Death is a fascinating element in all religions. In biblical Christianity, death has two connotations. On one hand, death is the result of, and punishment for, sin. On the other hand, our life with God starts with death−death to sin. Only when we experience this death to sin can we fully enjoy life in God’s kingdom. Death to sin leads to overcoming and confronting the death that is the result of sin. But both events are possible because of Christ’s death for us.
Lesson Themes: This week’s lesson highlights two major themes.
Death to sin sets the framework for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself personally implements the transformation of our characters unto the image of Jesus Christ and empowers us to live lives of sacrificial service and obedience to God.
If we do not experience death to sin, we will continue a life of self-centeredness and self-service, a life of sin that, in fact, leads to death.
Part II: Commentary
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9, 17)
Quite a name for a tree! But God designated the tree by this name in the Garden of Eden when He instructed our parents on the preservation of their lives: “ ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ ” (Gen. 2:16, 17, NKJV).
Two points are important for our present discussion. First, the biblical text does not allude to any poisonous or mind-altering substances contained in the fruit of the forbidden tree. On the contrary, God created all things “good” and “very good”; He did not create anything incomplete, imperfect, bad, or evil (Gen. 1:21, 31; see also Gen. 2:1–3). Sin and evil were not present in God’s perfect creation, but, rather, “entered the world” through Adam’s act (Rom. 5:12, NKJV). In addition, during the temptation, the serpent insists that if Eve eats of the forbidden tree, her “ ‘eyes will be opened’ ” and she “ ‘will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen 3:4, 5, NKJV). Eve, then, “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,” and she ate and served her husband, as well (Gen. 3:6, NKJV). The result of the consumption of the forbidden fruit was that “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Gen. 3:7, NKJV). Also, the tree is not named “the tree of knowledge” of God or of knowledge, in general, but “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” relating it to morality.
Thus, the name of the tree and the narrative of Genesis 2 and 3 indicate that what changed was Adam and Eve’s perspective, their view, their attitude, and their relation to God. Their choice was a matter of moral disobedience or rebellion against God. The expression “to know good and evil” in the Bible refers to moral maturity, when a person becomes an adult and autonomous, or a moral judge (see Deut. 1:39, 2 Sam 14:17, 1 Kings 3:9, Isa. 7:16, Heb. 5:14). The issue around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was who was the judge, and who was the source and standard of morality. By forbidding the eating of the fruit of the tree, God established Himself as the ultimate Source of morality on earth in the same way that He was in the universe. By eating from the tree, Eve and Adam decided that they were the source of morality. It is one thing for someone to exercise morality and distinguish between good and evil through the prism of God’s revelation (Deut. 30:14–16, 2 Sam. 14:17, 1 Kings 3:9, Heb 5:14). But it is another thing to set oneself as the source and standard of morality over against God’s revelation and command; to do so is tantamount to declaring oneself God, to rebel against God, and to want to overthrow His throne.
This is exactly what the serpent suggested (Gen. 3:4, 5), and this is exactly what Satan had done in heaven and continues doing on earth (Isa. 14:13, 14; Ezek. 28:2, 12–17). Thus, the serpent suggested to Eve that by eating the forbidden fruit, “ ‘your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen. 3:5, NKJV). Being “like God” does not mean to become divine in nature but to be the source of one’s own morality, defining what is good and evil. This independence is self-sufficiency and autonomy from God, an act of sedition that constitutes replacing, or substituting, God with ourselves or somebody or something else.
Second, and consequently, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, rebelling against God and attempting to sit on His throne, leads to death. That is why God immediately warned Adam and Eve that eating from the forbidden tree leads to death (Gen. 2:17). God is the only Source of life (Gen. 2:7; Deut. 30:20; John 1:1–4; John 4:13, 14; John 6:32–35; John 11:25–27; John 15:1–5; Rom. 6:23; Col. 1:16, 17). For a creature to sit on the throne of God is tantamount to removing himself or herself from the only Source of life, which is the same as consigning oneself to death.
But such death is not an ordinary death. It is a willing separation from God, a decision not to live according to God’s government (1 John 3:4; Isa. 14:9, 10, 16; Ezek. 28:2, 9, 16, 17). This separation is the essence of sin and of death. We do not know what Adam and Eve thought when they heard the word “death,” but they surely thought of something grim. But we, after 6,000 years, know all too well that death is a tragedy.
Death as the Solution to . . . Death
Is there a solution to death? Yes! And we know it from the essence of the gospel: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, NIV). How, though, do we receive this gift of eternal life? Paradoxically, the gift of eternal life comes with . . . death! Two types of death are indicated here. First, Jesus Christ died in our place and for us; He took our death upon Himself and gave us the hope of eternal life (John 3:16, Rom. 3:25, Rom. 5:8, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Pet. 1:18–20). Second, our own death is indicated, as well. But this death is not punishment for sin; Jesus died that death in our place. Rather, our death is to sin itself. This death (to sin) is required if we want to enjoy eternal life and God’s kingdom. Sin is a controlling power that keeps us separate from God (Rom. 7:18–20, 23, 24). To be saved from its power, we need to die to sin and be alive to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 7:4–6)! This death is symbolized by baptism (Rom. 6:1–4). Paul presents the most beautiful depiction of this process: “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:5–11, NKJV).
By “death to sin” the Bible means exactly what it says. It does not say that we attain to eternal life by literally dying. We are not—and cannot be—paying for our sins with our own deaths. There is no salvific merit in our deaths. The only literal death that counts for our salvation is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Neither does the Bible use “death to sin” to communicate an indifference to the world, as in Buddhism, for instance. God created the world perfect for our enjoyment and for us to care for it (Gen. 1:26–28, Gen. 2:15). Death to sin, then, means accepting the Lordship of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and rejecting the control of sin (Rom. 8:1–11). We enjoy obeying God and serving Him. We are transformed into the image and mind of Christ, who did not consider holding on to power, but stooped down to earth and took our status and our place to save us (Phil. 2:2–8).
Part III: Life Application
It is true that we have what we call fundamental rights. But we live in a very complicated world of sin, a world that, more often than not, tends to ignore or trample upon our rights. Read Philippians 2:1–9 again. The incarnation of the Son was the crucible of crucibles! How does Jesus’ example help you go through the various crucibles created by sin, even if this means losing your fundamental rights? What is the crucial element for you in this passage that changes your perspective on overcoming the trials of your life?
The story of Samuel is more than a story about simply hearing as an auditory act of registering someone’s words to us; it is about obeying what we hear. The prophet’s name itself meant “God heard” (see 1 Sam. 1:20). God heard and was merciful to Hannah (1 Sam. 1:17, 19, 20, 27). Samuel heard and obeyed God. Realizing that Samuel does not at first recognize God’s voice, Eli teaches Samuel how to relate to God: “ ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears’ ” (1 Sam. 3:9, NKJV). In fact, the rest of the book of Samuel—indeed, the entire Bible—is about hearing and obeying, or the lack of obedience: at some point, the people stopped hearing God, and thus God stopped hearing them. One big problem in our lives is that we listen to each other, we listen to God (through His revelation), but we fail to take His words to heart and obey them. How can you better listen to and hear the members of your family? How can you better hear and obey God? Think of three ways to meaningfully improve your way of hearing and relating to other people and to God.
Notes
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Key Text: John 12:24
Study Focus: 1 Sam. 2:12–3:18; 1 Sam. 13:1–14; Zechariah 4; Rom. 12:1, 2; Phil. 2:5–9.
Part I: Overview
Death is a fascinating element in all religions. In biblical Christianity, death has two connotations. On one hand, death is the result of, and punishment for, sin. On the other hand, our life with God starts with death−death to sin. Only when we experience this death to sin can we fully enjoy life in God’s kingdom. Death to sin leads to overcoming and confronting the death that is the result of sin. But both events are possible because of Christ’s death for us.
Lesson Themes: This week’s lesson highlights two major themes.
Death to sin sets the framework for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself personally implements the transformation of our characters unto the image of Jesus Christ and empowers us to live lives of sacrificial service and obedience to God.
If we do not experience death to sin, we will continue a life of self-centeredness and self-service, a life of sin that, in fact, leads to death.
Part II: Commentary
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9, 17)
Quite a name for a tree! But God designated the tree by this name in the Garden of Eden when He instructed our parents on the preservation of their lives: “ ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ ” (Gen. 2:16, 17, NKJV).
Two points are important for our present discussion. First, the biblical text does not allude to any poisonous or mind-altering substances contained in the fruit of the forbidden tree. On the contrary, God created all things “good” and “very good”; He did not create anything incomplete, imperfect, bad, or evil (Gen. 1:21, 31; see also Gen. 2:1–3). Sin and evil were not present in God’s perfect creation, but, rather, “entered the world” through Adam’s act (Rom. 5:12, NKJV). In addition, during the temptation, the serpent insists that if Eve eats of the forbidden tree, her “ ‘eyes will be opened’ ” and she “ ‘will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen 3:4, 5, NKJV). Eve, then, “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise,” and she ate and served her husband, as well (Gen. 3:6, NKJV). The result of the consumption of the forbidden fruit was that “the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked” (Gen. 3:7, NKJV). Also, the tree is not named “the tree of knowledge” of God or of knowledge, in general, but “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” relating it to morality.
Thus, the name of the tree and the narrative of Genesis 2 and 3 indicate that what changed was Adam and Eve’s perspective, their view, their attitude, and their relation to God. Their choice was a matter of moral disobedience or rebellion against God. The expression “to know good and evil” in the Bible refers to moral maturity, when a person becomes an adult and autonomous, or a moral judge (see Deut. 1:39, 2 Sam 14:17, 1 Kings 3:9, Isa. 7:16, Heb. 5:14). The issue around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was who was the judge, and who was the source and standard of morality. By forbidding the eating of the fruit of the tree, God established Himself as the ultimate Source of morality on earth in the same way that He was in the universe. By eating from the tree, Eve and Adam decided that they were the source of morality. It is one thing for someone to exercise morality and distinguish between good and evil through the prism of God’s revelation (Deut. 30:14–16, 2 Sam. 14:17, 1 Kings 3:9, Heb 5:14). But it is another thing to set oneself as the source and standard of morality over against God’s revelation and command; to do so is tantamount to declaring oneself God, to rebel against God, and to want to overthrow His throne.
This is exactly what the serpent suggested (Gen. 3:4, 5), and this is exactly what Satan had done in heaven and continues doing on earth (Isa. 14:13, 14; Ezek. 28:2, 12–17). Thus, the serpent suggested to Eve that by eating the forbidden fruit, “ ‘your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen. 3:5, NKJV). Being “like God” does not mean to become divine in nature but to be the source of one’s own morality, defining what is good and evil. This independence is self-sufficiency and autonomy from God, an act of sedition that constitutes replacing, or substituting, God with ourselves or somebody or something else.
Second, and consequently, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, rebelling against God and attempting to sit on His throne, leads to death. That is why God immediately warned Adam and Eve that eating from the forbidden tree leads to death (Gen. 2:17). God is the only Source of life (Gen. 2:7; Deut. 30:20; John 1:1–4; John 4:13, 14; John 6:32–35; John 11:25–27; John 15:1–5; Rom. 6:23; Col. 1:16, 17). For a creature to sit on the throne of God is tantamount to removing himself or herself from the only Source of life, which is the same as consigning oneself to death.
But such death is not an ordinary death. It is a willing separation from God, a decision not to live according to God’s government (1 John 3:4; Isa. 14:9, 10, 16; Ezek. 28:2, 9, 16, 17). This separation is the essence of sin and of death. We do not know what Adam and Eve thought when they heard the word “death,” but they surely thought of something grim. But we, after 6,000 years, know all too well that death is a tragedy.
Death as the Solution to . . . Death
Is there a solution to death? Yes! And we know it from the essence of the gospel: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23, NIV). How, though, do we receive this gift of eternal life? Paradoxically, the gift of eternal life comes with . . . death! Two types of death are indicated here. First, Jesus Christ died in our place and for us; He took our death upon Himself and gave us the hope of eternal life (John 3:16, Rom. 3:25, Rom. 5:8, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Pet. 1:18–20). Second, our own death is indicated, as well. But this death is not punishment for sin; Jesus died that death in our place. Rather, our death is to sin itself. This death (to sin) is required if we want to enjoy eternal life and God’s kingdom. Sin is a controlling power that keeps us separate from God (Rom. 7:18–20, 23, 24). To be saved from its power, we need to die to sin and be alive to Jesus and to the Holy Spirit (Rom. 7:4–6)! This death is symbolized by baptism (Rom. 6:1–4). Paul presents the most beautiful depiction of this process: “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:5–11, NKJV).
By “death to sin” the Bible means exactly what it says. It does not say that we attain to eternal life by literally dying. We are not—and cannot be—paying for our sins with our own deaths. There is no salvific merit in our deaths. The only literal death that counts for our salvation is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Neither does the Bible use “death to sin” to communicate an indifference to the world, as in Buddhism, for instance. God created the world perfect for our enjoyment and for us to care for it (Gen. 1:26–28, Gen. 2:15). Death to sin, then, means accepting the Lordship of God and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and rejecting the control of sin (Rom. 8:1–11). We enjoy obeying God and serving Him. We are transformed into the image and mind of Christ, who did not consider holding on to power, but stooped down to earth and took our status and our place to save us (Phil. 2:2–8).
Part III: Life Application
It is true that we have what we call fundamental rights. But we live in a very complicated world of sin, a world that, more often than not, tends to ignore or trample upon our rights. Read Philippians 2:1–9 again. The incarnation of the Son was the crucible of crucibles! How does Jesus’ example help you go through the various crucibles created by sin, even if this means losing your fundamental rights? What is the crucial element for you in this passage that changes your perspective on overcoming the trials of your life?
The story of Samuel is more than a story about simply hearing as an auditory act of registering someone’s words to us; it is about obeying what we hear. The prophet’s name itself meant “God heard” (see 1 Sam. 1:20). God heard and was merciful to Hannah (1 Sam. 1:17, 19, 20, 27). Samuel heard and obeyed God. Realizing that Samuel does not at first recognize God’s voice, Eli teaches Samuel how to relate to God: “ ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears’ ” (1 Sam. 3:9, NKJV). In fact, the rest of the book of Samuel—indeed, the entire Bible—is about hearing and obeying, or the lack of obedience: at some point, the people stopped hearing God, and thus God stopped hearing them. One big problem in our lives is that we listen to each other, we listen to God (through His revelation), but we fail to take His words to heart and obey them. How can you better listen to and hear the members of your family? How can you better hear and obey God? Think of three ways to meaningfully improve your way of hearing and relating to other people and to God.
Notes