Fall: The Kingdom Rebels Against the King
Entering Conversation
We just completed the 2nd week of our sermon series, “The Story of the Kingdom.” The first 2 movements are Creation and Fall.
To open conversation this week, go around the room and answer this question: If you could remove/eliminate ONE element from your life or the life of someone you love, what would it be? Try to identify something specific, as opposed to a general category like “sin” or “sickness”. Some examples: a food allergy, job insecurity, breast cancer, etc.
(Answers might range from silly to far more serious. Be ready to give space for both.)
Read this Sermon Recap
Chapter 2: Fall
Read: Genesis 3:6-9
So many of the best stories we know move along a familiar arc. Some kind of ideal environment is interrupted by an unforeseen crisis or event. The depths and reach of that crisis set up the tension while we wait for the final resolution, hoping that all will somehow be made right again. We see this in stories like Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Infinity War, etc.
These stories mirror the path of the biblical story. In Genesis 1-2, we witness God creating a deeply good world, placing humans in Eden. Adam and Eve were to bear his image out into the creation as his co-regents, tasked with “working and keeping” the earth – priestly language. In this, we glimpse God’s desire for a kingdom of priests to fill the earth.
The Shalom of the garden – wholeness in every direction – is the beauty we were made for.
But with the entrance of the serpent in Genesis 3, a rival voice enters the story. The serpent, an ancient symbol of deception, comes to destroy what God has made. And he comes to this battle not with swords, but with a conversation that attempts to re-frame God’s kingdom.
With one question (“Did God really say you could not eat of any tree of the garden?”) the serpent attempts to re-frame God’s rule of abundance as scarcity, His provision as prohibition. He offers eating the fruit of the one prohibited tree as a way of becoming like God himself, rejecting His rule for self-rule. When they eat of the fruit, it is a moment of self-crowning.
In that moment, sin enters the world. More than just the disobeying of a rule, it is the rejection of God’s rule. Cornelius Plantinga defines sin as the “culpable disturbance of shalom.” It is vandalism of God’s kingdom. Lisa Sharon Harper describes sin as any act that breaks any of the relationships that God declared very good in the beginning.
Having disobeyed, Adam and Eve realize they are naked. The Hebrew word for naked implies a vulnerability, a vulnerability which we learn to weaponize to protect ourselves. So we see Adam blame Eve for his actions, and Eve blame the serpent. But God comes, responding with love.
God in his love stays. He pursues Adam and Eve, walking after them in the garden. The proof of his love is his unwillingness to abandon them.
God in his love seeks. He pursues them with questions, opportunity for continued relationship. His questions are the words of a grieving Father who still loves his children. Note that God does not offer any questions to the serpent, only judgement.
God in his love covers. Though Adam and Eve had tried to cover themselves with fig leaves, God refuses to leave them exposed. He makes them garments of skin, an act that foreshadows his willingness to one day provide a better, permanent covering.
This Evenings Practice
(Leaders: Before going into the questions, you may want to give your group a minute or so of silence, reflecting on and listening to the Spirit around the question, “What is Jesus inviting you to notice tonight?”)
Tonight, we are going to use this set of questions to guide our discussion. You may want to pull up the guide on your phone to help you process and reflect.
1. When God encounters Adam and Eve in chapter 3, He asks, “What is this that you have done?” In this sermon, sin is defined as so much more than the breaking of rules. It is the rejection of God’s rule, the breaking of his shalom, the breaking of any of the good relationships that God called “very good” in the beginning. As a group, create a list of words that will help define sin and all the effects of sin in us and the world. (This can be anything from “rebellion” to “distrust” to “disease” to much more.)
2. Move from this discussion into a time of lament. Invite your group to pray together, speaking out loud as people are comfortable. You might help prompt prayers with any of the following:
“I invite you to tell God the brokenness in the world that you hate.”
“I invite you to tell God the things that make you sad.”
“In a time of quiet, confess to God your own willingness to distrust or refuse His rule.”
3. When your time of praying has concluded, keep the quiet just a moment longer and have someone read Psalm 130, slowly, repeating the closing verses 7-8 a second time. Feel free to read the word “Israel” as “people” in vs 7 and “you” in verse 8.
Practice for the Week
We are aware of the effects of sin in so many ways throughout our weeks. As you notice these moments, practice the sentence prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus” remembering Psalm 130. Help each other in this way by texting someone else just those three words, “Come, Lord Jesus.”