As our Church continues with the Masterclass study on the book of Genesis, we are continuing to post a review of our previous “Case for Genesis” class to help with your studies. This week’s post is part one of two, and it focuses both the reason for Fall and the effects of the Fall as it relates to the problem of evil. The problem of evil is the number one accusation leveled against the Christian Worldview and the God of the Bible, yet the Bible gives us the reason, as well as the solution, for this problem. It is the Christian Worldview that gives us the best narrative for why things are not the way they are supposed to be in our world, and the best repairman for fixing it: Jesus!

Watch this week’s class presentation on this topic:

Overview Notes from the presentation

A Case for Genesis

The Problems of Evil – The Fall and its effects; Part One

Review

Prayer cards: Take a minute and write your name on the index card provided, and add any special prayer request you might have. Exchange cards at the end of the class this evening.

1. Review and recite the twelve points to the Bible’s Big Picture (5 in the Old Testament, 7 in the New Testament).

2. From last week’s presentation: Why is it important to understand that humans are made in the image of God?

Overview

Part One: The Fall – Why did it happen, and what was the effect?

Part Two: The Problem of Evil – What is it, and why does it exist?

The Fall – Why did it happen, and what was the effect?

In the beginning God made everything perfect and “good” (Genesis 1-2) including the spiritual world. However, God gave freewill to His creation.
Freewill is the only way real love can be expressed, but along with that comes the chance of choosing evil as our original parents did.
When Satan tempted Eve, she along with Adam, chose to disobey God’s only rule knowing the consequence God had put into place.

Who is Satan?

Satan is…

The “Serpent” in Genesis (term means “shining one”)
Arrogant and full of pride; wants to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28)
The ruler of this world; prince of the power of the air (John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2)
An accuser (Revelation 12:10)
A tempter (Matthew 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:5)
A deceiver (Genesis 3, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Revelation 20:3)
His very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes,” and devil means “slanderer”

Satan will attempt to bring out in us, the three greatest evil characteristics he possesses:

Reason for the fall and all other evil…

Lust of the flesh
Lust of the eyes
Pride of life

First time we find these three things affecting human choice: (Genesis 3:6-7)

Lust of the flesh: The fruit was tempting to the appetite
Lust of the eyes: The fruit looked good and was attractive
Pride of Life: Satan wanted God’s job and he presented the fruit of the tree as something God was holding back from them, as something they were owed, and as something they deserved…

Jesus overcame these in the wilderness: (Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13)

Lust of the flesh: Jesus was hungry after 40 days of fasting—Satan tempted him to turn the stones into bread
Lust of the eyes: Satan took him to the top of the pinnacle and showed him the world
Pride of Life: Satan told Jesus he would give him the world if He would worship him

How did Jesus avoid these temptations and respond to Satan?

HE USED THE SCRIPTURES—GOD’S WORD and Satan fled!

The Apostle John warns the early Church of these same three things…

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and it desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

–1 John 2:15-17

Do we still need to heed this warning today?

How did Satan deceive Adam and Eve at the Fall, and how does he deceive us today?

The first attack of Satan is always on God’s Word:

Step 1: Twisting God’s Word, causing doubt

“He said to the woman, Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1)

Today Satan causes us to doubt God’s Word by getting us to think it is outdated, written by men, and not interpreted correctly; and he causes us to doubt the Bible’s historicity, reliability, and inspiration. (All of this is untrue upon careful investigation)

Step 2: Contradicting God and substituting another idea

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. (Genesis 3:4)

We know that was a lie because Adam and Eve died both physically (later) and spiritually (they were immediately separated from God).
Today we find Satan’s deception through changing cultural norms that contradict Biblical values, philosophies that deny the need for the God of the Bible, and scientific theories that substitute as the means for our origin instead of God as the Creator.

Step 3: Challenging God’s Motives

“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5)

This is what Satan wanted, to be like God and to take His place.
In essence Satan was implying that God was holding something important back from them.
In today’s culture we have this mind-set that things are owed to us and that God is not giving us what we deserve. But what do we really deserve?

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ

–Romans 5:12, 17

The Fall not only infected humankind with sin, it also contaminated the earth itself. Dr. Clay Jones, Professor at Biola University, summarizes it like this:

“Adam and Eve rebelled against God and so God then cursed the ground, enabling every possible pestilence. Then He kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, which removed them from the rejuvenating power of the Tree of Life. When Adam and Eve were on their own, life became very hard, and we’ve been attending funerals ever since.”

The Effect of the Fall

The fall caused these immediate reactions:

The opening of the eyes (Genesis 3:7): They became body conscious, before they were only spiritually conscious and were surrounded by God’s Glory.

The cover up/guilt (Genesis 3:7): Adam and Eve tried to hide their sin by covering up with fig leaves. This was human’s first attempt at religion (work at covering guilt), but that could not cover the sin that God said would result in death (both physical and spiritual).

Hiding from God (Genesis 3:8): Adam and Eve knew they had sinned against God and tried to hide (or run away) from God’s presence.

The human nature of disobeying and rejecting God has been passed down through [our original parents] through…

The increasing corruption of our DNA, leading to disease, resulting in physical death
The increasing loss of our connection to God resulting in spiritual death—thus the importance of being ‘born again’ as spoken of by Jesus (John 3:1-21)

Jesus’ response to a question of evil gives us some insight into human sin and the “just be a good person” secular answer. Jesus shows us everyone’s need for repentance and forgiveness:

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

–Luke 13:1-5

“Death is a result of rejecting the giver of life.”

-Nabeel Qureshi

Going Deeper

J. Warner Wallace has a in-depth series on the “problem of evil,” here is the first presentation in the series, and I encourage to go through them all:

Bible Study

This week we are pausing to review what has been studied so far, and to allow some time for catch up. We will continue next week with questions for Genesis Chapter 6. Note: Chapter 5 basic answers will posted this week.

Always remember to pray before you study and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and lead you into the truth found in God’s Word – pray for protection from the evil one who will try to discourage, distract and deceive us when we commit to growing closer to the LORD.

1. Review of Class Topic:

With your table group, discuss today’s presentation by summarizing what you learned, commenting or asking any questions.

Read Genesis Chapter 6 with your group then, to the best of your ability, answer the following questions:

2. What lead up to God’s decision to destroy His creation at this point in time (6:1-7; 11-13)?

3. Who was Noah (what was his lineage), and how did God feel about him (6:8-10; 7:1)? What does the name Noah mean?

4. What did God tell Noah He was going to do, and what did He ask Noah to do (6:14-22)? Discuss: What do you think is the significance of God giving such detail in the dimensions and building of the Ark? Do you think there was enough room to fit all the animals?

5. What did God say in verse 6:18?

Discuss: Genesis 3:15 was God’s first Covenant. What is a Covenant? Are there any other Covenants in the Bible (Give Scripture references), and do you think they are connected?

6. What did God tell Noah to do, and why, concerning the animals (6:19-22)?

Discuss: Specifically, what kinds of animals did God tell Noah to bring on the Ark (what kinds were not included) and for what purpose? Note: Consider the age and size of the animals Noah might have brought and why.

7. Going Deeper: Biblical scholars are split on the interpretation of “the sons of God and the daughters of men” and the term “Nephilim.” Research and discuss your findings on this topic – What are the most common views held by Biblical scholars?

Please join us each week as we continue our case for Christianity!

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You will not find this material in the public school curriculum even though it is based on solid evidence and grounded in research. It is ironic that following the evidence to where it leads stops at the door of our public schools as they will not let a “Divine footprint” in! Join us as we examine evidence for Christianity and learn how to become a thoughtful defender and ambassador of your faith.

Click into the resource page of this website to view many of the top Christian thinkers and apologists along with some of their work; connecting to these types of resources is essential in your Christian growth.

Please let me know what you think: Give feedback, ask questions or send concerns in the comment section of the blog.

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

1 Peter 3:15