1. In the Beginning

(Genesis, chapters 1-3)
1. In studying the Bible you will learn many things. The very first thing to learn is that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). He then created grass, trees, and fruit followed by birds, fish and animals.

2. God then made the first man, whose name was Adam. God made man out of the dust of the ground. Yes, only God could do that, for He is all powerful. Then when He formed man out of the dust of the ground, He breathed into man's nose the breath of life, which made man a living being, for when man is dead, he is just a dead body, just as Adam was before God gave him the breath of life. (Gen. 2:7)

3. God knew that Adam needed a helper and someone to talk to, so God put Adam to sleep and then took out of him a rib. From this rib God made a woman for Adam and named her Eve. (Gen. 2:21-22, 3:20)

4. Now they lived in a perfect garden called the Garden of Eden. And God told them they could eat of any fruit in the Garden except for one, which was called the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. And God told them if they ate from that tree they would die, but if they didn't, they could live forever. (Gen. 2:15-17)

5. Satan, who was then called Lucifer, was jealous of God, so he went into the body of a serpent and told Eve they would NOT die! That was the first lie ever told in the whole world. And Eve believed the Serpent, the Devil, instead of God. So she ate of the fruit, thinking it would make her wise, for the Devil told her it would. Then Eve gave the fruit to her husband and he also ate of it. Afterwards, they became afraid, for God came walking into the Garden looking for them. So they hid. But no one can hide from God, for He not only knows all things but can see all things. So He called Adam and said, "Did you eat of the fruit which I told you not to eat?" Of course, God knew they had,
but He wanted to see if Adam would admit having eaten of it. He also wanted to see if Adam realized what he had done. But Adam wouldn't take the blame, and said, "The woman you gave me made me do it." Wasn't that a cowardly thing to do? For if we do something wrong, we should admit it and not blame someone else. (Gen. 3:1-12)

6. Then God asked Eve why she had eaten of the fruit and given Adam some, but she didn't want to take the blame either, so she blamed the Serpent, saying he had deceived her. So all three were guilty ... Adam, for disobeying God's command not to eat of the fruit; Eve, for believing Satan instead of God; and the Serpent for letting Satan use him to talk to Eve. So all three were told they would be punished. God told Adam he would have to work hard to get his food from the ground. Eve was told she would suffer pain in having children. And He told both of them that they would be put out of the Garden and would eventually die. Then He told the serpent he would eat dust and crawl on his belly all the rest of his days. (Gen. 3:13-14)

7. But we also learn that God is truly a God of love, and with His punishment given to Adam and Eve, He gave them a ray of hope. He told Eve her "seed", meaning a child born of a woman, would one day kill the Devil (Genesis 3:15). In the next lessons, we will learn more about that "seed". 

(Genesis, chapter 4)
1. When God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, He made sure they would not be able to return by placing a Cherub, or Heavenly Helper of His at the east of the Garden; He had a flaming sword which turned every way, so they would not be able to return and eat of the tree of life, for if they had, they would have continued to live forever.(Gen. 3:23-24)

2. Then Adam and Eve started to have children. Their first child was a son whom they named Cain. Later, Eve had another son whom they called Abel. (Gen. 4:1-2)

3. After Cain and Abel grew up, Cain grew fruits and vegetables, and Abel raised animals. One day Abel brought the first of his flock to God as an offering. Then Cain brought some of his fruit, but God was not pleased with his offering, since all sacrifices had to have blood shed to represent Jesus, and Cain's offering of fruit did not meet that qualification. God also knew Cain held sin in his heart, and God does not want us to come unto Him unless we want to do the right thing, and confess our sin and be sorry for it. So He did not accept Cain's offering. This is a lesson for us, too, for in Matthew 5:23 we are told that before we can come to God in prayer, we must make peace with anyone that resents us for something. Then we can approach God. God knew Cain was a jealous person, for God did scold him saying, "Why are you angry and upset? You should know if you do well you are accepted by me; and if I don't accept you, there is a demon crouching at the door who wants to master you, and it will, if you don't master it" (Gen. 4:3-7).

4. We then learn that Cain did let the demon take him over, for he pretended not to be angry with his brother and asked him to go out into the field with him. There Cain killed his brother Abel. (Gen. 4:8) 

5. Did God know about this terrible murder? Of course He did, but He asked Cain where his brother was to test him. And what was Cain's reply? "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" So he lied to God, which means he broke two of God's commandments. One was "Thou shalt not commit murder" and the other was "Thou shalt not lie". So God let Cain know He was aware of what he had done, and told Cain he would have to leave his home and family and become a wanderer in the land. (Gen. 4:9-12)

6. Now Cain did not tell God he was sorry for what he had done. Instead, he was thinking only of how dangerous and difficult life would be from then on, and too, he was afraid someone in the future would find out what he had done to his brother and kill him! But God put a mark on Cain so no one could take his life, for there weren't many people living on earth then and God wanted Cain to have children (Gen. 4:13-15) So Cain did have children, and Adam and Eve continued to have other children as well. And from Adam's descendants was born a very righteous man called Noah. You will learn more about him in the next lesson. But for now you have learned how man was created, how sin entered into the world, and how sin grows and causes suffering and death, just as Adam and Eve's sin caused you and me to suffer and one day to die in this world.