Today we want to share the story of Adam and Eve with our kiddos. It would make no sense to celebrate God's salvation if we didn't know we needed saving, right? So let's talk to our kids about sin. When I mentioned Adam and Eve to Courtney this morning, she was super excited. She ran to her room, grabbed her Children's Bible and read the story to me. It was short and sweet. Then I read from my New Living Translation to her.
When reading straight out of the Bible to kids, I have found that it's important to read in the same tone of voice you'd read an adventure book to them at bedtime. It may feel strange at first, but you'll get their attention. I stopped often with questions and statements like, "What did she eat? That's right! High five!" or "Oooh, that snake was trying to trick them! That's not very nice! Let's see what happened next!"
We stopped at a few places to discuss the story a bit deeper. Here are a few "Talking Points" I suggest. We talked as we read, just to save on time and keep her attention. The main idea here is that they understand that Adam and Eve sinned, tried to cover their sin in their own way, but then God, even though He had to give them consequences, took care of them by covering them with animal skins. This took a sacrifice- something shedding its blood. Hebrews 9:22 says " without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
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Talking Points:
1) What did God mean by saying Adam and Eve would die? This meant a spiritual death. In the Bible, death is often defined as separation from God. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." To explain this, I talked about Adam and Eve dying in their hearts, but not in their bodies. I asked Courtney how she would feel if she had to live forever and ever without God- not being able to talk to Him or sing worship songs or know Him at all. She said she'd be super duper sad. She got the point as much as she could. Remember that your kids may not be able to fully grasp these concepts- it's even hard for adults! Just bear with them and help them get the main idea.
2) The fruit on the tree LOOKED good. We talked about how sometimes sin looks good but isn't good for us. If there's one thing we as parents NEED to teach our kids, it's that just because it feels right doesn't mean it is right. I used this example: Let's pretend you see a beehive. You can smell the honey and see it dripping off the hive. It looks SOOOO good! But I told you not to touch it. It looks good, it smells good, and you don't see any bees around- should you do it? No- because what you don't know is that there are bees hiding INSIDE of there that could sting you! When God tells us not to do something, it's always to protect us. Sometimes something looks good, but it's not good for us- like Snow White's apple. It looked so yummy, but was it good for her? (No, it was poisonous!)
3) Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin their own way. They sewed big fig leaves together to make clothes- but what happens if you pull on a leaf? It breaks or tears. So what if Adam started running? The clothes he made would pull and stretch- then what would happen? They'd tear right off! When we try to cover up our own sin, or to be right with God in our own strength, it's just a temporary fix and really won't do the job. We need God to help us.
4) Adam and Eve hid in the garden when they heard God coming. Here I stopped to ask Courtney if she's ever felt like hiding when she's disobeyed her Dad & me. We talked about what Adam and Eve should have done: come clean to God & tell the truth.
5) God made animal skins to cover Adam and Eve. God had to give Adam and Eve consequences, but He still took care of them by making animal skin clothes for them. These were warmer and wouldn't fall apart if Adam started to run! The clothes in this passage are symbolic of forgiveness. An animal had to die for the skins to be made. Sin is very serious- The price we pay is our life- what we get in return is death (Romans 6:23). That is why Jesus died on the cross in our place (again, Hebrews 9:22 and Romans 5:8). The animal skins didn't offer Adam and Eve forgiveness for all the sins they'd ever commit in the future- they just covered them this one time. That's why we need Jesus. More about that later this week. This one may be hard for younger ones to get- just make the point that God took care of them and loved them, even though they disobeyed.
6) God banished them from the Garden of Eden for their own protection. If God had let them stay and if they had eaten from the Tree of Life, Adam and Eve would have been eternally separated from God- and so would all of us. The only way God could ensure that we'd have a chance for salvation was to keep Adam and Eve as far as possible from the Tree of Life while they were under sin's curse.
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Follow-up Questions:
When we were done, I asked a few questions to make sure she got the main points of the story. She was becoming disinterested, playing with her dolls, so I grabbed some Froot Loops. "Every time you answer my question I'll throw a Froot Loop in your mouth!" Boy, that got her attention! Here are the questions I asked:
* What were the man and woman's names in our story? Adam and Eve
* Who tried to trick them? The snake (the devil)
* How did Adam and Eve disobey God? They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
* How did they try to cover themselves after they sinned? They made clothes from fig leaves
* What did they do when they heard God coming? They hid
* What were their consequences for disobeying God? They had to leave the garden- kudos if they remember all the curses!
* How did God take care of them after they sinned? He made them clothes from animal skins
* Why did God put an angel and flaming sword at the entrance to the garden so they couldn't come back? So they wouldn't eat from the tree of life
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Today's Activities:
For Toddlers: Play peekaboo! Use a towel or blanket. If you have older ones around, explain as you play that there's so much more joy when you can see each other than when one of you is hidden. It's the same way with God. When we're hiding, there's not much happiness in our relationship with Him- but when we're face to face with Him, we are full of joy! You could also play hide-and-seek with the older ones.
For Preschoolers: Activity Sheets! Ok, I drew these myself... applause! applause!... or not:) To print these, right click on the picture and select "Print Target". If that doesn't work, Right click on the picture, select "Save As" and save it to your desktop. You can print it from there. If it still won't work, you can draw your own- don't worry. I've seen plenty of coloring books out there that look like they were drawn by 6 year olds. Just do your best:)
1) Adam and Eve in leaves. Your preschooler can color this, or go out in the backyard and find some leaves to glue onto their clothes.
2) Adam and Eve in animal skins. Again, your preschooler can choose to color this, or you could cut up strips of fabric to glue on. If you don't have any fabric lying around, add a few drops of food coloring to some water. Dip a paper towel in, dying the towel, and let it dry for an hour or so. Then use it as your "animal skin".
And that's it for today! Let's try to keep an open conversation going this week with our kiddos as we work our way toward Easter Sunday.
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