August 14, 2016 - Eve and The Fall

TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper who is  just right  for him.”
GENESIS 2:18

Last week we learned of creation and the first man, Adam.

 We also talked about how God had Adam name the animals to show that God had given mankind dominion over the animals.  So Adam worked hard all day to come up with names for all the animals.  As he worked, he

started to notice something.  You see, no animal was alone.  Mr. Horse had Mrs. Horse, Mr. Tiger had Mrs. Tiger, and Mr. Dinosaur had Mrs. Dinosaur.  But no matter how hard Adam looked he couldn't find anyone like himself.  He was the only human on the entire planet!

God looked at Adam and said “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper who is just  right  for him.”

 So God put Adam into a deep sleep and, while he slept, God took one of Adam's ribs and made a Mrs. Adam. When Adam woke up he found the woman that God had made for him.  He called her name Eve.  Adam and Eve lived in the Garden

of Eden walking and talking with God and neither of them wore any clothes because there were no sin or shame and everything was perfect.....for a while.

God had put a tree in the middle of the Garden called the Tree of the Knowledge

of Good and Evil.  The only rule in the Garden was that they couldn't eat from this tree or else they would die.  They wouldn't die right away as you would expect but, instead, they would no longer have bodies that would live forever.  

Meanwhile, Satan had disguised himself as a serpent and was walking in the Garden.  Yes, I said WALKING!  At this

time snakes had legs.  He found Adam and Eve one day and he decided to try and trick Eve.  He went up to her and said, "Did God really say that you couldn't eat from the tree?" Eve answered him saying, "We can eat from any tree but that one.  We can't even touch it! If we do, we will die!"  "You won't die." said the serpent. "God only said that because He knows that if you eat the fruit, that you also will be like gods knowing good and evil." 

Well, Eve looked at the tree and saw that the fruit looked

awful tasty and decided to try it.  She took a bite and then turned and handed it to Adam and he tried it to.  As soon as Adam took a bite, they realized something was wrong.  For the first time they felt as though they should be wearing clothes and were

ashamed that they weren't!  They decided to make themselves some clothes out of fig leaves to cover themselves.  

Later on, when God came to the Garden looking for his beloved Adam and Eve, they tried to hide themselves.  "Adam, where are you?" God called out.  Adam came out of hiding and said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”  And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 

Adam, not wanting to get into trouble, said, "The woman YOU gave me gave it to me."  Then God turned to Eve and she said, "I ate it but only because the serpent tricked me." So God then turned to the serpent who was Satan and cursed him.  From then on snakes have had to crawl on their bellies without legs.  Also, God said that someone who was a descendant of Eve would someday come and crush Satan's head! (Who do you think that someone was? Jesus!) 

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve had brought sin into the world by disobeying God's command.  For this, they had to leave the Garden of Eden forever and human beings have not been able to walk and talk with God in quite the same way but, one day that will all change.  Because Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, we can now talk to God again and, some day, Jesus will come back and make everything perfect again.  

August 14, 2016 - Adam Names the Animals - 1st Class of the New Year

TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK

MEMORY VERSE

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

Genesis 2:20a

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.  As He created, God also named many things: He called the light day, the 

darkness He called night, the firmament He called the sky, the water He called seas, and the dry areas he called land.  Then He began creating

animals.  Some flew, some swam, some crawled, some climbed, etc...  They all, however, had one very special thing in common; God didn't name any of them!  

There was only one creature that God named, the man that He created from the dust: Adam.  God put Adam in the Garden of Eden and told him to tend it.  God then brought

all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them! Whatever Adam called the animals, that was their name.  But why? 

When God created the Heavens and the Earth, He named them because He was in total charge of them.  To be in charge or in control of something means to have DOMINION over it.  Naming something is a way to show that you have dominion.  However, God put Adam in charge of the animals so He had Adam name them.  But remember, even though Adam had dominion over the animals, God still had dominion over Adam.  

God named Adam because Adam was His and we are still His today.  God even created us in His image which was another way of showing that we are His.  We know God loves us and takes care of us but we must also remember that God has dominion over us.