Learning Together Series - The Fall October - Week 2

10/10/2021

Our Bible story for this month is about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the snake who tempted them to disobey God. This enemy of God—that is the meaning of the word, Satan,—plays a role in causing God’s good creation to “fall”.
What are three things that you see in our world that show you that the world is no longer all good? Try and identify the causes of these three things. How would things be different if God’s will was being done?

In The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, part of the story goes like this:

Eve picked the fruit and ate some. And Adam ate some, too. And a terrible lie came into the world. It would never leave. It would live on in every human heart, whispering to every one of God’s children: “God doesn’t love me.”

Are there times you feel as if God doesn’t love you? What if this message really is a “terrible lie”?

This week, pray every day that you will be able to trust that God loves you.

Keep track of any insights or questions you have about this story and bring them with you when you come to worship and Sunday school on October 31! There will be treats on this Halloween morning!
Add comments below!

Enjoy wrestling with this story!
Pastor Mary

2 Comments

Melissa Leighton

11/5/2021 12:05:25 pm

The story of Adam and Eve has always been a tricky story for me because I feel like we always place the blame in Eve, when I feel Adam is equally at fault for taking a bit and then not taking ownership of the part he had in the mistake.

Gary Murtaugh

11/5/2021 06:40:47 pm

Hi Melissa, What you are saying I completely understand (being a man, probably not 100 percent). This is a story from thousands of years ago, from a culture where men held a status well above that of women, and roles were narrowly defined. When hearing this story as a child, I always thought of Adam as weak, manipulated by a woman who lusted for power. I was a child of the fifties, so yes, a young misogynist.
Then I grew up into a time where women's voices started to be heard, and I listened. I still thought Adam was weak, because he needed to cast blame, and also lacked the intelligence, because he blamed the only woman in existence. I assumed they were intimate physically, because God had created her because "its not good for man to be alone". If not he could have just created the creature referred to as "man's best friend" in our culture.

So, with no other women in existence, he was fortunate she shared his shame and remained at his side as they walked from Eden into this world we live in.

As far as the "lust for power" thought I had as a child, that dissipated rapidly as I grew into s young man, and saw the heads of state around the world, especially the tyrants. I made note of their gender. I learned. I do have further thoughts about this story but will continue in comments if that indeed is a different section.

Learning Together Series - The Fall October - Week 2

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