Lesson 3 - Creation and the Fall of Man

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Having established in Lessons 1 and 2 the reliability of the Bible and understanding that God will one day judge us according to the truth that is found in the Bible, we will now study God's creation.

Have you ever wondered how the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars came into being? God created them! These things did not come into being by themselves. The very first verse in the Bible says, "In the beginning God the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) This verse tells us that God is the great Creator, the One who created the heavens and the earth. In this study we are going to learn what happened to God's perfect creation.

CREATION

A. God Created The Heavens And The Earth.

The Bible tells us God created the heavens and the earth. They did not come into being by an accident or mistake.

Look Up Psalm 33:6,9
Psalm 33:6: "By the of the LORD were the heavens ; and all the host of them by the breath of his ." God spoke, and the sun, the moon, the stars, and the earth came into being.
Psalm 33:9: "For he , and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." Not only did God create all things, but He also controls them by His power.

How do we know these things? We know them because God's Word tells us so. We believe the Bible to be the Word of God! After all, the Bible is the only eyewitness account of the beginning of all things!!

Look Up Isaiah 45:12
In His Holy Word, the Bible, God says, "I have made the earth, and man upon it: I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded."
Because God is the creator of all things, He deserves to receive honor and respect from His creation.

Look Up Revelation 4:11
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive and and power: for thou hast created things, and for thy they are and were created."

B. God's Most Wonderful Creation.

What is God's most wonderful creation? It is man!
Why is this true?
Look Up Genesis 1:26
It is true because man was created "in the of God." God created man for His glory. He wanted man to be in His image and after His own likeness. It is not said in the Bible that any other creature was created in the image of God. This is true only of man.

Look Up Genesis 1:27
"So God created in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Does God have a physical, visible form?

Look Up John 4:24
"God is a ."

God as a Spirit does not have a physical form. Sometimes in the Bible, we have figurative descriptions of God. Such as "His hand is not shortened." This helps us to understand God's actions and care for us, but is not a literal description of His person.

If God does not have a physical body, then man must be like Him in some other way. In what way would man be like God? Man is a spiritual being.

1. Man Has A Mind.
Because God has a mind, He planned to make people on the earth with a mind which had the ability to know God, think like God, and reason like God.
God wanted to communicate with man, and He wanted man to be able to communicate with Him.
God gave man a mind so He could talk with man, enjoy man's company, and teach man to do God's work on this earth.

2. Man Has Emotions.
God has a mind, and He also has emotions.
God loves, hates (sin), feels sadness, and also feels joy and happiness.
Because God has feelings (emotions), He created man with feelings.
God loves man, but God also wanted man to be able to love Him.
This is the reason God created man with emotions or feelings.

3. Man Has A Will.
Besides God having a mind and emotions, He also has a will.
God is able to decide that He will do something or that He will not do it.
God made man so that he would be able to make decisions for himself.
God could have made man so he would have no choice. Then man would have to do everything that God made him do.
However, God made man so he could choose to love and obey God.
Look Up John 3:16
"For God so the world, that he his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Look Up Romans 10:13
"For whosoever shall upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

God made the first man out of what?

Look Up Genesis 2:7
"And the LORD God formed man of the of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living ."

The first man was named Adam. God made a wife for Adam. What was her name?

Look Up Genesis 3:20
"And Adam called his wife's name ; because she was the mother of all living."
Man did not come or evolve from lower forms of animal life. God created him! God made man different from all the animals. Man has a soul that will live forever, and Man also has a spirit.

What is the spirit? The spirit is that part of man which can know God and receive His life. God wanted man to be able to know Him, to worship Him, and to receive His life. Man was created in such a way that God could live in Him. God is Spirit and, because man has a spirit, God's Spirit can dwell in man.

C. The Creature - Creator Relationship.
When God created man, He put in him a deep inner desire to feel that he was worth something. Man needs a reason for living, a purpose in life. Man also desires to be loved by someone who is important to him. Without these desires being met, man will face feelings of purposelessness and uselessness.

How were these needs met? They were met by God Himself. In the beginning man had wonderful fellowship with his Creator. Because man was in the right relationship with his Creator, his inner needs were met. He was happy and satisfied.

Let us think for a moment about this relationship between God the Creator and the man He created. Man was God's creation, and therefore a special relationship was developed.

What about man's responsibilities to his Creator? Should man love his Creator? Yes, he should. Should man worship his Creator? Yes, he should. Should man obey his great Creator? Yes, he certainly should.

Man should love, worship, and obey His Creator. Man is in right relationship with his Creator-God when he loves, worships, and obeys Him. This is what we were created for, and this is the way it was with Adam and Eve in the beginning. God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden. God had prepared this garden especially for them. In it was everything Adam and Eve needed. The trees were filled with good things to eat. A sparkling river of pure water flowed through the garden. Best of all, they had fellowship with their Creator. Each evening God came to walk and to talk with them. Adam and Eve were very happy. But one day something happened which changed all this. Sin came into the world! (Genesis 2:8-16)

HOW SIN CAME INTO THE WORLD

When God created the world, He made everything beautiful and good. But now many things are not beautiful and not good. There is sickness and death. There is hatred and fighting. There are selfish and wicked people. Sin has spoiled God's wonderful world.

How did sin get into the world? How did sin get into men's hearts? The Bible tells us how this happened.

A. The Rebellion of the Angels.

When God created the angels, He placed one angel over all the other angels. What was his name?

Look Up Isaiah 14:12
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O , son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! "

Lucifer is none other than Satan!

1. It seems that, for some time after he was created, this mighty angel loved God and obeyed Him perfectly, but a time came when he chose to rebel against God.

2. Because Lucifer was so beautiful and so powerful, his heart was lifted up with pride. He decided that he should be God! He rebelled against God. Notice what he said in his heart.

Look Up Isaiah 14:13-14
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into , I will exalt my throne the stars of God: I will sit also upon the of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend the heights of the clouds; I will be the most High."

Five times he said, "I Will, I Will, I Will, I Will, I Will."

3. What was Lucifer's great sin? It was the sin of rebellion against God. Lucifer's heart attitude was, "I will not obey God - I will do what I want to do."

Look Up Ezekiel 28:15
Lucifer was perfect until was found in him.

4. No longer was Lucifer content to be the highest angel under God. He wanted to take God's place and be worshipped as God. What a terrible thing it is for a creature to rebel against the great Creator!

Look Up Ezekiel 28:17
"Thine heart was lifted up of thy beauty, hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. "

5. God saw what was in Lucifer's heart, and He cast him down from his exalted position.

His name was changed from Lucifer, which means "lightbearer," to Satan which means "adversary" or "enemy."

Look Up I Peter 5:8
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the , as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may ." Satan is not only the enemy of God, but our enemy as well.

6. Satan was the first angel to rebel against God, but many other angels followed him in rebellion. There are two spiritual Kingdoms in the universe - the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God.

Note the contrast:

7. God is the Almighty God, and He will not permit this rebellion against Him to go on forever. One day Satan, his fallen angels, and all those who have followed him will be judged.

Look Up Revelation 20:10
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of and , where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and . "

Look Up Revelation 20:15
Who will be cast into the lake of fire according to verse 15? "And whosoever was found written in the book of was cast into the lake of fire. "

8. Right now, God is giving people the opportunity to choose whom they will follow - God or Satan.

B. The Rebellion of Man.

1. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He told them that they could eat of every tree in the Garden except one- which tree was it?

Look Up Genesis 2:17
"But of the tree of the knowledge of and , thou shalt eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely ."

2. God commanded them not to eat of this tree and warned them that, if they disobeyed Him, they would surely die.

3. One day Satan, in the form of a serpent, came into the garden. His purpose was to deceive Eve.

Look Up Genesis 3:1
"Now the serpent was more (clever or deceptive) than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea hath , ye shall not eat of every tree of the Garden?"

Who did Satan imply was not concerned about man's best interest?
Look Up Genesis 3:4-6 "And the said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
What lie did Satan tell Eve in verse 4? "Ye shall surely ."
In verse 5 what did Satan tell Eve that her and Adam would become if they ate of the tree? "as ."
According to verse 6, did Eve eat of the tree? (Yes or No)
4. When Adam returned, Eve offered the fruit to him (Genesis 3:6). No doubt, she told Adam what the serpent had said about how they would become like gods by eating the fruit.

5. Adam had to make a choice. He knew what God had said. God had plainly told him that eating the forbidden fruit would result in death.

Adam was not deceived by what Satan had told Eve. He knew better!
Nevertheless, Adam took the fruit and ate it.
6. What was Adam's great sin? It was the sin of rebellion against God.

Adam knew what God had commanded; yet he chose to rebel against God.
Adam's heart attitude was, "I will do what I want to do!"
According to I Samuel 15:23, "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft."
7. Adam's sin of rebellion was followed by an act of disobedience.

Adam took the forbidden fruit and ate it. Adam had followed Satan in his rebellion against God!
Adam and Eve died spiritually the very day they disobeyed God. We will learn more about this in our next lesson.
They were now dead (spiritually) in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).

C. Adam And Eve Were Driven Out Of The Garden Of Eden.

1. Adam and Eve had disobeyed God. A righteous God could not overlook their sin. He could not pretend that nothing had happened, or that He did not know about it.

Look Up Genesis 3:8
"Adam and his wife themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden."

2. What did Adam and Eve do when they heard God's voice calling them in the garden?

3. Notice Adam and Eve's version of the story (Genesis 3:9-13 ).

4. God then pronounced His judgment upon them (Genesis 3:14-19 ).

Adam and Eve would have to leave the beautiful Garden of Eden.
No longer would they have fellowship with their Creator.
Sin had come between them and God.
Read: Genesis 3:24 . God drove man out of the garden.

5. Of all things that happened to Adam and Eve as a result of their disobedience the worst was this: They were separated from God.

6. But God still loved Adam and Eve, and on that same day, He made a wonderful promise to them. (Genesis 3:15 ) He promised them that one day He would send a Savior. That Savior would be God's own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He would die for the sins of the world.

Read: Luke 2:11,
I Corinthians 15:3,
I Peter 2:24

In our next study we will look at "Man's Problems."

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Here are the past lessons for your review:
Lesson 1 - Where Do We Find Truth?
Lesson 2 - Is The Bible the Word of God?

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