What’s the problem?

Main Point: Though created to live out God’s purposes, God’s people rebel, resulting in the loss of God’s presence and place.

Discussion

What were your biggest take aways from the readings this week?

What are two questions you have coming into this week’s group session?

Prayer Assignment

Sovereignty of God and Sabbath

What was your experience?

Was this assignment difficult? Why or why not?

What did you learn about God and about yourself?

How can you incorporate this spiritual discipline in everyday life?

Does anyone want to reshare their “Life Story”?

Read Genesis 3:1-7

What is sin?

Humanity, created in God’s image to represent Him sins and rebels against Him resulting in exile, depravity, and death.

How bad is it?

Only with a clear vision of Genesis 1-2 can we rightly understand the horror/devastation of Genesis 3.

The memory of Eden’s perfection is what fuels our longing for everything to be made new.

Every tragic story you’ve heard finds it’s origin in Genesis 3.

You Are a Theologian: An Invitation to Know and Love God Well Pray

Every human failure, every broken promise, every errant word, every deceitful act, every abuse, every heinous crime, every act of neglect, every miscarriage of justice, every dark behavior can be traced back to the fall in

We didn’t mess up in Eden—Why is sin our problem?

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Death entered the world through a man, our however-many-great grandparents.

Death entered the world through disobedience, our disobedience in Papaw Adam.

We were there, we were complicit, we participated

“I didn’t vote for Adam to be my representative.”

If we believe that God is good and sovereign, then His choice of Adam for this role is the best choice.

Adam was a perfect person—You never have been.

Doctrine of Sin

Original sin

Pelagianism

People are capable of avoiding sin and choosing to live righteous lives even apart from God’s grace.

Augustinianism

People are depraved by sin and cannot live a righteous life apart from God’s grace.

Personalize it.

It’s one thing to conceptualize, it’s another to personalize it.

To think about how each of us have rebelled against God’s holiness.

How we’ve lied, stolen, cheated, hated, and lusted.

We just hope no one sees our depravity.

Sin doesn’t discriminate.

Sin is not an external issues—it’s internal. in all of us.

How comfortable are you with the idea of original sin, that Adam represented you and all humanity in the fall?

Total depravity

Our human nature fell.

Sin has corrupted every aspect of our being.

All humans are born predisposed to sin that leads to sinful behavior.

Can we not sin?

Augustine’s Understanding of Sin

Pre-fall humanity

Able to not sin

In the garden of Eden, God created all things good. That includes our nature. Adam and Eve had a nature that was able to obey God and not sin.

Post-fall humanity

Not able to not sin

After the fall, Adam and Eve, and all their family are born with a sinful nature. This does not mean that all we do is sin all the time. Instead it means that we are unable to walk in perfect obediences due to our depraved state.

Post-conversation

Able to not sin

Part of the good news of the gospel is that after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, He sends us His Spirit. Not only is our sin forgiven, but our nature is being restored. Not only does the Spirit grant us eternal life, but He also empowers us to live holy lives. We still do not obey perfectly, but the presence of the Spirit means we have been empowered, through the gospel, to live lives of obediences.

Post-return of Christ

Not able to sin.

A day is coming when Jesus will make all things new. We will no longer live in a broken world, and our sinful nature will be completely restored.

What is original sin in your own words?

What is total depravity in your own words?

Transition

The effect of the fall, is the inevitability of death.

Is death natural?

Definition of Sin/Dead

Death is the unnatural divorce of the immaterial soul and the physical body, resulting from the separation between God and humanity, brought about by sin.

Discussion

How much of God’s creation has been impacted by sin?

What are some examples of creation bearing the impact of sin?

How does a biblical understanding of sin help us put sin to death in our lives?

What impact did Adam’s sin have on humanity?

What impact does Christ’s obedience have on humanity?

Pre-Work 11.12.25

Turn and Tell: With whom can you share something you learned in this session? What do you plan to share with them?

Begin Prayer assignment

Read Genesis 3-12-22

Read “Covenant with Abraham: The Kingdom Promised”

Christian Formation Assignment: “Prayer”

One of the richest ways tfor us to live out both our doctrine and affections in the Lord, rightly view ourselves, and effectively love our brohters and sisters is through prayer. Pray is a multi-faceted practice; there is room for both intimacy and reverence, both individual and community focus, bot communion with the Lord and requests for the Kingdom.

The reigning King of all creation bends His ear toward us, His children.

Assignment

In order to strengthen your understanding of prayer, you will carefully craft your own written prayer. The goal with this assignment is that you will pause, examine your prayer life, and exercise different muscles than you’re used to. Additionally, I want you to begin thinking about your prayer like the psalms—written from an individual perspective but in a way that can benefit the community and be used together in a gathering of the saints, whether that’s with a few friends or in a Sunday service.

Expectations:

Spend time reading through prayers that model and give careful though to writing your prayer.

Pick a genre of prayer (praise, confession, thanksgiving, confidence, lament, remembrance, etc.)

Pick a topic (creation, providence, salvation, peace, work, parenthood, anxiety, marriage, the Lord’s supper, baptism, mission, etc)

Limit the length of your prayer to a paragraph at most; it can even be just a few sentences. Work on the economy of words—few, but rich.

RESOURCE: VALLEY OF VISION