON WORD USED IN A YOUND CHILD'S VOCABULARY IS

30 4 0 6

WOUNDED IN FREAK TRAIN

7hat can we do about suffering caused b& living in a fallen world8 7hat can we do about original sin in our lives8 7hat can we do about "ersonal sin in our lives8