The Fall Bible Study

Based on Genesis 3

The Unraveling. Much of this passage is the unraveling of everything done in the first two chapters of Genesis. The ultimate marring of the beautiful relationship between God and His creation. It led to evil, sadness, and pain beyond Adam and Eve's comprehension. But, the beautiful thing about unraveling is that it can be knit together again. It is no longer together and close in the way it once was, but it is not destroyed indefinitely.

The Struggle. God put the struggle between evil and humanity, not between humanity and himself. It could have been so much worse. The struggle we face every day could have been immeasurably more painful had God not only physically separated himself from us and the garden but put struggle between us as well. Even in His righteous anger, God loved us enough to keep us connected to Him.

The Hope. "Even at the darkest moment in human history, you can still see the gospel" (Sean Kisch). This is not the end. There are 65 more books and generations of people yet to come. God's promises don't end at the Fall, the damage is severe, but not irreparable. It can be made whole once more by God and God alone.

The Order. It matters that the snake strikes first to the man's heel and the man strikes back to the head second. A strike to the heel is painful, but it is non-fatal. A strike to the head is painful and fatal. Jesus is struck, crucified, and sent to the grave. But the blow, while painful, is not fatal because He overcomes death and in doing so delivers a blow to the head of the snake. He will remain victorious. This chapter, while painful is also one of the most hopeful chapters in the Bible. Even in our worst moment, God showed us love.

The Cast and Crew Inspiration Compilation

Here it Comes by Romantic (brought by Sarah Spacek & Grace Pointner)

This piece highlights the mourning of sin entering the world. There are a few lines that are particularly gripping. The titular line "here it comes" is repeated in a haunting what that emphasizing the mourning of the loss of creation as it was known. It is almost a plea, begging it to stop and knowing there is nothing to do but watch it come. I wonder if this is what the rest of creation thought as they saw Adam and Eve eat the fruit.

"My heart will be undone" this line goes along with the theme of unraveling. The undoing of something that was whole, something that was beautiful and now is marred.

"Here my son will kill my son" at the very end is one of the most chilling lines in this song. Sin is already in full force, there is no stopping it, it has arrived and it is destroying people. The relationships that God had with Adam and Eve, relationships that were perfect are now a distant memory. Relationships are now filled with enmity and strife. I hear this line and can picture the mourning distraught face of God as he sees what his creation is doing to one another. How horrific to witness.

Nothing Else by Cody Carnes (brought by Sammie Burton)

As I was reflecting on the fall this week, I kept being brought back to the song "Nothing Else" by Cody Carnes. In His song he laments:

"I'm sorry when I've just gone through the motions

I'm sorry when I just sang another song

Take me back to where we started

I open up my heart to you

I'm sorry when I've come with my agenda

I'm sorry when I forgot that you're enough

take me back to where we started

I open up my heart to you"

These lyrics remind me of just how often I continue to fall. I fall short, I sin, I follow my own will instead of God's. While the first fall happened in Genesis 3, this was not the end of the story of brokenness. I'm struck by the words "when I forgot that you're enough". This is just what happened in the Garden, Adam and Eve wanted more outside of God's will because they trusted themselves more than God in that moment. God set the boundaries saying "'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die'". From this moment onward, the act of going beyond the boundaries God set continued. As we continue to read through the Old Testament it becomes increasingly clear: we can't seem to get it right. But, as I said the fall was not the end, and neither was the continuation of sin. Rather, God himself, as the Incarnate Christ stepped down from his throne to become a servant and bear the consequence of sin which he told in Genesis 3: death. Romans 6:23 reminds us "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Jesus redeemed God's children, the descendants of Adam and Eve; death was defeated and replaced with a gift.

The longing of these lyrics "take me back to where we started" have been made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The garden, where we lived without separation from God, is now back in the picture; we just have to open up our hearts to him. As long lost sons and daughters of the Eden, may we run back to Him who has arms of perfect compassion awaiting us. Though we fall time and time again, though we forget God is enough, though we just go through the motions, by the grace of God there is forgiveness for us through faith in Jesus Christ. And not only are we forgiven, but we are made alive in Christ as Paul said in Romans! There is no longer just air flowing through our lungs, but the Holy Spirit pulsing through our veins! And with this liveliness we can continue our garden work of caring and tilling for the earth and all its inhabitants which God has entrusted to us. May we learn to love God more feverishly and love our neighbors more attentively and fully. May we lean in close the presence of God and let him lead.

"I'm caught up in your presence

I just want to sit here at your feet

I'm caught up in this Holy moment

I never want to leave"

Where Are You by Ruthie Wu

Death Valley - photographer unknown (brought by Jackson Heydt)

This is a picture of the salt flats in Death Valley. When reading God's curse to Adam I pictured very dry earth being dusty or cracked and without any water which brings life. I like this image because we are made from dust (or earth) and from our sin, we affect the rest of the world so that it too goes from dust to dust.

Darkness Visible by Kodie Warnell

Psalm 38 (brought by Parker Ohman)

1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! 2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness, 6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. 7 For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. 11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”

17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. 19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Artist unknown (brought by Emma Ware)

When reading the serpent's language in the first verse of Genesis 3, I was struck by the crystal clear depiction of the devil's devices to deceive and manipulate the Lord's words. He twists them ever so slightly, just enough to make us doubt. He blurs the line between truth and lie just enough to be confounding. The direct link between the devil's devices in Genesis 3 and my struggles with discovering truth in politics blew my mind. I never know what to believe anymore; I am overwhelmed and choking underneath the weight of information overload. How is such a dangerous divide achieved? An ever-so-slight twist of the truth changes everything.

The Tree of Life by Brooke Sweatman

This cake represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and sin taking root in the world - Brooke Sweatman