Genesis 2-3, Romans 3:23
Key verse: Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Materials: Bibles, 2 apples, costumes or puppets for Serpent and Eve, crown or speaker or another way to represent God’s voice
Greet Students and open with prayer: Dear Jesus, Thank you for bringing us all back today to learn more about you. (Thank you for the new friends who have joined us.) Help us to understand how much you have done for us. Amen
Lesson Introduction: Ask does anyone know who Adam and Eve were. (First humans) Where did Adam and Eve live? (The Garden of Eden Genesis 2:8) The Garden of Eden was placed on earth by God. The Bible tells us that it had beautiful trees that produced food. In the Garden of Eden there were two special trees in the middle. One was the Tree of Life and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is at the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil that our story starts today.
Bible Time: Put on a mini skit based on Genesis 3. If you do not have enough leaders, students could perform parts, or you could use costumes for solo acting. The serpent could be a snake puppet. A crown could be used to signify God. God’s voice could come from outside of the room using a speaker.
Serpent: Hey Eve, did God really say? “You must not eat from any tree in the garden.”
Eve: 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.”
Serpent: Ha, you surely will not die. God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Here is the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Pulls out a shiny apple.) Go on try it. (Temps Eve with it until she takes a bite.)
Eve: Here Adam, try this most delicious fruit. (Gives an apple to Adam and he takes a bite.) (Adam could be any male including a student as long as he knows to actually take a bite.)
God: What is this you have done?
Eve: The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
God: Cursed is the serpent. Pain will be increased and the ground is cursed because of what you have done. You must leave the Garden of Eden and work hard. You will not be able to eat from the tree of life or live forever.
Follow up lesson: Pass out Bibles and say, although this story starts in the Garden of Eden, it is still on going. Let’s look at what the Bible says in Romans 3:23. Help students look up the verse and then read it or have a student read it. Ask who knows what sin is. (Not listening to God) What sin did Adam and Eve do in our lesson from Genesis 3? (Ate from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) Think in your heads about a time you sinned. You are thinking about time you didn’t listen to God or didn’t do what the Bible says.(pause) Read Romans 3:23 again and then say that means everyone here, including me, has sinned. It might have been lying. It might have been not listening to your parents. It might have been being mean to a classmate, or it might have been that you didn’t share about Jesus when you should have. Now let’s look up Roman 6:23. Help students find the verse. Read the first part of the verse, For the wages of sin is death. Oh my, that means that the penalty of not listening to God is death, so each one of us deserve the death penalty. (pause) But wait, did you notice I didn’t read the whole verse. It doesn’t stop at death. It goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let’s read the whole verse one more time. Read Romans 6:23 again or have a student read it. Wow! that is a lot to think about! When we put it all together the Bible tells us that we all deserve death because of the bad things we have done, but instead Jesus Christ died on the cross for each and every one of us, and if we believe in Him we will go to live in heaven forever.
Close in prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you so much for paying the penalty for our sins. Thank you for forgiving us if we confess are sins, and thank you that if we acknowledge you as Lord we will one day come to live with you in heaven. Amen
Extra time: Choice 1 Continue looking up verses related to sin and salvation. Continue the discussion about how we must confess our sins, and we must believe in Jesus with a belief that allows Him to be Lord of our life.
- John 3:14-18
- Romans 10:9-10
- Romans 5:8
Choice 2: Play Jesus Says. (like Simon Says)
Choice 3: Provide fruit for a snack.