These notes are part of a class on The Fall and God’s Plan of Redemption.  I’m publishing excerpts from my notes here as a resource for the students in the class.  They won’t always be in narrative format.  If you have questions about these notes or would like to see a recording of the class please reach out to me.
-REW

What is the Bible all about?  In the biggest sense of that question…. What story is the Bible telling us?

We might say that the Bible is telling us…
—What God expects from us.
—How we should live.
—Who God is.

I’d propose that the one over-arching theme for the entire Bible is God’s plan of salvation for man.

We see this theme repeated throughout the Bible….

Genesis 1:27, 31
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…..And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 3:8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Isaiah 53:11-12
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

John 14:2-4
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.

Revelation 21:1-4
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

The big picture story of the Bible seems to be that God created man, man rebelled against God, and God has been working ever since to be reunited with man.

Everything else seems to contribute to this theme….

Who God is (tells us about his attributes that demanded an atonement)

What God expects of us (tells us how we should react to the atonement)

And that’s what we’re going to talk about for this class session….

The Fall of Man & God’s Plan of Redemption For Man

Some of the things we’ll talk about….

  1. What was Jesus’ impression of his life and death?  What did he think his death would accomplish?
  2. What words are used in the Bible to describe what Christ accomplished on the Cross?  What can we learn from them?
    -We’re cleansed from sin.
    -God’s wrath was satisfied.
    -Our debt was paid.
    ***All of these things highlight a different aspect of what Christ accomplished.***
  3. What are some themes of redemption that we see in the Bible?
    -David and Goliath
    -The Prodigal Son
    -What do Moses, Lightning McQueen from Cars, and TLOTR all have in common?
  4. Did Jesus HAVE to die on the cross?  Why?
  5. Why does God allow man to sin?
  6. What happened during The Fall

But for now, by way of introduction to the class, let’s talk in a big-picture sort of way about The Fall.

After Adam & Eve sinned in The Garden, what changed?

Man’s Relationship To Work

Genesis 3:17-19
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Genesis 2:15
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.

“Dominion” over the animals.

A Woman’s Pain In Childbirth

Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

The Earth Changed

Genesis 3:17-19
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Romans 8:18-22
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

Jeremiah 12:1-4
Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? You plant them, and they take root; they grow and produce fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. But you, O LORD, know me; you see me, and test my heart toward you. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter. How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

Revelation 20:11-21:4
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Physical Death

Genesis 2:15-17
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 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 that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

***We’ll talk more about this on Wednesday***

Separation From God

They were cast out of The Garden

John 14:1-4
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Genesis 3:22-23
Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.