Lesson 7—God's Promise of Redemption 75 Lesson 7—God's Promise of Redemption ‘SyNoPSIS: Good news! Christ is the Savior for fallen man! After Adam and Eve violated God’s prohibition to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they awaited God’s penalty of death. Nevertheless, God, contrary to Adam's expectation, announced the gospel to Adam, bringing him good news of salvation. This gospel was a promise that Christ, as the seed of the ‘woman, would die a substitutionary death on the cross to destroy Satan and redeem fallen man through the shedding of His blood. Through Christ’s redemption and man's believing, God is able to rescue man from his fall and cover him with Christ that he may be justified. CENTRAL THOUGHT: On the cross, Christ as the promised seed destroyed Satan and shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins. By believing into Christ, man is justified and recovered back to God's purpose. BURDEN TO IMPART: We have sinned and can do nothing to save ourselves from the miserable state of our fallen condition. We need a Savior. Rather than hiding from God, we should believe the good news of God’s salvation and receive Christ as our covering for our justification. CHAPTER(S): Genesis 3 (OUTLINE WITH FACTS TO TEACH: Adam's condition after the fall was most miserable. Satan had entered into him as indwelling sin (Rom. 7:17; 20-21; 5:12a) and this sin brought in death (Rom. 5:126). He was inwardly corrupted (Rom. 5:19a) and outwardly condemned (Romi. 5:18a), and he knew it. His conscience bore witness ‘against him and he realized that his fellowship with God would not be as it was before. Indeed, he had ‘made a serious mistake. How would God respond? I. God did not give up His purpose in man but came to where he was in order save him—Gen. 38-9 “Surely suck a fallen man could do nothing to help himself out of such a fallen state. Only the wise and almighty God could afford a full and dynamic salvation to the man created by Him and spoiled by His adversary....He had to rescue the man whom He had created for His unchanging purpose, and He dia it!” (The History of God in His Union with Man, pp. 56-57). A. God was already prepared to save us in Christ—Acts 223; 1 Pet. 1:19-20; Micah 5:2; Rev. 13:8, In His foreknowledge, God already ordained that Christ would be our Savior. B. God loved man and came to seek him out—Luke 19:10, John 3:16-17 God's heart for the young people is altogether good. He loves them and is seeking them out. 1. Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves (signifying man’s works) and hid from the presence of God—Gen. 3:7-8 ‘Adam and Eve, rather than confessing their sin to God, covered themselves with leaves and hid themselves from God's presence. Young people today, having sinned, react in the same way. Rather than confessing their sin to receive God's redemption, they cover themselves. And rather than opening to the Lord concerning their condition, they hide. (Note: As the Spirit leads, you may fel to converse with the ‘young people telling them, “Many of you are hiding from God. Outwardly you may have a smile on your face, but inwardly you feel unhappy because you have sinned. You are hiding your true condition and you are afraid of a loving God who, in6 0. Unit One: Gods Need for Proper Human Vessels reality, knows your situation and wants to restore fellowship with you. He awaits _your open confession.”) 2. God called to Adam, asking, “Where are you?”—Gen. 3:9 God didn't say, “Adam, what have you done?” He said, “Adam, where are you?” ‘Adam was lost. He was a lost sinner who had lost God and lost fellowship with God. Yet God's question was the opening proclamation of the glad tidings. He was visiting man and giving man opportunity to realize where he was. Adam told his story to God, telling God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and Late.” Rather than making a clear confession, he blamed God for giving ‘kim the woman. In like manner, the woman blamed the serpent saying, “The serpent beguiled me and I did eat.” We all act in this way, never confessing but always lansing and excusing azoay our sin. Adam should have responded to God by saying, “God, I've sinned and disobeyed Your word.” God's salvation twas waiting for his confession. God promised that the seed of the woman (Christ) would come to bruise the serpents head—Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:14 ‘A. Christ came as the seed of the woman—Gen. 3:15a; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Gal. 4:4 B. Christ died on the cross to destroy the devil—Gen. 3:15b; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8 Adam and Eve believed God's promise and were thus clothed by God with coats of skin—Gen. 3:20-21 ‘A. We must believe into Christ—Gen. 3:20 After eating of the tree ofthe knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve knew they would surely die. But when Adam heard God's promise, he believed it and gave His wife the name ‘Eve’, which means “living” or “life” in Hebrew. Adam had the hope of life and became the ‘first believer of God's glad tidings. We also should receive God's glad tidings by believing into Christ. B. When we believe, Christ as God’s righteousness covers us 60 that in God eyes, it is as if we never sinned—Gen. 3:21; 1 Cor. 1:30; Gal. 327 The fig leaves that Adam and Eve dressed themselves with signify man’s work to cover himself. Young people must realize that nothing can cover their nakedness but Christ. 1. Christ as the Lamb of God shed His blood for us in order that we may be forgiven of our sins—John 1:29; Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 1:18-20; Rev. 13:8 In order to make coats of skins, God probably Killed some lambs in the presence of Adam and Eve, so that they could see the shed blood which was needed for the forgiveness of their sins (Heb. 9:22). As Adam and Eve witnessed the sacrifice being ‘slain, they must have received a deep impression. “Perhaps Adam said to Eve, ‘Eve, don't you know that that should be our destiny? We should be killed. Our blood should be shed because we fell, committed sin, and transgressed God's prokibition...But God didn’t kill us, Eve. God is killing these lambs in our place. How thankful and grateful we should be to these lambs. They are our substitute” (Life-study of Genesis, p. 279). Christ died on the cross for us, shedding His blood, jn order that God could have the ground to cover us with Christ.Lesson 7—God!'s Promise of Redemption 7 2. Christ is our real coat of skins to cover us before God and restore our fellowship with Him—Gal. 3:27 Having believed into Christ and having put on Christ (Gal. 3:27), we are justified ‘and accepted by God and have fellowship with God. What a marvelous provision by our Savior God! He didn’t forsake us. Rather, He came to us. And He did not condemn us. Rather, He saves us and rescues us back into fellowship with Him. At the beginning God said, “Adam, where are you?” Now after wearing Christ as God's righteousness, Adam could say, “Now, God, I am in this dear One who has become ‘my clothing. Lam at peace and can now have fellowship with You” (The History of God in His Union with Man , p. 60). JUNIOR HIGH APPLICATION: Spend time with the young people pondering God's question, “Where are you?” Why did God ask that and what would be your answer if He asked the same question to you? God’s question indicates two things: 1) Man is not where he should be. Rather, he is lost. 2) God wants to find man and restore fellowship with him. It may help to give an illustration by speaking to them of how you lost something and then found it. In like manner, ‘we were all lost until we believed into Christ and were restored to God our Owner. GOSPEL APPLICATION: God created every man with a purpose: to be filled with God and become one with God for His expression and representation. Because of Adam's fall, our vessel has been damaged by sin, making it useless to God and rendering our own lives without meaning. God made provision to redeem us by sending His own Son, the God-Man, to shed His blood and recover our human vessel from sin. This God-Man, Jesus, then resurrected to become the life-giving Spirit so that He could enter into us, filling us with God's life, and make us one with God. Now all we need to do to have our vessel redeemed by God and filled with His life is repent of our sins and believe into the Lord Jesus. Stress the need for a covering—the robe put on the retumed prodigal son, Christ as our robe of righteousness. Fallen people desperately need Christ as their righteousness to cover them in the presence of God. BACKGROUND READING: Gospel Outlines, Subject 6, pp. 14-15. REFERENCES: Life-study of Genesis, Messages 19-21; Truth Lessons, Level 1, Volume 1, Lessons 6 7; Truth Lessons, Level 2, Volume 1, Lesson 2; The History of God in His Union with Man, Message 4; Gospel Outlines, Subject 6, pp. 14-15.