Aim to understand what caused the fall
Aims
* To understand what caused the fall
* To understand how it could have been prevented
Materials
Bible story – Genesis 3:1-24
Story – Harry and the Haystack
Visual aid – a large pictures of the story
worksheet
picture cards
Lesson Outline
1. Review the story
2. What Caused the Fall?
3. How could it have been prevented?
4. Story – Harry & the Haystack
5. Activities – worksheet, memory game
6. Review the aims
7. Prayer
1) Review the story
Review the main events of the story and what really happened. Ask questions. What do the children remember?
I. The serpent spoke to Eve.
* He asked Eve what God said about eating from the trees in the garden.
* Eve said they weren’t to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would die.
* The serpent said Eve could eat without dying and would gain wisdom.
2. Eve ate from the forbidden tree.
* She shared the fruit with Adam.
* They became aware of their nakedness and made clothes for themselves.
* They hid when they heard God in the garden.
3. God spoke to Adam and Eve.
* He asked them what they had done.
* Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent.
* God punished them, because they disobeyed. They were sent out of the garden. Cherubim (angels) with flaming swords guarded the way to the tree of life.
The story is not literally true. Certain things are symbols
1. The Tree of Life = perfect Adam, the ideal man
2. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil = imperfect Eve before the fall.
3. The snake = the archangel Lucifer.
4. The fruit = Eve’s love
In reality Lucifer and Eve fell in love with each other, which should never have happened Then Eve fell in love with Adam, before the right time.
2) What Caused the Fall?
Why did Adam and Eve disobey God? Ask the children. There are three important reasons..
1. Jealousy
Lucifer was the leader of the angels and the closest to God. Before Adam and Eve were created he received the most love from God. But the love for Adam and Eve was more than that of Lucifer. The reason is that angels are servants of God, while Adam and Eve were God’s children. Naturally, a parent’s love for his children is greater than that for his servant. Lucifer didn’t receive any less love from God, but he felt he received less. He was jealous. It also meant he would no longer be the highest position. Adam and Eve would rule over him. Lucifer’s feelings of jealousy towards Adam and Eve became very strong. By controlling them he would keep his position of power.
2. The Power of Love
God made the power of love the strongest force in the universe, because it is the most important reason for living. A parents love for a child is so strong, that he will risk his life. For example, a father will jump into a river to save his drowning child. Knowing this God gave the commandment not to eat the fruit. Don’t have a love relationship until I am ready to bless you in marriage.
Unfortunately Lucifer used the power of false love to draw Eve closer to him. When Eve realized her mistake, and that Adam was meant to be her spouse, she tried to correct it by drawing Adam towards her with false love. If Eve had obeyed God she would have had the power to resist Lucifer’s temptation. Instead the power of love controlled her and later Adam.
3. Immaturity
Adam and Eve were about 16 years old. They were still immature in their hearts. God was their parent. He gave the commandment to protect them. Lucifer was their teacher and they trusted him. But the teacher had different ideas than their parent. They didn’t understand what they were doing until it was too late. That’s why young people should listen to their parents and do as they say even if they don’t understand why. Sometimes teenagers think they don’t need to listen to their parents anymore and they can make big mistakes.
3) How Could it have been Prevented?
In spite of the three reasons, (jealousy, the power of love and immaturity) if Adam and Eve had trusted God and obeyed the commandment, they would have had the power to resist temptation and would not have fallen. When you obey your parents God protects you. But if you disobey your parents, like Adam and Eve did, you lose God’s protection,. Let us learn from this story the importance of obedience and trust, specially when we don’t understand the reasons. Also, Eve could have talked to Adam about Lucifer. Talking to others shares a problem
4) Harry and the Haystack
This the story of a boy called Harry. His mother warns him not play in a haystack, because it is dangerous and might fall down. Later, he decides to play on it, thinking it isn’t dangerous. But it does fall down and it almost kills him. He then realizes how important it is to trust and obey parents.
This is a modern day story of the consequences of disobedience. There are similarities to the bible story
1. Harry’s mother gave a commandment, “Do not play in the haystack.”
2. She knew it was very dangerous and an accident could kill someone
3. At first Harry trusted his mother and kept away from the haystack
4. Later he was tempted to play there by his friend
5. He remembered the warning, but he was not strong enough to go against his friend.
6. Harry was almost killed when the haystack fell
7. Because he was young and inexperienced he didn’t understand the dangers, but his parents did. That’s why he should have obeyed them
5) Activities
* Worksheets – Fill in the missing words and colour the picture
* Memory game – play this game to reinforce the meaning of the symbols
6) Review the lesson aims
* To understand what caused the fall
* To understand how it could have been prevented
7) Prayer
