Scripture

Genesis 3:18-20
[18] "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;
[19] By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
[20] Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.


This is 79th Lecture on Genesis.
In the last lecture, I finished explaining the 1st half of Genesis 3:18.
Now, let's take a look at the rest of the verse and the next verse.
In Genesis 3:18-19, God said, "And you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face You will eat bread."
This verse does not mean that you will eat only plants.
'The plants of the field' represent what a man gets from his "field" as he toils.
It is to again emphasize that to get bread Adam would have to toil until sweat covered his face.
In the same way, you can get fruit in a spiritual field only after you toil as well.
For example, you should pray following the example of Jesus.
Luke 22:44 says, "And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."
To become the Savior by taking the cross for sinners, our Jesus also prayed like this.
Such prayers can be sent before God, and bring down answers and blessings.
When Jesus was praying like this way, in Luke 22:43 it says, "Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him."
Elijah the Prophet prayed to God and brought down rain that ended the 3-and-half-year-long drought.
Before it took place, however, 1 Kings 18:1 says, "Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.""
Elijah already heard from God that He would 'send rain.'
Therefore, it would have been alright if he had prayed by saying, "God, please send rain just as You told me You would.'
But Elijah didn't pray passively.
He prayed fervently by faith until the answer came.
It is because in Ezekiel 36:36-37 God is recorded as saying, ""I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it." Thus says the Lord GOD, "This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them.""
1 Kings 18:42 describes how Elijah prayed.
It says, "Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he crouched down on the earth and put his face between his knees" when he prayed.
Why did Elijah pray like this?
It is the evidence that he prayed with great fervency.
As you pray so fervently risking your life, you will feel pain as if your stomach will split, and so you may naturally curl over.
Then, you may eventually end up with your face between your knees.
Elijah the prophet prayed with this kind of desire and determination in his heart.
Now, was he able to receive an answer after he prayed just once?
No, there was no answer yet.
Though he prayed twice, three, four, five, and six times, he still didn't receive an answer.
After he prayed the seventh time, which is the perfect number, he finally got the answer.
However, it was not a rain shower that appeared.
He just saw a cloud in the sky that appeared and was as small as a man's palm.
When Elijah saw it, he became confident, and prepared for a heavy rainfall.
For this, James 5:17-18 says, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit."
Even though Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, he brought down an amazing answer from God.
You should keep in mind that the secret was his life-risking prayer.
First of all, of course, you should have no wall of sin before God to receive answers.
Psalm 66:18 says, "If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear."
Those who don't have any wall of sin but who walk in the light can ask God for everything with confidence.

1 John 3:21-22 says, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
I hope that you will apply this principle of receiving answer to prayer so that you can receive answer to your prayer titles of this year.
Now, Let's take a look at the rest of Genesis 3:19.
God said, "...till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
In this verse, God said that Adam would now have to follow the physical laws of the First Heaven.
Adam was created from the ground of the Earth.
But he became a living being as God blew the breath of life into him.
He became a being that could transcend the justice of the 1st heaven, which is governed by natural laws of the flesh.
As he committed sin, however, the strength of spirit was drained away, and he returned to his original state.
That is, he became a man of flesh who could do nothing other than follow the law of the flesh.
As time passed by, his body became aged and weak, and when he died, his body decayed and went back to the ground.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Once the life of your flesh comes to an end, your body, which is like a shell, becomes a handful of dust.
Regarding this, Psalm 104:29 says, "You take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust."
Ecclesiastes 3:20 also says, "All came from the dust and all return to the dust."
Therefore, what truly important is not your fleshly body which is the shell, but your spirit which is the core.
Most of worldly people don't realize this fact.
They invest heavily in their body which will eventually decay and become dust.
They go through life worrying and thinking about eating, drinking, and what to wear.
In Luke 12:19, a man who falls into this category says like this;
"And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.""
Then, God said to him in Luke 12:20, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?"
All the goods that he had laid up are given to someone else, and his soul falls down into the fire of Hell.
Regarding this, Galatians 6:8 says, "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."
Now, are you going to put your heart, talent, time, and money into your flesh?
Or, are you going to plant for the Holy Spirit?
I believe you are wise.
You should sow not for these perishable things of this world, but for the eternity of Heaven.
In doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ that you may enjoy glory and honor in beautiful Heaven forever and ever.
Dear brothers and sisters.
So far, I explained the punishment that Adam received from God.
Simply put, it was that 'You will have to work to get food.'
And so, he had to cultivate and plant the field first, and then toil at farming.
Do you think God the Father is cold hearted?
In this punishment was contained the deep love of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 says, "moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God."
Farming is difficult for the farmer, but it is worth doing it as he harvests abundant crops.
He can feel happiness that can never be understood by those who can enjoy abundance without toil.
God wanted to help His beloved Adam feel such happiness.
That was the reason He let Adam undergo human cultivation although it was hard work for Adam.
I hope you can believe that your life itself is a gift from God no matter what kind of human cultivation you undergo now.
It is because there is the good will of God for you.
Therefore, I urge you to rejoice always, give thanks in all situations, and live your lives diligently.
May you eventually come out as a beautiful fruit with joy before God the Father, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
So far, I have explained to you about the curse that God gave to the serpent, to Eve, and to Adam regarding eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
What happened next is recorded in tonight's scripture.
First off, Genesis 3:20 says, "Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living."
Adam named his wife 'Eve'.
It means 'the mother of all the living.'
This 'mother of all the living' has two meanings.
First, there is the fleshly meaning.
Eve was the 1st woman of all mankind.
All the people in the Garden of Eden are the descendants of Adam and Eve.
And all the people in the Earth are also the descendants of Adam and Eve.
Therefore, Eve becomes the mother of all mankind.
In this sense, Eve was called 'the mother of all the living.'
Secondly there is the spiritual sense that Eve becomes the 'mother of all the living.'
Today, the population of the earth is about 7 billion.
Not all the people, however, are the 'living' in a spiritual sense.
From God's perspective, only those who possess the life that Is eternal – the true life – are the 'living' in a spiritual sense.
Those who don't receive the Holy Spirit and whose seed of life is asleep are spiritually the dead.
Only those who are forgiven of sin by accepting Jesus Christ and born again with water and the Holy Spirit can attain eternal life and become one who is spiritually living.
Then, what is the meaning that Eve would spiritually become the mother of the living?
It indicates that among the descendants of Eve there will be those whose spirit will revive and achieve eternal life.
It also contains the meaning that Adam and Eve will be saved.
While being cultivated on earth, Adam and Eve fully repented of their sin.
As its result, they could reach salvation.
That said, the name which means 'the mother of all the living,' has two meanings.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Just as there is 'the mother of the living,' so there is the 'mother of the dead.'
Spiritually speaking, 'the dead' refers to those who don't receive salvation but die.
Then who is the 'mother of the dead?'
As some of you may be receiving spiritual inspiration and realize, it is 'Lucifer.'
Lucifer is a fallen angel, and she is the head of evil spirits.
Lucifer tries to drag just one more soul to Hell through every means available to her through her servants, Satan, the devil, and demons.
These evil spirits incite those who are evil in heart to drag other people to the way of death.
Regarding this, Jesus said in Matthew 23:15, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."
As said, since the human cultivation began, Lucifer has given birth to 'children of Hell' through evil spirits.
Therefore, Lucifer can be called 'the mother of the dead.'
Moreover, Lucifer is a being in a feminine form.
As in Revelation 19:2, Lucifer was called 'the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality."
Lucifer instigates people to commit spiritual immorality.
She makes people love the world more than God, and drives them to dislike having God in their hearts.
She leads them to enjoy the pleasure of sin and evil and eventually drags them to Hell, the eternal death.
1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
As said, you should always be of sober spirit, and spiritually awaken.
The church in Sardis as written in Revelation Chapter 2 was pointed that "you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead."
Is there any who go to church but haven't yet received the Holy Spirit?
Or, are there others who have committed grave sins and have quenched the Holy Spirit?
Those who are like this must repent all the sins and beg for the mercy and grace for forgiveness of the sin.
By doing so, I wish you can become the child of God who owns the true life and reach the eternal Heaven.
Furthermore, may you possess the sincere heart in full assurance of faith to reach New Jerusalem in Heaven, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!