Dear Friend,

In our last lesson we learned that God is the Creator of all things. When God created the world, everything was beautiful and good, but now things are different. Many things are not beautiful and good. What happened? Sin ruined God's beautiful creation!

Sin and Satan…

What is sin? Sin is what we do wrong. The Bible tells us that sin came into the world because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Let us see how this happened.

You remember that God made a beautiful garden for Adam and Eve to live in. It was called "the Garden of Eden." God Himself planted this garden for them. Adam and Eve had everything they needed in this garden.

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except one. God told them that they would surely die if they ate of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God said, "…in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Genesis 2:17).

At first, Adam and Eve were very happy in the beautiful garden which God had planted for them. But one day someone else came into the Garden of Eden. That "someone" was Satan!

Who is Satan?

Satan is God's great enemy. When God created him, he was a beautiful angel named Lucifer. Lucifer means "shining one." He was the wisest and most beautiful angel that God ever created.

How did Lucifer become God's enemy?

One day pride entered Lucifer's heart. He thought about how wise he was and how beautiful he was, and he decided that he would take over God's place. He rebelled against God!

At that moment, Lucifer became God's enemy, and God sent him out of Heaven. His name was changed to Satan, which means "enemy." Satan is God's enemy and he is our enemy too.

Adam and Eve disobeyed…

Satan wanted Adam and Eve to disobey God. He wanted them to rebel against God as he had done. Satan came to Eve in the form of a serpent. He asked Eve if she and Adam could eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden.

Eve said that God had told them not to eat the fruit of "the tree of knowledge of good and evil," and that, if they did, they would surely die.

Satan replied, "You shall not surely die: for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods…" (Genesis 3:4-5).

That was a lie! Jesus said that Satan is "a liar and the father of it" (John 8:44b). Satan used a lie to trick Eve into disobeying God.

Satan tries to trick us with his lies. He may say to you, "You do not have to obey your parents and your teachers. Other kids disobey them and you can too." When you get in trouble, Satan says, "Tell a lie."

Eve was deceived by Satan. She should not have believed Satan's lie but she did. She took the forbidden fruit and ate it. She gave the fruit to her husband and he ate it too.

Adam and Eve had disobeyed God! They had followed Satan in his rebellion against God. They had sinned. Instead of having God in their hearts, they now had sin in their hearts.

Sin is a terrible thing! Because Adam and Eve sinned, they could no longer live with God. God sent them out of the beautiful garden which He had prepared for them. God placed an angel with a shining sword at the garden's entrance to keep them out.

Just like Adam…

Do you remember what we learned in the last lesson—that every creature has babies just like itself? This was also true of Adam and Eve.

Because Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, they now had sin in their hearts. When they had children, the children were just like them. They had sin in their hearts also.

Adam was the head of the human family, and he passed his sinful nature on to his children and to the whole human family. I was born with sin in my heart. You were born with sin in your heart. Every person is born with sin in his heart.

God's promise…

Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, but God still loved them. He made a wonderful promise that one day He would send a Savior into the world.

Who is this promised Savior?

He is the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son. He came to save us from our sins. He died on the cross so we could be forgiven of all our sins.

Before Jesus came, God told the people to bring a lamb and offer it for their sins. Why? Because the Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). This means something had to die for sin.

Each person had to offer a lamb for his own sin. That lamb died for that person's sin. This was a "picture" of how Jesus would one day die on the cross for our sins.

When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, He said, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). The blood of the Lamb of God takes away all our sins. The Bible says, "…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL SIN" (1 John 1:7b).

The story so far…

Steven found an unwanted puppy. Maria learned of a special book in Heaven, but is very sad when she hears that liars are not included in "The Lamb's Book of Life."

Chapter 3
Maria Gets Her Own Way

Steven looked thoughtful as he thanked Mr. Warren and said goodbye. Maria slowly followed her brother toward home. Her heart felt heavy and tears burned in her eyes. Her grandmother could tell her what to do. She thought, "If I do not sing on Friday, perhaps Mother will take me to see Grandma on Saturday."

When they got home, Maria pushed open the kitchen door and called, "Are you home, Mommy?"

"I am in here," her mother answered from the living room.

Maria stood in the doorway and took a deep breath. "Mommy," she asked, "will you please take me to see Grandma on Saturday?"

Her mother sighed as she put down her empty coffee cup. She looked at Maria's tear-stained face and tangled hair.

"What a sight you are!" she said with frustration in her voice. "I suppose you have been fighting with Steven again. No, I won't take you to see your grandmother. I do not think she wants to be bothered with you children. Run on now and clean up."

Maria whirled around and flew up the stairs to her room. Throwing herself on the bed, she pressed her face hard into the pillow. "Grandma does so want to see me," she sobbed. "I know she does. And I will get to see her some way. I will…"

Suddenly Maria choked back her sobs and sat up. An idea had just popped into her head. Jumping up, she opened a dresser drawer and pulled out a dark red sweater. It was almost new. "I know what I will do," she told herself. "I will give this sweater to Susan Blake if she will let me go sing in her place. And I bet she will, too." Carefully she folded the sweater and put it in a bag.

The next day at recess, Maria called Susan aside. She explained to her what she wanted and showed her the sweater. "You can have it for keeps, Susan, if you let me go in your place," Maria said. "Just tell Miss Wilson that your parents do not want you to go."

Susan reached for the sweater and held it up against herself. "Oh, Maria, it is so pretty. I have always wanted a red sweater. But what if the teacher phones my Mother and asks why I cannot go?"

Maria thought a minute. Then she said, "Do not tell Miss Wilson until Friday morning. She will be too busy to phone then. But be sure and tell her that I am ready to go in your place."

"Okay," Susan agreed. "And thanks for the beautiful sweater, Maria."

The next two days passed slowly. Maria felt bad about the lie she had told. She was afraid her teacher Miss Wilson would find out and then she would be in big trouble.

Steven kept asking Maria to tell him more about "The Lamb's Book of Life." She told him all she could remember. But when he wanted to know why she could not get her name written in Jesus' Book, she would not tell him. She could not tell him about her terrible lie.

Just before the bell rang on Friday morning, Miss Wilson hurried into the classroom. "Oh, there you are, Maria," she said. "Susan has just told me that her parents do not want her to sing at the retirement home today. She said you will go in her place. Is that right?"

"Yes," Maria nodded. "I would like to go."

"Well, if it is all right with your mother, I guess you can go," Miss Wilson said, writing Maria's name on the list she held.

"Thank you, Miss Wilson," Maria said in a small voice. Then she added, "I know it will be okay with my parents."

That afternoon Maria's heart beat fast as she sang in front of the crowd of elderly people. Her grandmother was sitting right in the first row. She looked so pleased when she saw Maria, that Maria could hardly keep her mind on the words she was singing.

When the program was over, Miss Wilson led the students off on a tour of the building. Maria watched for her chance. Soon she slipped from the group unnoticed and ran back to her grandmother.

"Oh, Grandma," she cried, throwing her arms around her. "When are you coming home again?"

Her grandmother held her close. "Dear little Maria," she said softly. "I have been wanting to see you so much. How are you and Steven doing?"

Maria brushed back her hair and smiled into her grandmother's eyes. "Steven is all right. He has a new puppy. His name is Captain and…"

"What about you, Maria?" Grandmother's voice was kind. "How are you getting along without me?"

Maria was quiet for a minute. Then she kneeled close to her grandmother and whispered. "Grandma, I have to ask you something. Why do people do bad things?"

"Do you remember the Bible story I told you, Maria? It was about the beautiful garden that God made for Adam and Eve. He told them they could eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except one. Then Satan came and tempted them. They ate the fruit God told them not to eat. Adam and Eve wanted their own way. They sinned, and they passed their sinful natures on to us. Now we are all born with sin in our hearts. That is why we do wrong things, Maria."

"But, Grandma! How can I stop doing bad things? I want to get my name in Jesus' Book. It is a beautiful book and I…"

"Maria!" Miss Wilson cried out, hurrying up to them. "I have been looking everywhere for you. I told you all to stay together. You are a naughty girl for disobeying me and I shall certainly have to punish you."

^top

---