Wrong decisions
key words
biblical reference
Genesis 2:16-3:24
lesson objective
To help the children understand that disobedience of God is sin and separates us from him.
memory verse
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24, NIV*).
prepare yourself to teach
Elementary children identify easily with the temptation to eat the forbidden fruit, just like Eve. The fruit looked nice and the tempter made the woman believe that eating the fruit would make her wise. Regrettably, Eve decided to believe Satan’s promise instead of believing God. She ignored the Lord and his warning. Therefore, her relationship with God changed. She had disobeyed, defying the authority of God.
Your children must learn that God has the right to guide our lives, for he is our Creator. When, instead of trusting him, we ignore his direction and disobey him, we break our relationship with him. In that way, we let something different occupy the place that belongs to God. That is sin.
Separation is the consequence of a broken relationship. This lesson gives us an example of the separation that sin produces. Your children can feel the distance from God when they disobey him. However, there is hope because God is merciful and does not treat us as we deserve. He devised a plan to restore his relationship with us.
biblical commentary
Genesis 2:16-3:24. In this passage, sin and its consequences are mentioned for the first time. God gave Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden to take care of and enjoy. God lived there with them, and they enjoyed a beautiful love relationship. However, there was only one requirement: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
God’s commandment was not to put a burden on Adam and Eve. It was a reminder that God created people to depend on him.
Sin consists of committing a conscious act of disobedience against God. It is rebellion against the absolute authority of God. Adam and Eve despised the Lord’s prohibition and decided to take their own path.
The essence of the first sin of humanity was disobedience to God, not eating the forbidden fruit. The consequences of their actions were spiritual and physical. In the spiritual, they were separated from God, and they suffered this consequence immediately. The physical consequences - pain, suffering and death - came later.
Although the consequences of sin were final, God had mercy on them. When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, they had to work to survive, but the resources that God had created were still available to them. Giving birth to children was painful for Eve, but she would still have the blessing of giving life to another human being.
introduce the lesson
What should I choose?
Write the names of your children on strips of white card. Use large letters so you can color them.
Put colored pencils, markers or crayons on the table and ask them to choose the one they like best to color the letters of their name.
When they finish, ask them: “Was it easy or difficult for you to choose a color?” (Allow them to respond.) Introduce the topic, saying: “Sometimes we must make simple decisions; other times, more complicated. For example, we must choose between being good and obedient, or the opposite. God wants us to obey Him. In today’s Bible Story, we will learn about an important decision that Adam and Eve made.”
teach the lesson
Enriching the Bible story with illustrations will help you better capture the attention of your children. Also, modulate your voice and make things interactive, allowing the children to participate by giving their opinions. In this way the narration will be enriched.
Wrong decisions
In the beginning, God created a wonderful world and filled it with beautiful plants and animals. Afterwards, he created the first man and woman. He decided to make them different from all other creatures, and gave them the privilege of making decisions.
“You can eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat it, you will die,” God said to Adam and Eve.
One day Eve walked through the garden. Suddenly, she heard a strange voice calling her, “Woman!”
“What is that? Who is calling me?” Eve asked herself. She looked around and saw a snake in a tree.
The serpent came and said, “So God has told you not to eat the fruit of any tree in the garden?”
“We can eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden, except God told us, ‘Do not eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and neither should you touch it, or you will die,’” said Eve.
“I assure you that you will not die!” said the snake. God knows that the day you eat the fruit of that tree you will see what you have never seen. You will be able to know what is good and what is bad; then you will be like God.”
Eve knew that she had to get away from the snake, but decided to stay and contemplate the appetizing fruit. “The fruit looks tasty; besides, it is so pretty. The serpent says that God is wrong and that if I eat it I will not die. God should allow us to eat this fruit,” thought Eva. Then she decided, “I’m sure this fruit will make me as wise as God! I will do what I want. I’ll eat the fruit!”
So Eve took the fruit and bit into it. “The snake was right, this fruit is delicious!” Eve thought.
Then, she offered it to her husband, and he decided to eat the forbidden fruit.
Suddenly, Adam and Eve felt different, but that did not make them feel happy. On the contrary, they felt guilty and ashamed.
“God is coming! What will we do now?” they asked each other.
“Let’s hide,” said Adam.
“Adam and Eve, where are you?” God called out.
“When we heard you were coming through the garden, I was scared because I’m naked, that’s why I hid myself,” replied Adam.
“Did you eat from the tree that I prohibited you from eating from?” God asked them.
Adam and Eve had never before been afraid of God.
“Eve gave me the fruit to eat,” Adam replied fearfully.
“What have you done?” God asked Eve.
“The snake said it would be good for me. It lied to me and I ate,” Eve answered with great fear.
“Why did not you trust me? Now you will have to suffer the consequences of your bad decision,” said God. “I warned you that if you ate it you would die. But first, you will have to work hard to get your food. Having babies will be painful, and you will no longer be able to live in this garden.”
Everything had changed for Adam and Eve. And thereafter they thought sadly, “Why did we make that bad decision and disobey God?”
connect the lesson
The first sin
Pass out Student Activity Sheet #167-A. Ask the children to fold the page along the dotted lines and review the Bible story. While they are doing that, ask them the following questions as a review:
• Why was it bad to eat that fruit?
• How did Adam and Eve feel after they had disobeyed?
• What did God do about their disobedience?
• Was it the serpent’s fault that Adam and Eve disobeyed?
• What did the serpent tell them to deceive them?
Then, give the children Student Activity Sheet #167-B and tell them: “Here we see symbols that warn us about dangers. Look carefully at the pictures on the top, and circle those that are most familiar to you. Some only inform us. But others are warnings and protect us from danger. When we decide to obey those warnings, we remain safe.”
Then ask them to look at the bottom of the page and circle the ways we receive warnings from God to protect us from danger. Explain: “God wants us to be safe from sin and its consequences. That is why he has given us his Word, and wise people who guide us to make good decisions that please God.”
Mural (see Student Activity Sheet 167-C)
If you choose this activity, you will need a large card, strips of colored paper, scissors and tape.
On the top of the card, write: THE HOLY LOVE OF GOD. And in the lower part write down the memory verse (Romans 3:23-24).
In the middle space, stick the paper strips vertically, leaving about 3 cm. between one and the other. There must be a strip of paper for each member of the group. If the group is large, make two murals or use a larger piece of paper.
Each week the children must add a figure from the Student Activity Sheets to their strip.
Pass out figure 1 (yellow oval) and have them write their name on it. Explain that they should continue to add figures to the mural throughout the unit, so they should be faithful in attending to complete the project. Give time for everyone to paste the figure of the day.
practice the memory verse
Use the mural to review the verse. Ask that three or four volunteers read it using different voice modulations, for example: in a low voice, with a low voice, with a high voice, etc. Then ask those who already know it by heart to say it without reading it.
wrap-up
Pray
Form a circle, and pray for each of the children. Also, intercede for sick family members and for children who missed the meeting.
Encourage
Talk with the children about the importance of applying what they learn to their daily lives. Encourage them to stay alert this week to everything that tempts them to disobey God, and pray for God to strengthen them.
Invite
Tell the children some interesting things about the next session and invite them to attend. Remind them that their friends are also welcome.
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
* Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™