Lesson 2 The Consequences of Man’s Actions
A. Overall Lesson Objective
•To understand the consequences of man’s actions and the effects imposed on creation in general.
B. Learning Competencies
•The serpent, man, and woman are given consequences for their actions that are given no time limit. They are permanently changed.
•The Master Chef’s creation is changed: death, hardship in childbirth, hardship in work, and changes in both earth and vegetation are pronounced by the Creator.
•God kills an animal, makes clothes from the skins, and clothes Adam and Eve.
•God pronounces that Adam and Eve are like “one of us” by knowing good and evil. He drives them from Eden and sets a guard to prevent their finding a way to the tree of life, because if they eat its fruit, they could live forever. Now, they shall die and return to dust.
•New Testament books repeatedly confirm the effects of the ‘Fall’ of man on creation and reference the only Remedy for the consequences of sin and death: to have faith in Jesus Christ. All mankind has the same lineage and tendency toward sin, showing the need for God’s Remedy.
C. Lesson
Review Genesis 3:14-24 and follow the teacher’s instructions to post the physical and relational changes that have occurred. Then review the lesson text below.
Verse 14 shows a switch in God’s focus from asking questions, for which He already knows the answers, to administering judgment upon the actions of the serpent, the man, and the woman. Here is where creation is going to be changed. It will not be ‘very good’ any longer. While this change has the signature of God on it, which we will see, the change is a direct result of man’s disobedience or sin.
Verses 14-15 address the changes on the serpent and relational effects on offspring.
Verses 17 and 18 are the clear proclamation of the change in creation. The universe and earth, made by the Master Chef, are now altered from disobedience. It may seem harsh, but remember, God’s oversight and quality control are perfect. He is Eternal God. So, the ground will no longer produce as it once did. It will require work that it never did before. The work, as defined by God, will be toilsome, which was not the case earlier. Thorns and thistles were not in His original plan, but they are now a part of the change, the consequence of disobedience. This is only the beginning. God reminds them of the penalty of His first command and makes it sure in verse 19. They would die. Death was never part of the original creation. Death, suffering and disease are not good things and they are not ‘natural.’ They entered creation as a result of judgment for disobedience.
Verses 20-21 record the first killing of an animal, as God uses the skins of an animal to form clothing for Adam and Eve, who are now ashamed of their nakedness. God, Himself, clothes them.
It is worth re-reading Genesis 3:22-24, because our Creator God, the Master Chef of the universe and earth, knows that what He created is now spoiled. He puts a physical and spiritual boundary around the garden so that man will never again enter the area. The very God who put the breath into His special created man now drives him out of the garden, never to return. Mankind in general will never again experience the world’s pre-Fall sinless deathless condition until, through Christ, the heavens and earth are renewed and restored (2 Peter 3:13). At that point, God says (Revelation 21: 4): “…there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain…” and He tells us a little further on (Revelation 22:3) why this will be: “…there shall be no more curse,” which refers to what happened in Genesis Chapter 3.
As the Genesis chapters continue, think of what it must have been like for that first generation to look at the guarded garden area nearby or perhaps hear stories about what it was like. And as they worked their crops and gardens with effort and toil that was never intended at the beginning, they also lived without the presence of God in the way their mother and father first experienced it. Did they remember the Creator as life moved on? We shall see.
The Less Obvious Facts (Other Biblical References).
The change that took place at the garden event, which we will henceforth call the Fall, affected creation. We are part of His creation, and the effects of the Fall of man are in us and around us. There are many other scriptures that speak of the event. Read and consider the following:
Romans 8:20-22 Creation has been subjected to futility
Hebrews 1:11 The creation will wear out and perish
Romans 5:12-19 Death comes from the events in the Garden
1 Corinthians 15:21-22 By a man (Adam) came death; through Christ comes life
Proverbs 8:34-36 God reviews the basics: if a person finds God, he or she finds life and obtains favor. If he fails to find God, he injures himself. All who hate God love death. This is a radical statement, but consider what happened in Genesis 3. Death entered the universe, and its entrance was a result of the penalty of disobedience. God’s command was clear in Genesis, and Proverbs 8 repeats the same thing: disobedience to God causes injury to men. Death is the ultimate result for every man.
🦕 CT? Consider the effects of Hebrews 1:11. What does this say about processes, whether they be in the heavens (stars, for instance), geological processes on earth, or the human body as it ages?
🦕 CT? Who killed the first living thing and what was the purpose?
D. Assignment
Read Genesis 4, 5, and 6:1-4
E. Learning Activity
Quickly read Genesis 3:22-24 and discuss the ‘security system’ that now keeps man and woman out of the garden. Describe the cherubim and the flaming sword from various sources.
F. Concluding Assessment
Creation, which was very good, was subjected to decay and death following the Fall of Man. The consequences of sin resulted in dramatic changes in the physical and relational realm, including access to God.