DAY 206- BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE LAND
"Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (NKJV).
Genesis 3:17
Reading: Genesis 3:17-24; Revelation 22: 2
It isn’t clear how long Adam and Eve lived in Eden. It may have been a few months or it may have been way, way longer. What we do know is that they hadn’t had any children yet.
This Eden, this Paradise, was lost when they sinned against God’s command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After they sinned against God’s rule, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden - God’s place. They were still God’s people for God provided clothing for them, a covering for their sin, and chose to give birth to the Messiah through their godly line – Seth, Noah, Abraham, David.
But the curse pronounced on the ground plunged the land, indeed, the whole Earth, into suffering, decay and death - the very opposite of the blessing it had originally enjoyed.
There are so many implications for us. The land is our source of food. Man had been commissioned to work and care for the Garden of Eden. Finding enough food was never a problem because it was abundantly provided for Adam and Eve and the animals. After the fall, the land no longer produced as abundantly as it did in the Garden of Eden. Now, along with good things, the land also produced thorns and thistles. Survival became difficult. Working the land became toilsome and hard.
Our reading today makes it clear that sin leads to exile from God’s place. Nowhere will that be more vividly displayed than on the final Judgement Day. On that day, while God’s people will inherit the new heavens and the new earth, the resurrected wicked will be exiled, once and for all, from God’s place. What an unspeakably tragic day that will be.
Prayer:
Dear Father, thank You for providing for us, even though we sin against You. We look forward to living in the new creation You have planned for us. Amen
For the family
Explain
Explain this study in an age-appropriate way, focusing on the fact that when people sin, they cannot continue to live in God’s perfect place.
Engage
Kids of all ages will enjoy watching this video – just click on the link below. Today, the kids can watch from where they left off yesterday – from 14:55 to the end.