Course 1: Old Testament 1

God has a plan and is working it through to completion. As we align our lives with God’s plan we come to realize that God desires for us to know Him. He wants us to not only know about Him but to also experience Him personally.

Our worldview, the way we see the world, is influenced by many things. We need to allow God’s Word to change our worldview. As it says in Romans 12, “let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” As we grow in knowing God and His Word better, it changes how we look at ourselves, how we look at others, and how we live. Our worldview gets in the way of seeing God’s Truth, but if we will allow God to bring our worldview into alignment with His, changing our beliefs and values, we will become the disciples that Jesus calls us to be.

As we look at the Genesis account of creation and learn about God’s character, we see that He is a God of purpose, order, power, creativity, goodness, and provision — both then and now. Everywhere we go we can notice these qualities, if we take the time to stop and wonder in awe at His creation. God’s character is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Whenever we see evidence of God’s character, we can be encouraged to trust Him with our lives more and more.

As part of His plan, God created man and woman in His image. The fact that we are image-bearers gives us purpose, establishes the nature of our relationship with God and others, and holds massive implications for how we view ourselves. Instead of letting the world dictate what we are supposed to be, we can trust God to tell us who we truly are.

When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were completely innocent. Living in a perfect environment, they enjoyed healthy relationships with God and each other. All of this was ruined by the deception and evil that Lucifer brought with him into the Garden. He was one of God’s created angels, but he rebelled against God in pride and was cast out from God’s presence.

Adam and Eve were created by God and in His image. They enjoyed a perfect relationship with God and the rest of His Creation. They lacked nothing and had authority over the whole earth. God gave them one prohibition. They were not allowed to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God provided every other tree for them to find food, but not this one.

God also gave Adam and Eve free will. They could choose to obey this one command or not. One day Eve allowed an unproven source (Satan) to mislead her to doubt & disobey God. She ate from the forbidden tree and gave some to her husband as well. The serpent’s temptation led the first humans to use their free will to sin, to act independently of God.

When Adam and Eve sinned, they gained an awareness of good and evil. However, their awareness was limited. They could not handle this knowledge. And now, we inherit that limited perspective of good and evil. We are born with sinful natures. As a result we tend to make all kinds of assumptions and judgments about people, when only God has the proper position and perspective to truly see people and situations as they truly are.

In this story we see the first example of man seeking atonement with God. Born in sin, Cain and Abel offer sacrifices to God. Why was one rejected and the other accepted? Hebrews 11:4 tells us that it was because one sacrifice was offered with faith and the other without. Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. Abel brought his offering by faith, and so God was pleased with him and accepted his sacrifice. Cain, however, did not. Instead, he tried to come to God in his own way, and when God rejected his offering he became angry. God could have rebuked him or even left him to be punished for his sin—instead, he pursued and warned him.