INTRODUCTION
Temptation is the means by which Satan attempts to deceive mankind into disobeying God. It is the common lot of all. But a Christian who faces up to temptation and utilizes the source of his strength-the overcoming power of God-will not fall into sin as did Adam and Eve.
THEME THOUGHTS
It is not difficult to go through the Bible and compile an extensive list of first events from which we can learn valuable lessons. Most people are interested in how or when something started and who started it. This quarter will focus on beginnings. The first two lessons deal with the beginning of everything—Creation and the first man. The next two are about the first sin and the first plan of escape from God’s judgment for sin. The next lesson is about the people who built the first “skyscraper” and the pitfalls of trying to be independent from God.
Four Bible characters will be studied: the first Hebrew, Abraham; the first leader, Moses; Israel’s first priest, Aaron; and the first king of Israel, Saul. There also will be a lesson on God’s first written Law.
The point of studying these lessons is to help us get a better understanding of some of the firsts in Bible history and, more importantly, to learn that, since the beginning of our world, each of these has played an important part in God’s plan for our lives. We want to grow spiritually from what we have learned.
QUESTION
- What is the dictionary definition of the word tempt?
- Give a definition of sin.
- Temptation always precedes sin and yet it is obvious the two are not the same. Yielding to Satan’s temptations is what causes sin. What means did God provide for Adam and Eve to escape yielding to the temptation?
- How did the serpent’s question, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” lead into temptation?
- The devil promised Eve that she and Adam would be as gods, knowing good and evil. What could they gain by yielding?
- Sin was introduced by the first lie. What was the first lie? What are the characteristics of a lie?
- Using 1 John 2:16, what are the points of contact with the world that would lead us into temptation?
- John 17:15-16 indicates that we do not need to be taken out of the world in order to be kept from evil. List several things we can do to avoid being overcome by temptation.
Through man’s temptation and subsequent yielding, the curse of sin was brought into the world. But God offers mercy through His plan of redemption. The first promise of this is given in Genesis 3:15. On the Cross, the heel of the Savior was bruised in death, but the head of the serpent (Satan) is bruised every time a lost soul is redeemed or one of God’s redeemed withstands temptation.