Catechism – Week 7 – Sin and Its Effects

What is Sin and What Are its Effects?

Genesis 2:16-17; 3:4-6 – And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die’…But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (ESV)

What did God tell the people to not do?
God told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

Who ate the fruit?
Both Adam and Eve ate the fruit in disobedience.

Why did they eat the fruit?
They ate the fruit because they believed that their lives would be better if they lived their lives as they wanted, rather than as God commanded. Eve wanted to be like God, rather than reflect God (see week 5).

What are the effects of their sin?
First, all people are born as sinners. We, like Adam and Eve, are now born believing that we can rule our lives better than God.

Illustration: When a child disobeys their mom or dad, they believe that they know what is best for them rather than their parent who loves them, wants to protect them, and knows much more than them. In the same way, people believe that we can make better choices for our lives than God who loves us, wants to protect us, and know much more.

Second, people now experience death and a broken world. Because people sin, the world is broken: people fight, they reject God, they live for themselves. People also die rather than live in the delight of God forever (see week 6).

Scripture Memory Verse:

Romans 5:12 – Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. (ESV)

What is sin and its effects?
Sin is disbelieving God’s love for us and wanting to live our lives how we want. Sin leads to misery and death.

Adults and older students are encouraged to receive a fuller explanation from Dr. Tim Tennent (President of Asbury Theological Seminary) by clicking this link.