Make the Good

Confession:

Original Sin

What do you know about the following people?

When you see pictures of these famously evil people, what thoughts and feelings come to you and why?   

Do you feel anger, disgusted, revolted, etc?

We would all agree that there are some things that are just wrong! None of us would hesitate to condemn their actions and gladly proclaim that these infamous men deserved to be punished. Now tell me about these people?

Insert Picture of Self

Me? Bad?

It does us no good to sit here and only discuss how wicked everyone else is. We need to look at what God says about all sin, not just the really “bad ones”. We’ll look at the standard he expects in order to show the all pervasive and appalling effects of sin on each of us. Our focus will be to answer these questions:

Lesson Goals

•Where does sin come from?• Does God hold us accountable for the

way we are?• How badly does sin affect me and my

relationship to God?

In the beginning…

Let’s look at where sin came from and when it started. We turn to Genesis chapter three. God has just created the world and now Satan in the form of a serpent comes to the first people, Adam and Eve, in order to get them to disobey God.

Gen 3:1-8

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

Genesis 3:1-8

4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:1-8

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Sin

Answer these two questions:•Where does sin come from?•Where does sin not come from?

They sinned

Sin came into this world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. They sinned. God did not bring sin into this world. Adam and Eve listened to the devil rather than God.

We sin

Just as Adam and Eve were responsible for their own sins, so too are we. If we’re going to accept the effects of sin, we need to be able to accept the responsibility of blame

How does Genesis 3:1-8 affect me personally?

In his own image

Genesis 5:3 “When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth.

Born in sin

Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

What unfortunate consequence comes from Adam and Eve’s fall into sin?

I am born in the likeness of my first parents, Adam and Eve. I am sinful through and through. I am a sinner.

Original Sin

The sinful nature passed down to us from our parents is called “Original Sin.”

How does God see me?

What does God tell me about this original sin?

Romans 5:12

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.

Accountability

Based on the passages you’ve looked at, does God hold you accountable for the way you are? For the fact that you are sinful from birth?

YES!

Affects of Sin

How badly does sin affect me and my relationship to God? What does God expect from me in our relationship

Leviticus 22:31

“Keep my commands and follow them. I am the LORD.”

Matthew 5:48

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Expectations

God expects us to obey him down to our very heart and soul and we must do it perfectly

More?

God’s expectations go far deeper than just actions. See for yourself…

Deuteronomy 6:4

“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” 

God Demands ALL of Us – He Wants Our Whole Being Down to Our Very Heart!

But can we give God all of us?!

Romans 8:7

The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

Because we are sinners from birth, we are unable to fulfill God’s expectations for us. And God lays out some very serious consequences as a result

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death

Matthew 25:41

Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Surely I don’t deserve hell?

“Is there any wiggle room? What about all the times I am good and help others? Doesn’t that count for anything? What about all the people that are worse sinners than me? Surely I am not in the same boat as them?”

Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of

God

Hope

But do not despair! Look at what Jesus says…

Mark 2:17

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Forgiveness of Sins

Jesus came to save sinners like you and me. He did so by dying on the cross and forgiving our sins. Through his blood are relationship with God is restored.

Take a look at one last Bibe verse comparing our sin we inherited from Adam to the perfection we find in Jesus:

Romans 5:17

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!