These are my notes from when I prepare for my weekly Bible study. The theme is “Desiring God”, John Piper’s book, which argues that if we are serious happiness-seekers we will pursue God more than anything, because everything else cannot compare. Every week we look at a different topic (e.g. love, sin, truth…) and try to see differences between the way our culture sees it, we see it, and the way God sees it. It’s important to get God’s opinion on everything and realize if we are viewing something like “love” in a less than godly way.
In the beginning, God made us and it was good (Genesis 1:31).
Look at Genesis 3: THE GARDEN
The serpent tempts Eve by twisting God’s word. Compare God’s words to the serpent’s words:
GOD:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 3:16-17)
SERPENT:
“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1)
Eve’s response is not entirely accurate:
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” (Gen. 3:2-3)
MISCONCEPTION: When I was growing up I thought in Genesis 3 God was pulling the wool over our eyes and that He was holding back “knowledge” and “wisdom” from us, lest we be like Him.
Is what the serpent says in 3:4-5 true?
The tree’s qualities: “good for food”, “a delight to the eyes”, “to be desired to make one wise” – this tree isn’t freaky looking and scary.
Is what Eve wanted a bad thing?
What makes eating the fruit wrong?
“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Gen. 3:7)
What does this mean? Nowadays we think its good to have clothes on (I for one am not a fan of nude beaches!). But here their nakedness is associated with shame. They’re a married couple with no one else around – they don’t need to wear clothes! But apparently they need to cover themselves from each other.
GENESIS 3:8: Sin makes us hide from the Lord.
What does sin do to Adam and Eve’s relationship with God?
With each other?
Both Adam and Eve avoid responsibility. Compare this to Christ, who takes responsibility for that which He didn’t do (taking on our sins).
How would the incarnate Jesus have acted in Adam and Eve’s place?
GENESIS 3:15: The “protoevangelium” (means “first gospel”). God promises to fix the problem. Sin is still the fundamental human problem and will be through all history and God promises to take care of it. We can’t.
GENESIS 3:16-19: Sin brings a curse. In order to demonstrate to us our rebellion against God, God has made creation rebel against us.
Think about technology: do we really have things under control? Stuff always breaks and needs fixing. Computers crash.
We often say “Crap happens”. Does God want it to be this way or does He want to bless us?
GENESIS 3:21: Think about this: God makes the first sacrifice in order to cover up the shame of sin – Noah imitates God when he does the same thing.
What’s the deal with sacrifice?
Why such a bloody system?
What is your reaction when you see blood?
Do you think God is just as repulsed by our sin?
Later in Genesis, God tells Cain: “And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:7)
Look at Cain and Abel: What does sin do to our relationships with the people we love?
HUMAN REACTIONS TO THE SIN PROBLEM
1) Personal atonement (I will read my Bible if…)
2) Physical mutilation
a. "At first, flagellation became a form of penance in the Christian church, especially in ascetic monastic orders. For example, the 11th century zealot Dominicus Loricatus once repeated the entire Psalter twenty times in one week, accompanying each psalm with a hundred lash-strokes to his back"
3) By being religious (Pharisees)
4) Spiritual quest or journey (to the top of the mountain)
5) Emptying your mind of everything
6) Fundraisers/events/political movements
7) Killing people who disagree with you
8) Ignoring it (sin doesn’t really exist)
9) Building up humanity (we can conquer sin, tower of Babel)
“For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
“For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:6)
Jesus’ Crucifixion: Matthew 27:27-56, Mark 15:21-41, Luke 23:26-49, John 19
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