That's the Truth! - "We Are Our Choices"

“God is God. Because he is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what he is up to.”   -Elisabeth Elliot, Christian author and speaker.

Happy Monday to you, and welcome to "That's the Truth!" Do you remember this passage from Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland? “Alice came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' responded the Cheshire Cat. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then,' said the Cat, 'it doesn't matter."

In this week's Bible study, we'll  look at how our God-given ability to reason, and make choices, can affect our relationship with God, for better or worse! May you grow in faith, knowledge, and God's love!

Topic: God Created Our Ability to Reason - (Genesis 3:8-21)

Opening Prayer: God, you have made the heavens and the earth. You have revealed your beauty in creation and inspired the book that we are now about to study. Please help us now as we read together. Take us deeper into understanding more about you and your love for us. Amen.

“And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8-KJV).

“They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8-NRSV).

To disobey God is unreasonable. To think we can disobey God and then hide from God is more unreasonable. Satan knows God gave people the ability to reason. Though Satan gave Eve a poor reason to disobey God, he gave her a reason that she accepted without any discussion with Adam or God, and then she chose to disobey God. After Eve sinned, as Adam’s wife, helper, and partner, she used her reason to persuade Adam to disobey God too rather than give Adam a good reason not to disobey God based on her experience.

As his teacher, God showed Adam that an animal would not make a perfect partner for him. Though God had created the animals before He created man, God sculpted cattle and other animals from the ground in the Garden of Eden, gave them life, and brought them to Adam so he could use his God-given abilities of imagination and reason to name them. God helped Adam discover that no matter how magnificent and varied the animals were, they were not humankind and they could not be his best partner.

Though some may use their reason to try to convince others and themselves that disbelieving and disobeying God is reasonable, most observers will eventually come to understand how disbelieving and disobeying God is unreasonable. Someone may try to give us what appear to be good reasons for not trusting God and the Bible, but the Bible, human history, and personal experience prove that trusting God and believing the Bible is the most reasonable path to follow.

God respects our ability to reason and choose. After Adam and Eve sinned, God asked them questions to help them develop their reason. Whereas, Satan uses lies and people’s ability to reason in order to deceive people, God invites us to use our reason to see how right and reasonable it is for us to obey God; then, after we come out of hiding and return to obedience, God promises He will cleanse us from sin (see Isaiah 1:18-20).

Quick Study:

1. What are some of the ways sinners try to hide themselves from God?

2. When God already knew the answers, why do you think God asked the man and woman questions?

3. Why do you think the man was afraid of God?

4. Who did the man and the woman blame for their having sinned against God? How did sin have an effect on their relationship?

5. What two types of punishment did the man and woman experience? Do people today still experience these two types of punishment?

Closing Prayer: Father, thank you that you have revealed Your love to us today. We invite You to send us out today in the power of the Holy Spirit. Fan into flame the gifts that you have given us, Come reveal Your grace and truth to us each day. For Yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, Forever and ever. Amen.

-a very special thank you to L.G. Parkhurst, Jr.

May God bless you! 

Riley