During the lesson, the information for you to know is written in regular type, and what we suggest speaking or reading aloud to children is in bold. All resources for this lesson, including the Teacher Guide, Student Page, Family Connection Card, and other resources can be downloaded in a ZIP file by clicking on the following link:
In some lessons you will find "resource articles." These are articles written by experts from around the world to help equip you for your work with children and adolescents. Share them with parents or guardians if you consider it appropriate.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:8–10
The Bible teaches us that when humans were created, they walked closely with God. But then sin entered the world. When we sin, we walk away from God, and our sinful choices separate us from Him. But even though we continually do things that draw us away from God, He continues to draw us near. And though we often hide from Him, His love never departs from us. Even in our shame, fear, and sadness, He still seeks us.
Pause and think about your own life. Are there any areas where you are hiding from God? When you think about your sinful choices, do you feel helpless? Afraid? Ashamed? Do you feel that you are unworthy of God’s grace and love? Trust in this truth—you do not need to hide from God. He knows your sin, and He brought restoration through the gift of His Son, who washed all your sin away. So turn to the One who created you. He is seeking you! Allow God to draw you closer to Him so you will know the peace that conquers all fear, shame, and sadness.
Encourage the teens to tell the second part of God’s story to their families. They can then encourage their family members to share about God’s love with others.
Teacher Tip: If possible, email or text the Family Connection Card to the families of your students.
Welcome teens by name as they arrive. Ask the students if they told the first part of God’s story to anyone. Allow a few of the students who shared God’s story to tell the class about their experience.
Last time, we learned that the Bible tells us God’s story. We also learned that everything in this life is part of God’s story. We are all part of God’s story, too! We learned the first part of this amazing story. Today we will learn the second part. This part starts right where we ended last week. So let’s start by reviewing the first part: God Is Our Loving Creator.
Lead students in doing the “God Is Our Loving Creator” motion. Show the students the God Is Our Loving Creator poster from the end of Lesson 1.
Who can tell the first part of God’s story to the class?
Have 1 student start the story. Then let others add to the story until the whole story has been told. Add any important details the students missed. Be sure the following points are mentioned:
Let’s play a game to introduce the next part of God’s story.
Divide students into groups of 3. Each group should be all girls or all boys.
Explain that 2 students in each group should stand facing each other with their toes touching. Their goal is to remain together with their toes touching. They may not use their hands or arms to stay connected. The third student will try to get the other 2 students to step apart. He can gently push or pull, but he should be careful not to hurt the other students.
Give groups about 5 minutes to play the game. When the 2 students are separated, the group members should switch roles so that every student has a turn trying to separate the other 2. When the activity is over, gather the class together for discussion.
Today we will learn the second part of God’s grand story. It is about separation—how our sins separate us from God.
Have the students do the motions for God Is Our Loving Creator. Then give them a few minutes to create simple motions for Sin Separates Us from God. Do the Sin Separates Us from God motions a few times, and then do all of the motions together, beginning with the God Is Our Loving Creator motions.
The first man was Adam, and the first woman was Eve. They lived with God in a beautiful and nourishing garden. God had a close relationship with them. When God created Adam, He told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except for the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God warned Adam that eating from this particular tree would bring death.
Adam and Eve took care of the garden. They lived in harmony with God and with all He had created. Let’s read the next part from the Bible:
Optional: If possible, share the image from The Action Bible.
Have the students take turns reading Genesis 3:1–13 aloud from the Bible, switching after each verse. If it is not possible to read from the Bible, the verses are printed here.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ”
Genesis 3:1–13
Ask for a volunteer to tell the story to the whole class. Encourage the student to share as much as he can remember. Hold up the poster from the end of the lesson to help him to remember the details. Be sure he mentions:
When he is finished, lead the class in clapping for him. Ask the other students to add any details he missed. Then ask the class the following questions.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they were ashamed and afraid. They knew they had disobeyed God, so they hid from Him. They also felt guilty, so Adam tried to place blame on Eve, and she, in turn, blamed the serpent. Their close relationship with God was damaged by shame, guilt, and fear. Sin and death had entered the world and separated humans from God.
Even though they had disobeyed, God still loved and cared for Adam and Eve. He made clothing out of animal skin for them so they would not feel the ashamed of their nakedness. He gave them a way to provide for their needs—work. And, even then, He had a plan to repair their relationship with Him.
Because of their sin, God sent Adam and Eve away from the delightful garden. He had given them the choice to obey or disobey, and they had chosen to disobey. Ever since that time, the people of the world have been separated from God by sin and death. But God loved humans so much that He had a plan to restore His relationship with them.
Divide the students into groups of 3 and have them tell the story to each other. Encourage them to make the story interesting by expressing emotion with their faces, bodies, and voices. Put the poster from the end of the lesson somewhere the students can see it to help them to remember the details. Be sure they mention the following points:
Give the students about 5 minutes to tell the story. Then gather the class for discussion.
God is never surprised by our choices, even when we choose to disobey Him. When people continued to sin, God continued to love. As His people moved away from Him, God reached out to draw them closer to Him. Listen to what He told His people about His steadfast love.
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10
Why do you think God had compassion on His people even though they continued to sin?
He loved them.
Like Adam and Eve and every other person who has ever lived, our sin separates us from God.
Do the “Sin Separates Us from God” motion, which you taught students earlier in the lesson.
But God never changes. He loved us before the world began, and He loves us now. He will never leave us, and His love for us never ends!
Have the students line up against a wall and touch it. If that is not possible, draw a line on the ground.
This wall (or line) represents God. God created us to be in close relationship with Him. Just as He walked in the garden with Adam and Eve before they sinned, He wants to spend time with us! However, God is perfect and holy. He cannot be in the presence of sin. So our sin separates us from God.
We will now do an activity to show how sin separates us from God. Please respect others as we do this activity. Each of us will focus only on our own relationship with God.
Pray aloud with the students and ask the Holy Spirit to bring wisdom and discernment in the activity.
Now think about times you have sinned and chosen to do or think things that are against what God wants for your life. The Bible says that all of us sin and fall short of God’s plan for our lives. For each sin you think of, take a large step away from the wall. We have all sinned, so we will all have to step away from the wall.
Allow a few minutes of quiet for the teens to think, pray, and respond. Then share the following with them:
Look at how far we are from the wall! Because we are human and imperfect, we all sin. We all have things in our lives that separate us from God. But even in our sin, God still loves us. He still knows and loves us, and He wants us to know and love Him. Listen to what the Bible tells us about God’s great love.
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103:2–5
What are the benefits of God’s love?
Forgiveness, healing, redemption, love, compassion, and goodness.
Think again about your sins—the steps you took that separated you from God. What choices can you make to keep you from stepping away from Him? What changes can you make in your life to begin choosing His way instead of your own? You can talk to God about your sins, and you can ask for His forgiveness. You can ask Him to help you to live in the ways He wants you to live. Without God’s help, we cannot live in ways that are right and good. But His love can help us to learn to obey Him.
Our sin also separates us from others. Think about the choices you have made that may have hurt others. What can you do to repair those relationships? What can you do to make better choices in the future? You can ask God for forgiveness for these things as well.
Give the students a few minutes to think and pray.
Optional: If you are using the Student Pages, have your students complete the activity.
Even in our sinfulness, God loves us completely. He can take away the fear, shame, and guilt we feel because of our sin. He wants to have a close and loving relationship with us. We cannot fix our broken relationship with God. But there is good news. God made a way to restore our relationship with Him.
If you are using the Memory Verse Poster, show it to the students.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
In the next lesson, we will learn more about God’s plan to bring His people back to Him. His plan was more beautiful than anything we could ever have imagined!
Close with a blessing based on Psalm 103:2–5:
Blessing: May you remember the benefits of God’s love. May you know His forgiveness, healing, redemption, compassion, and goodness. And may you see His love at work in every part of
your life!
Lead the teens in singing this quarter’s song, if possible.
Life on Life ©2020 David C Cook. Reproducible for home or classroom use only. All other uses require written permission from David C Cook [email protected]. All rights reserved.
