Sin

Adam and Eve Sin- Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-24

Theme: God knows all and sees all

Key Verse: Proverbs 28:13- “The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”

Introduction:

          Have you ever done something wrong and tried to hide it? You may have some secret sin that you think no one will ever find out about. However, God knows all and sees all. You cannot hide your sin from God.

          Adam and Eve found that out.

Bible Story:

          It was a beautiful place with green trees, luscious grass, colorful flowers, and blue skies—a beautiful place to take a walk, a beautiful place to live. It was called the Garden of Eden, and when God created our world, this is where the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, lived. God gave them everything they needed to be happy.

          God gave them just one command.

Genesis 2:16, 17- “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

          Even though the fruit looked really good, they stayed away from that tree, until one day…

          Eve was in the garden when a beautiful snake slithered up to her. It was really Satan, the devil, God’s enemy, disguised as a talking snake. He said, “Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree in the garden?”

          Eve answered, “We may eat the fruit from all the trees, except from that tree in the middle of the garden. If we do, God said we would die.”

          The snake said, “Don’t believe that. You won’t die. God only told you that because He knows when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

          Eve looked at that fruit. It looked so beautiful. She wanted it. Besides, if it helped her know good from evil, that was a good thing, right? So she picked a piece and took a bite. Delicious! She gave one to Adam, and he ate it too.

          When they ate that fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they disobeyed God. It was the first time anyone had sinned.

          In that very instant, their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked and quickly strung together leaves to cover themselves.

          In the evening, when they heard God walking in the garden, what did they do?

          They hid themselves. Why do you think they hid? (Discussion)

          They knew they had done wrong. They were embarrassed and ashamed. They knew God would not be happy. They didn’t want God to see them.

          God called out, “Where are you?”

          Adam said, “I was afraid, so I hid because I was naked.”

          God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree I commanded you not to eat from?”

          Adam replied, “The woman gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

          The Lord asked Eve, “What have you done?”

          Eve said, “It was the serpent. He deceived me, and I ate.”

          Both blamed someone else. No one would admit they had done wrong.

          As a result of their sin, God kicked them out of the garden and sent angels with flaming swords to keep them from getting back in. Now they had to grow their own food. It was very hard.

          Adam and Eve could not hide from God. Neither could Ashley.

Ashley’s Story:

          This year for Halloween, Ashley was going to be a baton twirler. Mom came home from the store with a bag full of fabric. The costume was now half done, and Ashley was so excited, except for one thing. She wanted to  twirl a real baton, and she couldn’t. She practiced and practiced, but it always fell to the ground. She had even watched her friend’s big sister who was a baton twirler for the marching band, but nothing helped.

          The first time she tried, she was in the living room where she had excitedly ripped the plastic off her new baton. After several thuds when the baton fell on the rug, Mom came to investigate.

          “Ashley, what are you doing? The living room is no place to throw that around. You might break something.”

          Mom’s eyes strayed to the coffee table where the hand-painted teapot sat that Aunt Anne had made for Christmas. Mom said it was the prettiest thing she owned.

          “Either practice outside or down in the basement, but not in the living room,” Mom said.

          Ashley had obeyed and gone outside that day, but today was cold and windy. She didn’t want to be outside. And her brother Phil was in the basement with a friend. She didn’t want them to laugh at her.

          Mom and Dad were outside raking leaves. They would never know if she practiced in the living room.

          Ashley twirled the baton. As usual, it clattered to the floor. She hoped Phil hadn’t heard the thump. The last thing she needed was her older brother snooping around and telling her folks she was disobeying.

          Ashley practiced and practiced. Then to her surprise, she actually twirled it once and caught it. Excitedly, she tried again.

          “Oh, boy. I did it!”

          She tried again and this time made two twirls before she dropped it. “Pretty soon I’ll be as good as Kelly’s big sister.”

          She imagined herself in her short costume twirling in front of the marching band onto the football field with everyone clapping. She’d be the star of the show.

          Really excited now, she flipped the baton harder than she intended, and to her surprise, it flew across the room, skidded onto the coffee table, and knocked Aunt’s Anne’s hand-painted teapot onto the floor.

          “No!” Ashley cried. She flew across the room and knelt by the fallen pot. A big crack sliced the painted flowers on the front, and the handle had broken off.

          “Oh, no,” Ashley cried. “What will I do?”

          Just then the front door opened. In a panic, she crawled into the narrow space behind the couch.

          “Well, I’m glad that’s done,” Dad said. “It’s really getting cold out there.”

          Mom said, “It’s so quiet in here. I wonder where everyone is.”

          Ashley heard Mom gasp. “My teapot! What happened?”

          She hurried across the room and knelt. “It’s broken. Look, here’s Ashley’s baton. I told Ashley not to practice in here and now look what she’s done.” Mom was almost in tears.

          “Where is that girl?” Dad said. “Ashley,” he called. “Ashley!”

          Ashley trembled behind the couch. Now she would really get it. But they couldn’t punish her if they never found her. She’d stay behind the couch forever.

          “She’s not in the dining room or kitchen,” Mom said.

          “Phil, is Ashley down there?” Dad asked.

          “Nope. Haven’t seen her. We heard her upstairs a minute ago.”

          The search continued all through the house as Ashley huddled in her hiding place. She felt terrible. Why hadn’t she obeyed Mom in the first place? She knew the Bible said to obey her parents, and that especially included throwing a baton in the living room. It was such a dumb thing to do. Now she was really sorry.

          As the search continued, Ashley realized something. Even though her parents couldn’t find her, God knew where she was. God’s eyes followed her everywhere. He even knew what she was thinking. She could never hide from God, and He was just as displeased with her as her parents. She felt guilty and unhappy.

          I’m sorry, Jesus, she prayed. Please forgive me for disobeying my mom.

          “Ashley, where are you?” Dad’s voice sounded angry.

          “Ashley, honey, are you here?” Mom’s voice sounded worried.

          Ashley knew God had forgiven her, but she still felt unhappy. She wouldn’t feel good again until her parents had forgiven her too.

          She crawled out from behind the couch. Closet doors opened and closed upstairs. She dragged herself up the stairs.

          Dad stormed out of her bedroom. “Where can that girl be?” When he saw Ashley, he shouted, “Where were you?”

          She hung her head. “Behind the couch.”

          “Don’t you know we’ve been searching all over for you?”

          Mom hurried out of Phil’s room. “Ashley!”

          “Mom, I’m sorry I disobeyed you. I’m sorry I broke your special teapot.”

          The worry and anger disappeared from Mom’s face as she wrapped her arms around Ashley. “I’m sorry you did too. But I forgive you, honey.”

          “Do you think we could glue it back together?” Ashley asked.

          “I doubt it. Maybe I’ll ask Aunt Anne for another one this Christmas.”

          But Ashley knew it would never be as special as the first one.

          As Ashley sat in her bedroom, smarting from the punishment her father had given her, she vowed to remember that God was always watching her, and promised not to ever make Him unhappy with her again.

Application:

          Do you think she was able to keep that promise?

          Of course not. Because Adam and Eve sinned, everyone who has ever been born has been born with a sin nature. We sin even when we don’t want to.

          But the Bible tells us what to do when we sin.

Proverbs 28:13- “The one who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”

          What does God tell us to do in this verse?

          Confess our sin and turn away from it. God promises that He will show mercy or forgive us, just like Mom forgave Ashley, even though there might be consequences.

          Have you ever sinned? Sin is anything you say, do, or think that displeases God. Sin may be telling a lie, hitting your brother or sister, or having a bad thought.

          Because we have sinned, we can’t go to heaven when we die because no sin is allowed in heaven. But God loved you so much, He made a way for your sin to be forgiven. He sent His only Son, Jesus, into this world to die on the cross for the punishment of your sin. If you believe that Jesus died for you and tell him you’re sorry for sin and invite Him to come and live within you, He will forgive you.

          But just because Jesus lives in us doesn’t mean we won’t ever sin again. We will because of that awful sin nature. What do we do then?

          God promises in I John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us. He will forget that we did that sin.

          What happens if we don’t tell God we’re sorry for our sins? Jesus does not come out of our hearts, but we lose our fellowship with God. There is a barrier between us and God. We don’t feel close to Him anymore.

          Do you have any sin that you haven’t asked God to forgive? Let’s bow our heads and be quiet for a few moments. If you can think of something, why don’t you ask God to forgive you right now?

          Every night before you go to bed is a good time to think over your day and ask God to help you remember anything you did that was wrong. Then confess it right then and there. And God will forgive you because He loves you.