Lesson Four

THE RESULTS OF MAN'S FALL SIN (1)

Burden to Impart:

Adam sinned when he disobeyed God's command to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, an even more serious problem took place at the same time: the evil, sinful nature of Satan got into man through his disobedience and was passed on to all of his descendents (Rom. 5:12). Now then, although man had God's image outwardly, he had Satan's sinful nature inwardly. So we find ourselves today with a conflict within us: sin rising up within us (as lust, temper, etc.) tempts us and causes us to do what we do not even want to do.

Facts to Teach:

1. When Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he not only sinned outwardly by disobeying God's command. It was even more serious than that. He had taken the forbidden fruit into his being and it became a part of him. Whatever we eat becomes us: our fibers, cells, and life. Now this forbidden fruit had become Adam's content and even his constituent.
2. What is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What is it's fruit? As we saw with the tree of life, it represents more than a simple tree from which one may pick fruit. Whoever eats of this tree will "die." Behind this tree is just Satan, the one who had the "power of death" (Heb. 2:14). To eat of the fruit of this tree is to take the evil, sinful nature of Satan into us.
3. Just as the forbidden fruit came into Adam and became his inward constituent, sin also entered into him and became a part of him. Now Adam had two natures dwelling in him: his good human nature with which God created him and the sinful nature of Satan which had been injected into him when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
4. This sinful nature was passed on through Adam to all of his descendants (Rom. 5:12a). Now Satan does not need to come to us from without to tempt us--for sin dwells within us. Knowing this helps us to understand ourselves better. Because sin dwells in us we often do the very things we determine not to do. We sometimes even do the very things we hate. Also, we find that the good things we would like to do we fail to accomplish. Why? Because we have an evil nature within us that is fighting against our own will and desire. Sin dwells within us like a "secret agent" of Satan who is working against us all the time, tempting us, overpowering us, and deceiving us (Rom. 7:15, 17, 19-20). This is the conflict of our good human nature and the sinful nature we received from Adam's fall.

[See Gospel Outline, by Witness Lee, subjects 11, 12, and 16.]