FOUR ASPECTS OF THE FLESH - 3

Flesh-State of being starts with
DECEPTION ---- this leads to
PERFORMANCE ---- this requires
HIDDENNESS ----- fully ends in
DESTRUCTION

HOW DOES THE SPIRIT OF GOD CONFRONTS THEM?
Genesis 3 as the example

D E C E P T I O N
The first aspect of the flesh in the story of Genesis3 is deception:
Gen 3,1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

1.this lie was the initiation of the rebellion against God
John 8,44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Every thing what is evil and destructive in the world - this lie is behind it.
the heart of the flesh

This lie has 3 aspects
Satan deceived Eva about HOW GOD IS
God created Adam and Eva out of his abundance of love, IN HIS IMAGE: Gen 1,27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
FOR THE PURPOSE OF SHARING HIMSELF WITH THEM.
1. John 4,8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
We are build like God - SO - only God can fill us! Only God is enough to be enough for me.

THE LIE OF SATAN WAS & IS:
GOD IS NOT REALLY LOVING AND GIVING AT ALL
Even
GOD IS THREATENED BY THE FREEDOM AND POTENTIAL OF HUMAN BEINGS.
Even
GOD's MOTIVES FOR FORBIDDING ADAM AND EVE FROM EATING THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL WERE PURLY SELFISH.

Satan said:"IF YOU BELIEVE GOD LOVES YOU AND HAS YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND, YOU ARE WROMG! GOD IS KEEPING YOUR EYES CLOSED AND PREVENTING YOU FORM REALIZING YOUR FULL POTENTIAL BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANY ANY COMPETITION!"

2. second aspect: WHO IS ADAM AND EVE 
this is just the flip-side of the first aspect.
My view of my selfe is inseparable from my view of our Creator
Satan lied: That the freedom was somehow separate from God.
Satan lied: Adam and Eve would have much more potential than God would have them believe!
So implied of this lie was
that Adam and Eve could improve their life by doing something.: Fullness of life was to be acquiring, doing something.
THEY WERE DEFINED NOT BY WHAT THEIR CREATOR THOUGHT ABOUT THEM AND DID FOR THEM BUT BY WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABUOT THEMSELVES AND EACH OTHER BASED ON WHAT THEY DID.

When i am not filled with God - i try to be filled by what i do!
We are created to receive and give God's love and life, my life now consist in judging ourselves, others, things, and even God himself as a strategy for getting life.

SIN: it is always about people trying to fill a vacuum in their inner being by what they do rather then receiving it for free from the one who alone can truly fill it.


P E R F O R M A N C E
Second aspects follows directly from the first one.

When i believe, who i am it is about what i am doing - rather then trusting in my Creator - i act on this believe.
As strategy for getting  life, i perform.
Gen 3,6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Tree of knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL
My job is to love how God loves NOT to judge as God judges.

I can not enjoy God's love so long as i am acting like God in judging.
MY JUDGMENT BLOCKS GOD's LOVE FLOWING INTO AND THROUGH US.

Tree of Life and Tree of knowledge of good and evil are next to each other: the life God intents for us revolves around our honoring God's prohibition as much as trusting God for his provision.
Therefor the strong teaching against judging other:
Mat 7,1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Rom 2,1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
Rom 14,1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5 One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ”12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. 13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
James 4,11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

If eve would remain in union with God - If i would remain in union with God - violating God's prohibition would not have looked appealing to her / to me.


When i accept a lie about who God is - also i believe a lie who i am: then my perception of the world is clouded by deception

like a starving man for whom insects begin to look appetizing
the inner emptiness that results from our separation form God makes things in the world seem like viable candidates to fill our lives.
WE SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF OUR HUNGER!

The forbidden tree appeared to hold the promise of independence and was "desirable for gaining wisdom - Gen3,6"
I act on the lie i embrace

i life in a way that would be appropriate IF THE SERPENT-SATAN WAS RIGHT.
THAT IS:
If God is not able to fill me with life - i would need to strive for fullness of life by doing things and acquiring things.
As i life in the flesh, i assume that my worth must be acquired from the world around us and by our own effort.