Tuesday: Planet Earth Becomes Involved
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 2nd of April 2024
When God created the earth, He created it perfect. The Bible says that He “saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NKJV). There was no stain of sin or evil anywhere. But He gave Adam and Eve the same freedom of choice He had given to Lucifer. He didn’t want robots on earth any more than He wanted robots in heaven.
Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com
In fact, He went out of His way to make this freedom clear. He planted a tree in the Garden and called it the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He made a point of telling Adam and Eve about it because He wanted to make sure they knew they had a choice.
Satan came to the tree, and as Eve lingered there, he told her: “ ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Genesis 3:4-5, NKJV). In other words, if you eat of this tree, you will enter a new sphere of existence. You will have excitement. You will have a thrill that you’ve never known before. Eve, God is keeping something from you. Here, take the forbidden fruit and eat it.
When Eve and later Adam made that choice, they opened a door that God wanted to keep forever closed. It was the doorway to sin—the doorway to suffering, heartache, sickness, and death.
Read Genesis 3:1-3 with Romans 3:23 and Romans 5:12. What do these texts have in common? Describe the ultimate results of sin that plague the entire human race.
At its very core, sin is rebellion against God. Sin separates us from God. Since God is the Source of life, separation from God leads to death. It also leads to worry, anxiety, sickness, and disease. The suffering in our world is ultimately the result of living on a sin-ravaged planet. This certainly does not mean that every time we suffer, we have sinned. It does mean that every one of us is affected by living on this planet.
Read Genesis 3:15; Leviticus 5:5-6; and John 1:29. What promise did God give Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned that would give them hope in their despair? What service did God initiate in Eden that would point them forward through the centuries to the solution to the sin problem?
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One Sabbath morning I went out with a couple of my birding mates. It was during the Covid lockdown period and church was not meeting. We went to our usual birding spot and saw some of the usual birds. Then one by one my mates left for various reasons and I was let alone sitting on the side of a creek. Suddenly, I realised that right in front of me was a bird that is described as cryptic (hidden in plain sight - for those who do not have a dictionary handy). It was a Black Bittern. I took 15 photographs and they all turned out well. Then the Bittern flew away. I was stoked! I could not wait to let my friends know that I had photographed the elusive Black Bittern and they had missed out. It was exciting. I would post it on the birdwatching Facebook site and people would tell me what a great observer and photographer I was. My daughter brought me back to earth. "What a butt-ugly colourless bird. Why on earth did you photograph that?"
The problem with sin is that it is so self-centred.
The subtlety and appeal of sin is that it promotes self at the expense of others. I will be better than others. I know something that you don't. I have a skill that others need. ... and so on.
So often the feeling of importance is ephemeral; a moment in time and you realise that all you have left is a butt-ugly memory.
And if you think that somehow Christianity makes you better than the others, maybe we need to think about how subtle Satan is when he teaches us to deceive ourselves.
The pictures of the Bird please.
OK Ronald. Here it is!
Black Bittern
That bird is absolutely gorgeous!
Johnny come on!
Definitely the photo "is absolutely gorgeous"! Perfect focus to see every detail that likely cannot be seen by the naked eye in real life.
Excellent photo reminding us of God's creation. Thank you Maurice for sharing. From one photographer to another.
I say it's cute in it's ugliness!
It's very unique and I think bird-watching is wonderful, even when the birds are not the most eye-catching. It's obvious that our creator loves variety.
There is no doubt that sin is self-centered, since the origin of sin given in the Holy Bible, reveals that sin begins in the heart, and that the whole human family is involved in the sin of Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
Scripture also reveals that sin is characterized by rebellion, and disregard, defiance and opposition against the guidance, government, authority, and Law of God (Daniel 9:5, 7-9; 1 Samuel 12:14-15; Isaiah 1:2; 1 John 3:4), as well as deliberate resistance to God's truth and righteousness.
Unfortunately, since all human beings inherited the carnal, sinful nature of Adam and Eve, we too do not want to bow to the authority of God. We want to be our own bosses - the arbiters of our own destiny. Thus, this rebellion in the human heart is the root of all our sins (Romans 3:23). Every human heart has the seed of rebellion germinating deep within, and that which is being taught in academia in the social sciences (that human beings are innately good) is absolutely false. Just consider why we are "rights fighters", and why when we believe someone is not respecting our "rights" we rebel.
But since God is good, and since He is love, He can bring a clean thing out of an unclean thing. Let us praise and thank Him for providing a way that human beings can be justified with God. Yes, He did provide a way that man can be made clean that is born of a woman.
In His earthly ministry, Christ was uncomprising in calling all people to believe, repent, and obey God's commands. As He has said in Matthew 7:21-23, claiming "Lord, Lord", will not give anyone entrance into His Kingdom, we must do the will of God. Therefore, mere outward professions of faith count for nothing if not accompanied by obedience. We must trust God. We must "live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Also, let us note that disobeying God's commands is rejection of a covenant relationship with God (let us think about the implications of that statement). Marantatha!
In God I put my trust.
The black bittern, what a beautiful bird, Maurice!
Pride, jealousy, curiosity and self-confidence. What were Eve's feelings when she decided to try the forbidden fruit? Feelings have a root in the heart. Where is your/mine heart now?
We are lifeless w out Christ He saved us from eternal death. I thank Him for I am a sinner yet saved by His grace and mercy. Thank you Christ for your atonement.
I am grateful for the plan of salvation, inspite of man's waywardness Jesus took upon Himself our sin to bridge the gap and restore our relationship with the creator. Praise God!
Reading through the lesson today has left me with a lot me with a lot fascinating questions that linger in my heart:
i. We're the other planets safe now that Satan was only banished on earth?
ii. The three characters play out here, satan, the tree and Eve. Who is to blame? Remember, the tree had always been lying in the middle of the garden even before the fall.
iii. An engineer designs a car. He knows the lifespan, the technicalities and the dynamics of of this car. He knows the minimal chances of survival of the driver should the car involve in an accident. He gives out the car manual to the driver but fails to divert the chances of the occurrence of accident when in real sense the engineer had a foreknowledge of the accident. Who is to blame in this saga? Base your argument in the wider context of great controversy.
Thank you all for sharing.Blessings