October 4, 2026

Why Did God Create Us Knowing We Would Sin?

Icebreaker
What is something you thought was a brilliant idea as a child that your parents probably remember differently?

Study Questions

1. Read Genesis 1:26–31. What do God’s blessing, humanity’s responsibility, and the description “very good” reveal about how God views people and creation?
2. Read Genesis 3:1–13. How does the serpent encourage distrust of God? After the humans eat, what changes in their relationships with God and each other?
3. Read Hebrews 12:9–10. What does this say about the purpose of God’s discipline and the potential of humanity? How is being lovingly helped to mature different from being shamed into compliance?
4. Read Ephesians 1:5 and Isaiah 49:15–16. What do these passages reveal about God’s desire for us and commitment to us?

Application Questions

1. Take joy in the good: Where have you recently noticed goodness or beauty that you usually overlook? What could help you enjoy and give thanks for it this week?
2. Stand against evil: Where do you have an opportunity to resist something harmful in your own habits, your relationships, or your community? What would one concrete step toward making things right look like?
3. Trust in God: When you fail, are you more likely to hide, make excuses, blame someone else, or seek help? How might knowing that God wants you as his child change your response?
4. Bottom Line: “To God, the joy and beauty of our existence outweigh the cost of our resistance.”
   What part of that is encouraging, and what part is difficult to believe? How might it change the way you treat yourself or another person?

Prayer
Invite each person to name one good thing they are thankful for and, if comfortable, one area where they need God’s help. Thank God for wanting us as his children. Ask him to help you delight in goodness, resist evil, receive his correction, and trust his faithful love.