God’s Covenant Plan, Lesson 2.6

God’s Covenant Plan

Lesson Two: Creation, Fall, and Promise

Lesson Objectives

  1. To read Genesis 1-3 with understanding.
  2. To learn God’s “original intent” in creating man and woman.
  3. To understand the sin of Adam and Eve and understand God’s promise of a New Adam and a New Eve.

VI. Study Questions

1. What does it mean to say that God created man and woman "in His own image"?
2. How is Adam both a firstborn son and a priest?
3. What does it mean that Genesis 3 is told in "figurative language"?
4. What does the Hebrew word nahash mean?
5. What was Adam’s sin?
6. Name 3 ways that Jesus is depicted in the New Testament as the "New Adam." Name 3 ways that Mary is depicted as the "New Eve."

For prayer and reflection:

The Mass readings for the First Sunday of Lent (Cycle A) are
Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7;
Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14,17;
Romans 5:12-19;
Matthew 4:1-11.

Read the texts in order and pray for the Lord’s help in hearing the connections that the Church wants us to hear. Pray, too, this excerpt from the Opening Prayer for the Mass:

Lord our God,
You formed man from the clay of the earth
and breathed into him the Spirit of life,
but he turned from Your face and sinned….
Bring us back to You
and to the life Your Son won for us
by His death on the cross.

But we have a long way to go before Jesus comes. We’ll pick up our the story where we leave off in the Garden in our next lesson.

Begin Lesson 3

Lesson Outline

  1. Review and Overview
  2. Man and Woman: The Original Image
    1. God’s First-Born Son
    2. Father of a Priestly People
  3. Falling Down
    1. Figures and Riddles
    2. That Snake Adam Saw
    3. Scared Unto Death?
    4. Left Holding the Fruit
  4. A Test of Love - Failed
    1. Sacrifice and Selfishness
    2. Dying the Death Threat
  5. The New Adam and the New Eve
  6. Study Questions

Other Lessons

  • Lesson One: How a Catholic Starts to Read the Bible
    • Lesson Objectives
    1. To learn how to read the Bible the way the Catholic Church has always read it.
    2. To understand the concepts of “salvation history” and “covenant” and their importance for reading the Bible.
    3. To learn the key points of the creation story in the Bible’s first book, Genesis.

    Begin Lesson One

  • Lesson Three: East of Eden, Headed to Egypt
    • Lesson Objectives
    1. To read Genesis 3-50 with understanding.
    2. To understand God’s covenants with Noah and with Abraham and to see how these covenants look forward to, and are fulfilled in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
    3. To appreciate the key figures in the story of Abraham - Melchizedek, circumcision, the sacrifice of Isaac - as they are interpreted in the Church’s tradition.

    Begin Lesson Three

  • Lesson Four: On the Way to the Promised Land
    • Lesson Objectives
    1. To read the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy with understanding.
    2. To understand God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai and to see how this covenant looks forward to and is fulfilled in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
    3. To appreciate the key figures and events - Moses, the Passover, and the vocation of Israel as “a kingdom of priests” - as they are interpreted in the Church’s tradition.

    Begin Lesson Four

  • Lesson Five: To Kingdom Come
    • Lesson Objectives
    1. To finish reading the Old Testament (from Joshua to Malachi) and to read with understanding.
    2. To understand the broad outlines of the history of Israel in light of God’s covenant with Abraham.
    3. To appreciate the crucial importance of God’s everlasting covenant with David.

    Begin Lesson Five

  • Lesson Six: Into the Kingdom of the Son
    • Lesson Objectives
    1. To read the New Testament with understanding.
    2. To understand how the New Testament depicts Jesus as the fulfillment of the covenants of the Old Testament.
    3. To appreciate, especially, the importance of God’s everlasting covenant with David for understanding the mission of Jesus and the Church as it is presented in the New Testament.

    Begin Lesson Six