Breaking Ground
What’s one of the dumbest or silliest thing you’ve ever done? What were the consequences? NOTE: please choose a light or funny example.
The Dig
This Sunday, we continued our series Covenantal, where we’re exploring the major covenants that God makes across the biblical story. In particular, we sat with Genesis 3 & the natural consequence of Covenant breaking in Scripture.
Begin by thinking of some of the most important covenants or agreements that exist within your life or world.
What effect does the breaking of these covenants have on those involved & others around them? Have you ever experienced this sort of covenant breaking yourself? If so, what impact did that have on you?
Recall, the Bible begins with God creating everything before blessing humanity with provision & purpose. In return, God asks them to commit to simply trusting Him & His intentions for Creation, forming a Covenantal agreement represented by the presence of two symbolic trees:
- The Tree of Life, which symbolizes God’s presence & invitation for humanity to experience rest, abundance, & life.
- The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil, which symbolizes God’s gift of free-will & humanity’s ability to use it to either embrace God’s vision for reality & the Tree of Life or reject it in favor of pursuing their own wills in Creation.
With this in mind, read Genesis 3:1-19.Here, this Serpent representing spiritual evil in rebellion against God tricks humanity into eating from the forbidden tree, the results of which are disastrous. In particular, the relationships between humanity, God, & Creation fundamentally break as Creation comes under three curses. Critically, as Pastor Mike discussed on Sunday, curses in Scripture refer to any time God gives humanity over to the natural consequences of their own self-destructive choices.
What does evil focus on when tempting humanity to violate their covenant with God? Why?
How does humanity’s decision break our relationship with each other, God, & Creation? Why does it produce these specific relational fractures?
What stands out to you about the three curses? How does each naturally flow out of humanity’s decision?
Close by reflecting upon where you see yourself in this story.
Where do you find yourself most often tempted into redefining good & evil in a way that benefits you at the expense of others? How is this leading you to experience the holistic brokenness described in Genesis 3?
Based upon your answer to the previous question, what would embracing the tree of life look like instead? How would this help you experience & produce more abundance, life, & life in your relationships & world?
Getting Out of the Hole
Take time each week to reflect upon the Covenant explored in the Sunday sermon.
- Read Genesis 3. How does the Serpent tempt humanity? What does it prey upon specifically? What does this reveal about humanity & our struggle to trust God?
- What happens to humanity’s relationship with ourselves, others, God, & Creation? How does this inform the world that we live in today? How do you see these side-effects appearing in your own relationships? Consider things like shame, retaliation, judgment, etc.
- How does God respond to humanity’s rebellion? Where do you see both consequence & grace?
- How can this story challenge & encourage us as we seek to live like Jesus in our world today? What pitfalls does it warn us about & what parts of God’s character does it reveal & challenge us to embody ourselves?
Journal about how this prayer practice makes you feel this week. Share your experience with your group next week.
Additional Resources*
Centered Set Church by Mark D. Baker
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
TheBibleProject.com
Coming Up This Week:*
September 20th: Join us next Sunday as we continue our series Covenantal!
* Please see mye3.org for details.