Lesson 1: The Great Controversy: The Foundation (Genesis 2-3)

1. Read Genesis 2:15-16. The fruit of this tree was not
   poison. Why would God create a tree that was off-limits to
   Adam? What difference would it make what tree was the
   source of Adam’s food? (God was creating a test for
   humans.)





1. Three questions: First, why create a test? Second, if
   you are going to create a test, why make it about
   trees and food? Why not structure a test about
   loving God, doing some great deed, or rescuing an
   animal?





2. A large number of people disbelieve the Eden story.
   If a human were making this up, is this the test a
   human would create? (No. If you have ever read
   fiction about humans being tested, it always involves
   some grand challenge of human strength, intelligence
   or skill. It is never about eating choices, unless
   the fictional story is intended to parallel the
   Biblical account.)





3. Third question: When it comes to God’s commands, is
   it ever safe to say, “That doesn’t make any sense?
   Why would God care?”





2. Read Genesis 3:1-3. How does the serpent (who is Satan,
   see Revelation 12:9) know about the test?





1. God set up the test, but Satan is participating in
   the tree/fruit test. What does this tell us about
   whether Satan thought the test was valid? (He seems
   to have agreed that it is valid.)





2. What do you think would have happened if Satan
   disagreed with the validity of this test? (He would
   not have used it. He would have argued that the test
   did not give a fair opportunity for humans to choose
   Satan over God.)





3. What does Satan’s knowledge of the test, the unusual
   nature of this test, and the fact that Satan
   apparently agreed that the test was valid suggest?
   (It seems likely that if both agreed that this was
   the way to test the loyalty of humans, that either
   God set up a test that Satan thought was fair, or
   Satan and God had extensive negotiations over the
   nature of the test.)





3. Read Genesis 3:4. What is the nature of Satan’s
   temptation? (This temptation is about trusting God.
   Consider how a “what difference does it make?” test raises
   the trust issue.)





1. Look at this from Satan’s point of view. What
   disadvantages do you have with this test? (It is a
   limited time, place, and subject test. Plus, the
   humans have been specifically warned.)





1. Why can’t Satan approach the humans at any
   time, in any place, and with any temptation?





2. Notice that Satan both stated the command and asked
   Eve to repeat what God said. Why would he do that if
   he wanted Eve to eat the fruit? (Eating the fruit was
   not the goal, showing that humans knowingly
   distrusted and disobeyed God was the goal.)





3. What does this test, and the way that Satan
   approached this test, tell us about the nature of
   temptation in our life? (God and Satan are in a
   contest for our loyalty. They both care about the
   outcome. God makes the final rules about the contest,
   but they are subject to some sort of boundaries (see
   Job 2:3-6). Satan is limited in the way that he can
   bring temptation to us.)

1. Read Revelation 12:7-8. Where did the dispute between God
   and Satan begin? (In heaven.)





1. In that dispute, did God have unfettered control over
   Satan? (No. It was a contest. It was war, a pitched
   battle.)





1. The creation account says in Genesis chapter 1
   that God created the world and the heavens by
   simply speaking. Since God has such
   overwhelming power, how do you account for a
   contested battle with Satan and his angels?
   (Either Satan and his angels are that powerful,
   or God limited the nature of the battle.)





2. Let’s imagine that China invaded the Republic
   of Taiwan, because China takes the position
   that Taiwan is part of China. The U.S.,
   according to one web site I consulted, has
   about 5,000 nuclear warheads and China has
   about 240. Would the United States launch a
   full-scale atomic weapons attack on China? Or,
   would it more likely engage in a conventional
   war to protect its ally? (The world would be
   horrified if the U.S. destroyed China, killed
   its people and made its land uninhabitable. In
   addition, in such an exchange China might do
   great damage to the U.S. This shows that even
   humans would voluntarily limit the scope of a
   battle. It seems logical that is what God did
   in the heavenly battle against Satan and his
   angels.)





2. Read Revelation 12:9. What penalty did God impose on Satan
   and the rebelling angels? (Defeat and banishment.)

1. Read Revelation 12:10-12. Both Satan, fallen angels and
   humans have rebelled against God. How are the parties
   aligned after this? (God and humans are aligned.)





1. What is the bad news for humans? (Satan is in the
   neighborhood, he is angry, on a deadline and he is
   accusing and threatening us. We could lose our life
   in the process.)





2. What is the good news for humans? (We are not only
   aligned with the winner of the battle, but we can
   overcome Satan by the “blood of the Lamb” and the
   word of our testimony.)





1. Notice that Satan is described as “the accuser
   of our brothers,” and he does this constantly.
   What accusation is he making? (I’ll bet it has
   to do with the fact that he and we have
   sinned.)





2. What is our defense against this accusation?
   (The “blood of the Lamb!” This refers to Jesus’
   life, death and resurrection on our behalf. It
   refers to grace.)





3. Notice that both the blood of the Lamb and the
   “word of our testimony” are our weapons. What
   does the “word of our testimony” mean?
   (Remember that we are being accused and
   threatened by Satan. The text reports that the
   righteous did not make living their ultimate
   goal. Our testimony must deal with these
   issues: grace and self-denial.)





2. Now that we have added important big picture information
   from Revelation, let’s go back to Genesis and look more
   carefully at some of the details. Read Genesis 3:11-13. If
   we are right about God negotiating with Satan the nature
   of the test, how would you have reacted to the results if
   you were God? (I would have been stunned that humans could
   so easily be defeated by Satan. I would have been angry
   with their pitiful defenses.)





1. Was the test too hard? Are humans too stupid?





2. God banished Satan and his angels. Did God treat Adam
   and Eve differently?





1. If so, why? (Adam and Eve did not attack God.
   They failed God. They failed to trust Him.)





3. Read Genesis 3:14-15. Now that humans have failed Him,
   what is God’s battle plan? Is it to give humans another
   test? (It is more of a gift than a test. However, we do
   have to choose.)





1. Has God’s battle plan anything to do with how easily
   Satan defeated humans? (I think so. God says that in
   the new conflict between humans and Satan, humans
   will suffer, but Satan will die.)





2. What does this teach us about God’s attitude toward
   us? (He has shown us great mercy! He places limits on
   the attacks by Satan and his angels. Jesus did what
   we could not do. He gives eternal life as a gift.)





4. Friend, what is your testimony in light of this study
   about how sin entered the world and what God did about it?
   If you have not chosen a side in this controversy, will
   you do it now? Will you be a winner or a loser?

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