TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................8 The Problem of Evil .....................................................................................................................................................9 Session 1 : Why Allow Temptation?....................................................................................................................11 Session 2 : Why Expect My Best?.........................................................................................................................20 Session 3 : Why Rescue Me?..................................................................................................................................29 Session 4 : Why Do Bad Things Happen?..........................................................................................................39
STATEMENTS OF FAITH As Christians, there are some essential truths we believe. We discover these truths in the Bible. At Student Life, we have identified eight truths we believe are essential for every Christian to know and understand. These statements give descriptions of those biblical truths and have been developed to help you talk about your faith. They will help you know what you believe. GOD IS Only one true and living God exists. He is the Creator of the universe, eternally existing in three Persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each equally deserving of humanity’s worship and obedience. He is infinite and perfect in all His attributes. THE BIBLE IS GOD’S WORD The Bible is God’s written revelation to people, divinely given through human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is entirely true. The Bible is totally sufficient and completely authoritative for matters of life and faith. The goal of God’s Word is the restoration of humanity into His image. PEOPLE ARE GOD’S TREASURE God created people in His image for His glory. They are the crowning work of His creation. Yet every person has willfully disobeyed God—an act known as sin—thus inheriting both physical and spiritual death and the need for salvation. All human beings are born with a sin-nature and into an environment inclined toward sin. Only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ can they experience salvation. JESUS IS GOD AND SAVIOR Jesus is both fully God and fully human. He is Christ, the Son of God. Born of a virgin, He lived a sinless life and performed many miracles. He died on the cross to provide people forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation. Jesus rose from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return in power and glory.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD AND EMPOWERER The Holy Spirit is supernatural and sovereign, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ. He lives within all Christians beginning at the moment of salvation and then empowers them for bold witness and effective service as they yield to Him. The Holy Spirit convicts individuals of sin, uses God’s Word to mature believers into Christlikeness, and secures them until Christ returns. SALVATION IS BY FAITH ALONE All human beings are born with a sin nature, separated from God, and in need of a Savior. That salvation comes only through a faith relationship with Jesus Christ, the Savior, as a person repents of sin and receives Christ’s forgiveness and eternal life. Salvation is instantaneous and accomplished solely by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. This salvation is wholly of God by grace on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ and not on the basis of human works. All the redeemed are secure in Christ forever. THE CHURCH IS GOD’S PLAN The Holy Spirit immediately places all people who put their faith in Jesus Christ into one united spiritual body, the Church, of which Christ is the head. The primary expression of the Church on earth is in autonomous local congregations of baptized believers. The purpose of the Church is to glorify God by taking the gospel to the entire world and by building its members up in Christ-likeness through the instruction of God’s Word, fellowship, service, worship, and prayer. THE FUTURE IS IN GOD’S HANDS God will bring the world to its appropriate end in His own time and in His own way. At that time, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth. Both the saved and unsaved will be resurrected physically to be judged by Christ. Those who have trusted Christ will receive their reward and dwell forever in heaven with the Lord. Those who have refused Christ will spend eternity in hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The certain return of Christ motivates believers to be faithful in their daily lives.
Introducing Collisions: My Expectations—God’s Character Have you wondered how a good God can allow bad things to happen? Why are God’s motives sometimes difficult to understand? The problem is not God’s motives. The problem is that we do not always understand God’s character. From this study, you will have the opportunity to consider how God’s holiness impacts His actions. This unit will take a look at four key encounters between God and people from the time of the Book of Genesis, each of which presents an opportunity to question God’s character. dam and Eve—God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree, and when they did, He banished them A from the Garden of Eden. Why would God place temptation in front of His children? When do we use questions about God’s motives as a way to cover up our own sin? This session also addresses the difficult question of why evil exists. Read how theologians deal with this question in “The Problem of Pain” on pages 9-10. Cain and Abel—Two brothers brought an offering to God, but only one was accepted. In his anger, Cain murdered Abel and faced severe consequences. What were God’s motives for accepting only one offering, and for punishing Cain for killing his brother? oah—The world was full of severely depraved humans, and God chose not to tolerate their behavior but to wipe N them out through a flood, saving only Noah and his family. How could a loving God wipe out His people? J ob—A righteous man faced intense trials—all because Satan approached God to take away his blessings. How could a loving God allow such a thing to happen to Job? Be prepared to consider, examine, and evaluate God’s Word as you move through this study. Our prayer is that this study will give you the opportunity to understand God’s character and experience His amazing love in new ways.
8
THE PROBLEM OF EVIL Why do we suffer? Why is there pain? Why are some people evil? Why does God allow good people to experience harm from evil people? Why does God allow circumstances or events to harm those who trust in Him? If God is loving, why doesn’t He save those who love Him from every kind of evil? From as far back as recorded history reveals, religions and philosophers have struggled to answer these questions. We still ask them today. Every person has to deal in some way with the problem of evil. Consider . . . • The atheist believes in the reality of evil, but does not believe in God. For the atheist, a loving, all-powerful God would not permit evil. Therefore, no God can exist. • The pantheist—like the Hindu of India—believes that this world, including all evil and good, pain and pleasure, is an illusion. Although God is everything, He is hidden behind the mirage of substances, people, and events. The pantheist’s goal is to transcend this fake world and become one with God. • The determinist—like the Muslim—believes in God, but does not believe that God is bound by His own moral law. Since God can do whatever He wants, everything that happens must be the will of Allah. • The dualist—like the Satan worshiper—believes that Satan is God’s equal. Therefore, evil and good remain locked in mortal combat, with the outcome still undecided. The Christian, however, believes that God is both absolutely loving and absolutely powerful. If that is true—and the Bible states that it is—then did God not create evil? Certainly He permits evil. How is that logical?
In the four passages of this unit, human logic is stretched beyond its limits to understand God’s character. Questions arise in the mind of the reader. For example: • In the story of Adam and Eve, one might ask, “Why did God even put the tree in the garden in the first place? Did He not know in advance that Adam and Eve would be tempted by it and would eat from it? Doesn’t that make God ultimately responsible for the existence of evil?” • In the story of Cain and Abel, one might ask, “Why didn’t God accept Cain’s sacrifice like He did Abel’s? Is that fair? If God rejected Cain, wouldn’t Cain just naturally react with anger and jealousy?” • In the story of Noah, one might ask, “If God is loving, why would he decide to kill the entire human race apart from Noah and his little family? Especially if God knew to begin with that all of them would turn evil? Why did He even create them if He knew He would eventually destroy all of them?” • Then consider the story of Job, which appears to human logic as the most “unfair” of all: “Why did God allow Satan to destroy Job’s life, take Job’s family, remove Job’s fortune, wrap Job’s body with pain, and even besmirch Job’s flawless reputation—all in a day? Where did Satan come from, anyway? Why hasn’t God just destroyed him? Why does God permit Job to be tested like that—is that loving? Even if Job does get his blessings restored to him at the end, aren’t his first sons and daughters still dead?” Any or all of these questions might be expected to arise during class discussions. Every Christian theologian since Christ founded the Church has asked them along with us, and the answers always come down to one thing: God gave us free choice.
9
Adam and Eve did not have to eat the forbidden fruit. They could have run away. Instead, they made the choice to go against God’s instructions. Cain did not have to kill Abel. He could have learned from his brother and made a proper sacrifice. But he chose to take his anger out on his brother instead. The people who died in the Flood did not have to choose evil. Noah did not choose evil, and he warned the people of God’s coming judgment. But they chose evil, and God allowed them to experience the consequences. Job did not have to choose to remain faithful to God. He could have chosen, as his wife suggested, to “curse God and die.” Yet, Job chose God while asking God “Why?” That was not a sin for Job, and neither is it a sin for us. But in spite of everything, Job chose God. We have that same choice. God is all-powerful. Theologians use the word sovereign, which means that God reigns like a king over everything He made. God is also all-loving. Everything God does, including creating us, demonstrates His love. But God wants us to love Him, and choose Him, and choose to live with Him eternally. How can God give us that choice without giving us another option? God could force all people to love Him, but that would not be love—it would be mindless slavery. God wants morality and holiness for all of us, but having morality and holiness requires the possibility of immorality and the profane. In His love, God has chosen the good of freedom for us. However, He will not force us to love Him. We have to choose. God placed the possibility of evil in the garden through the tree, and warned Adam and Eve to stay away from it. Adam and Eve chose it—as has all humankind ever since. One might ask, “But how could they know the consequences of their sin before they sinned? Why couldn’t God have given them a second chance?” 10
Ultimately, is that not exactly what God has done for us through Jesus Christ? The story of God’s relationship with humankind is not over, but we already know the ending. God who loves us will allow us the freedom to love Him eternally—or choose not to. God will respect the freedom of many in the world to choose hell. He will not force them to love Him. He will respond lovingly to the free choice of many others to choose heaven and Him. But in order for us to have this free choice, God has to allow evil—and yes, Satan—until time ends and eternity begins. Americans say it often: “Freedom is not free.” Of course, we mean something different by it, but the concepts of free choice to do battle against evil, and the willingness to sacrifice for that free choice, are still present in our patriotic motto. God knows this and has always known it. Freedom is not free. The price of our freedom is the reality of evil. At least, for now. . . (There are many other aspects of the problem of evil that will not fit in the time and space allotted for this article. For more information, you might read The Problem of Pain by C. S. Lewis, or the article on “Evil, the Problem of” in the Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics by Norman Geisler.)
Biblical Passage: Genesis 3:1–24 Supporting Passages: Genesis 2:15–25; Romans 5:12–14; Romans 16:20 Memory Verse: Romans 16:20 Biblical Truth: God allows us to make the choice about following His commands.
Consider . . . Is God to Blame? Why does God allow us to be tempted? Why do we struggle with sin? Is being tempted to sin the same as sinning? Is it even possible for us not to sin? Those questions have frustrated people from the beginning of time. God created a perfect world and wanted a perfect relationship with His people. If God had not put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, there would have been no temptation to sin and, therefore, no sin. However, Adam and Eve made decisions that brought sin into the world. How did their actions impact us? What does God now expect of us? No easy answers to these questions are readily available. However, this lesson provides the opportunity to consider those questions and possible answers.
11
How Bad Can an Apple Be? (Gen. 3:1–6)
When is Knowledge a Bad Thing? (Gen. 3:7–20)
Why is it always an apple? Nowhere does the Bible say that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an apple, but people remember it as an apple. The Bible simply says it was fruit, and that after Satan polished it a little with his lies, it looked good to eat. Besides, Satan told Eve that if they ate it they would become like God. Not surprising that Satan would use that lie, since that was always his goal, right? Eve took it. She bit into it. Then she passed on it to Adam, and he took a bite too. Thus sin entered the world.
Adam and Eve did gain knowledge—the knowledge that they were guilty, naked, and had done wrong. They also lost their lives. Not that Adam dropped dead on the spot, but he was—like a condemned man on the way to execution—a “dead man walking.” They lost not only their lives (eventually), but also their paradise lifestyle and their intimate relationship with God. Sin is like that: The pleasure of it is as fleeting as a bite of fruit. The price is eternal. Besides asking, “Why did God?” . . . we ought to ask, “Why do we?” as well. In verse 15, God promised eventual victory through Eve’s Offspring. God intended for His son to be the one who would defeat Satan. Believers have that hope by faith in Jesus Christ, who defeated Satan by His death on the cross and His Resurrection. Sin is a reality in our world—but so is redemption.
It does not matter what kind of fruit it was, or how it tasted, or whether they peeled it first. God had given Adam and Eve the choice about whether or not to taste the fruit of the tree, and had warned them that terrible consequences would result if they did. But they did it anyway. Reams of pages have been written asking why God put the tree in the garden in the first place. Instead the focus should be on what God’s action reveals to us about His character. Adam and Eve intentionally stepped in the opposite direction from God’s instructions. How God responded to them can teach us about His character.
What kind of knowledge is bad? How could knowledge impact your relationship with God? __________________________________________
Reread verses 1–6. How can God’s instructions to you become lost when facing temptation? How do you handle temptation?
__________________________________________ __________________________________________
__________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________
What Consequences Can Sin Bring Into Our Lives? (Gen. 3:21–24)
__________________________________________
While God’s motives for placing the tree in the garden are not clear, His character is. He gave Adam and Eve
__________________________________________ 12
all they could want. He did not try to trick them with temptation; He provided clear instructions for obedience. Yet despite His expectations, Adam and Eve disobeyed. God provided mercy along with punishment. While He sent them from the garden He gave them a home “East of Eden” (wherever that was). He provided them with animal skins for covering—shedding blood in order to do so. Shedding blood became the heart of the sacrificial system until the time of Christ. It still remains critical for us today, for Jesus shed His blood for us. Adam and Eve had it all. They enjoyed perfection in a peaceful paradise. Yet, they threw it all away. They made a deadly decision. They yielded to the serpent’s temptation to be “like gods,” and doomed themselves and humankind forever. The decision to disobey God’s command was easy to make, but the result was difficult to endure. God chastised the couple by subjecting them to painful outcomes, eventually leading to their deaths. Through His infinite mercy and grace, however, He also provided a way for them to work and live. Adam secured inevitable death through his one deadly decision to sin against God. God provided a way to bring us back to Him through His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
How have you personally faced consequences from sin in your life? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________
Reread verses 21–24. What characteristics of God show up in this passage? What is communicated about God’s character in the way He allowed Adam and Eve to make choices and face consequences for their choices? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________ __________________________________________
13
Daily Bible Readings Day 1 Read Genesis 2:8–24. God’s paradise was amazing. Imagine the sights, the views, the sounds, the smells—all the best from God. The Psalmist wrote, “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps. 118:24). How has God provided for you? Journal below about how you perceive God’s world.
Pause to Pray: Even in paradise, Adam felt lonely. So God provided a partner for him. Pray that God will give you eyes to see His daily blessings and provisions around you.
Day 2 Read Genesis 3:4–6 and Ezekiel 28:2. The serpent offered something tempting to Adam and Eve—the opportunity to become like God. Today, the concept of being like God sounds appealing to many. Some already believe they are “gods” because of the god-force that lives within them. The Lord knew of this danger when He commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Journal today about the ways you see people trying to act god. Are you also guilty of this at times?
Pause to Pray: Eve faced both temptation and the tempter, and fell victim to both. Pray that God will help you avoid the temptation of trying to become a god instead of worshiping the one, true God. 14
Day 3 Read Genesis 3:22–24 and 1 Corinthians 15:20–22. Adam and Eve had the opportunity to live eternally with God. But because of their sin, they lost that opportunity. Still, God put them in a new place, blessed them with children, and protected them. God has given us the opportunity for eternal life through His Son, Jesus. Journal today about what you think eternal life in the presence of God might look like.
Pause to Pray: Eternal life with God will probably be better than we can imagine. Pray that God will prepare you for eternal life by showing you how to praise Him for every blessing in this present world that you experience today.
Day 4 Read Genesis 3:6–10 and Romans 5:12–14. Adam made a choice and broke the only real commandment that God had given him. His action created the pattern that each of us have followed. Paul’s words in Romans provide hope. Just as one man (Adam) sinned and allowed death to lay claim to us, one man ( Jesus) provides forgiveness and the promise of eternity with God. Think about those things you have done—or are doing—that are sinful. Journal about how Christ has forgiven you.
Pause to Pray: God’s character is holy. He wants us to live for Him in righteousness that honors Him. Pray that God will help you turn away from those things that cause unrighteousness. 15
Day 5 Read Genesis 3:14–15 and Romans 16:20. Paul remembered the promise of God to the serpent in the garden. Through Christ, God fulfilled this promise. Jesus, by His death and Resurrection, crushed Satan’s head. Paul tells us that through the grace of God, we will soon crush Satan under our feet. Satan cannot control us, or frighten us, or poison us any longer. Journal today about the victories you have seen in your life over Satan and temptation.
Pause to Pray: Praise God for His grace that gives you the power to resist sin. Pray that God will help you to see this crafty serpent as he tries to enter your house through media, outside influences upon your family, or any other means.
16
Why Allow Temptation? Biblical Passage: Genesis 3:1–24 Memory Verse: “ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” Romans 16:20 Table Talk Question: Are people born basically good?
Why Allow Temptation?
1. God allows us to ____________________ whether we follow His instructions (Gen. 3:1–6).
2. God allows us to face the ___________________ of our choices, which can be far-reaching (Gen. 3:7–20).
3. Even when we choose to sin, God shows His great love for us by providing ___________________ with the punishment (Gen. 3:21–24).
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• Why do believers sometimes doubt the importance of obedience? • Eve may have tried to distance herself from the forbidden fruit when she added, “must not touch it” (v. 3) to God’s prohibition. Yet she did touch it, and then ate it. In what ways do believers distort God’s good commands into harsh requirements? How might this actually encourage disobedience? • How have you experienced God’s grace, even as He disciplined you?
for free thought
“To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
Answers: 1. follow; 2. consequences; 3. mercy. 17
RELATIONAL TEMPTATIONS Read the following scenarios. Rate how difficult it would be in each situation to react in a way that honors God by circling a number from 1 to 10, with 1 as easy to honor God and 10 as difficult.
1. It’s 9:00 at night, and Jane’s two children, still awake, have screamed and cried for an hour. Her husband finally walks through the door from a long day at the office. He asks, “Why aren’t the kids in bed yet?” . . . What are Jane’s choices?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2. Sam stayed up late to work on a final exam project in architecture—and is almost finished. His roommate strolls in from a party and spills Dr. Pepper™ all over the project. . . . What are Sam’s choices?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
3. Jake’s computer is not working properly, and he has gotten behind on a project at work. He has asked his supervisor for several weeks to have the problem fixed, but nothing has been done. His supervisor sticks his head in Jake’s cubicle and says, “You know you’re way behind on this project. Pick up the pace or this could be your last.” . . . What are Jake’s choices?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4. Emily’s boss walks into her office and wants to know the status of the first draft of her proposal. Puzzled, she asks her what her boss is talking about. A proposal is due by the end of the day, and Emily thought another coworker was taking care of it. . . . What are Emily’s choices?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
5. Ethan’s mother knows he’s been unhappy at work lately, but she just can’t seem to get him to talk about it with her. So she calls Amy, her daughter-in-law—surely she can give her some insight into Ethan’s problem. . . . What are Amy’s choices? 18
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The Character of God Consider the character of God that is demonstrated in Genesis 3:1–24. The words listed below describe God’s character. For each, write words and phrases to define your understanding of each characteristic of God in your life:
Loving:
Merciful:
Righteous:
Blameless:
19