One of the most important things about relationship is to understand the person with whom you’re going to have relationship, and that also applies to God. You need to understand the basic nature and character of God in order to have a healthy relationship with Him. 
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Misunderstanding His character and nature is one of the reasons many people don’t have a positive relationship with Him.  This  is  exactly  what  happened  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  when  Adam  and  Eve  were  tempted  by the serpent. 
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They entered into temptation, ultimately disobeyed God, and plunged the whole human race into sin. Their lack of understanding God’s nature was actually a part of the temptation.
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The story in Genesis 3:1-5 is familiar to most people: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 
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But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods [God], knowing good and evilâ€ (brackets mine).
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There is a subtle statement by Satan here that God is really not a good God... that He was trying to withhold something from Adam and Eve...that He didn’t want them to reach their full potential...that  He  didn’t  want  them  to  be  like  Himself...and  that  the  reason  He  made  the  rule  about not eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was to hinder or hurt them. 
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In a sense, Satan came against the very nature and character of God when he maligned Him by saying God did not want the best for them. The same thing is exactly what’s happening to people today. 
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Satan tells them, “If you follow God and don’t experiment with all these things that are contrary to His Word, you’ll never experience true happiness. Life will be boring...dead.â€ The sad fact is that people experience after the fact that the drugs, alcohol, sex, rebellion, indulgence of self, success in jobs, and all the other things they tried didn’t satisfy them. 
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By the time they realize it, they’ve already destroyed their lives, their families, and their health.The truth is that God is a good God, and His will for us is only good. But Satan uses the same temptations on us today that came against Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, basically implying that God is not a good God. 
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Those who have only a little understanding of the Bible could get  that  impression  because  there  are  instances  in  the  Word  where  He  treated  people  in  harsh,  cruel  ways.  In  Numbers  15:32-36 ,  a  man  picked  up  sticks  on  the  Sabbath  Day  and  was  stoned  to  death  for  failing  to  observe  the  Sabbath.  
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That  sounds  harsh,  but  there  was  a  purpose  behind such punishments, though it’s not obvious to most people in a casual reading of Scripture. Careful study  reveals  that  Old  Testament  Law  was  given  to  make  the  sin  that  we’ve  committed  become  exceedingly  sinful,  as  Paul  says  in  Romans  7:13 .  
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The  purpose  was  that  people  didn’t  realize  how  deadly their transgressions were and that they were an offense against God. They made the mistake of comparing among themselves and measuring their actions by what other people were doing.
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If someone committed a sin and wasn’t struck dead, they thought sin must not be so bad, and they lowered their standards. They had lost the true perspective on what right and wrong was. God  had  to  bring  mankind  back  to  a  plumb  line,  a  proper  standard  of  what  right  living  was,  so  they would reject the devil and his temptations and recognize what the end result of wrong choices would be. Then when He did that, He had to enforce the Law He gave.
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God  did  not  give  the  Old  Testament  commandments  for  the  purpose  of  saying,  “Until  you do all these things, I can’t accept you or love you.â€ That is not His nature or character. Rather, He gave them to make our sense of right and wrong more acute and to bring us back to the fact that we need a Savior. 
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The problem has been that people thought God was demanding perfection before He could love them, which led to the attitude many have that His love for them is directly proportional to their performance. They feel that until they try to do everything exactly right, they will not be accepted by God, and that is not the message of the Bible.
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God’s  heart  is  to  reconcile  mankind  to  Himself  not  to  judge  them...not  to  impute  their  sins...not to hold their sins against them. That’s the heart of God for people in the Bible and also His heart for you today. You need to understand His real heart, that “God is loveâ€ (1 John 4:8). He seeks to take away your sins and anything that would separate you from Him. 
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He’s already done it through Jesus, and He’s offering you relationship today, not based on your performance but on your  faith  and  acceptance  of  Jesus  bearing  your  sins.  You  can  have  relationship  with  God  today  regardless of the failures in your life. All He asks is that you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Scriptures: Genesis 3:1 Genesis 2:17 Genesis 3:3 Genesis 3:6 Genesis 3:9,10 Genesis 3:22-24 Romans 5:17 Romans 6:23 Romans 10:3 1 Jhn 1:9 Romans 4:3 
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Questions:
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1. Read Genesis 3:1. What question did Satan ask Eve?
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2. Read Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:3 . What word or words did Eve add to what God actually said to Adam?
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3. Read Genesis 3:6. Once Satan was able to instill doubt into Eve’s mind regarding the Word of God, what did she do in this verse?
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4. Read Genesis 3:9-10. After Adam and Eve sinned, did God still communicate and pursue arelationship with them?
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5. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Why did God drive Adam and Eve from the Garden?
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6. Can you see that this was an act of mercy by God rather than a punishment?
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7. Read Romans 5:17. How do we attain God’s abundance of grace and gift of righteousness?A. Buy itB. Earn itC. Receive it
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8. Read Romans 6:23. What do we really deserve if we sin?
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9. By grace, what does God give us instead?
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10. Read Romans 10:3. If we try to establish our own righteousness before God, what do we fail to do?
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11. Read 1 John 1:9 and Romans 4:3. What does God promise to do with <b>all</b> our sins and iniquities against Him if we would only believe?
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12. What does this tell you about the character of God?
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Answers:
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1. Read Genesis 3:1. What question did Satan ask Eve?<br>→ “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?â€
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2. Read Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:3. What word or words did Eve add to what God actually said to Adam?<br>→ That they shouldn’t touch it
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3. Read Genesis 3:6. Once Satan was able to instill doubt into Eve’s mind regarding the Word of God, what did she do in this verse?<br>→ Took and ate of the Tree
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4. Read Genesis 3:9-10. After Adam and Eve sinned, did God still communicate and pursue a relationship with them?<br>→ Yes
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5. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Why did God drive Adam and Eve from the Garden?<br>→ So they wouldn’t eat from the tree of life and live forever in a sinful state
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6. Can you see that this was an act of mercy by God rather than a punishment?<br>→ Yes
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7. Read Romans 5:17. How do we attain God’s abundance of grace and gift of righteousness?<br>→ C. Receive it
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8. Read Romans 6:23. What do we really deserve if we sin?<br>→ Death
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9. By grace, what does God give us instead?<br>→ Eternal life in Jesus
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10. Read Romans 10:3. If we try to establish our own righteousness before God, what do we fail to do?<br>→ Submit to Jesus as our righteousness
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11. Read 1 John 1:9 and Romans 4:3. What does God promise to do with <b>all</b> our sins and iniquities against Him if we would only believe?<br>→ Remove them, forget them, and forgive them
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12. What does this tell you about the character of God?<br>→ That He is merciful and loving
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