Review: Receiving (Isaiah 50:10-11): Nature of God (Genesis 1:26-28)
Key Scriptures: Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7-21, Matthew 6:25-34
Activity: Funky Function Trivia: There are two categories (Animals and Nature) Question levels are from 100 points to 500 points. Ten Questions in total with “Final Function” at the end.
-Why do we wear Clothing?
-Evolution can explain how we came from apes but it can’t explain when or why we started wearing clothes.
-The Bible is so cool, often times what we look for when it comes to things that are significant are the things that stand out…the things that are out of place.
-Genesis 2:21-25:
-Anything seem out of place to you? (What happened before this passage? After?)
-What is the only thing we know about Adam and Eve’s life together prior to their sinning?
-Here we have Adam naming the animals which would have taken hundreds of years.
-There are between 10 million and 100 million species of animals…if you believe in evolution, that means there were between 1 million and 50 million species. It would have
taken Adam over a year to name just the different species of snakes.
-So lets say 100 years from time of creation to the creation of Eve, then immediately we
have the fall. I’m guessing quite a large portion of time passed between Eve’s creation and the Fall. After all, Adam lived to be 930 years old.
-He had a son named Seth when he was 130…and he had Cain and Able after that. The story of a grown up Cain and Abel comes in Chapter 4 of Genesis.
-So the characteristic that Moses chose to describe all of humanity from the time spanning from Eve’s creation to the fall of humanity was that they were “Naked and Unashamed.”
-Why is that so significant?
-Do you remember running around naked as a kid?
-I don’t but there are pictures to prove that I did that! What is it about kids that allows them to be naked yet unashamed? (How do they get their food? How do they know when its time to go to bed? How do they get dressed?)
-They aren’t self aware!! They aren’t worried about how other people see them…they just are! They receive all that they need from their parents…they don’t have a care in the
world.
Have any of you ever been depantsed before? What did you immediately do?
Pulled my pants right back up?
Why didn’t you yell at the person who did it before you pulled your pants back up?
When you are naked the only thing you can think about is the fact that you’re naked. Everything else just kind of takes a back seat…even getting mad at a person who has just seriously embarrassed you…although I guess running after that person with your pants around your ankles wouldn’t be real productive anyway!
-Funny explanation…you go to the store and you’re naked and looking for barbecue sauce…chances are you aren’t going to look for the stuff that’s on sale, you’re going to grap the first one you see and bolt!
-Have you ever noticed that when a kid falls down they rarely start crying right away? When do they usually start crying?
-They wait and see the response of the adults around them and they respond accordingly.
-If they fall over and their mom freaks out..that kid is going to start bawling! If the mom just helps them up and dusts them off with a smile…that kid is likely to smile back!
-Kids aren’t self aware…they receive their identity, their needs, even how they should feel from their parents.
-So why did Moses make such a big deal out of Adam and Eve being Naked and Unashamed?
-This is how it was with Adam and Eve. They weren’t really aware of themselves. They didn’t need to be. God was plenty aware of them. They had perfect communion with him and he gave them everything they needed. God’s glory shone in them and through them.
-The relationship they were created for in God’s image was perfect. There was no need for self-preservation, self-esteem, self-anything. They were completely for each other, and God was completely for them…not against them.
“Here’s what I think Moses was saying: Man is wired so he gets his glory (his security, his understanding of value, his feeling of purpose, his feeling of rightness with his Maker, his security for eternity) from God, and this relationship is so strong, and God’s love is so pure, that Adam and Eve felt no insecurity at all, so much so that they walked around naked and didn’t even realize they were naked.”
-Can you imagine how it would be to feel that safe..that secure?
Then what happened?
Genesis 3:7-21:
v7: What is the first thing that they notice once they have sinned? They are Naked
-What do they do? Why? Cover themselves, ashamed, self aware…can’t think of anything but the fact that they are naked. Taking care of their own need becomes immediately the most important thing they can think of to do.
“ But when that relationship was broken, they knew it instantly. All of their glory, the glory that came from God, was gone. It wouldn’t be unlike being in love and having somebody love you and then all of the sudden that person is gone, like a kid lost in the store. All of the insecurity rises the instant you realize you are alone. No insecurity is felt when the person who loved you was around, but in his absence, it instantly comes to the surface. In this way, Adam and Eve were naked and weren’t ashamed when God was around, but the second the relationship was broken, they realized it and were ashamed. And that is just the beginning.”
v11: God’s response here tells us much about the point Moses is trying to make. He says, “Who Told you you were naked?” What is the answer to that? –They did, they noticed for themselves. Rather than receiving their everything from God, they were starting to look elsewhere for meaning.
v12&13: So what do both Adam and Eve do when their sin is exposed? Blame it on someone else. Self-Preservation.
v19: The consequence of all consequences. Death. Adam and Eve will return to dust.
-They say there is no time in Heaven. Eternity is eternity, a thousand years seems like a second. It make sense when you don’t have a care in the world. When you are completely cared fro without an insecurity looming or a question of self-worth. But constantly worrying about my self, covering my nakedness. That makes a second seem like a thousand years. Death is the consequence for sin and we get so upset when someone close to us dies. We say that their in a better place while wishing that they were still here with us. God knew how painful it would be to be separated from him…so death seems more like a gracious act of God. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to live forever in this world…not after the fall. Adam lived to be 930…There’s no way I could handle that. Much of that time must have seemed like a blink of an eye in the presence of God but I can’t imagine living the rest of my life fully aware of what I had lost. Adam and Eve had to live life knowing what it was like living daily in the presence of God..they must have wished for bodily death.
-Luckily for them and luckily for us…that wasn’t the end of the story.
v21: God make garments for them and sent them from the garden.
-What is the significance of God clothing them? What were they wearing before? Do you think this was a step up?
-What was the clothing made out of? And Where does that come from?
-Something died for their clothing. An animal died to cover Adam and Eve’s shame.
-God who always was provider…who everything we ever needed came from…once again, even after this sin was committed still provides.
-I think this is God’s way of saying to all of creation…I’m not done here.
-Story of circle: everyone’s naked. Everyone is so focused on their own nakedness that they don’t even notice the nakedness of the other people in the circle. The person beside you is someone that you love very much…maybe it’s a sibling or a significant other or a wife, or a husband or a best friend. Finally this person comes to grip with the fact that they must become naked…so they take their clothes off. You, loving that person like you do…know how difficult it is and the fear they feel…so you step in front of them…protecting them from the shame that their nakedness causes. You want for them to be naked and unashamed…even if increasing your shame is the cost of taking theirs away.
-The clothes didn’t completely take the shame away. Adam and Eve were still very self aware…the clothes just eased the shame a bit…but God promised to take it all away someday…and he did so when he sent his son Jesus to die…NAKED on a cross…to finally restore a connection with God where we receive all we need from him.
2 Corinthians 5:1-5: Imperfect Earthly Tent…perfect heavenly eternal building. Long for heavenly clothes because we don’t want to be found naked like Adam and Eve were in the garden. They were not clothed with God..or with leaves or animal skins…they were just naked..God covered them and they were only partially naked…but we long to be fully clothed completely covered by the glory of God.
Small Group:
Matthew 6:25-34:
-What is something that causes shame?
-Why don’t kids experience this kind of shame?
-Why does our generation find it necessary to mature so quickly?
-What things cause you to worry?
-What are some other things in nature God provides for?
-Why do focus more on physical rather than the spiritual?
-What would be like to be completely clothed by God (have your self-worth found in God)?
-How do the bird feel? How do the lilies?
Large Group: Share answers and Pray
