Genesis - Part 6

Genesis 2:25 and 3:1-7 Sin, Shame, and the Plan

Meeting Purpose

Discuss Genesis 2:25 and the origin of shame

Key Takeaways

•              Shame is the pain we feel when we believe others think badly of us

•              God cannot be disappointed or surprised by us since He knows everything already

•              Projecting human emotions like disappointment onto God is inaccurate

•              Shaming others when their sin is revealed teaches them to hide it instead of being open

Topics

Defining Shame

•              Disappointment in yourself, embarrassment, self-loathing, condemnation

•              The pain of believing others think badly of us God's Nature

•              God cannot be disappointed since He has no unmet expectations

•              He experiences the full range of emotions about us simultaneously in the "eternal now"

•              His opinion of us is unchanging despite our sin

Shame's Impact

•              Isolates us, prevents us from confiding in others

•              Motivates many of our decisions, even small ones

•              Projecting our self-loathing onto God is inaccurate

Discipleship Implications

•              Shaming reveals sin teaches people to hide it instead of being open

•              We should bless with love when others' sins are revealed to facilitate discipleship

Next Steps

•              Unpack how much our decisions are motivated by shame/fear of shame

•              Ask God to reveal areas where we live in shame instead of His love

•              Bask in the freedom of God's unchanging love for us

Action Items

• Was Adam and Eve’s decision a deviation from God’s plan? Are we living in God’s optimal plan, or are

we in plan B?

•What indication of this do we have from Scripture?

See Ephesians 1:11-12, Acts 2:23, 1 Peter 1:20

•WHY do they feel shame? Why do they believe that God, who once thought good of them, now thinks badly of them?

Conclusions:

•Adam and Eve projected their own sinful thinking on to God. They now saw themselves as disgusting, and assumed He must think the same

•Adam and Eve learned something new about themselves that they did not like. They projected this experience onto God, who had learned nothing new.

APPLICATION

•If God does not want us to feel shame before Him, how does this affect how we treat others? If we can say “God knows everything about me, and loves me anyway,” how should this guide us when we discover sin in people around us?

•How should we respond when other people discover new things about us and think badly of us as a result?

•How can we unpack how much of our decision making is motivated by shame, or the fear of shame? (hint – it’s a LOT!!). How do we identify this thinking and get rid of it?

•Adam and Eve changed – God did not. 

•Shame before God is never appropriate, because God’s opinion of us is unchanging. It is an aggregation of all His emotions, and is still best characterized as “love.”