This lesson ties together many of the things we have learned up to now. It will also be the basis of every topic we will cover for the rest of the year.
God Gives Us A Choice
Remember what we discussed weeks ago studying Genesis: God put humans in charge of His creation. Think about that again: God “gave” us the earth. The whole of creation, which God loaded with potential, was ours to take somewhere. And we were God’s partners, created to subdue the Earth and it’s creatures and rule over them. So we are REALLY in charge.
Let's return to Genesis and read what happens next.
Gen 2:15-17, God sets only one commandment, and also pronounces the penalty: "for when you eat of it, you will surely die."
Gen 3:1-7, Adam and Eve are tempted, and they disobey God’s only commandment.
God created Earth and gave it to us. He lived with us, walked the earth (Gen 3:8) in close relationship with us. He gave us one rule, but He also gave us a choice: we were free to choose whether or not we would live by this one rule. And what happened? We chose not to trust God but to try our own way.
Choosing our own way instead of God's way is called “sin”. This act of sin described in Genesis 3 is the same sin that every one of us commits today, choosing not to trust fully in God, but instead trusting in ourselves. Have you thought about that before? We are able to choose to either trust in God and live as He asks, or try to go it on our own. What would you say the majority of people choose, God’s way or their own? Which way do you choose most of the time? Honestly. So the story of Adam and Eve, at that level, is the story of every one of us to this day.
The gift from God to make our own decisions is often called "free will" - meaning God made us able to live with him, but also gave us the freedom to choice not to.
Creation Fell With Us
Adam and Eve were in charge of creation, and they decided to try their own way instead of following God’s rule. So what happens to creation? Creation falls along with the humans who rule over it. In Eden, God made the plants bring forth food for people to eat. But without God, man has to do the work and suffer the thorns and droughts that come when we live apart from God.
It is a huge and important point. When we chose to leave the protection of God in Genesis 3, we took creation with us.
Does this seem like a harsh punishment from God? Let's look at that question from God's point of view. If God gives us free will and we make a choice, should God respect our choice, even if it was a bad choice? If God did not respect our choices, then we don't really have free will at all.
The Good News Story
Now, that could be the end of the story. God gives us the choice to
live with him or to reject him, and we choose to reject Him. So God
says, “you want to go it your own way, fine. Life is hard, and then
you die. Good luck.”
But the story doesn’t end in Genesis. What happens next?
In confirmation class, we broke down the story of the Bible into 16 steps. This is a story that every Christian should know and be able to tell.
1) God Is – We begin with the mystery that God has always existed. Before anything, there was God.
2) Creation – God creates the universe, and it is good.
3) Humans with God – God creates humans in his image to rule over creation, and He walks among them in relationship with them.
4) Separation – The boundaries created by God to preserve love, and to care and protect, are destroyed. People choose to not trust God and the world becomes broken, and people become separated from God.
5) Rescue – God grieves the separation, but does not give up on us. He finds a man and woman (Abraham and Sarah) worthy of rescue and tells them of His plan to build a new future with mankind, through their descendants, the Israelites.
6) Covenant – God offers to include the Israelites in His rescue plan if they are willing. The relationship is not forced upon them. Those that accept His offer are given instructions for how to live and succeed in this new relationship with Him.
7) Sacrifice – God makes a way to bridge the separation. In relationships, things drift (sin) and then need to be made right (justice). God provides a sacrifice system as a way for people to admit their guilt, for justice to be done, and to allow for forgiveness. This is the hardest part to understand – that God is perfectly just and therefore cannot forgive sin without sacrifice. The separation between Humans and God cannot be bridged without sacrifice.
8) Prophets - The rescue plan has only begun. The gulf is still wide and sacrifice is hard and only temporary. God’s chosen people are oppressed both on Earth and in the spiritual realm. Prophets spoke the truth about God, reminding people to be faithful, and predicting the coming of the Messiah and a new covenant from God to all people.
9) God Arrives – God arrives just as the prophets said. God loves us so much that he becomes one of us.
10) Service – People expect the Messiah to use power and force to make things happen in the earthly realm. But Jesus uses his power to serve. This is a glimpse of what it means to Love the Father and love each other. It is a revolution not of the earthly situation, but of the spiritual realm.
11) Cross – God Dies. Jesus actions and purpose take on a deeper meaning at the cross. We see that God, all along, has determined to make things right after so much has gone wrong. He chooses to restore the relationship with His creation through the perfect sacrifice that absorbs all judgment of sin, creating the portal for unlimited forgiveness.
12) Resurrection – God Breaks Through. With the perfect sacrifice made, God can begin the restoration of the whole world. The restoration begins with Jesus, who is risen from the dead. We still experience the effects of a broken world, but Jesus gives us hope that all will be healed.
13) Redemption – The new covenant, restoring the work of God through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Temple curtain is torn, meaning we are no longer separated from God, and God is no longer isolated to the center of the Temple. God has established a renewed path to relationship.
14) Invitation – God calls us back into relationship with Him, to live out our purpose of a new partnership with Him to bring about His Kingdom through our own healing actions on our world. The
15) Holy Spirit – God Dwells Within. Jesus promised that his followers would never be left alone and that where followers are gathered, he is present with them. His presence comes from the sending of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within the believer and the church, guiding followers on their journey.
16) Vision – God Authorizes, Extends – the ripple effect. We are called to make disciples and to continue to reflect on God’s love and hope of the healing of our world. And as we read in Revelation, the end of the story is the earthly realm becoming reconciled once again with heaven, becoming healed and brought back in line with God’s purpose for it in the first place.
What Does God Want?
Why did all this have to be? Why doesn’t God just snap His fingers and fix everything?
The intermediate answer is: free will. If we do not have to live with the consequences of our choices, then we are not really free to choose at all.
But then, if the price of free will is all this brokenness, why is free will important? And this bring us to the ultimate answer. Because God desires two things of us: faith and love. Can either be forced or coerced?
Can you have faith in something that is proven? We discussed that at the opening retreat.
Can you force someone to love you? Well, you can show someone that you are good, that you love them, that you want to care for them and that you have their best interests at heart. So, if you did all those things (just like God does for us), will they automatically love you? No. You cannot make someone love you – they must choose to do that. Love is an emotion that comes from freedom.
Steve Jacobs sjacobs01@earthlink.net
Assignment:
The story that we shared in class is one that every Christian should be able to tell. When a friend challenges you about your faith, asks you what you believe or what the Bible is really about, will you be able to tell them the story?
Your assignment is to tell this story to your parents. If you can repeat the story from memory using the symbols we drew in class, it will help you remember and help you profess your faith. It is a story that, unfortunately, not every Christian can tell.
