Lesson Focus “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10). This lesson is on Adam and Eve and the first sin.
As the book of Genesis continues, we have God’s interaction with people, Adam and Eve. They were created in God’s image, created in a state of innocence but with the power of choice. They were tested under the most favorable circumstances. They were endowed with clear minds and pure hearts, with the ability to do right. God gave them His own presence and fellowship. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)
Satan the author of sin, acting as a serpent, tempted Adam and Eve to doubt God’s Word. They yielded to the temptation and failed the test. Here sin entered the world. The results of Adam and Eve’s sin are enumerated in Genesis 3. They were separated from God, the ground was cursed and sorrow filled their hearts. In mercy, God promised One who would redeem us from sin. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." (Genesis 3:15) The seed of the woman (the virgin born Jesus) would come to destroy the works of the devil. “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.” (1 John 3:8).
God created us in His own image to have fellowship with Himself. We cut ourselves off from God by sin. It is only when sin is removed that we can have fellowship again. That is why Jesus came to earth. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,.” (Romans 3:23). “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
Bible Story Genesis 3:1-15 Read from your Bible. Ask students to find it in a Bible too. Those that can read can follow along. Choose the passages you would like to read aloud. Use Tell the Story below. Use visuals to help tell the story. Use a picture Bible to help children see the story.
Even though Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, God still loved them. And even when we do wrong, it’s good to know that God’s love is bigger than ANY sin!
Tell the Story: Last week we learned how God made the world. Today we will learn more about the two people that God made. God took dust and made a man. Then He breathed life into him. God called him Adam. The Lord put Adam in His beautiful garden to care for it. He told him that he could eat any fruit except from the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Next God formed all kinds of animals, but Adam was still lonely. So, He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He removed one of Adam’s ribs and created a woman. She was named Eve. Now, one of the animals that God made was a snake. It was very tricky and sneaky. One day, the snake spoke to the woman. He said, “Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?” Eve told the snake that they could eat from all except the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. She told him that they could not even touch it or they would die (notice that this was NOT what God said). But the snake said to Eve, “You will not die. God knows that if you eat that fruit, you will be like God—that’s why He doesn’t want you to eat it.” Eve looked at the fruit—it was beautiful. She picked the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to Adam. Suddenly they looked down and realized that they were naked! They quickly sewed leaves together and made clothes for themselves. Then they heard God and hid from Him. The Lord said, “Where are you?” The man answered, “I heard you and I was afraid because I was naked.” God asked Adam how he knew this. Adam confessed that he and Eve ate the fruit that they were not supposed to eat. They tried to make excuses saying, “The snake tricked us.” Ask, “Have you ever blamed someone else when you thought you were in trouble? Have you ever tried to hide so that you wouldn’t get caught for something you did?” If you have, you did just what Adam and Eve did! Let’s see what God does. God explained to them that THEY made the decision to eat the fruit—they disobeyed God. He loved them but He had to punish them for what they had done. God forced them out of the garden and caused their life to be hard. However, He still loved them and cared for them. Adam and Eve sinned—that means that they did something wrong. They purposely disobeyed God. We have all done wrong too. That separates us from God. The good news is that God loves us so much that He thought of a plan to help us (save us). He sent His only Son to live on earth. Jesus lived a perfect life. He was put on a cross and died. He died in our place. He died for all the wrong things that WE have done. When Adam and Eve were in the garden they sinned. Satan is a liar and he tricked Eve. Both Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and disobeyed God. Disobedience is sin. Sin has consequences. God took Adam and Eve out of the garden. There is Good News, God had a plan and sent Jesus to die for our sins. If we confess our sins, God will forgive us. (I John 1:9)
Bible Challenge “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) Read this passage from your Bible. Ask students to locate it in a Bible too. Help them learn this verse.
Try this experiment: Supplies you’ll need: water in a clear glass Food coloring Bleach Spoon
Add about 3 drops of food coloring to your glass of water. Stir. Ask: How can we take the color out of the water? Can we pour it out? Add about a half cup of bleach. Stir and let stand. The water will become clear. This experiment is an example of a way color can be taken away even when it seems impossible. It reminds me that our sin can be taken away too. God’s love and forgiveness are bigger than our sin. When we ask for forgiveness, God takes away our sin. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
Crab Balloon Ball Materials 5 balloons (or more), water, chalk or rope, pitcher, large cardboard box, measuring tape
Preparation Pour approximately two tablespoons of water from pitcher into each balloon. (The water helps stabilize the balloons when they’re being hit in the air.) Inflate balloons, tie them and put them in the box. Make a line down the middle of the playing area.
Lead the Game 1. Divide group into two teams. Team A plays on one side of the line and team B plays on the other side. Team members spread out and get into crab positions (on hands and feet, backs to the ground, see sketch). If crab position is too difficult for children, they may play on their hands and knees.
2. Teacher tosses a balloon to Team A. A player on Team A, while staying in the crab position, uses a hand or foot to volley the balloon over the line to Team B. Teams volley the balloon back and forth as long as possible, using hands or feet. Players can move around, but they must stay in the crab position. When the balloon hits the ground, the teacher throws it back to the team that last hit the balloon. If the balloon pops, the teacher replaces it with one of the balloons in the box. (Keeping score as in volleyball is optional.)
Option Give a balloon to each team and see how many times they can hit the balloon before it touches the ground. At the end of the game ask questions relating to today’s Bible lesson. One question for each point.
Science Experiment Activity 1: Disappearing Sin Supplies: Yellow Cellophane White Paper Yellow Highlighter
Ask students to tell you things that make God unhappy, things that displease Him. These are called sins. Using the yellow highlighter, write one word on the white paper that summarizes each of their contributions. Cover the white paper with the piece of yellow cellophane. What happened to the words that were just written? The yellow cellophane covered the words so they disappeared.
Talk about it: Read Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” The words on the paper were sins, and when the yellow cellophane was placed over them, they disappeared. We don’t place a piece of yellow cellophane over our bodies to make our sins go away. Only Jesus’ death on the cross could take our sins away, but because He did die on the cross, we can boldly ask for forgiveness and be assured that we are forgiven.
Activity 2: The Pressure’s On In 30 seconds, this activity will help your kids see they don’t have to understand God’s power to know that it’s real. Let’s see if we can simulate what it’s like to experience power that you can see, but don’t really understand. In just a moment I’ll ask you to move to a wall and stand facing it, with your toes just three to four inches from the wall. When I say “Press”, press the backs of your wrists to the wall. Press hard, and we’ll count to 30 together. Ready? Move to a wall.
As you press the backs of your wrists to the wall, count slowly to 30. When you reach 30 have everyone take three steps back from the wall. As the muscle tension of pressing hard against a fixed object is released, everyone’s arms will float upward.
Weird, isn’t it? But there’s a simple explanation. You’ve created a lot of muscle tension by pressing against the wall. Your floating arms are a result of that tension being released.
When the serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, Eve had tension….should she remember God’s command to not eat any fruit from the tree of knowledge, or listen to the what the serpent was saying….it certainly sounded good.
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.” (James 5:13)
Pray: Dear God, thank you for loving me and taking care of me. Thank you for sending Jesus to be my Savior. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Blessing:May God, who is all around you, Beginning at the bottom of the circle, slowly pour his love upon you.make a large circle with your hands. Finish by bringing your hands down and wiggling the fingers to resemble rain.) And Jesus, his life a sacrifice,Slowly make a large sign of the cross. Then walk right there beside you.move your hands out to the sides. And may God’s Holy Spirit, Cross your hands over the heart. the one who lives inside you, keep you strong, Move to a “strong man” position. Then comfort, lead and guide you!cross your arms with the hands on corresponding upper arms to communicate comfort. Bring one hand forward with “lead” and the other with “guide” to complete the blessing.)
