God’s Opposition
Session V
The Fall
‘And out of the ground
the Lord God caused to
grow every tree that is
pleasing to the sight and
good for food; the tree
of life also in the midst
of the garden, and the
tree of the knowledge of
good and evil.’
Genesis 2.9
The Fall
“And the Lord God
commanded the man
saying ‘From any tree of the
garden you may eat freely;
but from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat from it you
shall surely die.’”
Genesis 2.16-17
Tree of Knowledge
God gave humanity freedom with responsibility.
•Does it make you wonder why
God placed the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil in the
garden?
•Was it for a test to see if
humanity would respect and obey
Him?
The Snake said …
‘… the day you eat from the tree you will be like God
knowing good and evil.’
Implications:
1. Good and evil/bad must exist.
2. If Adam and Eve were innocent while naked, they
may have only known of good, but when eating
the fruit they became aware of bad/evil.
3. They did receive wisdom; a full understanding of
what God knew. It made humanity think they are
self-reliant, self-sufficient, thus, fully autonomous.
The Fall
The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of
knowledge; Fools
despise wisdom and
instruction.
Proverbs 1.7
The Consequences
• Tree of Life … denied.
• Mortal life ends in death.
• Expulsion from the Garden of
Eden.
• Man must toil for sustenance.
• Childbirth now painful.
• Safe refuge of the garden
denied.
• Adam & Eve would live in a
dangerous world.
The Consequences
• Even the earth suffered
consequences of the fall
being cursed and bringing
forth thorns and thistles.
• The BIGGEST consequence
of the fall, though, was:
that mankind became
separated from fellowship
with God.
The Fall
‘… just as through
one man sin entered
into the world, and
death through sin,
and so death spread
to all men, …’
Romans 5.12
Sin
•Transgression, iniquity;
•Webster’s definition:
‘transgression of divine law, any deliberate or
willful act in violation to a religious or moral
principle, or a fault.’
Sin
• Separates us from God – the source of life;
• Separates us from the promise and gift of
immortality;
• Robs us from the history of our being in
community with God;
• Corrupts humanity;
• Entangles us;
• Becomes a slave driver;
• Injures community;
• is anti-God and a defection from His grace!
Activity
Share your understanding of sin and how sin is
demonstrated in everyday lives.
Also what is your understanding of the concept
of the transmission to all humanity of Adam
and Eve’s ‘original sin’?
Use Psalm 14:1-3 to assist in your explanation.
Is Temptation a Sin?
‘No temptation has overtaken you but such as
is common to man; and God is faithful who
will not allow you to be tempted beyond
what you are able, but with the temptation
will provide the way of escape also, that you
may be able to endure it.’
1 Corinthians 10:13
Martin Luther
“You cannot stop the birds from flying over
your head but you can stop them from
making a nest in your hair.”
Satan
Satan
"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of
the morning, son of the dawn! You have been
cut down to the earth, You who have weakened
the nations! "But you said in your heart, 'I will
ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above
the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of
assembly In the recesses of the north. 'I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will
make myself like the Most High.‘”
Isaiah 14:12-14
Humanity
Yet You have made him
a little lower than God,
And You crown him
with glory and majesty!
Psalm 8:5
Hierarchy
Before Creation Just After Creation
Genesis 1
Psalm 8:5
1. God
1. God
After the Fall
Luke 4:6,
Hebrews 2:7-9
1. God
2. Archangels
2. Human beings
2. Satan (archangel)
3. Angels
3. Archangels
(including Satan)
4. Angels
3. Human beings
4. Archangels
5. Angels
Activity
How is Satan described in Scripture?
Work with your neighbor
on the worksheet provided.
Satan’s Authority & Power
“We know that we are of God, and that
the whole world lies in the power of the
evil one.”
1 John 5:19
Satan’s Authority & Power
‘No temptation has overtaken you but such as
is common to man; and God is faithful who will
not allow you to be tempted beyond what you
are able, but with the temptation will provide
the way of escape also, that you may be able to
endure it.’
1 Corinthians 10:13
Satan - Overestimation
• ‘The vitality of the devil is parasitic and his
strength substantially drawn from humanity
… The power that the devil has in himself is
far less than we might imagine and far more
dependent on that which mankind gives him.’
(Nigel Wright)
• ‘…Resist the devil and he will flee from you.’
James 4:7
Satan - Underestimation
• A real being, not just
a force.
• Luke 4 – Jesus
tempted by Satan.
Demons
‘Every city has an angel who broods over it.
These angels infuse and dominate the
principalities and powers, systems and
structures, people groups and individuals of
that city. There is that spiritual presence –
either angelic or demonic (or displaying
elements of both).’
Robert Linthicum
Brainstorm
Identify some of the work of Satan
and demons within our society today
so that we can stay away.
Cosmic Battle
‘We are not fighting
against human being but
against the wicked spiritual
forces in the heavenly
world, the rulers,
authorities, and cosmic
powers of this dark age.’
Ephesians 6:12