LESSON 11

GOD JUDGED ADAM AND PLACED A CURSE ON THE EARTH;
AND HE PROMISED TO SEND A DELIVERER

Scripture: Genesis 3:9-20

 

 

1.    God called out to Adam.

God loved Adam and Eve and wanted to be with them. Before they were separated from God, they, too, enjoyed being with Him. But when they knew God was there to visit with them after they had disobeyed Him, Adam and Eve hid. Listen to what God did.

Read Genesis 3:9

Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 

•   Why did God call out to Adam?

Didn’t God know where they were hiding? Isn’t He everywhere? Wasn’t He there beside them among the trees? Couldn’t He see them all of the time? Yes! God knew where they were hiding. God knows everything, and God is everywhere. God could see Adam and Eve where they were hiding.

 

God called out to Adam because God still loved Adam and Eve. Even though Adam and Eve had disobeyed, God still loved them. And even though God intended to punish them for their sin, He still loved them. So God called out to them because He wanted Adam and Eve to come to Him voluntarily and admit their sin. He wanted them to agree with Him that they were wrong to believe Satan, and He wanted them to agree that all He had said to them was the truth.

•   God calls out to people today. 

God has not changed. He still calls out to us today, even though we cannot hear His voice like Adam did.

•   God speaks to us through all the things we can see around us.

We know that God exists and we know what His character is like because of the things He created and we enjoy. Every day, as we see all the things God has created, God is saying to us, “I am the true God, and I am the creator of all things. Look at all I have created for you. This shows you that I am almighty and that I love you. Listen to me and seek Me.” 

•   God is also speaking to us through the Bible.

2.    Adam and Eve tried to hide from God.

Read Genesis 3:10.

He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 

Adam and Eve were afraid of God because they had disobeyed His command. Adam and Eve hid, but God could see Adam and Eve where they were hiding.

3.    God questioned Adam.

 

 

•   Both Adam and Eve belonged to God.

•   God is our rightful owner.

God has given life to all people. Each of us will have to answer to Him for everything we have thought and done during our lives.

God wanted Adam and Eve to acknowledge that they had sinned, so God questioned them.

4.    Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the snake.

Read Genesis 3:12-13.

When a person gets caught for something he does wrong, he usually tries to blame someone else. Sometimes an innocent person is punished because the one who did wrong puts the blame on him.

•   No one can deceive God.

We may be able to deceive other people into punishing someone else for our sin, but can we deceive God so that He will punish someone else for our sins? No! God sees and knows the truth about each person. We cannot escape God’s punishment by blaming someone else.

Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, but God already knew everything that had happened. Nothing is hidden from Him.

5.    God cursed the snake.

Read Genesis 3:14.

God cursed the snake because it had been used by Satan. God does not tell us how the snake moved around when God first created it, but we know it did not crawl on its belly. After Satan had used it to deceive Eve, God said it must crawl on its belly and eat dust.

6.    God promised to send the Deliverer.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and submitted to Satan’s control, their relationship with God was broken. They were no longer God’s children. They were Satan’s children and were under Satan’s control. As we learn more and more from the Bible, it will become clear that from the time Adam obeyed Satan, Satan began to lead most people to do the things Satan wanted them to do.

Satan probably thought that he had defeated God. He probably thought that he would have complete control of the world and all people. But no one can win against God. He is the Almighty Creator.

•   God promised that He would send a Deliverer who would overcome Satan and deliver people from Satan’s power.

Read Genesis 3:15.

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

God did not mean that the Deliverer would literally crush the serpent’s head but that the Deliverer would fight against Satan and overcome him. Satan would not literally hurt the heel of the Deliverer. Satan would fight against the Deliverer, but Satan would not be able to defeat the Deliverer. The Deliverer would defeat Satan – He would destroy Satan and deliver people from Satan’s power. Through the promised Deliverer, people would no longer need to stay separated from God.

•   We have already learned many things about God.

What have we learned about God as we have studied the Bible?

-  God is eternal. He never had a beginning. He will never have an end.

-  God is all-powerful.

 -  God knows everything.

 -  God is everywhere all of the time.

 -  God is loving and kind.

 -  God is holy and righteous.

 -  God punishes those who rebel against Him and disobey His commands.

Today, we learn something new about God. By promising to send the Deliverer, God was showing us that He is merciful and gracious.

 •   God is loving, merciful and gracious.

Adam and Eve deserved to die and go to everlasting punishment. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, and as a result, they were immediately separated from God. God could have abandoned them. But instead, God promised the Deliverer who would make a way to deliver them and all people from Satan’s control. This Deliverer would provide the way for man to come back to God. God promised to send the Deliverer because He is merciful and gracious.

God had given Adam and Eve everything they needed when He created them. God did not have to give so many good things to them, but He did because God is loving and kind. But when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they deserved the wrath of God. Did God immediately send them to everlasting punishment? No!

Because He is merciful and gracious, God promised to send the Deliverer to save them from the punishment they deserved.

7.    God said Eve would suffer because of her sin.

 Read Genesis 3:16.

Then he said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,

and in pain you will give birth.

And you will desire to control your husband,

God spoke to Eve and told her that, because she had disobeyed the Lord, she would suffer in childbirth. God also said that her desire would be for her husband, and that her husband would have authority over her.

 

8.    God said Adam would suffer because of his sin.

 Read Genesis 3:17-19.

And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree

    whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,

the ground is cursed because of you.

    All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,

    though you will eat of its grains.

19 By the sweat of your brow

    will you have food to eat

until you return to the ground

    from which you were made.

For you were made from dust,

    and to dust you will return.”

 

Satan deceived Eve, and then Satan used Eve to tempt Adam to sin against God. Adam listened to Eve instead of remembering what God had said to him. Satan used Eve to lead Adam away from the truth.

You must be careful, because Satan will try to stop you from listening to God. Satan may even try to use you to lead others away from God’s truth. If you listen to Satan and believe him instead of God, not only will you go to everlasting punishment but you also may cause others to do the same.

Because Adam and Eve listened to Satan, they fell into his trap and disobeyed God.

 •   Because Adam sinned, God cursed the ground.

Before he sinned against God, Adam took care of the garden. Everything grew without Adam doing any hard work. But when Adam sinned, God cursed the earth so that many weeds began to grow. This made Adam’s work hard.

•   Because Adam sinned, God told Adam that his body would die.

God had made Adam’s body from the dust of the ground. Because Adam sinned, God told Adam that his body would die and go back to the dust of the earth. When God created Adam and Eve, He did not intend for them to die. But because of their disobedience to Him, Adam and Eve would die.

This is why your ancestors died, and it is also why people die today. You know that people die. People here in your village have died, and people all over the world have died. The punishment for sin is death – physical death and then separation from God forever in the place of everlasting punishment. 

•   All the bad things in the world are here because Adam disobeyed God.

 Think about the hard things that you face in your lives.

o  You have to work hard.

o  The ground produces thorns and weeds.

o  Women suffer pain in childbirth.

o  You face devastating storms or droughts.

o  Many plants, snakes and spiders are poisonous.

o  Many animals are ferocious.

o  You have sickness and sorrow.

o  And you face death.

The Bible teaches that all these things are in the world because Adam disobeyed God.

 

9.    Adam and Eve are the ancestors of all people.

Read Genesis 3:20.

Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.

Eve was the first woman; therefore, she became the mother of all humanity. Adam was the first man; therefore, he became the father and original ancestor of every human being. Even though people have different colors of skin and different features, we all originally came from the same ancestors – Adam and Eve.

Adam was separated from God because he turned away from obeying Him. Because of his sin, Adam died. This meant that all his descendants would also die. All people everywhere die because all are descendants of Adam.

Questions

1.     Adam and Eve hid when they knew God had come to the garden to visit with them. Can anyone hide from God?

2.     Why did God call out to Adam?

3.     Why did God have the right to question Adam and to hold him accountable for his actions?

4.     Why are all people accountable to God for what they have done?

5.     What was God’s curse on the snake?

6.     Whom did God promise to send?

7.     What did God say that the woman’s son would do?

8.     Did Adam and Eve deserve God’s love and His promise of the Deliverer?

9.     Adam  and  Eve  deserved  to  be  punished  for  their  sin,  but  God  promised  to  send  the Deliverer. What does this show us about God?

10.     What did God say that Eve would suffer because of her sin?

11.     What did God say that Adam would suffer because of his sin?

12.     What was God’s curse on the earth?

13.     What are some things we see today that are the result of Adam and Eve’s sin and God’s curse on the earth?

14.     Who were the ancestors of all people?

15.     Why do all people die?