Adamic Nature

TEXT: Genesis 3:1-10; Romans 5:12-14

Even though crimes of a violent nature may seem unlikely and far removed from your way of living, each of us has done things we later regretted. Why is this so? How does it happen that none of us, just by trying, can totally eliminate doing wrong things or thinking angry or evil thoughts? People who wish to find excuses for their sins often blame God for the sinful state of things, but by searching the Scriptures we find that man has a sinful nature because of the original transgression in the Garden of Eden. This can only be changed through salvation.

QUESTIONS

1. Why has man had the choice to obey or disobey, even from the beginning? What does man have that enables him to obey or disobey?
2. God does not compel us to love Him, even though He is our Creator. If you think on this subject you will conclude that there is no such thing as unwilling love. So, we can see there will not be one person in Heaven who did not really want to go there—who did not really want to love God and serve Him! God, through Christ, has provided the way. Every person must choose! The Bible evidence is indisputable. Contrast the choices made by Cain and Abel in chapter 4 of Genesis. Give three other scriptural examples of contrasting choices.
3. Identify what the serpent’s first words to Eve were designed to do. How did this relate to the choice she eventually made?
4. Satan knew that as long as Adam and Eve depended upon God, they could not be ruined. He therefore endeavored to seduce them from this dependence, using doubt and lies, saying, “Ye shall not surely die.” What were some of the effects of their yielding?
5. Eve’s statement proves her detailed knowledge of God’s instructions. She knew that God had decreed the death penalty for disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit. Why did Eve decide to follow the serpent’s suggestion instead of God’s instructions? Note several mistakes she made which may help us avoid Satan’s trap.
6. Explain the meaning of our key verse.
7. What proof do you see that the sinful Adamic nature in man is at work in the world today? List three or more specific items. If you wish, bring clippings to class from newspapers or magazines to illustrate your points.

THOUGHT PROVOKER: Though we are, or were, all guilty in the sight of God—“all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”—God in His mercy provided a remedy. In 1 Corinthians 15:22 we read, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”