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Goal:
To understand the big story of the Bible,
see how you fit in,
and be motivated to live accordingly!
The “Fall” and The Big Story
The Original Design
What went wrong?
The Big Story
How we Respond
The Original Design
Adam & Eve, the first humans, were put in a perfect reality
They were made “in God’s image” which means in some ways humans are like God
A place of order, harmony, beauty and perfect love, but surrounded by chaos
Their task was to spread this harmony over the whole earth
The stability of this reality depended on them maintaining their allegiance to God
This enabled his life to be constantly flowing into them
They were given a very simple thing to mark their allegiance—don’t eat from a particular tree
Summary: The Original Design
that humanity would live in close dependence on God
in a loving relationship with him,
and continue the creative work as God’s children,
through his power flowing through them.
The “Fall” and The Big Story
The Original Design
What went wrong?
The Big Story
How we Respond
Genesis 3
Now the serpent… said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “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.’”
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Where we are now
So when humans first disobeyed God, it was more than a small mistake, it was an act of defiant rebellion that severed this relationship.
This perfect universe became spoiled and broken, sickness and death entered the world, and every child born inherited this brokenness.
What was most broken was the human spirit, now that it was separated from God. Instead we became centred on ourselves and often see God’s laws as restrictions, keeping us from happiness.
Common Grace
But every human carries the “image of God”
Beauty, creativity, love, self-sacrifice, sometimes in extraordinary ways.
Yet tainted by unwillingness to give allegiance to the God who gave these gifts
The “Fall” and The Big Story
The Original Design
What went wrong?
The Big Story
How we Respond
The Golden Thread
There is one, central theme which, like a golden thread, runs through all the stories of the Old Testament.
That theme is The Coming Christ.
As long as one does not see this, the Old Testament remains a closed book.
William Hendriksen, Survey of the Bible, p.83
Genesis 3 – Promise to Eve that one of her descendents would ultimately destroy evil
“And I will put enmity
between you [Satan] and the woman,
and between your descendents and hers,
He will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Two Problems:
The rot that we carry in us due to our sin and that of others
Our tendency to keep on making the wrong choices
God’s solution
Jesus’s death cleanses us and makes us spotless
His Resurrection is the New Creation—new hearts with allegiance to God because of his Spirit in us
The “Fall” and The Big Story
The Original Design
What went wrong?
The Big Story
How we Respond
Our Choice
You can live out of the Old Creation life in you, or the New Creation
Choose to trust God, don’t listen to the lies of Satan
Answering temptation
There is more joy in Jesus than in anything this world has to offer. (Which is the answer to Satan’s lie).