Scripture

Genesis 3:6-7
[6] When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
[7] Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.


This is 72nd Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, we took a look at how Satan lured Eve through the serpent.
Satan lured Eve saying that she could 'become like God' if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Satan knew that Eve didn't put the word of God into her heart, and tempted her with such words.
Eve didn't refute the word of Satan, but accepted it.
At this very moment, a sinful nature of 'greed' entered her mind and became 'flesh.'
The sinful nature of greed conceived in her mind later came forth as the fruit of disobedience to God's word.
In this lecture tonight, I will explain how Eve bore the fruit of sin.
Genesis 3:6 says, "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
As Eve was deceived at the temptation of Satan, the work of 'flesh' began to take place in her mind.
And as its result, she came to have different view of its fruit.
The same fruit of the tree began to look different.
She saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise.
This verse implies that the sinful nature of greed developed from these three desires.
The tree seeming to be good for food was the work of 'the lust of the flesh.'
The tree seeming to be a delight to the eyes was the work of 'the lust of the eyes.'
Then, the tree seemed desirable to make one wise, and that was the work of 'the boastful pride of life.'
1 John 2:16 says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
As said, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life are from Satan, the ruler of this world.
As Eve was deceived by the temptation of Satan, the sin nature of greed was conceived, and then it became flesh.
And this flesh developed from the three desires, which result in people committing countless sins.
I already explained what the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life are in the Lecture Series on 1 John.
So, let me briefly review them.
First off, 'the lust of the flesh' is 'the desire to follow the flesh and to commit sins.'
The flesh is the body of man combined with sinful natures.
The 'lust of the flesh' is the sinful natures in heart that are trying to be revealed externally. In other words, it is the desire to commit sins.
The lust of the flesh is the desire to commit various sins such as fornication, adultery, stealing, hating others, and becoming angry.
As the scripture says, "When Eve saw that the tree was good for food," it doesn't mean that she had developed an appetite for it.
She came to have a mind of violating God's word commanding, 'Don't eat from it' She developed a mind of breaking the order of God, in other words, a mind of committing sin.
This is the work of 'the lust of the flesh.'
The 'lust of the eyes' is the nature that agitates our heart and makes us follow fleshly things through what we see and hear.
Let's say that when you experience something, you stored it in your heart with a good feeling.
Then you will remember the same feeling when you hear or see something that reminds you of the experience.
Those who enjoyed the world with good feelings would want to enjoy the world again when they come in contact with things that remind them of those feelings.
Following their feelings and desires, they take in these fleshly things.
Eve's feelings toward the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil also changed.
When she remembered God's word, "You will surely die," she didn't dare even go near the tree.
What do normal people think of narcotics?
They come to have such feelings and thoughts as "I shouldn't even come close to them, they are dangerous and they are terrible."
It is because drugs will gradually hurt their body and mind, and eventually drive them to death.
However, those who are addicted to drugs have strong feelings when they experience their affects.
They are blinded by the feelings of getting high, and then they cannot escape from the swamp of destruction.
Likewise, the nature to commit sin by watching, listening, or taking the fleshly things which were made input with good feelings is the 'lust of the eyes.'
'The boastful pride of life' is the nature that tries to reveal oneself following the pleasures of life.
Men of flesh want to boast of their possession to other people.
When they are praised for their wealth, fame, knowledge, social power, or appearances, they feel good and they enjoy the attention of other people.
Because they have this desire to show themselves off, which is 'the boastful pride of life', they take in many fleshly things to satisfy the desires.
Eve was just like this.
She had a mind to become a better being, a mind to become like God.
And then, she saw that 'the tree was desirable to make one wise.'
It seemed to be able to satisfy her 'boastful pride of life.'
As I explained, when Eve saw the tree after she was tempted by Satan, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life began to work.
And she eventually ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Moreover, she also 'gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.'
When Eve told Adam to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what was the right thing for him to do?
Adam should have scolded her severely, and led her to God so that she could have been forgiven.
But, Adam didn't do so.
Oddly enough, he obeyed Eve's word.
Just as Satan planned, Adam eventually ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
The reason Adam acceded easily to Eve's word was that he also had a mind to become a 'perfect spiritual being.'
Adam was a living spirit, but he was not a perfect spiritual being. He was imperfect.
There was the possibility of turning into a fleshly being that had the original natures of the ground once the breadth of spirit leaked out of him.
Adam knew these limits and boundaries that he had.
He was the ruler of the first and second heavens, but he also knew that he was originally different from the beings of the third heaven, which is the perfect spiritual realm.
Therefore, Adam had a longing heart to become a perfect spiritual being.
It was the same with Eve.
Satan took advantage of this fact, and he craftily tempted them through the serpent.
He first tempted Eve who was relatively easy to approach, and caused Adam to fall through Eve.
Dear brothers and sisters.
There is a lesson here that you should put in your heart.
That is, you should not be deceived like Adam when someone tempts you to do something that goes against the word of God.
You should flatly refuse it right on the spot.
At the same time, it is your duty to make the one who tempts you realize and repent of the attempted temptation.
When people don't feel serious responsibility for this duty, they can easily fall into evil.
Let's take a look at the situation from Adam's viewpoint.
Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, but nothing happened to her.
And she even said to him. "Eat it. It's alright."
And Adam far too easily acceded to Eve's proposal.
By the same token, many people commit sin making an excuse it's the fault of others.
They say, "They all do it, so it should be fine for me to do it too." I wasn't the one who started doing it... they did".
Because of this idea that 'they all do it,' many people go against righteousness and act in lawlessness.
For example, if you run a business, you may think to yourself, "They all adopt an expedient giving an advantage. I will lose if I stay on the straight and narrow."
Satan puts this kind of thought into your mind, and incites you into lawlessness.
However, you can find many examples of people who succeeded after adopting high moral standards.
Not all of them employ an expedient and do lawlessness.
When you hear someone saying, "It's OK because everybody does it," you should realize that these are the words that will lead you to the way of sin.
Don't be confused believing that the price you will pay for your sin will be diminished as more people engage in lawlessness.
Even if the lawlessness was done by you alone or together with hundreds or thousands of others, each one will pay the price of the sin.
However, Satan craftily incites people and causes confusion.
Satan makes people think that they will take less responsibility for the lawlessness that is done together by many others.
It may be possible by the law of this world, but it is never allowed within spiritual justice.
There is another lesson you should learn from Adam.
That is, when you see a brother who commits sin, you should help him realize it and turn back from it. This is love.
Even the people of this world say, "Indifference is worse than hatred."
If someone is breaking the word of God, and he is definitely going to the way of death, but if you pretend you knew nothing, it is obvious that you have no love at all.
The Bible clearly tells you what to do when a brother commits sin.
First off, Jesus said in Matthew 18:15-17, "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."
James 5:19-20 says, "My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."
In addition, Galatians 6:1 also says, "Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted."
Become mature children of God so that you can refuse the temptations of Satan on your own.
I hope that you can advance even further to give help to those who are weak in faith and committing sin.
As you do so, I hope that not a single one of you will fall behind, but that you will all fervently march on together toward the spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, let's proceed to Genesis 3:7.
It says, "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings."
From this verse and onward, you can see how Adam and Eve changed after committing sin.
First, it says, "the eyes of both of them were opened."
It means that 'the work of soul had begun.'
Once the work of soul began, they realized that they were naked, and so they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
Before they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they lived well without wearing clothes for countless years.
After they ate from the tree, however, they felt ashamed at being naked.
And thus, they made themselves loin coverings.
For such long years, they had never felt ashamed, so why did they suddenly feel ashamed?
It was the work of the soul that belongs to the untruth.
'Flesh' already came into their hearts, and they committed 'deeds of the flesh' in violating the order of God and of eating from the tree.
And now, through the work of the soul, the fleshly thoughts began to work more actively.
Now, what did 'eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil have to do with the beginning of the work of the soul?
God said that they would surely die if they ate from the tree.
Just as He said, Adam and Eve came to die after they ate from the tree.
Yet, Adam and Eve were living spirits; how could they die?
The living spirit – or the living being – has the body formed from the ground and the body is filled with the breadth of spirit, which in turn is spiritual strength.
If this breadth of spirit leaks out, the living spirit will die.
The moment Adam and Eve committed the sin of disobedience, their connection to God was cut off.
They couldn't be provided with spiritual strength any longer.
Instead, fleshly strength began to come into them.
Once they opened the sluice gate of sin, the fleshly strength flooded into them.
To the extent the fleshly strength came in, the breadth of spirit went out of them.
As its result, a great change happened to Adam and Eve.
Among spirit, soul, and body, spirit was the master when they were full of the breadth of spirit.
Soul and body worked according to the instruction of spirit.
Now, the situation became reversed.
The more their body was filled with the fleshly strength, the stronger soul became.
The problem is that the work of the soul belongs to the untruth.
Due to flesh which came into their minds, thoughts of untruth began to surface, and they even came to commit sin.
The fact itself that Adam and Eve realized good and evil after they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not a big problem.
The real serious problem was that the work of soul that belongs to the flesh finally began.
Even when people realize good and evil, if they think of everything in goodness, they don't commit sin.
Since they have fleshly thought however, they eventually commit sin.
The fact that they realized they were naked after eating from the tree didn't matter.
What mattered was the work of soul that belongs to the flesh to make them feel ashamed of being naked.
If they had thought in spirit, they wouldn't have had anything to be shy or ashamed of.
Since they had lived for countless ages, and all others in the Garden of Eden lived like them, they had no reason to be ashamed.
However, once the untruth was planted into their minds, they regarded themselves and became ashamed.
Let me help you understand better the change that happened to Adam and Eve.
Say, there were a nation-wide broadcasting station and a local station.
Two broadcasting stations sent out their signals at the same time.
Adam and Eve used to listen only to the national station.
It was not only because the signal from the national station was very strong, but they also always set their receiver to national station's channel.
Therefore, the local broadcasting couldn't be heard at all.
One day, they happened to set the channel to other broadcasting station.
This is what it was like to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
As the signal from the national station became dimmer, they could hear the local station more clearly.
By the same token, when Adam was a living spirit, he was completely covered with the spiritual strength so that the work of soul couldn't take place.
As the spiritual strength leaked out, however, the force of spirit became weaker, and soul seized the initiative, and the work of soul started to take place more actively.
This spiritual principle can be applied the same to your everyday life today.
Even if you haven't cultivated your heart into spirit, when you receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and you are full of the spiritual strength, it is easy for you to control the work of the soul.
Even at the moment a fleshly thought comes up you can instantly change it into a spiritual thought.
After you enter the spirit, the fleshly thoughts will never occur in you.
Once you enter the whole spirit even when you try to think a fleshly thought, it will never come up.
Likewise, once your heart is cultivated into the spirit, the soul is ruled by the spirit so that you can think only in the spirit.
On the other hand, before you enter the spirit, if you lose the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the flesh will receive strength and the work of soul will become active.
It will be difficult to cut off or control the fleshly thoughts.
Fleshly thought is the cause of sin.
And so, Romans 8:6-7 says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so."
It is also true when you listen to the word of God.
No matter what you listen to, if you think in the spirit, and if you accept in the spirit, you will not misunderstand.
On the other hand, if fleshly thoughts are used, you will misunderstand, judge, and eventually condemn.
In the next lecture, we will see what Adam did due to the work of soul that belongs to the flesh.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, I explained the process how greed which was planted into Eve's mind, bore the fruit of sin.
I also explained why Adam obeyed the word of Eve so easily.
Those of you who live in this end time of the world are exposed to countless sins.
However, there is something you should remember.
That is, it is up to your own free will whether you refute or accept the temptation of sin.
God gave all people free will.
Adam committed sin with his free will. I hope that you will act only in righteousness.
May you put on the crown of righteousness when you stand before the righteous Judge after you finish the course of your faith, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!